I was born in a middle class family of India. My mother is a professor of economics, just like my maternal grandfather.

My father is a voluntary social worker working for the underprivileged, who had done physics major during graduation. Needless to say, I was raised in a highly academic environment. I was encouraged to read a lot, whether it was fairytale or the daily news paper. Naturally, I developed a keen interest in learning and quite literally started reading everything under the sun from my very childhood. As I grew up, mathematics was a subject that appealed to me the most. Text books couldnt satiate my appetite and I used to fill up my leisure time with complex mathematical riddles and books about the popular science. George Gamows One Two Three Infinity and the Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers were my two all time companions. I also had the subscription to Kishor gyan bigyan( Science for teens), a popular science magazine in Bengali, my mother tongue. The magazine had a regular do it yourself section which consisted of simple circuits and physical models. Most of my summer vacation afternoons where spent building those models. I was admitted to a renowned school of my city. I was lucky to have some the most generous teachers, who also encouraged me for my persuasions. I had undertaken mechanics as my additional subject in my ninth and tenth standard. I was successful in various mathematical and scientific talent hunt competitions which took place each year in my state. During my teen years, I was quite convinced that I wanted to pursue research as my career. Apart from physics and mathematics, my other fascinations of that time were literature, politics and philosophy. From the background of my parents, I had access to the both worlds of science and philosophy and this was the time when I became intrigued with the philosophy of science. I understood every social person, even a scientist has a social responsibility which he/she cannot ignore. My parents had always wanted me to become a socially and politically aware individual. Even in my school days, I was encouraged to join in various social services. I was member of an Eco-Club which used to spread environmental awareness among the mass. Some of my friends and I started doing street plays in order to prevent unscientific and superstitious activities. I took part in various science fairs in the city which were organized to spread scientific attitude among the people. After my higher secondary examination I got a chance to study in a prestigious engineering college as I had cracked the Joint Entrance Examination of my state. But after getting the chance to study physics major in a different college I didnt think twice because I knew my lifelong dream of becoming a researcher in science would be best fulfilled. I come from a country which is multilingual, multicultural and highly diverse. India is a developing country which has many social problems but the major of them in my view is illiteracy. It seems quite surprising that a large part of the population cannot even sign their own names. Illiteracy and poverty causes its denizens to seek refuge in superstitions and religious mumbo jumbo. The country sides are flooded with quacks and spirit charmers. After completing my PhD, I want to root myself deep in the Indian soil and teach science. I believe

most of the problems of my country can be solved with the spreading of proper scientific knowledge and education. Also, throughout my academic career I have been studying in government institutions with nominal fees. The facilities I had were due to the direct contributions of the tax payers of my country. I believe it is my duty to come back and give back returns to the society. Also I come from the part of country which carries the strong legacy of scientists like S.N.Bose and Meghnad Saha. They were the pioneers of spreading science in our mother language Bengali. I believe the best way to teach the first generation of learners (a very common scenario in our country, where both the parents of a child are illiterate) is to approach through their mother tongue. I want to make science available to these kinds of children too. Secondly, in India, women are still subjected to a lot of discriminations. Apart from physical and sexual abuse, there are also issues of honor killing and female feticide. A very few number of urban upper middle class girls are encouraged for higher studies and even a less number for core science. I think by becoming a physicist I can somewhat set an example and help others too to follow my lead. I can try to convince more women to take up science and be empowered. If I get a chance to study in the graduate school of UC Riverside I think I would be able to fulfill my dream and I can contribute both to the knowledge and society.