The balance

“The only thing I knew that I enjoyed and wanted to do as a student was to have a career in teaching and that I needed a PhD in order to become a professor. I however had no idea about the subject I wanted to pursue or whom to approach for guidance. So I decided to go with the flow. I qualified for the interviews at IIT Kanpur and got into a PhD program right after my BTech from VNIT Nagpur.

It was after I started doing research that I began enjoying it. My work focused on alloy development with the aim of making materials that had better properties than the existing ones and which can be used in varied fields, ranging from steel industry to building rockets. I used to jump with joy whenever an experiment would be successful after multiple failed attempts. But a few years into my PhD, I lost my mother. I was devastated and considered quitting a number of times. I took a break, stayed at home for about two months and contemplated my decisions on what I should do next. Fortunately, my supervisors were very supportive and gave me the time to heal. Eventually, I thought if I had started something, I should see the end of it too.

What helped me was the fact that I found my best friend-turned-husband Rupesh in this journey who understood the frustration that a PhD entails. Furthermore, my colleagues were not just work partners, they were friends. I also got immense support from my family, be it my…