“I’ve always wanted to go back to my country and do something for my people”

There must be no better way to be welcomed in a city, than a signal at its entrance that says “smile, you are in Lucknow!”. A city in the north of India known for centuries to be very welcoming and friendly with guests. And for Vikas, the city has one of the best street foods in the world: the Lucknowi kebab. There, he has pursued his bachelor’s degree in Physics to then continue his studies with a master in Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, a field of study he knew little about but that foresaw a week aboard a cruise ship making ocean observations. A decisive detail for his choice as it finally gave him the chance to see the ocean.

“I haven’t seen the ocean for my first 21 years…and I’ve always been fascinated towards it”.

To pursue his master he moved to Hyderabad, a city known for being Lucknow’s sister as both have delicious food and similar cultures. A fortune for Vikas as in the incredibly diverse mosaic of cultures, religions and languages India is, Telangana is the only southern state where people speak Hyderabadi Hindi. A language that is very similar to Awadi Hindi, his native language together with Bhojpuri. Through his master he studied both the ocean and the atmosphere in all their aspects and interactions and then decided to continue with a PhD in Earth and Space Sciences. Here, he concentrated on the study of Indian Summer Monsoons which are determinant for the economy of the country as it is on the precipitations they cause, or not, that droughts or floods occur in both Central and Northern India. He analysed the wind patterns on which they depend, and the chain reaction of ocean warming, evaporation, moisture, and precipitation over the subcontinent, which are also determinants for the frequency and strength of tropical cyclones. All his research was based on the analysis of data, in India PhDs do not get a lot of fundings, and he missed some field and sea-work. Moreover, to apply for the position of assistant professor, he had to qualify for a national exam and gain two years of experience abroad. He was curious to work in a different environment and while working for the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, he looked for post-doctoral positions and found one in Turin, Italy.

Having studied in English, he only had to validate his degrees to be accepted by the Italian university and in India, he easily obtained his visa. The harsh part began in Italy where it is almost one year that his house hunting process has not finished yet as he does not find an affordable accommodation, with a contract that he necessarily needs to have both his residence address and open a bank account. Even if, without the first he cannot obtain the second and vice versa, “a cycle that never finishes, and a stress you always have in your mind that will distract you to focus on your work things”. It took different months to obtain his residency permit and he never imagined the long queue in front of the police department from the early hours of dawn, the absence of an appropriate management of the different procedures and the real possibility of having to go there several times before having a chance to enter. He was in line for hours under the sun and in the cold and the entire process was horrible. He finally received his document so late, that after two months it was already expiring. In his opinion, both processes need to be ameliorated to make things easier to all those that will stay or work in Italy as everybody wants to be treated well. “If I knew this process would have been this tough and horrifying, maybe, I would have chosen a different country. I have seen people experiencing a much better treatment living in Belgium or Germany”.

In his post-doc, he is studying the relation between climate extreme events and hydrological ones with a particular focus on the floods that affected Italy in recent times. As a climatologist, he wants to understand climate to use it as a signal to anticipate calamitous situations.

“I want to know how climate affects the floods so that we can prepare ourselves, and the government can work to avoid the worst economic losses”.

Consequently, his scientific contribution would have a significant effect on Italian society. He likes the Italian smooth working environment that is more process-oriented than result-oriented, and he appreciates that both his supervisor and friends care about his personal life also. Infect, “if you don’t have a lot of pressure, you can slowly evolve your idea into a very good one. With a silent mind it is easier to work”. On the contrary in India, he did not have a lot of support, the working culture was very toxic, and a lot of pressure was put on students. He used to work twelve hours per day, especially by night as he prefers it, a habit he brought with him in Italy. Before coming to Turin, he did not have a lot of expectations apart from some concerns on people’s modality of talking only to Italians in Italian. Something that revealed to be true. In fact, even if people in the department are very open and speak English, he feels that to live in Italy, learning Italian is not an option. For now, he does not want to see long after his post-doc, but at one point of time he will certainly move back to India.

“I’ve always wanted to go back to my country and do something for my people who don’t have opportunities or financial conditions to go around the world or India itself”.

He firmly believes that what needs to be spread in India is awareness on climate change and he aims to address individuals in their fifties who live in villages. People who work hard every day to overcome daily difficulties and are therefore more reluctant to change their lifestyle. He would like to gain some experience in Italy in the field of scientific dissemination with the aim of communicating the same issues in India, in a simpler and more understandable way even to illiterate people. In his opinion, “if you change one person, you can change an entire family. But for now, this is only a hope”.

Vikas likes Italian culture because, as in India, great importance is given to family ties. There people continue to live in the same household even after getting married, and if a child moves, they invite their parents with them as it is children’s duty to support them. He misses his friends and playing cricket, a sport he loves. But what he would like to take with him there, is the self-confidence of Italians. In India, people often feel inadequate and know themselves mainly through what others say about them. On the contrary, he would like Indian people to be more self-aware because “once you know yourself, you can do many things”. It was very nice for Vikas to talk about himself, especially because in Italy, people like him have few opportunities to do so.