I'm an engineering grad student with an unusual fondness for eggs, Arsenal and Pink Floyd (in that order).

I enjoy programming, dabbling in new technology, discussions on politics, religion, philosophy, music and sports. I sing and play the guitar, bass, harmonica and a few percussion instruments (no, not the drums).

I'm perpetually curious about most things and I try to quench that with as many books I can lay my hands on.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I think Couchsurfing brings one in contact with a wide variety of people, many of whom you might not meet in your everyday life. I love traveling (much like everyone else who uses this platform), and to interact with fellow travelers is always a nice experience.

Interests

Music is the first thing that comes to mind. Closely followed by soccer and anything to do with popular culture, be it movies, TV shows, politics, history, philosophy and especially science and technology.

• culture
• politics
• movies
• tv
• music
• guitar
• soccer
• history
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Music : Progressive Rock, Blues, Classic Rock, Jazz, Classical (Hindustani, Carnatic, Western), Indie, Alternate Rock. I really like Christmas carols (or any prayer music for that matter) as communal singing is something that evokes a sense of compassion in humans.

Movies : To be fair, my frequency of watching movies has reduced significantly since I joined grad school. But I like the works of Tarantino, Scorcese, Satyajit Ray, Ford Coppola and Anurag Kashyap a lot. I think films should a tell a story that is deep and expressive at the same time (City of God - Cidade de Deus, is one such movie). I enjoy comedy as a genre but not a lot of movies manage to do it right. The ones that do are a joy to watch.

TV Shows : Rick and Morty (a million times over), Last Week Tonight, The Office, Scrubs, It's Always Sunny..., House of Cards, Breaking Bad and a whole lot others.

Books : Currently reading "A House for Mr. Biswas", by VS Naipaul. Last two books I read were Magic Seeds (by Naipaul again) and a biography of Freddie Mercury. Reading as a habit was inculcated in me at an early age and I grew up surrounded by classical and modern Bengali literature, modern English classics and a family that encouraged reading for pleasure. Always looking for recommendations. Currently, mine would be "India after Gandhi", by Ramachandra Guha.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

1) Traveled halfway across Ukraine (from Donetsk to Kiev) on a shared berth in a passenger train. Reached Kiev at 12 am and took a bath in the Dnipro river, because that's apparently a casual way to unwind after a long day at the university. Snuck up the back of a dorm building to get to a friend's room to stay for the night. Had a brilliant jam session with a random Japanese guitar player into the wee hours.

2) Visiting Ladakh. For those of you not in the know, Ladakh is a region in Jammu and Kashmir, the northern-most state of India. It's a calm and serene valley nestled in the middle of Himalayas. I have traveled a fair bit, seen the alps, the Indian Ocean and some really beautiful nature. But take my word for it, Ladakh left me speechless. It was like being inside a Windows wallpaper.

3) Visiting the Emirates Stadium. I'm a huge soccer fan and have been an Arsenal supporter for nearly 10 years now. So visiting their stadium and taking a stadium tour was one of the best experiences of my life.

4) Watching Metallica live.

What I Can Share with Hosts

- Stories about travel experiences and travel tips (India, western Europe, East U.S.)
- Programming knowledge (hopefully, I can pick some up from you too).
- A fair bit about compilers, computer architecture, graphics, GPGPUs, and game AI.
- Random trivia. A LOT of it. I'm an avid quizzer and I like knowing things that people don't find useful information. Naturally, I like sharing them too!
- If you're my bridge partner, I'll share half the blame of any bid gone wrong.
- Any food that I have on me.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, United States