From a close friend doing some research work in India, and raising a young child:

[The child] makes all of it worthwhile, and when there is a rash on his little bum it feels worse then getting a funding application rejection, and when he smiles at me and claps his hands out of sheer joy at communication, it feels better than anything. Then he looks up, sees a crow, points and says “kaa” (his word for crow), and there are no words.

So, life is good.