Blog - Aniruddha Saha
Room 1.02, Haus1, Karl Liebknecht Straße, Golm, Potsdam – 14476 : My address for six months from Oct 1, 2021 to March 23, 2022.
How it all began?
Hi!! I am Aniruddha – an M.Tech student from Department of Hydrology at IIT- Roorkee. It all started on May 20th, when a confirmation mail of my selection as a Co-PREPARE master student landed to me. But with it came uncertainties - the 2nd wave of COVID 19, which had all strengths to cancel our visit to Germany. Things however took a good turn, and I finally landed Germany on 30th September,2021 - and a whole new world unraveled before me.
The first experience is always special – and that too travelling to Europe. Woo!! Excitement was at its peak. Prof Dr. Axel Bronstert – the Head of Institute for Environmental Sciences and Geography, Universität Potsdam hosted us at the Institute. He is a gem of a person – the sweetest person I have ever seen. The jolly person that he is, he never failed to greet me with a smile whenever he met me at the corridor or elsewhere – always asking how I was, and how were things going. I shall never forget the one thing he said to me, the very first time we met – “Don’t work on weekends.” I am still trying to work on this advice, and hopefully quite soon I shall be able to follow it.
The lushy green-ness from my office window, which however didn’t stay long -” WINTER IS COMING” “Natrisk Change Conference – 2021” – was the first big thing just after I reached Germany. My first ever conference where I got to hear various scientists and research scholars presenting their work, getting to meet them in person and converse with them. The Co-PREPARE team met together for the first time during the conference, and I got the opportunity to meet Prof Dr. Bruno Merz.
Life started in quite well in Germany. My first meeting with my guide Dr Wolfgang went really well, giving me the perfect kick start to my dissertation work. I got an opportunity to work with the Institute’s workstation with 300GB RAM and 72 cores - which eventually was the biggest abutment to my work. I also got to attend the weekly seminars at the Natural Hazards group of Natrisk Change Project under Prof. Dr. Oliver Korup ; and also got to present my work. I am really lucky for the feedbacks I received, which helped me shape my work ahead.
Wandering around the country-side in Golm The Golm campus was situated at the outskirts of Potsdam. Rewe and Doner House at Golm were the two big support systems for me – If, food is life, then “Chicken Doners” are the mitochondria! The country side was a beautiful space, to go out for a walk or cycling. The LesCafe is the main hub of the campus – you interact, make friends, chill, enjoy! Of the few departments at the Golm Campus, I visited the Physics Department, whose Astrophysics section has an astronomical telescope.
Viewing the moons of Jupiter, using the telescope set in Department of Physics, Uni Potsdam. “Acha time itna jaldi kyu khatam ho jaata hai?” – It feels that the six months of scheduled stay at Germany ended in no time. It is an experience I shall relish all my life. The constant support of both my supervisors – Prof. Manoj and Dr. Wolfgang made things so easy and simple for me. Prof. Dr. Axel Bronstert – the constant smile on his face, every time I greet him in the office always made my day. He radiates happiness. A big thanks to Prof. Ankit Agarwal- PI, Co-PREPARE and his team for giving me this wonderful opportunity and being there for whatever help required. Being a master student, I have understood and felt what such an opportunity means to us in shaping our career and setting our goals. In return, I have tried in my minimum possible extent to help my juniors apply for this scholarship program and prepare for their visit to Germany.
PS : You can’t keep a Bong away from a Durga Puja. I had my Kurta-Pajamas packed, and hopped to all the three Durga Puja Pandal’s in Berlin.