It is not everyday you meet someone who is as passionate about learning science and as understanding various aspects of spirituality. Meet Sridhar Banerjee, a curious yet content soul, a PhD in Bio-inspired Inorganic Chemistry and did his research on unravelling Bio-mimicking of Iron complexes. He has since then evolved his career in various channels which includes collaborative research with a renowned European laboratory, working in Indian and Global Pharmaceutical companies in various capacities thus re-channelising and re-sharpening his skill sets as per the demands of these professional roles. In parallel he is a voracious reader, loves to buy paper books in this digital world and also writes about science, spirituality, and his travel experiences in English and Bengali. Yes! So amidst all these activities he also finds time to travel and rekindle his relationship with nature, he loves travelling to unknown places and mostly near to the great Himalayan ranges. Science and I is very happy to bring his story for its readers to devour his journey in various aspects of life as a scientist.
Q1. What attracted you to studying chemistry at college?
I still remember the day. It was a Sunday. I went to the playground with my father. The sun was about to set. I looked at the big, round-shaped, crimson red ball of fire and asked my father, “Baba, what is the sun made of?” He immediately replied, “The sun is made of billions of tiny little balls. Balls so tiny that you can’t see them even using your magnifying glass.”
The story of the tiny balls never stopped after that. When I grew up and went to high school, the tiny balls got a name—atoms. Later, I discovered that those tiny balls are actually not solid, but rather puffy like cotton balls. Even later, I found out they are not spherical balls at all, but nuclei covered with a mysterious cloud of electrons, a cloud that can change shape depending on the energy of the electron. The balls bond with each other to form clusters of balls—called molecules. The story of the tiny balls changed over time, but the storyteller remained the same—my father. He used to teach organic chemistry in a government college in West Bengal. My family acted as the catalyst. Two of my uncles were also chemistry teachers. From my childhood, they taught me how to make a volcano using potassium permanganate and glycerol (both were easily available in the local medicine shop), make litmus paper using hibiscus flower, or perform electrolysis of water using an old radio battery and a couple of safety pins. So, to answer the question, my childhood, my family, acted as the catalyst for me choosing chemistry.
Q2. Can you please tell us about the origin of another equally important side of yours that is the quest for understanding spirituality?
This aspect of my life is also rooted in my childhood. I grew up in a devoted family. I have seen my parents, my grandmother, and other loved ones waking up early in the morning, meditating, and worshiping before starting their day. Similarly, in the evening, I have always seen them meditating for another long stretch. As a curious child, sometimes I used to sit beside them, forcefully trying to keep my eyes shut. The purifying silence, pacifying smell of incense sticks, colorful petals of flowers, and the steady flame of the diya slowly but surely acted on my mind to turn inward. That was the beginning.
Later, during my college days at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, I got the opportunity to get in touch with monks of the Ramakrishna Order. Deeply influenced by their living, I started reading the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Maa Sarada, and Swami Vivekananda, as well as classical texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, and the Upanishads. The central theme of Ramakrishna Mission’s philosophy, Advaita Vedanta (also known as non-dualism), deeply inspired my thoughts. I found the meaning and purpose of my life.
3) How do you handle the conflict that arises from a practitioner of modern science versus a disciple for understanding world religion and spirituality?
To be honest, I do not find any conflict. Science is the tool to understand the nature outside, the objective universe—an intricate model of reality. Spirituality, on the other hand, is a tool to explore the universe within us. While modern science has its own methodology involving experiments, observations, and theoretical analyses, spirituality has its own methodologies—such as upasana (worship), dhyana and nididhyasana (meditation), and vichara (analysis)—to explore the inner world. As with science, you can verify the findings of spirituality by using proper methods. There is no need to have a predisposition of faith (although there is no harm if you do have faith). Just follow the proper methods, and verify for yourself; discover your true nature—you are pure existence, pure consciousness, and pure bliss.
Yes, there is a conflict between materialistic schools of thought and spirituality, and the conflict could be simplified to this: a materialist thinks consciousness arises out of matter and its interactions, whereas a spiritualist thinks the other way round—consciousness is fundamental; without consciousness, the universe does not exist. However, it is not wise to reckon modern science and materialism are synonymous. In fact, a number of newer theories of consciousness proposed by modern scientists and philosophers of mind, such as the works of Bernardo Kastrup, Federico Faggin and David Chalmers, support the irreducibility of consciousness. I would request the interested readers to explore “the hard problem of consciousness”.
4) In today’s time religion can be a very sensitive matter and mostly the new generations are not very aware of the spiritual practices, and confusion between religion and spirituality. In your opinion, how can one who has curiosity start learning about spirituality?
Yes, religion is a bit sensitive today, but that is because we often identify religion with dogmatic and regimented practices. Ideally, religion should have its roots in spirituality—a set of rules and regulations helping an individual (and a community) to find peace within. As Vivekananda says, “Religion is the manifestation of divinity already in man.” Dogmatic and regimented religions may create divisions, but when religion is considered as the journey of finding one’s intrinsic divinity, it makes an individual more empathetic and virtuous.
There is a perception that materialistic ideologies are getting stronger day by day, but so are spiritual ideologies. We live in a very interesting time when teachings of modern-age spiritual giants such as Swami Sarvapriyananda, Rupert Spira, and many more are easily available on the internet. This is a time when you can enjoy enriching debates on the theory of consciousness between David Chalmers and Anil Seth. People, including the tech-savvy new generation, are using these resources extensively.
However, it is important to remember that spiritual life does not exist without practice, and a true seeker finds guidance from within and eventually discovers the path most suitable for them.
5) Last but not least about your current profession moving from bench side chemist to scientific/ medical writing, what was the turning point for this change? How did you handle this change? Any tips for the readers?
I have always been passionate about communicating science. In my school and college days, I used to write popular science articles for institutional magazines. Later, I wrote science articles for leading Bengali newspapers and periodicals. In 2020, my one-minute short film titled “Science Through My Eyes” won the first prize in a nationwide video film competition jointly arranged by the Indian National Science Academy and the Science and Engineering Research Board. Professionally, with my 9 years of research experience in academia and industry, I realized that communicating science is as important as doing science. Thousands of brilliant minds are discovering amazing things every day, pushing the boundaries of our knowledge bit by bit. I wanted to be a messenger of cutting-edge science, spreading the words of science to a broader audience.
My tip for readers currently pursuing scientific research and wanting to transition to the field of scientific writing is: listen to your heart. Are you passionate about science communication and ready to work really hard? If yes, then please come and join the party. There is no doubt that sometimes you will miss your laboratory, but believe me, this is just as exciting.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this blog post are solely my own and do not reflect the opinions or views of my current employer, the organizations mentioned, or the individuals referred to. They are not responsible for any of the content or opinions expressed herein.