Nithya Rani-2

“I joined IISER when my son was 2 years old. My daughter is in 3rd grade and my son is in 6th. They go to MGM school in Vithura. My children are comfortable and active here. There are a lot of kids here and they all play till 7 at night. They also go to karate classes. Since school has started now, I also have to make them sit and study. My mother also stays with us, she has always been my greatest motivator. I lost my father 6 months prior to my marriage. He had been very supportive as well.

I am very passionate about dancing and I used to practice it regularly when I was young. A dance teacher used to come here at IISER and I used to take classes along with my daughter. But it got discontinued since covid. If I get a chance to continue dancing, I’ll definitely take it. Recently, I have also started going to the gym.

It’s been almost ten years since joining IISER, nothing much has changed with respect to my relationship with students; I have been the same since then. I like interacting with them, which is probably why they like me as well. Ganga ma’am, our former lab supervisor, always asked us to be polite to students. I once got a feedback from a student who wrote, ‘Nithya chechi, you are awesome!’. Their attitude towards me depends on how I treat them. I also think people always ask me for help because I am easily approachable. I have trouble saying ‘no’ as well. Not being able to say ‘no’ comes with its own downsides at times. But I always try to help students in whichever way I can.

Students inspire me in many ways as well. Some of them are so talented and motivated.

My one piece of advice to students would be for them to make use of the facilities that they have here. When I was doing my studies, we just had one common PCR machine and very few pipettes. Now there are PCR machines in every lab.

If I get an opportunity, I’d like to resume my PhD journey and complete it. I don’t think I’ll get the opportunity now but I hope I do”.