“It is essential that we appreciate people when they do a good job, before complaining about all the mistakes they made. That was my biggest takeaway from working in the UK, where I went for a short period after my PhD. It is a very common thing in India, even…

“I was born and brought up in a family of engineers. That and my love for Mathematics initially influenced me to pursue a BE in Electrical Engineering. During my undergraduate studies, I developed an interest in Communications and felt the need to delve more into the topic. So, instead of…

“I loved flies, but they didn’t love me back. I had bad allergies to flies during my PhD and I needed medications to keep them under some control. I initially got interested in the field of developmental biology after attending a journal club for the same where I saw beautiful…

“The journeys of Kalpana Chawla and Kiran Majumdar, in my early childhood, helped me develop an interest in science. I was an average student by convention, but keener to learn practical things. Biotechnology interested me, because of Kiran, but I was convinced early in life that I did not want…

“I spent most of my childhood in Madhya Pradesh where my parents had shifted for their work. After my graduation, I joined a textile company as a management trainee HR and slowly climbed the ladder in the corporate sector. …

“Growing up, I didn’t have an inclination toward academics. But since I belonged to a family of academicians, I went with the flow, gave entrance examinations, and ended up pursuing Law. I got an Assistant Professorship job after my post-graduation, however, commuting every day to and fro from college for…

“My interest in the field of architecture traces back to my childhood days where I was mostly surrounded by real estate professionals. After I did my Bachelor’s in the same, I felt the prospects of getting a job were quite bleak with just a Bachelor’s degree. Therefore, I decided to…

“I got exposed to research only after I came to IIT Bombay to do my MTech in microelectronics. The way my professors taught motivated me to pursue an academic career. I even published a paper in ‘Journal of Applied Physics’ during my Master’s which was a huge boost of confidence…

“I was raised by a single mother with assistance from my maternal uncles and grandfather with the belief that girls weren’t inferior to boys. Unfortunately, I failed my Physics paper in Standard XII because of my deep-rooted childhood trauma of being mocked and taunted at by the people around me…