About Me

Hi! I am Vishal Singh and I hail from Lucknow, India. Currently, I am in the 5th year of my BS-MS Physics major at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata.
My research interests primarily include understanding the intricacies of turbulence and space plasma. Machine Learning is a tool I have been using more and more recently to explore the aforementioned interests.
In my free time I enjoy making videos and animations for science communication. When I am not doing that, I'm playing my Carnatic flute, dribbling basketballs or reading and writing stories.

Current Projects

  • MS-Thesis

    Under Prof. Dibyendu Nandi.
    Currently the majority of my efforts are being put in my MS thesis which involves Machine Learning based Assessment of the Solar Forcing of Space Environment. This includes using information from Dopplergrams and Magnetograms to try and predict various phenomena happening on the surface of the Sun.
       17/07/2020 - ongoing       CESSI, IISER Kolkata

  • Solar Magneto Convection

    This is a future project I will be involved in where we will perform direct numerical simulations of radiative convection relevant to the top layers of the Sun in an attempt to better understand Heat Transport by turbulence and Statistical Properties of convective turbulence.
       NA       Nordita

Past Research Experience

  • Research Intern with Dr. Bhavtosh Bansal

    This was a two phase internship. In the first half we experimentally verified the Kramers– Kronig relations using LCR Circuits. In the second half we explored linking Thermodynamics and Information by the experimental verification of Landauer’s Principle. [Report]
       10/08/2019–15/12/2019       IISER Kolkata

  • Research Intern with Dr. Siddhartha Lal

    Did a reading project to get an introduction to Machine Learning. Included making simple neural networks from scratch to identify digits and alphabets. [Report]
       01/06/2019–31/07/2019       IISER Kolkata

  • Research Intern with Dr. Pankaj Kumar Mishra

    Worked on Stochastic Resonance in the Lorenz Model (A system of three ordinary differential equations for atmospheric convection). Did numerical and theoretical Investigations. [Report]
       12/05/2018–14/07/2018       IIT Guwahati

  • Research Intern with Prof. Sudeep Bhattacharjee

    Investigated contamination, and time dependence of wettability of metallic surfaces by microwave plasma generated low energy noble gas ion beams. [Report]
       31/05/2017–20/07/2017      IIT Kanpur

Education

 5 Year BS-MS Dual Degree Program

  Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata(India)
   01/08/2016– Ongoing

Department:- Physics
CGPA:- 8.60 (as of 8th semester)
Relevant Pursued Courses
Intro Level - Classical Mechanics, Electronics, Electrodynamics, Condensed Matter, Thermal Physics Real Analysis, Linear Algebra
Intermediate Level - Wave Mechanics, Computational Physics, Quantum Field Theory, High Energy Physics
Advanced Level - Quantum Mechanics, Mathematical Methods of Physics, Statistical Mechanics

  All India Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations

  City Montessori School, Lucknow
   01/08/2014–22/03/2016

Score:- 96.8%
Subjects studied
Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science, English and Physical Education

  All India Higher Secondary Examination

  City Montessori School, Lucknow
  01/06/2012–03/04/2014

Score:- 96.2%
Subjects studied
Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Computer Science, English and Hindi.

Technical Skills

Programming Languages
Familiar with : C++, Java, Unix and R
Proficient in : Matlab and Python (experience in Machine Learning libraries TensorFlow and Keras)
Media Softwares : Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Audacity and Blender
Other Relevant Softwares : Latex, gnuplot, Mathematica

Administrative Posts

Secretary of Literary Club of IISER Kolkata (2017-18)
Treasurer of Dramatics Club of IISER Kolkata (2018-19)
Event Organiser in Inquivesta, India's Largest Science Fest (2017-18)
Member of Campus Radio Team of IISER Kolkata (2018-19)
Member of Core Committee of the first iteration of Lexis, IISER Kolkata's Literary Fest (2019)

