Off the desk, other things.

Science and research consume most of my time — but I have plenty of other interests, even if I can’t pursue them all at once.

Art & painting

I started drawing as a small child — portraits of historic figures and Indian gods. I never went to professional art school but took weekly lessons from a private art teacher for about four years. I sat the Fine Arts (Painting) examinations of Pracheen Kala Kendra in Chandigarh, completing four years (Chitra Bhushan I, II, III and Chitra Visharad I) before high school and undergraduate studies took over. I still regret not finishing the final year Chitra Visharad II, to receive the diploma Chitra Visharad.

I’ve drawn in pencil, crayon, pastel and watercolor. I started painting again, on and off, in December 2012, but moving to New York in 2015 broke that rhythm. I keep meaning to return — and to finally try oil painting. A handful of pieces live on the gallery page.

Sports

I love watching and playing many games. I grew up where cricket is the default; I played it whenever I could, though I follow it less now. Badminton, table tennis, volleyball, basketball, and swimming all came along in undergrad. My favourites — to play and to watch — are football (soccer) and tennis. Football because eastern India breathes it; tennis because graduate school at Carnegie Mellon gave me an empty wall at the tennis courts to learn from scratch, YouTube, and friends willing to rally.

Music

I always listened widely, but never seriously studied music as a child. My two sisters took Indian classical lessons; I was busy with school, sport and painting. Years later, in graduate school, I noticed something missing — and started teaching myself guitar, then flute, in spare hours. A bit of violin followed in summer 2017 before paused. Slow progress; mostly through YouTube. I’ll come back to it.

The universe & everything in it

I’m drawn to almost any topic — scientific, philosophical, spiritual, metaphysical. I read about new planets, stars, archaeology, religion, civilization, history. I can never quite get enough of it.