‘Science on Tap’ brings people closer to science via informal sessions over beer
The first session was organised at the residence of Mahajan’s friend in Kothrud where people from the friend circle were invited to participate
‘Which mushroom should I eat to get a body like Shah Rukh Khan?’, ‘Can tasting help identify the good and bad yeast in beer?’… In case you’re wondering what kind of posers these are; you’ll be surprised to know that they’re just questions being fielded by scientists as part of a unique outreach programme titled ‘Science on Tap’ which aims to bring people closer to science. So far, 30 such sessions have been organised at various restaurants, pubs, lounges and cafés in the city over something as casual as a pint of beer.
The brainchild of Anoop Mahajan, a scientist from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and his friend Nakul Bhonsale of ‘Great State Aleworks’, an Indian craft brewery, ‘Science on Tap’ has roped in experts from different fields to unlock the mysteries around complex subjects during each interactive session.
Elaborating on the initiative, Mahajan said, “The idea behind this initiative is to reduce the gap between science and common people. This initiative is a perfect combination of science and craft beer minus the jargon and seriousness which leads to a lot of fun. Generally, we think that only children are curious about science but during this initiative, we learned that adults are equally curious about various science-related topics. There is a lot of information available on the Internet which sometimes confuses us. Also, there are misconceptions. This initiative helps people to understand science better. And with our informal settings, they can ask any question without the fear of being judged.”
The first session was organised at the residence of Mahajan’s friend in Kothrud where people from the friend circle were invited to participate, Mahajan informed. “Later, we started getting good response for our initiative through word-of-mouth. We organised two sessions at ‘The Farm Café’ near Chandni Chowk and some sessions at Mr Alex - Mr Rabbits in Baner. The last few sessions were arranged at ‘Great State Aleworks’ in Koregaon Park,” Mahajan said.
Sessions are held once every month mainly over weekends and the topics range from Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Anthropology, Climate change, the Universe and machines. Mahajan said that they contacted scientists working on different topics and so far, three international scientists – one from Singapore and two from the United States – have participated in the sessions. People can get information about upcoming sessions via the ‘Science on Tap’ Instagram page. “Our next programme is scheduled on April 23 in which the science of colour will be explained by scientists,” Mahajan said.
Dr Snigdha Tiwari , researcher from the Agharkar Research Institute, said, “Initially, I attended this programme to listen to the talk by one of my colleagues, Dr Karthick Balasubramanian, who spoke about ‘Oxygen producing Glass Houses’. I found it very interesting as it was the first time that I had come across such an initiative in India. There were so many different kinds of interaction and people from all walks of life attending this programme caught my attention. Later, I was asked to talk on the topic of yeast as I work on it. I also wanted to introduce the different kinds of things that you can do with yeast, so that was an interesting session. I remember I had lots of questions from the participants, and many of them related to beer. This kind of informal talk gives you a wider perspective on your own thoughts. I have always been inclined towards scientific communication but it was always in a formal setup like a seminar, presentation or student outreach programme etc. However, this was very different and a very exciting experience for me as the concept was discussing science in a very informal setup and that too, over beer.”
Kinshuk Shikarkhane, an architect and a regular attendee at the sessions, said, “It is a great initiative. There is so much information available online and you really don’t know what to follow or what to believe so it’s perfect when someone who is an expert on the subject can talk to you one-on-one and point you in the right direction. Otherwise, it’s easy to get lost in the information available on the Internet. It’s also an eye opener on lots of topics. I am personally interested in topics like Probiotics; they covered mushrooms, the atmosphere and plant-related topics. The sessions help bust a lot of myths related to science as well.”