Honours and Awards

  • Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) Fellow
  • National Talent Search (NTS) Scholar.
  • All India Rank 8 in India Mathematics and Science Talent Examination (2011)
  • Top 1% all-India in Class XII Examinations

Conferences And Camps

  • Current Trends in Modern Physics lecture series organized by the Physics Society of Department of Physical Sciences of IISER Kolkata.
  • National Science (VIJYOSHI) Camp (2016 & 2015)
  • INSPIRE Internship Programme (Department of Science and Technology)
  • Various colloquiums organised by the Department of Physical Sciences, IISER Kolkata and the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India (CESSI)

Resume pdf

Blog

This is a place for miscellaneous items. Stuff I made. Stuff other people made that I liked. And everything in between.

Interesting links

Snippets of random thoughts

  • When was the last time you felt joy?

    Pure, unadulterated, can't wipe that stupid grin off your face kinda joy. Those moments are truly rare, aren't they? They are for me anyway.In fact if I'm being completely honest, my most recent memory of such glee is from a dream, of all places. A day dream to be precise.

    I was sitting in class. My eyelids growing heavier with the weight of boredom. Didn't even realise when I went from sitting in a chair to lying on my couch. Beaming for no apparent reason. A delicious smell was coming from the kitchen. Couldn't quite put my finger on the item making my mouth water though. Just like I had no clue as to how old I was. Maybe 10. Maybe 90. I heard ecstatic sounds of little kids playing with a puppy outside. Were they my siblings? My grandchildren? Was I longingly looking back at a dear time from my past; or imagining my perfect future? There was simply no way to tell. The only certainty was that of my happiness. I felt at peace. And that seemed to be the only thing of any importance. For a brief instant I experienced bliss.

    But dreams are fleeting. And so are such moments. I really wish I could recreate them in my life. Make them last. Maybe I will be able to, someday. When I figure it out, I will let you know. In the meantime, when was the last time you felt joy? Pure, unadulterated, can't wipe that stupid grin off your face kinda joy.

  • Something interesting happened today. Or rather last night. I met a girl in a dream. Unlike anyone I've ever met in person. But in many ways a little bit like a lot of them. Thankfully, dreams have a way of lasting longer than a single night. So I got to spend quite some time with her. And what a time we had. Went on picnics, did dramas, sneaked out of classes to roam around and talk, spent hours exploring buildings long abandoned and when the night came and there wasn't much else to do , we just laid down on the soft grass side by side staring at the stars. To say that she was perfect, would be an insult to perfection, but she was definitely everything I could want a girl to be.

    The reason I'm writing this is because even though it's just been minutes since I woke up, I'm already starting to forget her. I don't quite remember what she looked like anymore, the feel of her touch I'm just trying to recollect. Even her voice I can barely hear in my mind. And I have a feeling that'll disappear in a couple of hours as well. So even though today morning I woke up with a wide smile on my face, the coming hours are going to be distressing, upsetting, painful even as I slowly forget the girl that I once met in a dream. And as the universe slowly collapses before my eyes, all I can do is try to freeze a few precious moments.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is that we slowly forget people every day. People who were once friends you talked to everyday slowly blur into oblivion. Now I can't ever meet the girl I'm trying so hard to remember, but most of the people you haven't talked to in a while are just a text away.

  • Relationships are hard. Especially long drawn out ones. Doesn't take a genius to figure that out. And the saddest part is always, almost without exception, the end.

    If it's really good, and you don't want it to end, it hurts. And if it's horrible, downright terrible, it hurts as well. Because that's not what it was always like. When it began, it really was something beautiful. And it stayed that way. Until that one thing goes wrong. It's always just that one little thing isn't it. But it's not that little after all. Week after week, you keep hoping against hope that it'll get better. Even though you know it won't. Going through the painful transition from being cautiously optimistic to realistically pessimistic. And then it reaches it's inevitable end.

    I guess all we can hope for, is that the bitter end does not tarnish the memories that were made, the experiences that were had. And isn't that what life is all about? Taking the good of every day and simply, with as little resistance as possible, moving on.

