Exhibition on vaccines highlights intersectionality of science and society

The Nehru Science Centre NSC at Worli is playing host to an exhibition on vaccines called lsquoVaccines Injecting Hopersquo As the Coronavirus plunged the world in gloom for many it was a syringe that pierced through the thunderclouds like sunlight on an overcast day bringing hope and life amidst suffering Exhibits installations and literature aimed at showing the role of vaccines in our world what was their part in past crises how far we have come scientifically and what will happen in the future all put science on the highest pedestalThe exhibition was inaugurated over this past weekend by science centrersquos special guests who gave their words of wisdom on the occasion The leafy venuersquos auditorium was packed with students from different schools listening intently several amongst these were aspiring scientistsWorld pharmacySamarendra Kumar deputy director general National Council of Science Museums Kolkata said on a nostalgic note ldquoI started my career here at this very centre in 1989 It is especially moving for me to be here speaking on the occasion The exhibition is on the science of vaccines and new vaccines for future diseaserdquo He reminded his audience that ldquoIndia is the pharmacy of the worldrdquo and there were some cheers for that The exhibition is on at the Worli venue but they also have a similar exhibition in a travelling van ldquowhich will be going to rural parts of the staterdquo he explainedGlobal storyHelen Jones director Global Engagement Science Museum London said ldquoIt is very humbling to be here with people who made such a contribution during the pandemic It is important that we remember and hear stories about what it was like to live through the pandemic These are global stories that need to be toldrdquoPivotal roleThe UKIndia story was taken further by Philomena Gibbons associate director Transition amp Legacy Wellcome Trust London who said ldquoThe COVID19 pandemic showed the pivotal role science played in working towards a solutionrdquo She made a case of engagement of society with science and added that the exhibition ldquohas global messagesrdquo Next speaker Alison Barrett MBE director India British Council British High Commission New Delhi said a few sentences in Hindi earning laughter and applause from the audience as she underlined the IndiaUK collaboration and called it the ldquovaccine alliancerdquoLife saversThere was Dr Mufazzal Lakdawala director Dept of General Surgery and Minimal Access Surgical Sciences Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital on the mike soon after He said ldquoVaccines brought about new hope during the pandemic It was then that we knew we could fight the virus we did so and overcame itrdquo Lakdawala addedSoulsearchingPadma Vibhushan Dr Anil Kakodkar spoke about ldquoHow all of us have had an experience of going through the pandemic which was a worldwide phenomenon and had a great adverse global impactrdquo Kakodkar added ldquoUsually a vaccine develops over years Yet a pandemic like the one we had does not give one the luxury of that time This is an incredible phenomenon that the world has gone through and it is a story that must reach everyonerdquoKakodkar said ldquoWe must also be careful about how we handle climate change If not addressed correctly it has potential to have huge and devastating impactrdquo The expert said that it was science that helped manage the damage during Coronavirus ldquoYet we have to think that as human beings have we driven ourselves to living in a way that creates instability The world is becoming richer but that does not mean it is becoming happier Can we adjust ourselves to living so that the things that happen ensure stability We have created a heavy disturbance in our ecology We cannot be living from crisis to crisis We need to do some soul searching This exhibition tells us how we can correct ourselves in a fundamental wayrdquo he wrapped up on a riveting morning where science met society and soul searching The exhibition Vaccines injecting Hope is on till July 28July 28Day the exhibition will be held till