Buried Treasures

“My earliest love for archaeology and palaeontology came from the excavation documentaries on Discovery channel. Scientists and researchers digging through tombs of Egypt, excavating dinosaur fossils fascinated me and I imagined myself to have a similar career. I opted for Human Evolution as one of my electives during my third year of Bachelor’s which opened me to this amazing world of research and brought me one step closer to realizing my dream career.

I pursued my Master’s in Anthropology followed by an M.Phil at Delhi University. The immense knowledge and exposure that I got during this time encouraged me to explore more and pursue a PhD at IISER, Mohali.

Being from Delhi University, adjusting to the campus life in IISER was perhaps one of the initial challenges I faced. I had hoped for more academic indulges, scientific conversations and an overall cooperation and understanding amongst the PhD scholars. Unfortunately, the mixed crowd at IISER hindered my ability to connect with people and failed to give me a sense of community. I had a hard time connecting with the people of my laboratory too.

Since we dealt with different time periods in prehistory with very minimal overlap, most of us worked in isolation. My research time period dates back to pre-Harappan civilization where I study/explore the stone tools in the Son River Valley. From the sediment and…