Extreme conditions lead to extreme actions.

Do molecules know this?

Liquid molecules behave surprisingly different when in bulk compared to when they are trapped between two surfaces separated by a small distance.

How does the liquid react to this brutal confinement?

Does the liquid stop behaving like a liquid under such conditions?

What changes the liquid behavior when we confine it to molecular dimensions?

What role does the confining surface play in determining the liquid behavior?

Hope I don’t sound rhetoric. Many people have tried to study the confinement mysteries for more than three decades now and it’s surprising that the details are still elusive. I join the quest with the famous Surface Forces’ Apparatus, an unparalleled way to confine liquids to the range of a few angstroms, armed with customized optics allowing us to directly observe the liquid behavior like never before!

It would be so cool if we could literally LOOK at the atoms. We could do without all the speculative theories, models, indirect experimental inferences and uncertainties of what is going on down there! Though that would be the ultimate dream but for now many people consider colloidal behavior to be THE model system to study atomic behavior. Conveniently, unlike atoms they are big enough to be seen by optical techniques.

I am also learning the exciting art of imaging colloids to find out their diffusion properties under different conditions. It is like making a movie with those micron sized actors dancing around. Only that they have their own story to tell…

Doing science is like a treasure hunt. The difference being we don’t know what treasure we will find. We don’t know whether we will find a treasure at all. And there is no guarantee that we will find it first! Given the uncertainties, it is one of the most exciting things to do. So here I am…

I come from India. I love India.

People who can appreciate the diversity, I am a Telugu by mother tongue, a native of Tamil Nadu and brought up in Maharashtra. So I know a handful of different languages and culture. I have shifted my base every three years on an average all through my life. A new place, new people and new friends – that’s all I need to get going all over again.

The Stage is my first love- I was trained in Bharatnatyam (one of the Indian classical dances) and have been dancing since the age of 4….

I love networking (read talking); social, professional and personal….

I love singing, painting, theatre, movies, swimming, playing chess, badminton, trekking, hiking and chilling out with friends….

I love Indian and Italian Food…

I love Steven Spielberg, Mani Ratnam, Vairamuthu and A.R. Rehman….

I love Harry Potter and appreciate Ayn Rand…

I love my research group…

I love to be in love…with everything around me…