I’m lovin’ it

“Landing into this field was serendipitous. And so was finding a great laboratory for doing my PhD. I am extremely lucky because my supervisor gives all of us the freedom to design our own experiments and execute them. This is critical to developing as a scientist.
But I didn’t always know I wanted this. While in school, I had no idea about PhD and aspired to become a medical doctor. And then, as fate would have it, I didn’t get through any medical entrance examination and enrolled myself in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi for a Bachelor’s in Biomedical Sciences. Most of our classes were practical based and it helped me develop an idea of the subject, a preliminary feeling of doing science. I absolutely loved it.
I also had the opportunity to visit some of the most prestigious research institutes of India during my Master’s interviews 3 years later and this experience opened me up even further. It gave me an insight into how researchers think and the kind of questions they ask. I guess I liked the thrill of doing Science, being surrounded by these highly stimulating minds.
I got my first paper published just a few days back. I remember fantasizing about the excitement of this acceptance for almost a year. But with all the reviewing and re-reviewing and corrections, I had started to forget the excitement. And then the good news finally came. I was ecstatic!
In addition to everything, I am lucky to have an amazing set of friends here who have been a constant support system throughout this journey. Whenever I am demotivated I just sit with them, whine about my failed experiments and everything else, and the next day I am good to go.
If there’s something I would like to tell anyone, especially in India, about pursuing a PhD, it is- “Do it only if you are in it for the long haul, only if you think you are motivated. You can enjoy the journey if you are actually passionate about it. No other reason works.””

- Eshant Bhatia, PhD in Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay