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So, today is Saturday, February 17th, 2024. My name is Teresa Chin, and I'm here with Dr. Sohini Bhattacharya on behalf of the Houston Asian American Archive. So, to start us off, could you please tell us your full name and when and where you were

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born? My full name is Sohini Bhattacharya. I was born in the city of Kolkata, in the state of West Bengal in the east of India in—–I was born on 3rd April,

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1991. How would you kind of describe the household that you grew up in? So, the household, it was a nuclear family. It was me, my mum, and my dad.

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And we are very close-knit family. It's just three of us. So we, the three of us are also best friends. And because both of them were working, and my father is a geologist, he–he used to travel a

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lot. And my mother is a professor of Calcutta University, of biochemistry. And I think I traveled around also with my father, but then there were also long periods of time when he used to be traveling, and me and my mom we kind of explored the

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city together. And–and my parents were also, in many ways, not very conventional or very traditional. They were–they were not at all conservative. They're extremely open.

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I can always talk to them about anything. In fact, whenever I learn something new in school or something confused me, I would always go to them. And I think I've always talked to them about everything,

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and I still do. So that's the kind of household I grew up in. That's so sweet. I know you mentioned they're both kind of in—or your mom was in education. Like, what were some of the values that they emphasized to you,

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like, growing up? I think one thing that I have learned a lot from my mother is—as a–as a teacher, mainly, is empathy. I have always seen her go beyond her ways to kind

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of support students who needed that extra push. And as you may know, it might not be that easy in an Indian setup where there are 70 students in a particular class. But I have seen her make that personal connection with students.

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I have seen a lot of the students come to her with personal problems over the years, and her just trying to talk them through it and help them out in whatever way she can. And right now, she's also the director of an outreach institute in Kolkata that provides

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scholarships to students who are pursuing basic science. And I also hear a lot about the experiences from there. And I see how she has transformed the entire place. And so I would say—–and also that is major because

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she came from—–she didn't come from a well-to-do family. What she has achieved and done for herself is amazing. And I think it's just sheer hard–hard work. And she works so hard at times.

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I really get mad now and say that you need to rest. You're not well. You have to take care of yourself. But she just works so hard. And another thing I—that is one of the values that I got from my mother

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is that her hard work and empathy. And from my dad, because he was a geologist and one of her job—–or one of his job descriptions was to work on coastal regulation zones.

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So these were places whi-which within a certain limit from the sea, which need—needed to be protected. And so, many times construction was being done on those places. And then we used to, he used to visit those.

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At times I have been there with him, and then he used to send reports to the government telling that whether that construction was illegal and that needs to be removed. And I think that also kind of gave me a strong feeling that–—about the need to protect the environment.

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That–that was something very important. And also he—–I think he's very strong. He–he has this immense integrity because a lot of these times, you know, the hotel ow-owners wouldn't go–go easy with

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this. And there were threat calls at home, and so he–he never budged down, even in the strongest of pressure. So these are some of the values I've learned from them. Did you have any fun stories from traveling with your dad or—

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I remember one time when my mom was in, she was in US, as a visiting scientist. And so it was—–at home, it was me, my dad, and at that point of time, my grandfather used to live with us,

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my dad's dad. And it was the three of us. And I was anyway a very pampered child. And at that point of time, I was pampered silly because mum was not around, and I could just get the both of them to do whatever I want to.

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And then, I think my dad was going to Sunderbans which is a mangrove forest in the south—southern part of Bengal. And it kind of extends from India to Bangladesh. And it's a very interesting region.

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It's also a place where the man-nature conflict is at the strongest because it is a very difficult terrain for anyone to survive in. And, so he used to work on mangroves, and he went there and we used to stay on a boat on those

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trips, for three or four days. And, he had gone inside from the boat into one of the mangrove forests, I think, to collect samples. And he used to take a GPS with him, and he had got lost,

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and it had been hours, and I was on the boat, and he was not coming back, and it was so scary. And then I think finally, he–—there were two or three people with him and they kind of got on shoulders of each other to kind of see over

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the forest where they were and found their way out. Wow, that sounds really adventurous. What was your childhood early education like at school? So I went to—–so from–from the kindergarten

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to my 12th, which is the final year of school. I went to the same school which is called South Point High School. It's in Kolkata. It's one of the largest schools in the world in terms of student number. In fact, it was in the Guinness Book of World Record

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for a very long time for being the school with the largest number of students until, I think, some school in Singapore kind of beat them to it. And it was a lot of students from very different backgrounds, and it–it

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was––although very different backgrounds, they were all urban, middle-class working people. And our school was very, very focused on education. I–I think they could do a bit more in terms of,

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you know, other extracurricular activities, but they were very academically focused. So, yeah, the–the education was really good in our school. And also I think some basic values were imparted on us from the school which were really good.

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We also had very good focus on–on our languages, which I think is a problem for many Indian English-medium schools because they focus a lot on English and they don't focus on your mother tongue, but our school equally focused on Bengali,

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which is my mother tongue. So that was also— Were–were there other language classes offered at the school? Yes. So–so there were also—–because Kolkata is a very big cosmopolitan city, there are also people from other communities

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who—–other parts of India who come and live there. And they have various languages that as–as you might know, India has so many languages. So, for them, there was a—–one division which had a second

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language as–as Hindi. So all of them studied Hindi because they couldn't offer so many languages. So, I think anyone who was from out of the school, they—–their second language was Hindi. And for us it was Bangla.

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And then in our seventh and eighth gra-grade, we also had to take a third language class, and we could choose between–—we–we who had Bengali as our second language, we could choose between Sanskrit or Hindi.

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And the people who had Hindi as their second language could choose Bangla or Sanskrit. I chose Sanskrit. What were the clubs or activities that you were able to participate in during school? I know you mentioned they didn't focus on it as much,

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but were there any things you were involved in outside of school? So I think in–in school, I–I was––I did a lot of things in and out of school. So, first of all, my—–from my parents' initiative, I

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was put into all sorts of other extracurricular classes, right from–from my childhood. So I think it's very common in Bengali households that–that children are put into music classes.

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They're also put into—–so I went to singing class, dancing, art, all of these. And then I think I kind of, in the way, I didn't like the dance classes. I think it was not—–I like dancing now,

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but at that point of time, I didn't. So—–and I also think it was the form of dance I didn't enjoy that much. And then, I continued with singing and art. And because of that, I participated in a lot of

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singing—–of the singing programs in school. So we used to have an annual function every day—–every year on–every year on–on the 4th of July. And we used to rehearse for that before–before that

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for a couple of months. So I participated in those, and then there used to be other functions in school, like, we used to have an Independence Day program. I also went for those, which is on 15th August.

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And apart from that, I think at some point in high school, there was an activity club that was started, which was, if you were interested in—–so there were various streams of that. I think there was elocution, there was art, there was singing,

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there was drama. So since I was already taking singing classes outside, I joined the drama club, and it used to be on Saturdays. So we used to go for that on Saturday mornings,

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and I think I went that—there for two years. And, besides this, I think the–the community I grew up in, we used to have annual programs during Durga Puja, which is our biggest festival.

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We used to have play performances put up during that–that time. And we rehearsed for that for a month or so before that. And that was also a lot of fun. When did your research interest or,

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like, interest in science or biology kind of really start? I know, like, both of your parents are kind of involved with STEM-related fields, so were you really influenced by that or how did that kind of start for you? I–I don't work on biology.

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And— I meant, like, science, my bad. Yeah–yeah–yeah. So, I think it also started from my parents. It—–I used

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to go a lot to my mom's lab as a child after school or I think on weekends, if sometimes she had to go to work. I always found that very interesting. And she always tells me that at one point of time,

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when she was just starting her lab and she didn't have a lot of funds, there was a Hamiltonian syringe that she had borrowed from another lab which was really expensive. And I had broken that in the lab. [SB laughs] So that was one of the first things I did in the lab,

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and I–I found that really interesting going to her lab. My dad used to, like, apart from the time when he was traveling, his lab was mostly analytical. They didn't have a wet lab.

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It was mostly computers, so I didn't find that interesting at all. I used to go there sometimes and play on the computers if I was hanging around with him. But, yeah, my—–I–I found my mother's lab really interesting. And then, I think she also used to kind of tell me the

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stories from–from science about Rosalind Franklin. I think she–she was really inspired by her. So I used to hear a lot about her work, how she had been discriminated as against a woman—–as a woman.

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And then all of those little stories from science. And I also think that because as I said we are a very close-knit family, dinner table discussions would be about everything, starting from my school to their work.

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And I also heard a lot about their work and kind of it was very organic, my interest in science. Yeah. Could you remind me again, did your mom do chemistry research or

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what–what kind of research was it? So, her was a biological lab. [TC: Okay.] Because she–she was originally—–her bachelor's was in physics, and then she did a PhD in biophysics, and the department she was in was the

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Department of Biochemistry. So hers was kind of biophysical chemistry. Okay, thank you. How did you choose, like, specifically what to get your major in from the Presidency College.

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What was that process like for you? I think at that point of time I knew as—–so in Kolkata, there's a huge push especially in our school for students to go into engineering or medicine.

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So our school also in the 11th and 12th grade, I think all of my friends around me they were preparing for those fields. And at some point of time, I went into some of the other extra coaching they went to because—–just because my friends were going and

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not thinking much about it. And but then I always knew that tho-those were not something I was interested in. I was very sure that I wanted to do physics or chemistry. So the confusion was between those.

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So even my mom told me that you that this—–my parents kind of sat me down and they told me, "You know, this is going to not be easy. Basic science is not easy.

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It's a longer rou-route. There's PhD involved, which is hard work. Are you sure you want to do this?" And I was like, "Yes, I think so," because I don't–—I–I–I really

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like studying physics and chemistry. And then Presidency College, I think I got admitted—–so the admission process is kind of difficult. So in addition to our marks from 12th grade, they also have an admission test and which

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is very difficult. And also, my parents also went to Presidency College, and half of my family has gone to Presidency College. So there was that added pressure that I felt that 'What if I don't get in because everybody has gone there?' So I got into both chemistry

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and physics and I was confused for a moment. I–I ranked better in the chemistry exam. And then I visited both the departments. I–I think it was mostly because I saw how energetic that

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chemistry department was. The faculty was amazing. And I kind of chose that department. How was the transition from high school to college for you?

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I would say it was not much considering I didn't have a change of place. I was living in the same city. I was living in the same house.

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The only thing was, there was a lot of traveling involved because my house was in the–in the south of the city and the Presidency College is in the north, which is the older part of the city. And so it was—–if I was taking a car, it was

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almost one and half hours commute. Which is—–because my home to school had always been a 15 minute drive, so the commute was long. I usually used to take a metro, which is the subway,

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to go to college. And then I think the transition was that Presidency College is also known for its activism in various social movements. Politically, I think I–I

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was—–that–that was something very new. The department was again, very—–as a chemistry department, it was very academically inclined. And it was difficult to participate in other things because

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we had such long hours in the lab. But Presidency College otherwise, I think, was amazing in terms of the fact that you could just sit around in the cafeteria, which is–—we used to call it the canteen and just discuss about a lot of things.

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And the students, they were so–so involved in other–in other things that were happening in the world. They were—they—they were—they were all very influenced by those. There were a lot of activities, social activism around that.

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So that was–that was really interesting. Do you have any experiences as a student there that were particularly impactful for you? It could be school related or not. I would say—–so I–I was a class—–a council representative

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there. So elections were something very interesting in Presidency College, and it was–it was not a simple calculation. So it was a very [unintelligible] calculation. There was something called "slabbing," and there were months and months of planning before the elections

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regarding strategies and how to win and those things. And that kind of always transformed the college and it–—that–that was a very fun time and campaigning and those things, those were fun. The election was fun.

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After the election, there was a scuffle between the two groups of students. That was at–—now it–it seems very trivial. It seems funny even when I think about it. But at that point of time, it seemed pretty serious.

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And, so yeah, I–I would say the election at Presidency College was really interesting apart from academic life. Did you have any college professors or mentors that left a lasting impact on you during your undergraduate years?

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The–the faculty in Presidency College–—at that time, it was a college. So now it has been upgraded to a university–to a university and most of the older faculty they–they moved. But that time we, the chemistry department, had some of the best

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faculty in the country, and they were amazing. I would say, although I am mostly—–I mostly work on inorganic chemistry now, especially the organic department at that point was–was amazing.

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And I think all the teachers there, including the head of the department and some other people, like Achinta Kumar Sharkar(?) is his name, AKS. We used to call everyone by their acronyms.

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So it was AKS sir to us. And then there was, Gautam–Gautam Chattopadhyay, sir. And then the head of the department was Deepak Mohan(?). Well, they were all very nice.

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They were all amazing teachers. I mean, we could literally—–they could make the molecules come alive in the classroom for us to see. That–—they were very, very—–I think that was one of the reasons

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also because I felt so strongly about chemistry at that point of time. I think before that, I was confused between physics and chemistry as I mentioned to you. But my love for chemistry grew because of these people. So to pursue a career in research has got

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to do a lot with how they taught me. That's great. So from then on, you went to Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. How did you then go from, like, chemistry to

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material sciences? Yeah. So one of the–one of the things that I had got after—–when I got into my undergrad was an Inspire Fellowship. So, Inspire Fellowship is given to students who

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are in the, I think, top 1% in their 12th grade exams and who are pursuing basic science. So Inspire Scholarship had a program, I think, when I was in the second year of my undergrad.

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So at that point of time, they took all of us to the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, and there was a camp being held for a week where scientists from all over the wor–world came and we got a glimpse

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into their research. And in that–in that camp, it was called the Vijyoshi camp. Professor Anthony Cheetham from Cambridge, he–he came and he presented a lecture on

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material science. And he also, as I remember, had some visual demonstrations on optical fibers. And I was blown over and he showed what he was working on with metal-organic frameworks and all those things.

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And I was—–because before that, I—–our organic chemistry teachers were really good, but I didn't like it a lot. And even though they were amazing teachers, I was enjoying it, I was—–I kind of felt confused about pursuing it in the long run.

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And Professor Cheetham, when he gives that talk, I was–I was amazed and I–I thought that I want to do this kind of science, which was not exactly modern chemistry, which was not exactly organic chemistry. It was also a bit of physics involved in that.

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So it was really interdisciplinary. It was really exciting. It was new. And so then I–I was very interested in this. I talked to my mom about it, and we kind of looked up that Jawaharlal

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Nehru Center, JNCSR. JNCSR was a fairly new institute, but it was–it was the best place for material science in the country. It still is. It's–—I would say it's one of the best places for material science in the world. In fact, it has come in Nature index for their work.

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So we kind of thought that that would be the right place to pursue material science if I was doing. But I was also very skeptical, about–—first of all, about leaving home.

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Secondly, about the fact that the course was kind of mixed. So in the first year, I also had to take a lot of physics courses, so I didn't know how that was going to go. But yeah, eventually it happened.

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They also had a rigorous screening process, and I think they took only four people in our cohort. Did that involve, like, an interview or—– There was a written exam, followed by–—they called some people for

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interview in Bangalore. And so I went to–to Bangalore for that interview. And the campus was amazing. And the faculty, they were all very young.

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They were all in the—–mostly were from 35 to 40 age range, and they had amazing energy and they were all so friendly in the interviews. So that felt great. So you had to move to a new city eventually.

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And I guess it's like the first time living without your parents. So how was that adjustment? So it was not easy. So first of all, there's a huge difference in the culture.

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In India basically, you–you move 500 or even 200km, you're going to see a change in language, a change in dialect, change in food. So, there—–everything was changed in Bangalore. It—–the food, the language.

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I didn't speak the language. The food was extremely different. And also living away from my home. I was also juggling a long-distance relationship.

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So it was not easy. Also, the course was kind of new because it was a lot of physics involved, and I was living in the dorms—–in the hostel. We had shared rooms, so in the first year and from the second year,

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we could get our own single rooms. Our hostel was great. I mean, room-wise and infrastructure-wise. But the food was really, really difficult because it was primarily

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vegetarian. And because West Bengal or Kolkata, it's by the river. Our diet involves a lot of fish. So we kind of eat fish every day.

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Even I do it now, even–even now. Yeah. So–so it was difficult adjusting to a primarily vegetarian diet. Also, the type of cooking was very different.

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It was the spices involved. It was very different. And then if—–primarily we were staying within the campus, but if I went out, language was an issue.

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Although Bangalore is a very big city, it is very cosmopolitan. Mostly everyone speaks English or Hindi. So, that–that was okay. Language was not such a big problem, but it was

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always—–initially I did feel like an outsider, whenever I went out and I was also fairly young. I was 21, so. It–—yeah—–it was–it was a difficult [inaudible].

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What were some ways you were able to cope or, like, get through that? I think phone calls with my parents and also with my boyfriend, at that point of time, because—–so the

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phase was also difficult because we—–both of us didn't know what we were going to do in the future, because I was—–I had gone for an integrated PhD course, which meant I would be staying there for six years at least. And he was doing his master's in–in IIT,

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which is Indian Institute of Technology. And he—he had a plan of going to the US after his master's. So we didn't know how that was going to go for us.

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So there was also a lot of tension regarding that. How were we going to juggle the relationship? What were we going to do? So, phone calls with him.

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[SB laughs] And then, I–I had a friend from college from my batch who had also joined JNC, but she was in the chemistry program. I was in materials. She's one of my closest friends even now.

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So, we kind of—–at still the time we were in college we're not so close. We–we were–we were just classmates. But when we got there, the—–we—–the two of us, we kind of learned to do a lot of things on our own together.

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We–we learned to cook together. And so, yeah. So I think she also helped a lot. And then the—–by the time I joined lab, I think I didn't become very good friends with the people in my cohort.

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That was a problem. But when I joined lab, my—my PhD lab, I joined it as a summer student after my first year at JNC. And I found some of the best friends I have in that lab,

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so it was easy after that. That's great. I think that's really cool too that you had someone from your college years. [SB: Yeah.] Same pro—–or area. Were there role models or specific, like, professors or mentors

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that helped you a lot with your, like, specifically with the material sciences field? So it would definitely have to be my PhD advisor, professor Tapas Maji, he is—–he was also a very

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young scientist at that point of time. He was just building his lab. I think I had a lot of confusion about leaving home, and when I had got the admission—–the

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approve the admission notice from JNCSR, I didn't act on it for a couple of days because I was confused. Because—–about leaving home, about material science, whether I was going to take that leap.

00:31:18.780 - 00:31:36.320

And then also about the long distance relationship because my boyfriend was at a place at that point of time where he could visit me over the weekends. We could meet on the weekends so that was also going to go. So I was confused about a lot of things, and I did not

00:31:36.320 - 00:31:50.750

kind of get back to them. And I remember, Professor Maji, I didn't know that he was going to be my PhD advisor at that point of time, and he had called me on phone. One evening, I just get a random call, and he asks me

00:31:50.750 - 00:32:08.150

that, "What are you thinking about this?" And I told him that I'm really confused. I have been told by people that it might not be such a good idea to take material science. It might be a better, in terms of career prospects, to stick to just chemistry, because that—–later you can

00:32:08.150 - 00:32:20.660

diversify. But now just stick to one subject, whether it was the right thing to do. And then he told me, "What do you want to do? What do you envision yourself doing?" So I said that,

00:32:20.810 - 00:32:35.510

"All I have wanted is I want my own lab at some point of time." And he said, "If you want that, I can assure you that this is the best place you will be in terms of research. You won't get as good exposure anywhere else.

