A story of mine:
I completed a two-year tenure at NYU Abu Dhabi, during which I authored three papers: one independently, one in collaboration with a co-author, and another involving a multitude of contributors.
A few weeks ago, my father passed away, with whom I never had a harmonious relationship when planning life and understanding its purpose. Despite the challenges he posed, he instilled in me the strength to confront them. I had the worst academic life until my Ph.D., I never got a first-class degree until my master’s, thanks to blind examiners at Osmania University.
Academically, I lacked the guidance of academic parents — no inherited legacy or the occasional folly of beloved mentors. My educational journey began with a focus on physics during my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. However, I faced academic difficulties and was eventually expelled from the University of Hyderabad due to poor performance in computer science. What happens from schooling days to the degree you can make a fantastic movie with unexpected twists and turns, even I feel how it happens.
I then pursued a master’s degree in consciousness studies at BITS-Pilani, an experience marked by encounters with eccentric individuals. My academic wanderlust led me to NBRC, where I felt like a stranger after I fled to the Netherlands (Utrecht University) to delve into visual perception. From there, I ventured to London (Queen Mary University of London) without a clear sense of direction or purpose; eventually, it crashed all my dreams.
Upon my return to India, I delved into the realms of evolutionary biology and non-linear dynamics at IISc. Meanwhile, I applied for PhD programs across diverse disciplines such as film studies, anthropology, marketing, and business, For my surprise, I got PhD admissions. Ultimately, I embarked on a PhD journey in cognitive science at CBCS, Allahabad.
Although I joined the field of cognitive science for PhD, my research focus shifted toward the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation. In a serendipitous turn, I stumbled upon the concept of conditional cooperation, finding a way to express the nuanced nature of human behavior mathematically. I spent some time at IMSc Chennai, where I observed how people engage in agent-based modeling, and using the knowledge, I completed my Ph.D., accompanied by a scientific report paper; I thank the reviewers who helped me shape the paper.
My journey then took me to EUI, Florence, where I felt aligned with the problems I sought to solve and developed a deep appreciation for the intricacies of human social behavior. Subsequently, I joined NYU Abu Dhabi, where I have been exploring the complexities of human nature by studying social behavior using mathematics and experiments involving algorithms and human subjects.
Reflecting on my life’s path, it resembles a game of “Snakes and Ladders,” where each step brings unexpected challenges and opportunities. (For reference, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_ladders)
