The Multiplier

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My NoSmalltalk session with Dr. Deepti Saini

by Albert Schiller

Two Legacies

There are two ways to measure a scientific legacy. The first one is to direct accounting of an individual's own discoveries, publications, and patents. The second is a more complex, exponential metric: the number of future discoverers one inspires. Dr. Deepti Saini’s career is a deliberate choice to prioritize the second model. She operates on the philosophy of being a "multiplicator for impact," a belief that the most profound legacy a scientist can leave is not the sum of their own work, but the ignition of a genuine passion for research in a new generation.

The Flawed Curriculum

This mission is a direct response to what Saini identifies as a fundamental flaw in the Indian education system. She argues that an overemphasis on "theory classes and grades" conditions students to view science as a subject for memorization, not a process of discovery. They learn the facts in the textbook, but they do not learn the creative, messy, and practical work of the lab, which states, “is the true heart of science”. This system is effective at producing students who are proficient at passing exams, but it is insufficient to cultivate the “genuine curiosity and passion required to produce the next generation of innovators”.

Proficiency in Science

Saini's approach to teaching is to reframe science not as a static set of facts, but as a dynamic language for asking creative questions. In her view, the goal is to move students from a mindset of reproducing what is in the syllabus to one of using the scientific method to "tinker around" with their own ideas. Ultimately, language is not mastered by memorizing the dictionary, it is mastered by using the words to create a new sentence. Similarly, science is not mastered by memorizing the textbook, but by using its principles to design a new experiment and discover.

The Cactus Coat

A single story illustrates the potential Saini seeks to unleash. A high school student, observing that a cactus plant preserves its own moisture with a natural coating, had a simple and impactful idea. He created a gel from this coating and proposed using it as a natural, non-toxic preservative for fruits and vegetables. He then came to her lab to test its antimicrobial properties. This, for Saini, is the essence of scientific thinking: an act of observation, imagination, and practical experimentation. It is precisely this kind of creative, problem-solving mindset that is stifled by a rigid, grade-focused curriculum.

Redefining the "Win"

Saini's educational work is an attempt to redefine what a "win" looks like for a student and for herself. It is a mission to reframe science for students who have been taught to see it as a "Plan B" if they "didn't get into medicine." By giving them hands-on lab experience, she aims to show them that a career in research is a creative and viable "Plan A." For her, success is not limited to breakthroughs in one of her own experiments. It is the moment a student's passion for the scientific process is ignited, creating a multiplier effect that carries the potential for discovery far beyond the scope of a single lab or a single lifetime.

5 Lessons with practical values-