I am very interested in anthropology, evolutionary linguistics, evolutionary psychology,
politics and current affairs, south Asian archaeology, and physics & cosmology. I am
an avid reader of non-fiction books and some of my favorite authors are Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Naom Chomsky,
Howard Zinn, Stephen Hawking, Jared Diamond, and Richard Dawkins. Someday, I hope to write my own books too.
Politically, I take a very left-liberal stance on various issues, such as human rights, the environment,
animal rights, capitalism, and neo-imperialism. I am also an avowed atheist and a rationalist.
My views on social phenomena are consistent with scientific reductionism.
Indian classical music is one of my other passions. I enjoy the
ancient Dhrupad style of composition, especially renditions of the Dagars -
the senior Dagar brothers, Z. M. Dagar's veena, and even the young Wasifuddin Dagar, but also others, such as Dr. Ritwik Sanyal.
Occasionally I listen to light classical music, by Bhimsen Joshi, Vilayat Khan, and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. I also like very
old Oriya bhajans of Balakrushna Dash and some Western classical music, particularly Bach and Beethoven.
I also enjoy ethnic cuisine. I've cooked Cajun, Italian,
Persian, Mexican, Indonesian, Thai, and Japanese recipes. I like to watch Hollywood action
movies and read Asterix comics.