    And if you're not quite sure what the hell I was rambling about, look at the title again.

  • Here's the thing about flowery shit. It's fun to write. Profound to read. It really is beautiful when the metaphors fit snuggly together. But there's something even more alluring about incoherent unadulterated rants. Ones which don't go anywhere. Don't talk about anything. They just exist for the purpose of existing. Kinda like every single one of us. What's even better is they don't require much thought. You don't have to look for synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homonyms. You don't have to make everything look and sound pretty. So rants might not lead to literary masterpieces, but they make up for that in the catharsis they provide. The emotions they help purge. Anger. Anxiety. Frustration. Sadness. Rants don't discriminate. They treat them all equally. And so what if you don't have anyone willing to read your rants that are way; way too long and don't really amount to much. Just the act of putting them out there, just turning thoughts into words, leaves you better off. And in my world, that's good enough, whatever that might mean. So here's to rants. Reading them. Writing them. Melting your friends' ears off with them.

  • I wanted to write a poem for you, but realized very early on that I was incapable of penning one down.
    It's not that I don't know what I'd write about. Or that I'm confused about how I'd word my thoughts.
    It has more to do with the technicality, that poems in general have a beginning, a middle and an end.
    And the hours I spend daydreaming about you, do not.
    But if I were feeling a little too brave, a little too bold, I would at least give it a try to figure out what I'd say.
    I would probably write a bit about your smile, the one that's a little too contagious for my taste.
    I might also mention the melody of your voice and how I want to drink it like wine despite that making absolutely no sense.
    And if I were any good at writing this stuff, which I clearly am not.
    I most certainly would sneak in a line somewhere here describing the tremble of my lips when they get too close.
    To the lips that would smile and sing a lot more often if I could make it happen with my thought.
    Any collection of words about you would be incomplete without me alluding to the magic that you weave with them yourself.
    And if I manage to remember this, which I really hope I do, I'd also talk about how you're one of the very few people I'd rather call up and say "Hi" instead of texting "Yelp".
    All of this rambling is pointless though, if I can't actually put any of this to ink.
    But in the end it doesn't really matter. Because the next time I see you, I'll just give you a hug. Which will say all that it needs to. All that this unwritten poem never could and never will.

Stories I Wrote

  • “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” This line has been used to define a true friend through the ages. But I really think this definition is not good enough these days. I mean I might completely be over thinking this but what if a person is helping you just to ensure your help when he needs you. That’s not friendship, is it? Bribery would be a better analogy. At the risk of sounding clichéd, I’d like to say that friendship is all about being there for someone, helping someone without expecting anything in return, anything at all. But we don’t make friends these days, do we? We make contacts, so that we can get our work done easily. It’s more like symbiosis. You get my work done, and I’ll get yours. And that is perfectly logical actually. I mean what is wrong with making connections. After all we do live in a materialistic world, where connections/contacts are power. Sure sometimes having a ton of money doesn’t hurt, but connections work where even money fails, a very rare event I might add though, money not working that is. And if you are not one of those ridiculously rich people, connections come in handy. In fact if someone approached me right now and asked, “Hey, why do I need this ‘True Friend’ character in my life?” I don’t think I’d be able to give them a satisfactory answer. But what I would tell them is that we live in a very selfish world. No one and I mean no one does anything for anyone without expecting something in return. It’s sad really, the kind of world we live in. Our relationships are a mess, every single one of them. No way of sugarcoating it. And in this so called ‘practical’ world, friendship is the only relationship that can be selfless. I’m not saying that it always is, in fact quite the contrary, it too rarely is. But I do think that it’s the only one which has a shot at being one. And not all friendships are true ones, or even good ones for that matter. But I can safely say that any true friend is a selfless one. Really hard to have a true friendship for selfish means, impossible in fact, I’d like to believe. It’s not like you’re strolling in the market, see someone and say to yourself, “Gee. That’s a potential true friend.” It doesn’t work that way. A true friendship takes time to evolve. And most of the time we don’t even have a clue when someone we hardly know, slowly becomes a true friend.

