THE 'GET THROUGH'
After almost two years of online learning, we finally started with our practical work. It all felt a bit different at the beginning since the mind had become habitual to virtual learning. But then it didn't take us long enough to enter our 'laboratory zone'.
The practical courses in the master's level are much different from those in the undergrad. We have to do all the calculations and check proportions of solutions required for every experiment and prepare them accordingly. Unlike the ones in undergrad where we would get all the ready made solutions. Whatever you have learnt till now, everything comes into the picture. Checking out the references, a few discussions, applying math, errors followed by rectification, and then finally you land up with your ideal solution and begin the experiment.
Its kind of cool since you get to use a lot of your brain. Also the fundamental concepts behind the experiments are strengthened due to this activity. Moreover, you don't waste the solution since you know how much of your time has gone into making it.
In a laboratory there are lab assistants who look after everything that is needed in the lab, from cleaning, maintenance to preparing regents and monitoring working of instruments. In Marathi, these people are often addressed as 'Mamas'. Once it so happened that we ran out of the iodine solution which was needed for a particular experiment. When I went to mama and asked him, he opened a small diary in which preparation method of each solution was written in short forms. In an easy to remember way. We followed that procedure, prepared the solution and continued with our experiment. I was amazed.
I realized that there is a lab behind our lab which is responsible for the smooth functioning of everything. This lab could be anywhere: back office employees in the corporate, back stage artists, workers, bowlers who aren't the actual players but help cricketers practice. The list goes on and on.
As a student I have often seen and myself participated in fights and debates between Physics and Chemistry students as to which subject is more superior . There is this very famous argument among Organic and Analytical Chemistry people about superiority of the subject. This is also evident among various branches of Engineering, types of doctors, architects, designers and many more.
These demarcations were made so that we could study our subjects with ease. May be now we have become so used to the boundaries that we have forgotten that all these fields were born out of the same womb of Scientific Technology or of 'Necessity' to be more precise. We all are interdependent in this little world we have created, be it to solve the existing problems or to create new ones to solve 😄 . May be one day we will realize the importance of contributing and working together, Until that fine day, let's just Get through.
©Neha Kanase
Image source: iStock
