(3) Profile of your hometown

I belong to a small town in Kerala, which is known as the "God's own country". Tokyo could be compared to Kerala one and only on their sizes. Tokyo is a busy and densely populated city with outstanding infrastructure and transportation facility, where as Kerala is a place with a unique natural beauty and culture. Kerala is known for its traditions and various art forms. During my visits to the various Shrines and Buddha temples in Japan, I could feel some similarities between the way of worship and faith of the Japanese and the Indians. I think, down the line, the Hinduism and the Buddhism are related.

In my hometown, I have always loved the cool rainy mornings during South west monsoon. When I felt I would miss those days, Japan welcomed me with snowfall, which I had never experienced .Everything around me changed so quickly and I started feeling like living in a new world .It felt like Heaven on Earth. The way of life here is entirely different from that of my hometown. Everything is so organized here and I enjoy the clean, disciplined and a secure life which I am experiencing here.

2. Research topics
Related URL/ http://www.comp.tmu.ac.jp/theochem/home/home_en.html

I am doing research in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry lab of Chemistry Department. Chemistry feels like a nightmare to many students. But in my opinion, chemistry could be enjoyed more than any other subject as it is closely related to our daily life. Most of the students would have come across various experiments in their Chemistry Lab. But we, the theoretical chemists are interested in solving the problems in Chemistry using computer.

At present I am studying on bonding and stability of chiral salen complexes. The chiral salen complexes have a variety of application in the field of chemistry. In order to study their applications, it is quint essential to understand the basic reasons for the stability of chiral salen complexes and its bonding. The computational techniques helps us to explore these properties. Further studies may be done on bonding analysis in various metal complexes.

3. Motivation -The reasons you decided to study in Tokyo-

The development in the field of supercomputers in Japan, especially the K computer has made a tremendous change in the field of Computational Chemistry. I knew that Japan is very advanced in its computational technologies and I was very much sure that I will have a very good platform for my scientific research and I was very happy to join here. Moreover I thought that this will pave a good opportunity to meet the eminent professors in the field of Chemistry and if luck favors I may be able to collaborate with them.

In the earlier days of my PhD life, I had a little bit trouble with the independent working nature of the lab. But going on, I was able to fine tune myself and my research accordingly.The way people work here is something which motivates me. Everyone is so organized and research oriented here. There are a lot of things to be learned from the people here and I understand that there is a long way for me to go forward.

4. Asia and myself - My role in Asia -

Even though India is a country that have eminent scientists in the field of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, most of the research are mainly on the fundamental theories of Physics and Chemistry and not much application oriented.My research in TMU helps me to understand the vast application of Computational Chemistry that extend from the atomic calculations in Physics to the drug designing in Biology. I believe that world will understand the importance of Computational Chemistry only when it goes to application level, when it is closely related to human life.

Based on the knowledge and experience I gather from here, I would like to do application oriented theoretical research in my country. I want to share the knowledge and ideas I gathered from here to the students in India. I hope this will inspire the coming generation to explore the vast possibilities of this field and thereby betterment of our life.

5. The message you would like to send through “Interaction Asia”.

I come from a not very urbanised area in India. Being from such a place, I was totally astonished when I reached Tokyo. The transportation facilities and the level of development that Tokyo has achieved is quite remarkable. If I start talking about Tokyo, I can talk the whole day. But I would like to quote a few things that has influenced me a lot in Japan. The first and foremost among them is the Independent life style of the Japanese, which I never saw often in my place. I was impressed by the way Japanese do things without being dependant on others. This gave me an insight on the potential of a human being. Another worth noting point is that these independent people are always willing and happy to help others.

Another important fact I felt about Japan is that, it is easy for a foreigner like me to adjust here. Here everything is so organized that none of the foreigners will feel any difficulty to tune their life in Japan. Before coming here, I was thinking that since it is a densely populated place, the pollution may be high. But I was proved wrong. The air and surrounding are so clean and fresh and energises me each and every day.

One of the contrasting difference between my place and Japan is the food habits. I was embarrassed to see the Japanese people eating raw fish(sushi).I like the way Japanese people enjoy it. In India we don't eat raw fish or meat and usually prefer spicy, hot dishes that are cooked/boiled for a long time. These differences make me to think that how different the people are, how different their interests are.!!.

I had to face a few difficulties too in Japan.Since I am poor in Japanese(as I don't go for Japanese class properly), I had to face some difficulties.But Google translator and smart phone have always come to my rescue.

Personally I feel Japan is a very secure and pleasant place to live. I am very thankful to Tokyo Metropolitan Government for the effort they take for giving opportunity for the students from various part of Asia to do research here, in Japan. Thank you Japan for giving me the most lovely and memorable days of my life.