My father was a Professor of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, a world renowned engineering school in Eastern India that has produced many famous scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs. Growing up on IIT campus, I felt that the only subjects people studied were either engineering or one of the physical sciences. My mother, who had a degree in nutrition, never worked outside the home – there were no opportunities for individuals with her background. Sure, there were doctors elsewhere in my world – my father’s brother was a pediatrician and both my mother’s brother and her father were surgeons; but in my high school, biological sciences were for those who hated math. To prove that I liked math and was every bit as smart as my classmates, I decided to major in physics. Not at IIT Kharagpur, of course – that would never do – but at Jadavpur University, known for its engineering school and located in nearby Calcutta (now called Kolkata). This was despite the fact that I routinely did best in my biology classes in high school, likely because my mom tutored me in that subject.

The physics days

We were required to have two minors; I chose Chemistry and Mathematics. I did reasonably well in my undergraduate classes, finishing towards the top of the class. I learned of Maxwell’s equations and Fourier and Laplace transforms; I labored through quantum mechanics and high energy physics; I stayed up all night trying to understand thermodynamics; yet I have now forgotten most of that material. Later, when my daughter was in high school, I tried to help her with her physics class. Appalled at my lack of knowledge in basic physics, she said ‘Ma, are you sure you studied Physics?’

In India, a Master’s degree is required in order to …