For this week's #humansofOISS edition, we talked to Animesh Upadhyay, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the @smilowcancerhospital, who is originally from Mumbai in India. Read on to find out how to celebrate Diwali, and what Indian dish you must try in New Haven. If you would like to be featured in one of our stories, just shoot us a DM!
Q: Animesh, how is New Haven different from where you grew up?
A: I come from a town far from here known as the “city which never sleeps” aka Mumbai. For me, New Haven is a quaint little town with a young population. A series of intellectual conversations over various frat parties, the bone-chilling cold weather and witnessing my first ever snow evidently made New Haven socially and topographically different from where I grew up.
Q: Are there any important holidays you go back home for? If not, do you celebrate them in New Haven?
A: Diwali - The festival of lights; is by far my favorite holiday out of the tons of holidays already existing in India. I got a chance to celebrate it with my friends this year in New Haven. We start with cleaning the house; lighting up sparklers, ground crackers, oil lamps; wearing new ethnic clothes and topping it up with a piece of gold jewelry. The highlight of this day is meeting new people, eating a ton of sweets, and sharing the sheer warmth brought about by the happy faces around you.
Q: Do you have any favorite Indian restaurants in New Haven? What do we need to order if we go?
It would undoubtedly be @houseofnaan. Its menu has a lot to offer and is by far the most authentic Indian restaurant. You'll definitely need to order the Korma with the choice of your protein (I prefer chicken, as that's how the dish was originally made).
