Today I accepted an offer from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, to become Scientist Gr. IV (3) ad-hoc. All that hard work for Gr IV (3) you say? Well, that’s just a taste of things to come, life à la Govt of India. I feel like I have been running for the past many months and even as the finishing ribbon flutters to the ground, ahead of me stretches the next course. I just finished a 16-month long race so I could qualify for a 29-year long marathon. Congratulations to me! As I digested this information I began thinking back. To grasp the momentousness of this, well moment, I have to give you some numbers. Here goes… 24 applications sent 10 visits 8 seminars 3 rejections 3 offers Or look at it another way… 16 months (first application sent in October 2008) 32,000 American Airlines air miles (qualifying me for GOLD (!!) status) 6,300 air miles within India (10,000 km) 57 scientists (one-on-one interviews) 8 cities 2 Young Investigator’s meetings I thi...