00:32:36.480 - 00:32:52.890

And you–you can just be confident and come here. I would really suggest you do that." And I didn't—–I actually had no idea what a celebrated scientist he was, so I was–I was kind of sketchy

00:32:52.890 - 00:33:07.230

and rude on that call. I was like, "Yeah, I'll think about it." And I kind of cut him short. But then eventually my mom was also very adamant about me leaving the city. And because at that point of time,

00:33:07.230 - 00:33:19.380

I was very angry at her. I–I felt like she was sending me away from home. But she was like, "You won't grow as an individual or in your career if you don't shift bases. You have to go to other places.

00:33:19.380 - 00:33:32.990

You have to gain exposure. You have to meet new people." So, yeah, finally JNC happened. Also, it was such a good institution. And then when I joined there, I saw Professor Maji's

00:33:32.990 - 00:33:47.990

work. He was–he was getting all the Young Scientist awards at that point of time. And then I joined—–and it was also metal-organic frameworks—–things that Professor Cheetham had talked about in his

00:33:48.110 - 00:34:03.890

lecture that had initially inspired me to take material science. So I talked to him about joining his lab, and I joined his group. And then I think he's one of the person who has definitely motivated me because he was so hard working himself.

00:34:03.890 - 00:34:21.230

He was very strict. Also a bit intimidating at some points. But I think right now we're very good friends. And, his hard work, his grit, it was something that I definitely learned from.

00:34:21.230 - 00:34:40.220

And because he also comes from very humble background and what he has built for himself is amazing. And he—–I think one thing I always found amazing about him was that there were eight or ten people working in that group, and everybody had their individual projects.

00:34:40.220 - 00:34:56.840

And how involved he was in everybody's projects is something amazing. He would remember exactly where you are at in your project, even if you forget. So there might have been an experiment I have forgotten that I had done, and he would tell me that "No, I remember you have done it.

00:34:56.840 - 00:35:14.930

Check your computer and tell me the results." So that was amazing. Him just being there, being present, and that–that was very amazing. I'm just curious. Like what–what is the lifestyle or work hours like

00:35:14.930 - 00:35:30.530

as, like, someone working in the lab or, you know—– It was insane. [TC and SB laughs] So–so first of all, in JNC because all the faculty were so young, they were, I think also all of them very motivated,

00:35:30.530 - 00:35:44.720

very ambitious. And all of them have done extremely well for themselves, eventually. And because of that, they also work very hard, and they expected everyone working with them to work very hard.

00:35:44.720 - 00:36:01.300

And because we lived on campus, it was not a problem to go anywhere, or to go any time. Come back any time. So, I think we were expected to be in lab by 9 or

00:36:01.300 - 00:36:13.130

9:30, and then, night was not really—–there was no hours, really. It depended on your work. I think standard was 10:30 to 11.

00:36:13.490 - 00:36:29.720

But then also, it was not we—–that we were working all the time because those were also our friend group. We kind of hung around the lab not doing anything for a very long time as well, because you go to your room, you're just alone.

00:36:29.720 - 00:36:45.620

So it's in—–you're in the lab there after the evenings, there's loud music–music playing, people working and chatting. So it was really a fun environment. But also, yeah, the work pressure was–was huge.

00:36:45.620 - 00:36:59.470

And the we–we worked on Saturdays as well. We worked on a lot of the holidays. Yeah. Do you think that was like an internal pressure to work really hard or,

00:36:59.470 - 00:37:15.160

like, kind of an expectation from your superiors? Or like both or–– I would say it was–it was an expectation, mostly because I don't think, at that time I was that

00:37:15.160 - 00:37:29.160

self motivated. It is kind of an expectation that I internalized over the years, and it kind of grew on me. It grew on all of us, to work very hard.

00:37:29.160 - 00:37:48.330

That at times it was–it was taxing for sure. Especially holidays were annoying at some point of time, but it–it has, of course helped me in my career because I have done a lot more work

00:37:48.330 - 00:38:05.980

than other people in their PhDs do at other places. But yeah, it was definitely taxing. And it was something that was expected. I see. From JNC to Rice, could you describe,

00:38:05.980 - 00:38:22.230

like, your move to the US and like, what prompted you to come to, like, Rice specifically and anywhere else in the US that you came or you went to before Houston? Yeah. So I would say I–I—–and I have thought about this a lot that

00:38:22.230 - 00:38:41.060

my immigration experience to US was guided a lot more by Covid rather than anything else. So I graduated in September 2019 and then I–I was supposed to—we were

00:38:41.060 - 00:38:56.870

getting married in January that year. And my boyfriend, now my husband, he–he was at Rice already from 2019. He was with Professor Ajayan. So, we were kind of looking at positions in the US,

00:38:56.870 - 00:39:14.510

and I–I had applied other places as well, for example, a position that was kind of working out in ETH Zurich, but I did not pursue it because Switzerland, US, I didn't know how it was going to go.

00:39:14.510 - 00:39:31.560

So, it was–it was kind of—–I–I wanted to come to the US at least, because I didn't want long distance again. And also—–so we were also looking at Rice, but the

00:39:31.560 - 00:39:46.260

options in Rice were kind of limited. But at that point of time, I met Professor Ajayan at a conference in India, and I exchanged my CV with him, and I—–he–he said he could support me

00:39:46.260 - 00:40:01.830

and I was supposed to join Rice on April 2020. And I thought—–I–I worked in–in JNCSR as a postdoc from September to December, and I thought I was getting married in January, so I resigned in December.

00:40:01.830 - 00:40:14.760

I thought, I'll get married in January, and then spend a couple of months with my parents and then move to the US. But then Covid happened. So, my visa got stuck and I could get it

00:40:14.760 - 00:40:28.290

only on September, in September 2020. And I moved to US in September 2020. And the move was–was scary because it was still the point when we didn't have vaccines, right.

00:40:30.790 - 00:40:49.510

So to–to wear a PPE and get on a plane and move across the globe during those times, it was–it was very difficult, but also the fact that the eight months before that, it was horrible. It was–it was both horrible and great because I think

00:40:49.510 - 00:41:05.350

after a very long time, I was living with my parents for such a long period of time. And we were stuck at home, all three of us. So, we–we spent a lot of quality time together. But then there was a lot of uncertainty regarding my position,

00:41:05.350 - 00:41:17.890

whether it is going to—–it is going to stay because he also professor and also had to hire someone. I mean, he could not wait for me forever if my visa was stuck. And what was happening with Covid?

00:41:17.890 - 00:41:37.420

We had no idea because it was kind of a 15 day lockdown. And then kind of it went on extending, so those were very uncertain phases. And, I was relieved to get my visa and come here, and yeah. So that was that.

00:41:38.590 - 00:41:51.040

What were some challenges or cultural, sorry, cultural shocks that you faced, like, coming to the US? And I know your husband was already here, so like, how did that kind of help or influence that?

