Collage from an Explorer of Science and Technology
She had completed her post-graduation in Botany. She had loved the subject, and the subject had also admirably loved her beyond her expectations.
By God’s grace she got some students whom she taught privately and a beautiful room of her own with beautiful windows overlooking a beautiful garden. A sweet pug, a pet of the owner of the house played in the garden. The cute dog also had a trainer. She enjoyed watching the dog playing, being trained to stand up and wave his hands. The garden was compact and beautifully landscaped.
The locality was very well equipped with book stores, stationary stores, cyber cafes, computer learning centre. Whatever resources she needed were available nearby.
She had freedom. She had become a playful explorer like a child.
At that time, she collected some interesting books. She loved the Oxford dictionaries on different subjects she saw in a bookstore. She was not aware of the existence of such books in school or college. The dictionaries were very good for clearing concepts and recapitulation.
She went to the book fair after a long time. There was a beautiful book on Birds with lovely photographs and a 3-dimensional cover.The photographs fascinated her a lot and some of the birds featured in her paintings, Later she acquired a magazine on the Birds of Bengal with beautiful photographs.
She came across a beautiful book on English country style landscapes. She searched in the internet and was fascinated to know there was a subject called Landscape Architecture taught in some places in India and in other countries. It was a modern and upcoming subject. For students interested in Botany and also interested in Maths and Engineering, this was a very good option. One could do research in this field or apply for exciting jobs in upcoming modern companies. Portfolios had to be submitted, so drawing which she loved was an important part of this subject.
When she wanted to take Botany there was a lot of debate but eventually by God’s wish she could. Nobody around her knew about this subject of Landscape Architecture where there is an interesting combination of Botany and engineering. If someone opts the general line, many narrow-minded people in society have the habit of depreciating it because it is not in the engineering or medical field. Even someone in the general line may feel detached from engineering even if the person has interest. In modern times subjects are interdisciplinary.
Nowadays there are modern Landscape Architecture companies with informative beautiful websites. She had often thought that if she had an institute of her own, she would select such a company and draft with the co-operation of the company members a beautiful design incorporating the English country style, Japanese style and Indian style of landscaping with a fountain or waterfall. She often dreamt of the entrance to be a beautiful design of hanging flowers. She would give the responsibility of maintaining the garden to the company.
One day in the newspaper she saw an advertisement of a workshop in Birla Industrial and Technological Museum in Kolkata on a plant based subject she had never heard before-“Hydroponics.’’
This ignited her curiosity a lot and she signed up for this workshop. It was to be conducted by a scientist from Lucknow. The workshop was an eye opener in many ways. Hydroponics was a very important field of plant science she had never heard of in her curriculum in University of Calcutta. The funny part is that even though it was introduced by the British in Bengal, most students of West Bengal including herself had never heard of it from anybody to consider it as a subject for pursuing meaningful career and research. But this method was very popular and hot in foreign countries and different parts of India as well. The Hydroponic methods have very good potential in making business, and there are very good companies making good dividends out of this business. She remembered doing some experiments at home and sharing the data with the scientist. He appreciated her results.
She still remembered one experimental set up that showed the different stages of germination of a seed so beautifully, just as she had seen in her books. In a simple transparent plastic jar, a cotton soaked in a hydroponic solution had to be inserted encircling the inner surface and the seed had to be kept on the outer part of the soaked cotton roll so that the developments are visible from outside. You will be able to see the different germination stages so beautifully with progress of time! She was amazed.
On Independence Day there was an exhibition of the works and experiments of the participants of the workshop. It was her first such experience of being part of a plant science exhibition, that too on Independence Day. Her exhibition was more scientific experiment and data oriented. She had made a big chart with the supporting photographs and data.
She searched the internet and became a member of an Indian magazine dedicated to the Soilless Gardening Industry of India. She understood that the Indian hydroponics industry was growing at a very fast pace. Many international companies have already entered the Indian market and many more will be coming soon. A conference and Mini-Expo on Soilless Gardening was to be organized in Mumbai in 2014. Online stores for hydroponic industry were coming into existence.
Later she found a young Bengali man in Kolkata practicing hydroponics. But no training was offered.
She read about Agri-Horticultural Society of India in one of the newspapers. There was an advertisement of different summer courses. She had never been to this place before, or heard of this place while she was a student of botany. She found this place to be beautiful. Here, in one of the summers, she along with her mother did a short course on Bonsai.
What interested her a lot on bonsai was that the Japanese had found out such a wonderful way to increase the longevity of miniature plants in miniature environment in a pot mimicking the natural environment for so many years.