    I might be wrong but I really think we’ve degraded the entire concept of a ‘friend’. These days every second person we meet is a friend. If you remember his face and know his name, he’s on your ‘happy-christmas-happy-new-year’ list. And even the face remembering thing is not a compulsion. All you need is their cell number and that is reason enough for you to call them friends and wish them on every occasion possible. People walk around calling everyone their best friend these days. The term doesn’t have any meaning anymore. Mere acquaintances are lavished with hugs and kisses at the second or at most third meeting. Birthday cards are passed around offices so that everybody can scribble a snippet of sentimentality for a colleague they barely met. So when you call someone your best friend, it generally goes unheard. As I said, the word doesn’t have any meaning anymore

    I once read somewhere that being a mother is the highest paid job in the world, since the payment is pure love. Well I’d like to say that a friend, a true one gets paid lavishly as well and in the same form too, true love. As I already discarded the age-old definition of a ‘friend’, I guess I should also give a new one. One which is viable, at least for now. A true friend to me is someone you can be yourself in front of. It’s not news that we behave differently in front of different people. You are person A in front of your parents, person B in front of your teachers and person C when you are with your, well, friends. But no one knows the real you. That’s the person you are when you are completely alone, with no one watching you. Well, apart from the set of eyes above which always watch you. But the ‘always’ part makes it hard to consider them as active watchers. I mean who really would actually like to watch your boring life 24*7, especially if they had the choice not to. Anyways coming back to the point, when you are with a true friend, there is no holding back of thoughts. No filtering them before they come out of your mouth, to suit the listener. I mean with a true friend, I could say something like, “Women empowerment is overrated. I mean in villages and backward areas, totally needed but non-existent. In metropolitan cities hardly needed, but totally exists.” without worrying about him going all philosophical on me. Even if he didn’t agree with me, he wouldn’t judge me based on a politically incorrect remark I made. Instead he’d try his best to understand my opinion. A true friend is someone whom you can insult in public and he won’t hold a grudge. He’ll just insult you in public instead. She is a true friend if you can say to her face, “Seriously? Didn’t you have anything uglier to wear?” He’s a true friend if sitting in his car you can tell him, “Dude, slow down or I’m getting off of this ‘Death Chariot’ of yours.” Without fearing that you’ll sound uncool.

    I’m sure it’s a beautiful feeling. Being yourself in front of someone else. Having someone who can read you like an open book, someone who can look beneath the fake smile. I wouldn’t know, but I’m sure it is. Its nice having a true friend is all I can say. I haven’t found mine yet, but I truly hope that you have or soon do.

  • I knew what I was doing was wrong. A meek voice at the back of my head was constantly reminding me. But that voice was dulled by my need for drugs which had inevitably transformed into a need for money. So here I was in a dark alley, my hands tightening around a random stranger’s neck like a noose. He, lying on the ground, was almost unconscious. I could feel my last dose of drugs coursing through my veins. The ecstatic sensation fading slowly; my body was already aching for another round of bliss. That’s when he suddenly pushed me down. Now I was the one being throttled. But he was very weak from asphyxiation, and couldn’t keep me down long. Within moments I was on the top once again. Now driven by wild rage, I was fighting to kill. I could hear my heart hammering against my chest. The sound so loud in my ears, I was afraid they would explode. But nothing could stop me now. I could feel his mortality flicker in front of me. It was a new kind of high. The power to snuff out a human life like the flame of a candle. The light in his eyes faded slowly; I was looking at a corpse. In the ominous light of the moon, a monster was born.

