More About Me
Science and research consumes most of my time. However, I have various interests and hobbies beyond academics, even though,
I am not able to pursue all of them at the same time.
Art and Painting
I developed interest in drawing since I was a little kid. I loved to draw potraits of famous person and mythical Indian Gods. I never enrolled in a professional Art school, however I took weekly lessons from a private art teacher for about 4 years. I took the Fine Arts(Painting) examination of an Art Academy called Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, India. I could only complete upto 4th year ("Chitra Bhushan" Part I, II, III and "Chitra Visharad" part I). I regret that I could not finish one more year of painting, "Chitra Visharad" part II to obtain the diploma "Chitra Visharad". I couldn't continue any further as I was entering 10th grade and my teacher left for his higher diploma in painting and I got busy with high school and then undergraduate studies. I have used various mediums such as pencils, crayons, pastels, water color. I still wish that someday I can learn "Oil Painting"! I started painting again on and off since December 2012 (check out my gallery page if intereseted), but after moving to New York City in 2015, I couldn't keep up. I hope that sometime in the future I will be able to draw and paint more often.
Sports
I am also a big sports lover. I love to watch and play many games and always keen to learn new ones if possible. I come from a nation where the most popular game is cricket. I used to play and enjoy watching it whenever I could, but lately, I have not been following cricket at all. I also like badminton, table tennis, volleyball, basketball, swimming which I learnt during my undergraduate, and few other sports. However, my favorite sports to play and watch are football (soccer) and tennis. I come from a football loving region (eastern part of india) and have been playing it since my childhood. I started playing tennis during my graduate school days at Carnegie Mellon. I taught myself by regularly practising against the wall at the tennis courts, watching youtube tutorials, and of course playing with friends.
Music
I always loved listening to music of all kinds, but never really got into learning music. Although my two sisters took Indian classical music lessons for some years, I was simply content with my studies, sports and paintings ! Not sure why, but I never felt strongly about learning music or, any instrument when I was growing up. Even in college, I did not take up any extra-curricular activities. After I started my graduate school, I realized that something was missing. I started with Guitar(self-teaching) in my first half of graduate school and then picked up flute. I just learn and practice guitar and flute once in a while when I have time. It's a very slow progress. I also learnt a bit of Violin since summer of 2017, but then paused after a year due to other activities. I was self teaching myself through youtube lessons, perhaps will pickup again someday since I really like playing and listening to it.
Universe and the World
Last, but not the least, I'm always keen to learn about variety of topics, be it scientific, philoshopical and spiritual, metaphysical or anything else. I love to read anything and everything I find about the universe, the nature, the earth and its civilization throughout the human history. I'm intereseted in knowing new planets or stars found in the galaxy, new scientific discovery, or a new theory, new archaeological discoveries about early civilization, their culture, religion, etc. I really can't have enough of these things.
Art and Painting
I developed interest in drawing since I was a little kid. I loved to draw potraits of famous person and mythical Indian Gods. I never enrolled in a professional Art school, however I took weekly lessons from a private art teacher for about 4 years. I took the Fine Arts(Painting) examination of an Art Academy called Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, India. I could only complete upto 4th year ("Chitra Bhushan" Part I, II, III and "Chitra Visharad" part I). I regret that I could not finish one more year of painting, "Chitra Visharad" part II to obtain the diploma "Chitra Visharad". I couldn't continue any further as I was entering 10th grade and my teacher left for his higher diploma in painting and I got busy with high school and then undergraduate studies. I have used various mediums such as pencils, crayons, pastels, water color. I still wish that someday I can learn "Oil Painting"! I started painting again on and off since December 2012 (check out my gallery page if intereseted), but after moving to New York City in 2015, I couldn't keep up. I hope that sometime in the future I will be able to draw and paint more often.
Sports
I am also a big sports lover. I love to watch and play many games and always keen to learn new ones if possible. I come from a nation where the most popular game is cricket. I used to play and enjoy watching it whenever I could, but lately, I have not been following cricket at all. I also like badminton, table tennis, volleyball, basketball, swimming which I learnt during my undergraduate, and few other sports. However, my favorite sports to play and watch are football (soccer) and tennis. I come from a football loving region (eastern part of india) and have been playing it since my childhood. I started playing tennis during my graduate school days at Carnegie Mellon. I taught myself by regularly practising against the wall at the tennis courts, watching youtube tutorials, and of course playing with friends.
Music
I always loved listening to music of all kinds, but never really got into learning music. Although my two sisters took Indian classical music lessons for some years, I was simply content with my studies, sports and paintings ! Not sure why, but I never felt strongly about learning music or, any instrument when I was growing up. Even in college, I did not take up any extra-curricular activities. After I started my graduate school, I realized that something was missing. I started with Guitar(self-teaching) in my first half of graduate school and then picked up flute. I just learn and practice guitar and flute once in a while when I have time. It's a very slow progress. I also learnt a bit of Violin since summer of 2017, but then paused after a year due to other activities. I was self teaching myself through youtube lessons, perhaps will pickup again someday since I really like playing and listening to it.
Universe and the World
Last, but not the least, I'm always keen to learn about variety of topics, be it scientific, philoshopical and spiritual, metaphysical or anything else. I love to read anything and everything I find about the universe, the nature, the earth and its civilization throughout the human history. I'm intereseted in knowing new planets or stars found in the galaxy, new scientific discovery, or a new theory, new archaeological discoveries about early civilization, their culture, religion, etc. I really can't have enough of these things.