Contents

1. 1 Brief biography
2. 2 Personality
3. 3 Countries I have been to
4. 4 Past time
5. 5 Indulgence

Brief biography

I was born in a coastal village, Kerala, India in 1980. My father retired as a teacher at the local public high and my mother, head nurse at the government hospital.

I remember that I always enjoyed visits to the beach and seashore during my school days and swimming was my favorite pastime (beside cats and bikes). During my 3 years of learning Biology at St. Pious X College, Kannur University I first came to know that marine algae (including phytoplanktons) contribute to almost 70% of the total oxygen production in earth and this  motivated me to spend a summer (2001) at the lab of Dr. M.K. Mathew to work on a marine microalgae- Dunaliella salina. I then decided to continue working on green algae. For the masters, I joined University of Madras, India and studied about macroalgal Photobioreactors and later, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India to study marine primary productivity. I am currently a graduate student at Kochi University, Japan and I am studying about reproduction, seasonality, biogeography and phylogeny of a marine green alga: Monostroma.

Given a chance, I would love to continue the research on marine green algae as well as contribute to the academic environment and the world. Yet another of my  career goal is to bring the essence of modern research to the lay men who can't appreciate the beauty and importance of nature surrounding us, through the medium of popular science writing (I enjoy reading New Scientist/Scientific American as well as listening to the podcast The naked Scientists). 

Personality

My personality type falls into the INTP category of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I'm relatively obsessive, which I use as a strength. Precision of goal is very important to me; this serves me well when researching or writing. I'm best at working with concepts. When I become rabidly interested in something, it consumes most of my thoughts for months or even longer. I'll keep working at it, long after someone else would have gotten bored and turned to something else. This has allowed me to build up ruthless competence even when nothing comes naturally to me at first.

In the physical world, I'm rather reclusive; as a general rule, the only reason that I leave my apartment is to go to study. I occasionally go to the nearby supermarket to shop, but only once or twice each month. I'm not agoraphobic or shy - I don't particularly fear the outside world. (I do fear getting hit by a car, but that is a purely rational fear.) It's just that I don't particularly enjoy going to other places or being around other people. Average people bore me. As a general rule, I am much more interested in ideas than in people, places, or things. I do make exceptions for interesting places.

For several reasons, I neither own nor drive a car. Chief among them is the fact that I don't really go anywhere that requires a car. Other reasons include the expense (not only the cost of the car itself, but of gasoline and insurance as well), the danger (cars are obscenely dangerous, and I have no delusions of competency when it comes to driving), and the environmental and geopolitical consequences of consuming gasoline. Instead, I use a Pedaling Cycle to get to work and the supermarket. This wonderful piece of technology fits my personality perfectly.

In my free time, for entertainment, I play with cats, stream online radio stations and read books. Occasionally, but less frequently than other people, I watch video - usually classics on DVD. I definitely don't enjoy parties, but I do enjoy games. I'm not interested in poker, but I am interested in chess, even though I'm exceptionally lousy at it and I don't play it as much as I'd like to. Chess appeals to me in part because it's a game of perfect information - the entire state of the game is always visible to all players.

I use some of my free time for activities that are still enjoyable, but are somewhat closer to the other end of the entertainment-work spectrum. My website chronicles these creative endeavors. There are several reasons why I like to explain things. I'm good at it, and I always take pleasure in doing something well. Also, developing a clear conceptual explanation of something helps me to understand it more completely. Learning is hard work, filled with lots of trial and error; with a clear conceptual explanation, I can make the process easier for other people. I love to reduce and eliminate complexity.

Although it's not always obvious, I do in fact have a sense of humor. Throughout my writing, I scatter references to things which I consider to be amusing. These references entertain me and serve as rewards for readers who are attentive and knowledgeable. Usually, I find the juxtaposition of serious and silly things to be hilarious.

Countries I have been to

Past time

I call myself a cat lover. I enjoy the company of cats- to pet them, talk with them or simply watch those marvelous little people. During the weekends, I stray around our varsity to feed hungry feline friends.

Among other activities, I enjoy hiking, swimming, playing board games as I told you before, and cross country biking. I have a small group of friends with whom I go for biking once in a while. If you are living in Japan and interested to join us for our next biking in Seto Bridge (Imabari-Onomichi course), please let me know.

I also enjoy fixing my friends' PCs (to get rid of nasty programs or for data recovery). Among the services I offer include fix BIOS issues,  installing English OS in Japanese PCs (I does this with slip-streaming OS disks with the Japanese hardware drivers), dual-booting Vista and XP (or Linux) or installing Mackintosh in PCs (a.k.a. Hackintosh). Depending on my availability, I could be available for the readers of this site (by both email or in person if you are living in Japan).I also enjoy origami like crane, vase, lips etc.(especially when I am too bored to read).

Indulgence