Patience Taught by Nature
'O dreary life!,' we cry, ' O dreary life!'
And still the generations of the birds
Sing through our sighing, and the flocks and herds
Serenely live while we are keeping strife
With Heaven's true purpose in us, as a knife
Against which we may struggle. Ocean girds
Unslackened the dry land, savannah-swards
Unweary sweep, hills watch unworn;and rife
Meek leaves drop yeary from the forest-trees
To show, above, the unwasted stars that pass
In their old glory. O thou God of old!
Grant me some smaller grace than comes to these;-
-But so much patience as a blade of grass
Grows by, contented through the heat and cold.
-Elizabeth Barret Browning
This morning I was in a class again after 3 years. Prof. Hiten Madhani was invited to give a short course on Yeast genetics at my workplace. As he walked us through the basics of cell division in yeast and the familiar figure of the cell cycle came up, I was trasnsported back to a class 8 years ago with AB. That's where it all began- my fascination with the cell division machinery, the check point regulation in the cell cycle, its de-regulation and cancer cell biology, biochemical signaling mechanisms in tumor progression, drug target identification, drug synthesis, biocatalysis in the synthesis of drug intermediates, biocatalyst and genetic engineering...an evolution of my own interests as I joined the molecular evolution campaigners.
The one hour class summarized for me everything I love and revere about being a classroom; to opening myself up completely to receive knowledge as it is delivered masterfully; a story unfolding in front of my very eyes, building with each slide a surge of excitement, until a very simple and elegant truth underlying the most complex biological phenomena (or for that matter physical or chemical) is revealed. It is sheer joy, made especially delicious by a teacher who engages the student intimately in unraveling the mystery, guiding each student to the discovery, each owning the truth at that instant. It is, as well, humbling to be led through this path of discovery by teachers who have already conceieved of every turn our minds will take as we digest the material, even more so, by those who guide us gently and expertly as we attempt to probe uncharted territory.
I recognized arising in me the same sense of wonderment today as Prof. Madhani described the process of meiosis. I was already shaking my head, marevling at this brilliant orchestration that cells conduct when he conluded by saying 'It is simply the most amazing mechanism in the biology of cell division, to at once replicating genetic material as well as generating new diversity.' Truly a fantastic process. And certainly my favorite hour of the work week, in a classroom again.
Years ago, I don’t remember how many, as a part of a class project to understand protection of intellectual property, a friend and I were paired up to make a mock patent application. Simple and fun, but we had to come up with an idea; novel and practical. We came up with many frivolous ideas, some prototypes and many modifications to existing products. Among the list of things I came up with (in addition to thermal regulation in jackets, nasally attached strips of air freshening spray;some of which were wish lists, with no conception of the how-to) was a rear view mirror attached to spectacles. I have been prone to running into things and people for as long as I can remember, and tend to walk so quickly as if my life depended on it. And figured I could really use this thing, especially as I turn corners and whirl around when I change my mind, which I also do a lot. At any rate, we finally settled on something else to present for the purposes of the class, but I kept going through this process of need-finding in my head for a while after.
Yesterday, years later, as I stood outside the bike car, waiting to get off the Caltrain, I saw two bikers preparing to unlock their bikes and I kept staring at their goggles, at first not quite understanding what it was that was protruding from it to one side. And then a cry of delight escaped me when recognition hit! I am sure I startled a good many passengers standing in line and likely made the bikers squirm as I grinned broadly, looking somewhere in the direction of their goggles and helmet. But I didn’t care.
All I have to say is, don’t be afraid to tell the world when a new idea hits you. Do not convince yourself of its stupidity before you have tried it out on a few discerning ears. I look at it this way (now obviously, and even now not always, I confess) if it is good, there are people out there who could use it. If it is not, it can only get better.
Happy Friday my dears!