00:41:51.280 - 00:42:07.810

I think that helped a lot because I didn't have to struggle at all. I think it was just the reverse for us because I moved to Bangalore first, so he eventually joined me in Bangalore. He didn't go to US for his undergrad—–for his PhD.

00:42:07.840 - 00:42:18.970

He moved to Bangalore. So in kind of, by the time he moved to Bangalore, I had a group of friends and I had everything set. But it was exactly the reverse in US.

00:42:18.970 - 00:42:32.020

And I would say it was much more difficult in US because in Bangalore, we used to live in a hostel, so we never had to look for home or take care of the other stuff. Like we just had our academia to take care of.

00:42:32.260 - 00:42:48.460

But here you have to run a household, kind of. So he had the—–he already had a place leased, and he had a car. I didn't have to worry about anything. He had a great group of friends here.

00:42:48.790 - 00:43:06.790

Those are people many of whom went to the same high school as us. And so we kind of—–I got a set group of friends already. I didn't have to struggle at all. And in terms of culture, I don't think there was much of a cultural

00:43:06.790 - 00:43:21.610

shock because, I have grown up in a fairly cosmopolitan environment. My parents have been abroad. My mother has been to US specifically. She was in San Diego. I knew from them.

00:43:21.610 - 00:43:35.700

And then we have all grown up on a lot of American pop culture, TV serieses, and books. I–I kind of knew what to expect. So it was not a big cultural shock.

00:43:36.570 - 00:43:52.350

What were some, like, American shows or books that you really remember? Friends of course. [TC: Oh.] And then How I Met Your Mother, and then I think I like–—I saw a lot of crime shows,

00:43:52.650 - 00:44:09.150

Mentalist and Castle and all those things. Books were mostly—–books were not really the modern books. Like, for example, the first idea of American books, would definitely be Gone With the Wind.

00:44:09.300 - 00:44:22.170

The Civil War. I–I had no idea about the Civil War before that because we—–in school studied European history, but we don't really study American history much. We just study about the American independence,

00:44:22.170 - 00:44:35.850

but not anything else. So I read about the Civil War, first time in Gone With the Wind and then, Great Gatsby, the jazz period. Yeah. Those are some of the books.

00:44:35.850 - 00:44:53.100

When I think of America, I just relate to those. I'm glad you were able to kind of just effortlessly adjust to the US. Have you noticed any differences with how research is conducted in India versus here? And, like, maybe what are the pros and cons you've

00:44:53.100 - 00:45:07.710

experienced in both cultures? So I would say everything here, it's very structured. It's very professional and everything goes by your protocol.

00:45:07.710 - 00:45:20.670

That has its goods and its bads because, in this case, you are well funded. You have a specific equipment for everything. You can buy something if you want to.

00:45:21.060 - 00:45:35.460

But in India, that is not the case. In many times we–we survived on very meager fundings. So we–we did a lot of assembling things for ourselves. Something India is famous for.

00:45:35.460 - 00:45:54.180

The term is Jugaad. Jugaad is basically getting—–assembling things from everywhere and making it work for your purpose. So, that is something that I don't see here, but because it's structured, things move–move much more

00:45:54.180 - 00:46:11.790

easily without less roadblocks or bumps. But again–again, I think it's also kind of a part of the culture here where you know, otherwise, outside of research, you don't—–when you are staying in an

00:46:11.790 - 00:46:27.750

apartment, you don't really know your neighbor. It's that kind of a thing in the lab as well. I miss the times when I could just in India, I could just walk up to a lab mate and just talk about my work, ask for a help, get him to run the sample for me if I needed.

00:46:27.750 - 00:46:40.520

So those things. I kind of miss that, but, yeah. Here, there are more equipment, more funding. Those–those are the easy parts. But I miss the human touch.

00:46:42.800 - 00:46:59.180

So, like, I guess even though it's a lot more funded maybe culturally, like, you feel like there's a difference in, like, the work culture maybe. Yes, absolutely. I think that's also because I don't see

00:46:59.180 - 00:47:13.880

the graduate students feeling that because–—the Indian graduate students––because they have—–their lab experience has been this. But for me, my PhD was in India, [TC: Right.] so and it was also a close-knit lab.

00:47:13.880 - 00:47:30.740

So that I think has shaped the experience a lot. Also, again, Covid, because the initial days I was working in the lab, we were all working in shifts, and I didn't see anyone. I didn't meet any of my lab mates, I think for at least six months.

00:47:30.980 - 00:47:46.340

We—–I saw them on Zoom, but I never met them physically. So all—–a lot of my experiences in US have been shaped by Covid. I see. Could you describe for us your research in the

00:47:46.340 - 00:47:58.040

valorization of biogas? And, like, I guess, to me or someone kind of unfamiliar with the field, like, what is like—–what are some current knowledge gaps and, like, what is your work trying to address?

00:47:58.460 - 00:48:14.690

So that was one of the projects I tried in my initial years at Rice, and it didn't really—it didn't really work well. So right now my work is focused on recycling batteries.

00:48:16.450 - 00:48:34.510

So I work on—–so lithium-ion batteries are being used excessively now, because of the push towards a net zero carbon economy and move towards–towards electric vehicles from fossil fuels.

00:48:34.540 - 00:48:49.180

So there's a lot of usage of lithium-ion batteries, and these batteries have elements like lithium, cobalt, and nickel that go into their cathodes. And earlier, I think till–till a few years back,

00:48:49.870 - 00:49:04.690

whenever we used the battery and it–it didn't charge any more, we–we just discarded it, right. We never thought of recycling it because the usage was not so much. But now with the exponential rise in the use of lithium-ion batteries,

00:49:05.870 - 00:49:16.700

the elements that go into it—–cobalt, nickel, lithium—–they all have finite reserves in the Earth's crust, and they are depleting. So we have to reuse them.

00:49:16.910 - 00:49:35.390

So this is a kind of a new field, and we kind of take apart batteries and try to recover those elements so—–and purify them so that they can be put in new batteries. And we try to do it in an environmentally and economically

00:49:35.390 - 00:49:50.270

sustainable way. So currently, [coughs] sorry, what are your, I guess, like, day-to-day roles and responsibilities in your lab and, like, do you have like a very independent project or are you closely,

00:49:50.270 - 00:50:05.830

like, working with other researchers? I have my independent project. So I also have some—–there are some industrially funded projects where we—–some of us work as teams.

00:50:06.130 - 00:50:22.810

So we have, let's say biweekly meetings for them. So all of us work over the weeks. And as a postdoc, there are grad students who I work with and we kind of touch bases over the week regarding these

00:50:22.810 - 00:50:41.380

industrial projects, where we are and what we are presenting to the industry after a week. And my roles and responsibilities are my own research, then there are some grad students I work with, so helping them out, kind of guiding their

00:50:41.380 - 00:50:55.090

projects, mentoring them. I also–—because it's a group of a lot of people, we also write a lot of grant submission—–grants. We also write a lot of proposals.