    ANOTHER DARK ALLEY, SOME OTHER NIGHT

    Having just looted a street vendor, I was enjoying my cheap/free burgers. With three more of them occupying the entirety of my pocket, I was humming a tune, when I heard a noise. As I reached closer to the source, I realized it was a small girl, lying on the floor in tatters, sobbing. No words could do justice to the state she was in, but looking at her, frail, scrawny and fragile came to mind. Her eyes seemed to beg me to help her. Without a second thought, I emptied my pockets in her hands. The same eyes shone like white pearls at the sight of food. Her sobbing stopped and she spoke something. Firstly I couldn’t understand but then she spoke again and I realized she was asking a question. “Are you my guardian angel?” I couldn’t bear to look in her eyes anymore. So I ran. I ran like never before. I ran till my body couldn’t take it anymore; and fell. And when I covered my face in shame, I realized it was wet with tears. A tiny girl had mistaken me, a monster, for an angel.

    Come to think of it, the girl wasn’t entirely wrong. I really had been an angel for her. But it’s true too that I had been a monster the night I killed a random stranger. Maybe that’s what life is. A constant battle between the yin and yang that reside within us. Two wolves reside within us. One is evil. One is good. Which one wins? The one you feed the most.

  • “I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings. I just want to tell you that it was not at all my intention to do so.” Said Sonia to her father to which he replied, “Your intentions don’t matter. They are not responsible for the consequences. Your actions are.”

    Sonia was the only daughter of Mr.Subhash. He also had a son Sunil, but she being the youngest was showered with much more love. Her wishes were commands for him. The only exception was the time up to which she was allowed to stay out. Her board exams had ended and now the day of result was approaching. And as it came nearer, the intensity of arguments in the house also increased. She wanted to go to the party her classmates had organized for the “Judgement Day” but her father was completely against it. And he had every reason to believe he was right. How could he send his daughter out, for a late night party when he saw horrible news every day on the television! He was so afraid for his daughter; he even had dreams, scary ones about her and was always woken up by the blood-curdling screams of his daughter, his beloved Sonia. But ultimately, he had to bend to her will and give her permission to go to the party. But, she had to take Sunil to the party and had to be back by midnight any cost. She wasn’t too happy about it but that was the best she could get.

    Finally the day arrived and she passed the exam with flying colors. The party was just great and everything seemed delightful to her as it was her first time. The music was so loud it could choke your ears, but she was enjoying it all, the essence of being out of home, late at night, in a party. She was so engrossed in enjoying, that she never noticed when the clock struck 12.

    Her brother was scolding her for being so childish.”How could you not notice the time? Dad’s gonna kill us.” He too had fallen asleep in the car, but hey, he was the big brother, so all the scolding rights were with him. They were hardly one kilometer from home when they felt a tire of the car go flat. Both of them came out of the car to check and saw that they had two flat tires. Their eyes showed clear horror. But the look in the eyes wasn’t because of the tires; it was because of the strange looking men with masks and hockey sticks, approaching them.

    Fear coursed through their veins. Sunil asked Sonia to run but it was as if her feet were fixed. She was like a prey that had been transfixed by the predator. A push from her brother broke the trance and she ran ran with all her might. She took a glance back and saw her brother trying to hold them back. That chilling image was sealed in the depths of her consciousness. When she reached the house, she was in tears. Her father was sitting in a chair, staring at the clock. His first question came out very calmly, “Did you lose your watch?” That’s when he saw the look in her eyes. He stood up brusquely and glanced behind her. “Where’s your brother?” “I’m sorry.” was the only reply she could manage.

    Mr.Subhash instantly called the police and reached the place where it all had happened. Sonia kept telling him pieces of the story whenever she could control her crying. Their car was still there, standing with flat tires and shattered windows. But that was not what they cared about. Right beside the car was a pool of blood. The sight of blood caused Sonia to be overcome by nausea and vomit just beside it. The car, the blood, that was the last image in her mind when she turned unconscious.

    When she opened her eyes, she was in a hospital. They told her that she had been out for 48 hours and the police were searching for her brother with full vigor. They had not had any luck till then. All she and her father could do now; was pray. The only hope was that they had not found his body; yet. They took an oath to look for Sunil until there was a single breath left in their body. Will they be successful? Only time will tell…………..

