Bengaluru: We have many reasons to celebrate this National Science Day on the 28th of this month. India has successfully launched satellites into space, put an orbiter around the Moon and the Mars within a budget that even the developed nations admire. The nation is celebrating ISRO’s commendable feat and the women and the men who made all this possible. The behind-the-scenes, unassuming women scientists who have spearheaded many important missions need to be recognised, celebrated for their hard work and dedication as much as their male counterparts. But the special emphasis on women scientists are all for a reason.

Minal Sampath, the women engineer at the centre of India’s space mission – her husband Rohit Sivakumar says, “I see real transformation happening in the society with awareness about these women who have worked tirelessly for this mission. We need to encourage girls into engineering, science & technology fields where ratio of women to men is still skewed. We are building smart cities,we must aim to build smart societies by encouraging more women into science. I am very happy and really looking forward to a new India where women walk together with men and help build a true happy society.”

Carrying forward the same line of thought, Tanushree Ganguly, Scientist, Researching on cancer drugs says , “It is so refreshing to read about these women scientists. Because, more often than not, they are lost amidst so many men. By default, men are known to be more logical and intelligent. Women are supposed to be good at social sciences, the so called ‘softer subjects.”

On this science day, what are the first thoughts? “I wish we had more funding and more encouragement from the government. We still have to build our labs to a certain standard,” says Jyoti Tanwar, a Chemistry professor. Adding, she says, “Also, I wish we would ask more questions and not take answers lying down. We should be curious, curious to seek answers.”