00:50:55.660 - 00:51:18.210

Yeah. So these are my primary responsibilities. How do you manage or like prioritize different things going on with your work? [SB coughs] No worries. Yeah. So I think it's

00:51:18.210 - 00:51:36.180

a–it's a tough balance because a lot of times I have to do a lot of writing because there is also—–after you do a certain amount of research, you're—–you have to write the papers. But then there are also other projects going on in the lab,

00:51:36.180 - 00:51:49.470

and then there are grant deadlines in between. And I have to meet the grad students and discuss their work as well. It's–it's a really tough balance, but I don't know, I think I just scramble through it.

00:51:49.470 - 00:52:08.100

I–I am not even sure whether I–I balance it very well, but I think since December it has mostly been deadline to deadline, and I–I try to balance out between leave out days for the writing because I–I have noticed that

00:52:08.100 - 00:52:20.820

if I go for a lab work in, let's say, from morning to afternoon, I cannot come back and focus immediately on my writing. So I need to keep out separate days for the writing. So that's what—–that's something I try to do,

00:52:20.820 - 00:52:38.120

like, keep out days for myself when I'm not meeting anyone or doing any lab work just to focus on my writing. So I guess, like, is there like work hours or is it kind of like you're just like–like you're working wherever you are,

00:52:38.120 - 00:52:56.360

if you can, from your own laptop type? Yeah. I think there are no work hours in science for every-everyone. But I also think that I do not work on Sundays if I can mostly.

00:52:56.360 - 00:53:12.410

Saturdays also is relaxed. I–I actually cut out Sunday for myself from the time of PhD because I noticed that if I don't–don't leave that day out for myself, I–I cannot focus back on Monday.

00:53:12.410 - 00:53:28.740

I need to keep that day out for myself. And then, I think right now the evenings are sometimes it's like I–I am into a work, I'm into writing something and it's six

00:53:28.740 - 00:53:43.830

or seven, and then I think that I'll just finish this and then go so then it's late. But otherwise, I don't think there is any strict work hours, but it's right now, it's–it's self-motivated. It's on me. What I want to do or how much I want to work.

00:53:45.990 - 00:53:55.800

Yeah. I saw that you're a peer reviewer. What does that role entail? I guess, like, what's the process for becoming one? And is that something like people reach out to you for?

00:53:55.830 - 00:54:12.670

I was just curious what that's like. Yeah. I–I think once I had published a few papers from my PhD towards the last year of my PhD, I started getting emails from journals. I've never—–I–I don't think I've applied for

00:54:12.670 - 00:54:27.940

those roles ever. But it just started coming and it kind of felt nice. I—–my work felt validated. It was like—–it felt like getting noticed. So I started doing that and I

00:54:27.940 - 00:54:44.980

do–do a lot of peer reviewing now because I also feel it's kind of what keeps the community running, right. We also send our papers out and then people review it and that's how the community goes. And I also try to be

00:54:44.980 - 00:54:59.170

as nice as I can because I—–personally, all of us have received very mean reviewer comments. So I don't understand why people need to be mean. You can just point out the fallacies in the work.

00:54:59.170 - 00:55:12.850

There is absolutely no need to be mean. And so I try not to be reviewer two [SB laughs] because there are all of those memes about reviewer two. So, yeah, I try to be as nice as I can.

00:55:15.990 - 00:55:29.280

That's very considerate of you. I also saw you're really involved with mentoring, and I know you mentioned how your mom was, like, a really great teacher, so I guess, like, what is your–—what do you

00:55:29.280 - 00:55:46.510

think is your role as a mentor when you work with students? And, like, how did your mom kind of influence that? So I think my earlier mentoring experience was in JNC when we were doing outreach. So we were involved in something

00:55:46.510 - 00:56:02.980

called the Student Mentorship program. It had students from charity schools, about 20 of them, coming in and living with us on campus for two–two months during summer and a month during

00:56:02.980 - 00:56:17.620

winter during their breaks. So many of these children, they came from really, really, difficult backgrounds. And they went to charity schools which depended on volunteers.

00:56:17.620 - 00:56:36.400

So many times, they didn't have any science teachers at all. They were studying science, and they did not have any exposure to lab. I think that first of all made me realize a lot about my privileges as a person and kind

00:56:36.790 - 00:56:49.420

of helped me become more empathetic. I—–if I can, I would mention a specific experience here. So regarding that, I think we were—–also when the kids were with

00:56:49.420 - 00:57:09.520

us, we used to take them out in to–to various museums and science hubs and take them out for documentaries and movies. So on—–during one of those outings we had gone to, I think, an aeronautic nautical museum, and then we had gone out for

00:57:09.520 - 00:57:28.240

lunch and so we–we had picked a place carefully considering how their dietary preferences might be because they came from other states as well. So we went to an Indian restaurant. And if you have been to an Indian restaurant in India,

00:57:28.240 - 00:57:47.290

you will know that because people eat with their hands there's a finger bowl that is provided at the end. So it's a bowl of hot water where you can wash your hands. And many of the kids didn't know what to do with that. They thought whether it was for drinking and

00:57:47.290 - 00:58:06.430

that—–I mean, that was something very jarring because I realized that many of them were eating out for the first time. And it really made me think about my privilege, and it really made me think that I—–we–we–—I have

00:58:06.430 - 00:58:22.420

been so privileged. We need to give–give back to the society. So I think it made me more empathetic as a person that experience and also that was my first experience with mentoring and teaching. And then many, many of these kids went––once they went back,

00:58:22.420 - 00:58:39.890

they used to keep in touch with us over texts. And they—–all of them went into college and they're doing good so that was very satisfying. And so I—–during my mentoring process, I really try to think about

00:58:40.250 - 00:58:55.790

the person as an individual, as how their experiences and their backgrounds have been. Their educational background might not have been the same as me. So things which I find easy they might not

00:58:55.790 - 00:59:11.540

find that easy and vice versa. They might find things that are very easy which I might struggle with. So keeping those individual backgrounds, individual experiences in mind and become more empathetic and more considerate is something I

00:59:11.540 - 00:59:27.570

try to put in my mentoring. That's really cool. So I guess, now, you mentioned you work with postdocs or––[SB: PhDs.] Oh, sorry. Yeah, PhDs. So–so what is, like, you oversee their project.

