Soon after joining SUNY at Buffalo in 2010, I got occupied with the PhD level course work. At the end of the first semester, we had to sit for a qualifying exam and then proceed with a course in the second semester and mostly research. It was fun all along as throughout the years there were graduate student meetings and retreats by the student community. We spent time filling ourselves with yummy food and taking time off from research.
I was inclined to spend time on social activities so joined AID Buffalo in 2011. This year AID annual conference was organized at MIT, Boston and so along with members from Buffalo, we drove to Boston. It was a fun-filled knowledgeable time at MIT that saw many activists from India sharing their work at the grassroots level.
Later, we participated in Buffalo reuse carrying out volunteer activities. This was also my first volunteer work in Buffalo via AID which was also exciting. Buffalo Reuse was like a thrift shop that had many used items for people to buy. Talk about recycling!
I had more fun that summer when our school organized a trip to a nearby jungle in which almost 30 – 40 students participated. Many students from my lab also joined the trip and we had great activities all along.
That winter some of my friends from other parts of the US visited me in Buffalo with all of us traveling to Niagara Falls to spend quality time there. One of my friends was a bit difficult to manage and I ended up spending some of my money on him, which could have been avoided. I still feel astonished about how he was back then.
In 2012, we had a department retreat on the campus which we enjoyed a lot. Most of the students and some faculty members from the CBE department had food and interacted with us students.
This year, during Diwali I visited my hometown and later celebrated my cousin’s marriage in December. I used to visit India almost once every year for a month.
I misplaced photos from 2013 but in 2014 my would-be wife visited me in Buffalo. She was here for a few weeks and later that year we got married in my hometown. Before my marriage, along with my family, I paid a visit to our satellite town, Bundi, spending a day at its fort.
In 2015, I graduated from Buffalo and that was also the year when my wife again visited me in Buffalo. We went to Letchworth State Park and also met my brother-in-law in Albany. In September, I returned to Hyderabad without any prior plan. I am surprised to see how things panned out from 2015 onwards as I am still currently in Hyderabad.
A lot happened in Buffalo while I was there and although after my graduation I haven’t visited Buffalo the memories collected there will have a special place in my heart.