I must admit that I am not an excellent decision taker. More so when the decision has something to do with my future. throughout my decision taking age (late puberty to present) I have always been extremely confused. I was(and probably still am) confused.

I have always wanted to take up an academic career. If you ask me then it would be my first choice (IF given a choice..ever that is !). To be quite frank, I have not had a single family member (close or distant) who have studied physics at the graduate level at least. there have been some who have researched chemistry but they have either been too distant (quite literally) or too imposing for me. In short, I have never had anyone whom I could look up to.

Except maybe for my mother and my father. My father is an assistant engineer in a thermal power plant. He never had a very solid background in physics. But I did learn quite a bit from him. He made me construct my first motor when I was 9. He also showed me a way I could change it's speed by adding a potentiometer (and old b/w TV volume knob) in series to it. He taught me about series and parallel connections too. But the very best thing that he did for me was buy two classic books for me. He bought for me the two volumes of 'physics for entertainment' by Yakov Perelman and I can never thank him enough for that.

My mother is a housewife. A very sharp and logical housewife!
She has an uncanny interest and knack in physics. Once when I had typhoid, I had to undergo a blood test and while pulling out the syringe from my vein, the doctor spilled a drop of blood on my study table (which no one noticed at that moment). In the evening my mother saw it and tried to rub it off. the stain went away but it left a ring of clotted blood marking the periphery of the stain. My mother asked me the reason behind this ring formation and along with her I developed some sort of a physical theory regarding evaporation and thickness of the blood film at it's various points. Although the theory wasn't in any way extremely accurate, I guess it wouldn't be very wrong if I conclude that my mother gave me the first taste of research (which I thoroughly enjoyed as a child).

But the truth is..I have never had an education in physics. I am just an electrical engineer.