00:59:27.570 - 00:59:46.870

What other, I guess, advice or encouragement do you give to them? I really try to tell them to–to–to work hard and kind of reach out, to go out in the world,

00:59:46.870 - 01:00:02.360

to go to conferences, to go meet people, talk to people about their work, and present their work in as many places as they can. Because I also think that helps. In many cases, I have seen

01:00:02.420 - 01:00:21.170

the–the—–because the particular people I work with, because of their specific experiences, they don't feel very confident to go out and talk. So I try to put that in specifically in–in––besides,

01:00:21.170 - 01:00:35.630

like, doing the work in the lab. And I also want to tell people as much generally in life to read that–that generally helps. Not—–in science, of course, you have to read papers as much as you can,

01:00:35.630 - 01:00:44.930

but also read otherwise. Read whatever you can. It–it's really is good for you in ways you would never imagine. So yeah.

01:00:45.440 - 01:01:00.920

That's great. You've won awards from, like, different organizations and you have a lot of publications. But what do you think, personally, is your greatest career accomplishment? Like, what are you most proud of personally and,

01:01:00.920 - 01:01:18.660

I guess, what kind of goal do you have for the future too? I think. That's tough. I'll take a moment to think about it. [TC: Yeah, of course.] I think—I think my career

01:01:18.690 - 01:01:34.590

goal, I can go with that first. So I–I want an academic career for myself in India. Because I have talked about this, and I felt that there's a lot more to do there as an

01:01:34.590 - 01:01:50.610

individual. There is—–I need to give back to the society. And I can make a bigger difference there as a professor, as a scientist, as a mentor than as an individual in the US.

01:01:50.610 - 01:02:08.570

So I kind of want my own academic group in India. That is my career goal. And I think I–I am kind of proud of the fact that I have survived over the years,

01:02:08.570 - 01:02:29.990

the–the–the demanding nature of academia—–that academia is that I have kind of—–I have performed mostly well in most of the places I've been. I've been in different cities, changed–changed

01:02:29.990 - 01:02:47.670

fields, changed streams, particular research areas, and managed through. Yeah. Yeah, it sounds very rigorous. So outside of work, what kind of ac-activities or,

01:02:47.670 - 01:02:57.930

like, hobbies are you involved in? I learned that you enjoy singing, for example so, still. So yeah, what kind of things are you up to outside of work?

01:02:58.470 - 01:03:16.530

So I–I used to paint. I–I–I think I painted a few times here after I've been to Houston, but the last one and a half years have been extremely rigorous in terms of work as well as–—because I am kind of transitioning.

01:03:16.530 - 01:03:33.990

I was—–I'm applying for faculty positions as well. So it ha—–I have not been able to find time to paint. But I think I painted through winter storm when it happened in 2021. And then I think—–so once we came

01:03:33.990 - 01:03:50.350

to Houston, I told you I found an amazing set of friends, and we kind of during Covid, during the second phase, especially, it was very bad for India and all of us were losing family members.

01:03:50.350 - 01:04:04.000

It was really difficult times, and we sort of started singing together and putting it out on YouTube. So we kind of formed a band and we formed a YouTube channel, and we–we got a lot of appreciation from people.

01:04:04.000 - 01:04:18.790

We didn't expect it. And we–we just started it as fun. And the last few months, we have not been able to post more videos because most of the friends that I had there, they were graduate students and they have graduated and moved to other parts of the US.

01:04:18.790 - 01:04:36.220

So we are no longer all here in Houston. But whenever we meet, we–we do meet up many times over a year, but we try to jam. And I also was not–—I think I was not being able

01:04:36.220 - 01:04:55.210

to con—–like keep up with my singing because of work so I also started my singing vocal trainings again. So every Wednesday I–I have a Zoom music class in–in Kolkata in India from someone called Prabuddha

01:04:55.210 - 01:05:10.080

Raja who is quite a famous Rabindra Sangeet singer, so yeah. And I read a lot. I read a lot. What was the name of the band, like, that you and your friends?

01:05:10.290 - 01:05:20.490

Like the— So it—it was called E-bong Adda. Abong adda. So Abong Adda. Abong is a word play basically.

01:05:20.520 - 01:05:38.520

Abong means in Bengali, it means "and", but also "e," and we put a hyphen, "bong" is a kind of a slang for a Bengali. So–so it also means "this bong" and "Adda" means a "group of friends chatting together." So—–

01:05:41.550 - 01:05:58.620

Wow. I think—–or, sorry, I guess, like, going more to your identity, how would you describe yourself ethnically? And do you feel like that has an impact on your day-to-day life and activities? I–I—–ethnically, I'm a Bengali.

01:05:59.340 - 01:06:18.660

I am Indian Bengali. So yes, my life has been absolutely shaped by that because Bengal was a very culturally rich part of India. It was one of the parts who—–from

01:06:18.660 - 01:06:36.180

where the peoples participated the most in the freedom struggle of India. My grandfather was a freedom fighter himself. And I very recently, I found that he had made a CV for himself. And where he–—there was all the times he had been in jail.

01:06:36.180 - 01:06:54.180

He was put in jail by the British because of the–—his role in the freedom struggle. And we–we have our–—in Bengali, we have a very rich literature—–lineage of literature. So I have grown up reading all that poetry, and literature,

01:06:54.180 - 01:07:12.450

and the music. So I would say a person that is kind of God status in–in Bengal is Rabindranath Tagore. He's a Nobel laureate in literature. He—–so the—–he himself, one person

01:07:12.450 - 01:07:28.950

single-handedly wrote 1600 songs. And so his songs are a genre in itself, and many people learn that. And I have also grown up being trained in Rabindra Sangeet, which is the music written by Rabindranath Tagore.

01:07:28.950 - 01:07:44.730

And I have grown up on his poems and I mean, it's just–it's just I think it's something that is in our bloodstream. It's not something that is looked at as something different that you're reading something else.

01:07:44.730 - 01:07:59.250

It's just, you grew up on it. So I have grown up on his poems, his books. Also other–other—–my mother used to read a lot of poetry so I think I have read a lot of Bengali poetry over the

01:07:59.250 - 01:08:17.520

years. So culturally being a Bengali and–and many of these poems, many of these books, they had really progressive thoughts on progressive ideas. And that

01:08:17.520 - 01:08:32.100

has shaped me as a person. They had very unique thoughts on diversity, on–on inclusion, on women's rights. So I think when I read some of those now, I feel they

01:08:32.100 - 01:08:48.660

were really, really ahead of their time. And that, of course, is a big part of my identity of how I think. Also because, ethnically, being a Bengali, also, it has got to do with your diet and your everyday life.

01:08:48.660 - 01:09:03.990

And so I–I kind of cook and eat the same foods that I grew up in, which is Bengali food, which involves a lot of fish. We also eat a lot of sweets which I try to cut down as much as I can, but I really can't.