  • She entered the class with a gleam in her eyes and a triumphant smile on her face. Today was her first exam of class 10th and she was ready for it. Not because she had prepared well or toiled away days and nights working hard on her weakest subject mathematics but because Sonia had decided to get good marks by hook or by crook. She was ready for anything..

    One month before…

    “I really don’t know how I will pass math. I just don’t get it, how you people get the answers so easily while I just keep staring at the questions.” said Sonia to her best friend Kavita during lunch. Their boards were just around the corner and while Kavita had prepared well, worked hard throughout the year, Sonia had done the complete opposite. All she had done was complain about how difficult her life was and how easy it was for others and that’s exactly what she was doing right now. “Don’t panic. You still have one month’s time and if you work hard, you can still do well. After all maths is all that’s holding you back. Master it and you’ll easily get a percentage above ninety.” was Kavita’s calm reply. But Sonia wasn’t there. Her body was sitting with Kavita but her mind was somewhere else, thinking of easy ways to get good marks.

    15 Days before…

    Desperate needs require desperate measures. This is how Sonia was justifying her being in a dark alley in the middle of the night. She was waiting for the dealer whom she had found online after hours of searching. He had claimed that he could get her any paper she wanted. But there was a price. He had demanded a hefty amount of ₹ 25,000 per paper. Sonia had discussed this with Kavita who had vehemently opposed the idea. She had even convinced Sonia not to contact the dealer at all. But the Devil had already entered her mind and was filling it with thoughts of greed. Images of her getting medals and prizes were in her mind all the time. And all she had to do was pick up the phone. The money wasn’t that big an issue. She was sure that she could take the amount under the pretext of shopping and her mom won’t even notice. And that’s exactly what she did. She called the dealer. And the charm his voice had! She just couldn’t resist his offer to complete her dreams. If there had been any thoughts of backing out, his talk drowned them in the depths of her sub-consciousness. So here she was, waiting in an alley imagining the admiration she would get once she got her dream marks, and that’s when he arrived. The exchange was swift. He was wearing a mask and never even made eye contact. He took the money. She took the envelope containing the papers. And they both departed towards their respective destinations. Once she reached had reached home and was in the safety of her bed, Sonia’s joy knew no bounds. “Well, that was pretty easy.” was all she could think. She read the paper and practiced the solutions to all the questions. She had also got the solutions in the envelope, which were apparently, a bonus as now she didn’t even have to search for them. So utilizing the opportunity to the fullest, she practiced the problems again and again. When she was ready, she had literally learnt math, just like history or geography.

    Day of the exam…

    Sonia sat down in her chair. Took out her box and admit card and placed it on the table. Her face was glowing with joy. She wished her friend Kavita best of luck and that’s when the paper distribution started and a deafening silence replaced the commotion in the exam hall. One glance of the paper and her smile faded in an instant. “This cannot be the paper.” She shouted, with all the pain and misery clearly evident in her words. “What? What do you mean? You are speaking as if you’ve already seen the paper. ” was the invigilators’ cold reply. And in response, everyone in the room started laughing. She was in the most awkward position of her life. Tears of sheer humiliation were rolling down her cheeks. She could hardly solve a single question of the paper successfully. Even the questions she would’ve been capable of solving were now out of her reach as she had been so busy preparing for The paper that she hadn’t even bothered to revise the most basic of formulae. She continued sobbing throughout the paper, bursting into tears a number of times and by the time it was over, her eyes had swollen and become stark red. Her face was a pathetic, pitiful sight. Everyone was smiling, coming out of the examination hall, discussing how easy the paper had been; everyone but Sonia. When she came out, she saw Kavita waiting for her. Their eyes met and all was said in that brief moment of eye contact. Nothing had to be spoken out loud. Words were not needed here to express what they were feeling, what they wanted to say to each other. They just stared at each other for two long minutes and then, when all had been spoken by the eyes, embraced each other. They both were crying. One for herself and the other for her crony. The only words that were heard came out of Kavita’s mouth, “If only you had listened to me…..If only………”