It’s the first of January again. Last January when we had relaunched Pulse, the IGIB digital magazine, we were tremulous if we would be able to keep it going. Starting something is fun, easy and exciting, but keeping at it is difficult, tedious and sometimes unpleasant work. But here we are, launching the second January issue!
Last year around this time, there was a feeling of disconnectedness among us all. We passed each other without acknowledgment; there were new faces, behind masks or perhaps they were old faces, now unrecognizable after repeated bouts of isolation, struggle and loss. We were beginning to feel we didn’t know our IGIB anymore. Perhaps there was an air of distance, defeat and dejection. But we are not the kind to lay down our weapons and wallow in our misery.
In January some of us got together and decided we needed to rekindle our connections. Put out some filopodia and explore. Start getting to know each other again. We envisioned Pulse as a place where we can virtually show ourselves, the real selves behind the masks. Where the singers and dancers, the talkers and writers, the poets and photographers will speak out in their own ways and we may hear each other, see each other and recognize kindred spirits and become a community again. And did we succeed! We have emerged from the cold dank fog of unfamiliarity and become names and faces and voices to each other that can nod, smile and shake hands as we pass.
This last year has been a reassertion of our spirits and of our determination. In February, we celebrated the National Science Day by painting the campus red! In March we shook out our lethargy and joined the fitness drive. In April the Spine crackled with the excitement of science, followed closely by the reverberations of music, dance and laughter. In September we celebrated ten years in the new campus and many hopes and dreams fulfilled. Through the year the outreach team travelled the country and the corridors of our campuses filled with sounds of young laughter as school and college students crowded through during open days. While the campuses hosted conferences and workshops, in the background we ran a number of online seminar series. There were competitions and contests to celebrate Mendel and to create awareness about mental and physical health issues. And needless to say, all this was in addition to the business of science we run as a routine; publications and awards and accolades!
Wow! When I sat down to write this new year editorial, I myself had not realized all that we had achieved through this last year. Today, as the world is bracing for new waves of old pandemics, new pandemics, climate change and the many other unpredictables, we at IGIB can say confidently, that we will not be defeated, we shall come out alive, survive, thrive, and certainly not lose the drive!
Chetana Sachidanandan is a scientist-writer with a fascination for a striped fish that’s too small to eat and just too beautiful to describe.