01:09:04.980 - 01:09:21.000

Yeah. Also with, like, being an Asian, like, woman in a very advanced and competitive field in STEM. Like, have you ever felt as though you were discriminated against and,

01:09:21.000 - 01:09:38.230

like, how do you perceive the way academia in the US, like, responds to people of minorities? I think as a woman till the time I was in PhD in India I have never felt discriminated.

01:09:38.230 - 01:09:53.740

But I think once I joined postdoc, I have felt it a few times I would say because–—also, I–I think I've discussed this a lot with my mother over the years.

01:09:53.740 - 01:10:13.410

And she also pointed it out to me that at many times I think people are really encouraging towards women as long as they are working, but really hesitant to give them leadership roles. So that is something I think has been a problem.

01:10:13.650 - 01:10:32.670

And a few times it has happened in the group. Not by my supervisor, he's amazing, but other people–other people who are seniors they have kind of forgotten me in email

01:10:32.670 - 01:10:51.660

threads which is really annoying. So that sort of thing happens and it is not something that someone comes to you and says to your face, but it's like really little things, which you–—the worst part is you can't really

01:10:51.660 - 01:11:08.460

complain about those things, but it keeps on affecting you on a day to day basis. It's–it's–it's disrespectful. So those little things have happened. But I think culturally, US has been—–US, Houston has been very

01:11:08.460 - 01:11:24.660

welcoming. It's–it's—it–it has been amazing because I was also a bit skeptical because my mother was a visiting scientist in the US in 2001 in San Diego. And from her experiences, I had gathered

01:11:24.660 - 01:11:41.160

that—it–it was also a long time back, but people were not really welcoming at that time. People were not really—–I don't think they wanted to embrace other cultures or at least acknowledge the differences.

01:11:41.160 - 01:11:56.760

So she had–she had not felt really good about her time here. So I had thought that it might be like that. But everyone has been extremely welcoming in terms of culture. That's great to hear. Thank you for sharing.

01:11:57.360 - 01:12:19.010

Houston's considered, like, I guess, a pretty thriving hub for Indian Americans. So, like, I guess, what kind of places in Houston or connections have you been able to engage in? I think I have not engaged much outside the Rice

01:12:19.010 - 01:12:34.640

community. It's mostly the academic community that we have in Rice, which is my friend circle and which is what I have engaged with. But then, as I mentioned, the biggest festival for Bengalis is Durga Puja which is held in

01:12:34.640 - 01:12:48.440

October. And there are at least four—–three or four places in Houston that holds them. And so there's the Houston Durgabari, which–which is somewhere we go to during October typically.

01:12:48.440 - 01:13:07.160

And we have met other people of the community there. And then when Indian artists perform here, I have been to quite a few of those concerts and those have been really great experiences. I–I think one of my favorite composers,

01:13:07.160 - 01:13:24.890

A.R. Rahman, performed here last year, and I went there and very recently Zakir Hussain. He won the Grammy this time for this album. And they were—–they did the same albu–—same concert a few months back in Houston. And I went for that–that.

01:13:24.890 - 01:13:42.870

And that was amazing as well. So beyond Rice, it's mostly been these events. Another question I have is, like, you've adjusted pretty okay to Houston. But you mentioned how you, like,

01:13:42.870 - 01:13:59.820

want to go back and give back to your community. So I'm wondering, like, where and when do you feel the most like at home? What is that like for you? I think one of the reasons I have felt also really

01:13:59.820 - 01:14:17.070

at home in Houston is because it's kind of a bubble that I have been in because as I mentioned, my husband was already here. The group of friends were already here. So I didn't have to really struggle that much to

01:14:17.070 - 01:14:36.400

find my space, find my people. I think one of the reasons we also kind of—–both of us, me and my husband, want to go back to India is because it kind of feels more

01:14:36.400 - 01:14:54.040

lively. I don't know how else to explain that. It's also very chaotic in India, but it's also very alive. And also, like, little things, like, having a connection with your neighbor. Those are some of the things that we miss.

01:14:54.070 - 01:15:09.310

It's kind of the human touch that we miss. And also, it has also got a lot to do with the fact that both of us are single child—–single children. And so we kind of want to be in a place where we can

01:15:10.060 - 01:15:28.270

be with our parents if we need to. Not have to be on a 24 hour flight to go help them out if they need us. So that is also some of the things that I have thought about while making this decision

01:15:28.270 - 01:15:46.560

to go back, and I think I–I just really feel at home in a place where I have more connections, more human connections out of just my immediate home. So, yeah, that's—–

01:15:49.060 - 01:16:03.700

My last question I've prepared is if you were to advise, like, a younger generation Asian woman interested in scientific research or, like, similar to your career, I guess, what kind of advice would you provide?

01:16:08.980 - 01:16:24.770

I would tell them definitely to be at it and not get intimidated, and there will be a lot of rooms where you will walk into where you will be the only Asian woman.

01:16:24.770 - 01:16:33.440

You will be the only person of color. You will be the only woman there. But there will be a first time for that. But it won't be the last time.

01:16:33.440 - 01:16:52.430

But just go in. I mean, just make your space out there and, you know, there have been many times—there are many times when you want something as a woman, as a person of color, you are–you are tagged as

01:16:52.430 - 01:17:08.530

aggressive, you are tagged as dominating. Don't let that stop you. I mean, do what you have to and just–just be at it. But don't let the other things demotivate

01:17:08.530 - 01:17:24.090

you. There will be people who won't be nice to you at times. There will be situations where you won't feel welcome, but, you know, through them you can just fight it through. Thank you so much for sharing.

01:17:24.330 - 01:17:41.120

Those are all the questions I've prepared. But to close us off, did you have anything else you wanted to–to share that we haven't covered yet? I think one thing I didn't mention while I–—we were talking about my

01:17:41.120 - 01:17:59.540

household is the fact that my parents were also kind of—–they did not belong to Kol-Kolkata originally, so they kind of—–they were also immigrants in a way. That also shaped a lot because they–they—–so

01:17:59.540 - 01:18:14.630

I–I was born in a leased home, and then we bought our first apartment, and they kind of grew in the city—–grew—[inaudible] they also grew as individuals in terms of materials, in terms of their career.

01:18:14.630 - 01:18:33.680

And I also saw that growth phase a lot. And I think that has also shaped my upbringing a lot. And the community that we moved into was–was—–it was a new—newly—new part of the city, which was a township project

01:18:33.680 - 01:18:44.900

that was being developed at that point of time. And everybody who were living there were who were moving in. They were not originally from that city. And so everybody went through that growth phase.

01:18:44.900 - 01:18:56.550

So that was also something I should have mentioned during. Yeah, thank you for sharing. This is the end of the interview. And so I would just like to say thank you so much again for your time.

01:18:56.550 - 01:18:58.290

And I'll stop the recording here.