In botany she had studied so much about plant conservation, then the role of plant tissue culture in propagating plants, but never about Bonsai originally from China.
It was often difficult to transfer tissue culture plants in natural environment, and here there was Bonsai-such a beautiful method of conserving and increasing the longevity of endangered plants. It was here that she first came to know that Bonsai exhibitions were held by Bonsai enthusiasts in different places across the world. She never knew about such exhibitions.
She got a beautiful book on Bonsai in one of the book stores in her locality with lovely photographs. Of the seven plants done in the workshop, she took all the photographs, but the plants could not survive for long because she was inexperienced and did certain wrong things. How she wished in future she could learn from her mistakes and again try out. Bonsai is an interesting combination of art, science and technology. If you look at the tools and methods advanced and modern Bonsai experts use, you will surely marvel at the sheer wonder.
In few of her paintings, she tried to depict Bonsai- one as a water colour impression and other in a painting featuring a lady, as if the lady was displaying her bonsai.
One Sunday, she read an article in Anandabazar patrika on a very debatable but interesting topic “Memory of Water.’’ This topic had a profound impact on her.
Previously she had never ever heard about this. But she was very fascinated.
Water is a solvent with many unusual properties, and one of the most debatable is “Memory of water.’’ The article was about a French scientist Beneveniste who is believed to have proven the existence of this property by his experiments, but Nature journal proved him to be wrong. Whether he is one of the most misunderstood scientists or a magician scientist deprived of the credit he deserved is a big matter of contention. In Homoeopathy where medicinal extracts are diluted manifold involving shaking and agitation, the ultimate diluted solution retains the property of the extract which was there in much higher concentration. The solute may not be traceable at all, but somehow water remembers the solute. Now, that is why Homoeopathy is also debatable because lack of conclusive proof of the property of memory of water.
Very strangely, the reason for totipotency of plants (the property that a plant cell has the potential to give rise to a whole new plant) has not been found yet. The plant cell structure has a lot of special features. She remembered in school she once secured highest marks in a Life Science exam because of her diagram of plant cell for which she was unexpectedly credited extra marks. Now plant cells have unique passages known as plasmodesmata through which passage of water is also possible. Whether the water passing retains the memory of the genetic constitution of the first cell that had the potential to give rise to a whole plant is a matter of question. She thought whether the debatable property of memory of water had to do anything with totipotency of plant cells.
Very strangely just after reading this article, after a few days in a second hand bookstall she got a very simple book on Homoeopathy, but what was most interesting was the life story of Dr. Hahnemann. This man had left the profession of medicine at one time out of total disgust and earned his living as a translator. While translating a document he came across the concept of Homoeopathy and my goodness, what a compassionate healer he was! He battled so much in life. She was so full of respect and admiration for this noble doctor. She had earlier not read about his life. She had occasionally undergone homoeopathic treatments without thinking or understanding how the treatment was done. In Homoeopthy poisons are used in proper dilution for healing with the principle “Like repels like.’’
She somehow developed an altogether different perspective on poison. Poison harms and kills, but can also heal and contribute to life positively if used in the proper way. Often we do face poisonous experiences in life, but we can look at it in a different way and channelise those experiences towards more productivity to get a better life or your poison can heal/comfort/relieve another person by repelling the poison in that person. For example if you write about a bad experience of yours and readers go through it and identify themselves in such situations, they feel relieved or get answers to unanswered questions- then what happens, your bad experience gets value and adds value to the similar bad experiences of many people who are your readers. If you throw up that poison in the form of a creative painting, the painting gets value and viewers who have similar poisonous experiences or feelings pent up inside them find themselves in those paintings and feel valued.
One day she decided to paint a portrait of him. She was not a very skilful artist experienced in doing portraits. She displayed the water colour portrait in an exhibition and it was appreciated unexpectedly by all viewers. The painting was also nominated in a prestigious all-India exhibition.
There was a Computer and IT Training Institute nearby. After much thought, she decided to do a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 course. Technology is the new language that is so important and it is important to be abreast with the developments. Efficient data management is very important in organizations for effective functioning – so the management of database is very important. She had a very enjoyable experience for a few months. Microsoft SQL Server is one of the leading database technologies that has many positive points and conveniences, making it suitable for widespread applications even nowadays in database accuracy, building of database, database security, ease in data reference. SQL has been adopted by numerous popular companies including Amazon, Uber, LinkedIn for data extraction, data management, modification, data-centric analysis.
