IISc students make song and dance of science

Bengaluru: Explaining a chemical process with the help of Dollu Kunitha, a folk dance performance, would not have been thought of even in the wildest of the dreams of many. How about a farmers’ dance defining the process of Universe Expansion? That neither, right?

Well, this is what the undergraduate students of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) are expected to do to fulfill the academic needs of completing their fourth semester. The course titled “Mapping India through the Folk Arts” is a part of the Humanities curriculum all science students should attend at the campus.

“The course aims to equip the scientists to understand and appreciate the diversity and uniqueness of the multicultural essence of our country. I wanted them to do something other than the written word,” said Dr Bitasta Das, Instructor-Humanities, IISc, who also designed the course.

“Sway with Science” as the programme was named this year, saw students who major in Physics, Chemistry, Biology,  Mathematics, Earth & Environmental Science and Material Science perform one ground-breaking research each based from their respective discipline of study.

While Dollu Kunthia (drum dance form of Karnataka) was rendered to explain Haber Process, Koithu Pattu (rustic harvest dance of Kerala) explained Gravitational Waves and Universe Expansion. The students also performed Lavni, a Maharashrian folk dance to demonstrate CRISPR, a genome editing technology, Koothu (street folk dance of Tamil Nadu), Vira (Daman & Diu), and Kalbelia (snake charmer dance of Rajasthan) helped them define processes related to Material Properties and Microscopy, Plastic-Eating Worms, and Four Colour Theorem respectively.

The instructor adds that the programme resulted in facilitating a fresh approach to science. “The result produced by the students was an unprecedented spectacle that, in many ways, endows a new dimension to the Indian folk dance genre,” said Dr Das.

She added that the course had got acclaim even from scientists outside the institute with the start of an exclusive section named “Arting Science” in which contributions of various artists are carried. “The content from the column is printed by IISc Press and is now gifted to institute visitors,” she said.

According to Pranav Minasendra, a student and one of the performers, it was learning with fun. “The course was an eye-opener to us as we never knew that we could analyse a nation with the help of understanding folk arts,” he said.

“We were happy that we found novel ways to make others understand a concept without using scientific words. The programme also helped us break the notion that humanities and science do not go together,” said Saptarshi Majumdar, another student.