An Enduring Love for Biology
MAHENDRA
Through fiction, travels and more
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Hey man, what's up?
You must be in school right now wearing a green shirt and white pants as it is the house dress day, signifying membership in the Shivaji house! I am guessing you are waiting for the recess or the games period for some respite. But for that 90 minute biology period, I know what you and friends do in the class. I know how eager you were about learning and becoming good at biology (as you were interested in it) but also, at the same time, not knowing enough about it. In the hope that you will find this letter in a time travel machine, I am writing to you things as the guide for whom you were waiting for subconsciously at that age.
Academically things might not go the way you want them to in class 11th and 12th. But don’t worry! It will not deter your interest in Biology. You knew at the time that you were lacking something, but couldn’t put your finger on it. I guess you were going through that phase when you were waiting for those sports periods to come. The sense of what I was lacking became clear when I studied some good quality books in biology as part of my coursework in college. I began to form mental images of phenomena, with processes interacting, imagining the dance of life happening everywhere, and all at once. This was made possible for me only after coming to college and exposure to good books.
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash
The three years of graduation was the time in my life when my brain was occupied by genes, embryos, cells moving, pushing each other, moving inside mitochondria, seeing nucleus divide into two, understanding the creases in our palms, living the physics of our body and what not. But one thing that neither you did, my dear younger self from back in the day, nor I until quite late in life is to go into the forests, mountains and other remote places. I know you always loved books and movies much much more, and so do I, but do start travelling? I know you don’t feel the urge but put some effort and do it like a project when starting out! If you don’t like it, we can think of other fun things, but try? You probably think of it as work, but trust me, you will like it! You know I did an Ornithology course after exploring the birds of our town and nearby forest. For the first time in my life, I actually did something before reading about it.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
You will keep your love for life and biology alive only because of good books (not just biology-related ones) for most part of your life, I am saying this because you have already begun loving books. You will read more than 100 novels, non fiction, history, biographies in my college times. Your passion for movies and webseries will also increase during the same time. Your fascination for science fiction will also grow which also opens new windows to understand biology and science in general.
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One thing I did and I know you are capable of is not giving up even when things are uncertain. Many times due to unforeseen situations it might seem impractical to continue biology but your inner passion for the subject will override the difficulties posed by these circumstances, as it happened with me."
I saw biology and science as a long term project of life, which can yield only one thing which both of us will do anything for— new perspectives! You may encounter long stretches of time when you don’t have those moments of epiphany, but when you eventually do see or understand something new, due to excitement, you cannot even sit quietly! Isn’t that what drives you and me?
So just wait, be patient, read, read something wild!! completely different from what you usually read or see. You’ll see those epiphanic moments come again and stay, and keep you motivated, and alive for biology. My passion for biology, which further expanded to embrace science as a whole, got me into writing about it for a while. I enjoyed it. So maybe you should also start writing? Probably, keep a diary? Write about anything– about what you like, dislike, but write and you will find a lot of things to write about. I have also started keeping a diary, so I am talking from experience, you see! I have so many other things to tell you but I will keep that for the second letter that I will write soon to you! Hoping that this letter reaches you this evening by a time machine, that it doesn’t get lost in the multiverse or end up with your future self in a different time!
Mahendra
Image credits to Di (they-them), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, The End of the World Reading Diary, Amazon, PRINT Magazine
About Mahendra
Mahendra is a PhD scholar at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. He works on the human- fish relationship.
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