Life At PRL

I'm into my last two days in Ahmedabad. Life at PRL has been good. I've just finished giving my final presentation of my project "Extreme Value Statistics in Atomic Eigenvectors", and i must say now that i enjoyed working here. Hopefully the comin months should see the scientists here (Dilip Angom and M.S.Santhanam, now in Pune) continuing the work on this topic, and a paper or two published. The overall treatment of the trainees has been excellent, and we were allowed to use all the facilities available to the researchers and PhD students. I'll definetly miss the unlimited printing access and the fast internet speeds (those hours of youtube!). I also am thankful for the oppurtunity to learn and use MATLAB and improve my coding skills in general, though i may not get to use it anywhere in the future.

This brings me to life at PRL, and research institutuions in general. As was pointed out by Dr. Singhvi before the final presentation, being a scientist is a thrill that few get to enjoy. You're shielded from the hustle and bustle of the outside world, and work on an exotic concept safe in your ivory towers. You're basically getting paid for pursuing a hobby, a passion. While i agree with this, its a very idealistic picture. The years one spends pursuing a PhD and a post-doctoral research is a major deterrent. And yes, the money is not good. Notwithstanding the frequent foriegn trips and conferences one gets to go on, life as a researcher requires a lot of patience, so I feel. And i have a pretty good idea by now.

"Physicists settle down late. If you want to settle down fast, marry early, and enjoy life, its not for you". So said my guide, Dr. Dilip Angom, a smart, young-ish chap, real fun to work with. He's abroad now, addressing a conference on many body calculations in atomic physics in Seattle. All the best to him.

Life here is laid back, to say the least. Long term deadlines are all that one worries about. The frequent tea breaks, the mess-type breakfasts and lunches and the 5 day weeks give me the impression that these people really love the settled environment of a place of learning. The extensive library, well stocked with magazines and journals (and books) is a place you can get lost in. Indeed, the relaxed, entertaining discussions that i've had with the theoretical physicists here are worth remembering. The scholarly charm of the place is what attracts people here. One can imagine what spending years here would be like.

What i've also learnt is that this place inevitably functions like a govt. institution, where things move at their own pace. One can hear the employees indulging in idle chat long after the lunch is over - "Kemcho, Kedar bhai!"

Ahmedabad itself, as i found it, is a neat little city. Not a real bustling place, things here seem orderly. A real vegetarian's paradise, dont expect to find a KFC here. The roads are good, and the place isn't very crowded. I'll miss the city too. The past 45 odd days have been time well spent, so i think.

Siddharth