Not on the Syllabus
Beyond reading papers and writing out research methodologies, I had many opportunities to explore the campus and the city. While I expected to visit historic sites and tourist attractions in Hyderabad, I did not anticipate hot pot memories, peacock stalking, and mung bean harvesting.
After I harvested some wild Indian spinach, basil, mung beans, lettuce, and much more from the World Vegetable Center home garden, Stella and I decided to follow some peacocks on a whim. Of course, we were never able to be more than dozens of meters from the magnificent birds. In contrast, Stella wasn’t too pleased with them (they kept on eating her tomato trials).
ICRISAT has acres on acres of land — far beyond what is needed for interns like me to work on — so much of it is left alone, allowing grasses and birds and trees to engulf the land in swathes of green.
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of wearing shorts that day (I had only expected to visit the garden) and left the fields with my legs covered in mosquito and bug bites — no regrets, though; the view was unbeatable.
My flatmates and I were also briefly transported back home with an evening of hotpot and viola/guitar-plucking. A pot of boiling chicken, tomato, mushroom, radish, and onion, coupled with iconic songs made for a night to remember. Corny, I know, but I am forever grateful to Stella for her thrifty cooking skills and knack for all things food-related. It took a while, but I found there was a lot to do that wasn’t a twenty-minute car ride away or recommended by my supervisor. We were all there to study and research, but we knew how to keep each other company to make the most of our time in India.
