Allotropy is the ability of an element to exist in different structural forms while in the same state of matter. For example, elemental carbon can exist in many well-known forms such as diamond, graphite, fullerenes and more recently, carbon nanotubes. Such different things yet the same element. I find the phenomenon very fascinating, especially because a pure and unadulterated form of a single element can exhibit so many different properties just by changes in its core structural form.
Penicillin molecule in 3D
But why the fascination especially with (elemental) allotropes alone? Chemistry is all about chemical transformations, replace the hydrogen in hydrogen sulfide with iron and you get Fool’s gold but replace the hydrogen with cadmium and you can make photocells. Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928 and in a few decades we have been able to make many analogues of it. Isn’t it fascinating enough to be able to build complex molecules from smaller simpler pieces? To be able to play around at the molecular level? Yes, that fascinates me equally but what is special about allotropy is that it never requires any external ingredients to be added to achieve the transformation. Though I must admit that I like the phenomenon more for its philosophical meaning.
What if we are able to apply the concept of allotropy in real life?
A little over a year ago began a journey that became a masked attempt at self-discovery through the desire to tame one of the most eluding human activities: sleep. I may not have achieved my goal yet but what I have achieved is a lot more awake time and more importantly, a deeper understanding of something we spend almost a third of our life doing.
Me napping at noon in Abingdon
When I began polyphasic sleeping though, my sole objective was to achieve more awake time. I was one of those I-cannot-deal-with-less-than-8-hours-of-sleep person. With an impending viva a few months away and a lot of lab work, I had to force myself to find this extra time that I needed. Throughout this year long journey, I have overcome many challenges and I’ll highlight a few in this post.
The initial adjustment to polyphasic sleeping has been one of the biggest challenges that I have faced. But a strong desire to discipline my sleeping habits went a long way in helping me settle into the polyphasic schedule. I began thinking that I will be able to achieve the dymaxion schedule but quickly understood how inflexible it can get. Since then, I have managed myself on an everyman schedule. In this schedule, I get 3 naps a day and sleep 4-5 hours on most days.
While trying to adjust to a polyphasic sleep schedule I developed some sort of sleep deprivation which proved to be a big hurdle. I say ‘some sort’ because it was nothing like the sleep deprivation that one develops after staying awake straight for 36 hours. I found that the only way I could to overcome it was by having a continuous desire to do something. But that means there was a constant need to find something that I was motivated enough to keep doing. It proved to be a challenge in itself. But funnily enough, my desire to find an eternal source of motivation led me to a solution not so far away. Let me explain.
I was quite skeptical of achieving this feat and never thought it would be a good idea to share the experiment with friends. But inadvertently it became a topic of conversation more often than not. I soon realised the power of what Alex kept saying about making public pledges. Quite simply, once people knew what I was doing this, I had more will power to keep doing it. Another source of motivation that came from discussing polyphasic sleep was the realisation that sleep is a problem for almost everyone. Everyone seemed to have a very unique perspective on sleep and it hardly ever worked to their advantage. Polyphasic sleeping was my way of making my perspective on sleep work to my advantage.
Three weeks into the schedule and I had started reaping the fruits of my labour. Adding to my motivation tank what followed was my first lucid dream which I remember till date and since then I’ve had a few of these. Another motivator was that polyphasic sleep kept me in a positive mind frame and pleasantly so.
An interesting discussion broke out when Prof. Sriram posted the news of Prof. Nitin Nohria being appointed as the new dean at the Harvard Business School. I thought an emotion-laden argument to be rebutted.
we feel proud when ‘one of us’ heads foreign organisations. is it because we feel accepted by the erstwhile colonists? Is that very stark, dark, harsh truth that a new appointment at IIM or even ICT, a story equally interesting, equally filled with strife and overcoming barriers, doesn’t make the newspapers. We identity with Dr. Nohria as one of us. He inspires us. We talk about him. We put his news on our fb walls. Not because he is dean of a business school. But its Harvard, oh and a phd from MIT an indian who has been tendered global acceptance as one endowed with intelligence. Are we still insecure? How many shilpa shetty’s winning Big Brother UKs will make the headlines. Why can’t we look within ourselves to seek inspiration. Maybe, that’s why indian’s loose a handsome chunk of its talent to countries like the US. Coz u may be smart, but hey, do u have a degree from harvard? only then, are we talking.
but it us who appreciate HBS more than an IIM-A (getting into which is def more difficult)
Americans were not our colonists. The fact that an Indian genius has been recognised in a place full of geniuses is the achievement we are glad to hear. We are not trying to feel accepted but simply proud that someone has achieved it and someday even we can.
Akshat Rathi 