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The Biggest Challenge of Doing Science: WRITING.

Recently I was going through a science journal for teens, basically published to make them aware aware about the new advancements in the field of Science and Technology. I was flipping the pages and my eyes got stuck to this headline; " A man who published more than 1000 research papers: Bharat Ratna Dr. C. N. R. Rao." I was flabbergasted by the number. I immediately took out my phone and read about him on Wikipedia and to my surprise what Wikipedia said was, " C. N. R. Rao has authored 1,500 research papers and 45 scientific books". OMG!!! What huge amount of efforts he must have invested in these many years to express his findings through these many publications!. AMAZING. 

By God's grace, I also got some wonderful opportunities to put my baby steps into the field of research. I won't say that I enjoy my research work thoroughly because 'Eureka' moments do not strike everyday and the huge amount of patience which research requires, always gets on my nerves. 95% of times I am unhappy because I don't have answers to my questions and the worst part starts when I don't know where to search for those answers. Experimental work so far what I have done was no big deal. Simulations and analysis work was repetitive and once the correct method is found, one can simply apply the algorithm to get the results. The biggest challenge, I face in research is availing texts for my understanding and then writing what I have understood.  There is this vast gap between the actual work done and the availability of texts to explain the findings. How to express what one has understood, using words as tools. many times I know that I understand few things by conversing with my instinct. But how to explain others, arranging the words in a manner that it make sense?

I am sure that this must be an issue with many aspiring scientists because at the end of the day we want our piece of research to be published so that it can contribute a bit to the vast ocean of knowledge. 

I have pondered a lot on this issue and every time I got the answer from within that one needs to read more, to write more. I struggled to be a regular reader and investigator but unfortunately there is so much to learn and know that a whole life time will not be enough to grasp even 5% of the floating knowledge. Now I was in search of the other alternative to overcome my inability to express my scientific understanding. After some months of deep self analysis, I finally came to the conclusion : To start writing one should START writing. 

START writing anything, everything whatever you feel like writing. It may be a sentence or a book. It is absolutely OK to express your thoughts. 

Sometimes we have to UNLEARN few things to be ourselves and that is how INVENTIONS take place.

With my reverence to WORLD of SCIENCE,

vagabond_mimansa.

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