Four and a half years ago I embarked on a journey that took place in four cities/villages where I was met by the warmth, kindness, and support of people who have shaped the course of this PhD, and my life at large. This section, the only part of the thesis that is written with the heart and not the mind, is dedicated to them.
I’d like to begin by thanking my supervisor, Christian Voigt. I first joined Christian’s lab as an intern in 2016. It has been an honour to work with someone who is highly regarded in the bat research community. Christian has always been supportive and has looked out for me. Apart from some solid academic training, through him, I got exposed to techniques of bat research that I had little scope of learning in India, and learnt a lot about the natural history of bats. Aside from the academic life, I will miss devouring his Christmas turkeys and his special pan-fried, lime-infused, banana split sundaes! I look forward to seeing him periodically at bat conferences and relive the PhD days.
I couldn’t have asked for a better co-supervisor than Viktoriia Radchuk. I first met Viktoriia over Skype when we discussed my potential PhD proposal. It wasn’t even guaranteed whether the proposal would be funded or not, but her commitment, interest, and investment in the idea made me carry hope. For the next four years, every meeting with her was to be like that. I always left the meeting with hope and feeling energised. The rarest combination in academia is of a person who is empathetic, kind, friendly, and supportive, while also being intellectually smart. Even rarer it is to find someone who lightens up your R script with comments like (paraphrasing): “#OK, I will now beautify the graphs. My mom thinks as a woman I should put more make up. I don’t do that so might as well make the graphs beautiful”. Viktoriia belongs to both of the above categories! It was an absolute delight and privilege to work with her.
I also found a trusted friend and mentor in Anand Krishnan right before the start of my PhD. I started what was to become my PhD project in Anand’s lab in 2017. Since then, Anand has been an integral cog in the wheel that pushed this thesis to its completion – both intellectually and logistically. In fact, he even helped me prepare for my scholarship interview. Having gone through similar grief in his life, Anand would routinely call and check on me when I was in Germany; a gesture that I will never forget. Apart from checking in, he would (and continues to do so) shower genuine encouragement that would make me feel more worthy of myself than anything else. It is safe to say that Anand has played a crucial role in building my character capable of finishing this thesis.
Thanks to this PhD, Berlin became my first home away from India. My greatest thanks to my scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for giving me this incredible opportunity. The DAAD is so much more than a scholarship and I feel extremely honoured to be a part of this scholarship and this network. In Berlin, I found a multicultural bunch of friends-like-family in Julie Louvrier, Patricia Calderon, Miguel Veiga, Alex Badry, Saba Mottaghinia, Juan Li, Susana Soares, Seth Wong, Lilla Jordan, Arjun Dheer, Morgane Gicquel, Guillaume Chero, Stefania Milano, Raffaella Simone, and Colin Vuilloud. They made Berlin winters liveable, summers much more colourful and festivities like Christmas and Easter less lonely. Much love also to my colleagues at the Bat Lab from whom I learnt a lot about bats and their natural history, and those in my corridor, especially Meike Matthews and Fabienne Pritsch, who were warm and forever smiling in the dullest of weather. I also thank the Ping Pong gang of the IZW for the fun evenings in the lecture hall and the garden and for introducing me to ‘Run-around-the-table’ ping pong. I owe my best Berlin memories to my landowners, Thomas and Gabi Prinzler, and their pooch Amon. Thanks to them I not only had an enviable flat, but they were also always ready to help – be it a punctured bike tyre or translation during a doctor’s appointment. Year after year, Gabi baked me the best Stollen (the thing that I most looked forward to in winters). The Prinzlers also did their best to introduce me to different aspects of German culture. As I write, the Schornsteinfeger that they gifted me for New Year, watches over me. My love and thanks also to my birding friends – Luisa Arndt, Matt Ford, Laura Muschiol, and Kevin Hemingway. Ever since I got introduced to them, birding in Berlin and Brandenburg (and beyond, like Helgoland!) became far more cherishable. I also thank my language tutor, Jens Beckmann, who not only introduced me to the language that would make life easy (and fun) but also gave the best insider tips for a life in Berlin. I’m equally—or perhaps more—attached to places than to people. For that, this quirky city itself deserves a special mention for being an extraordinary home. The cultural insights that I was exposed to in the last four years will stay with me to make me a larger human being. In this life, Berlin and my association was only meant to be a fling because of my career goals. Later on, or in another life, I’d wish for a long and stable relationship with the city.
I thank my field assistants who are the younger brothers that I never had: Zareef Khan, Baseer Baniya, Saddam Husain, Shamshad Ali, and Prabhat Bisht for making field days lively and memorable. I have perhaps learnt more from them than they have from me. The fact that we all consider each other friends or brothers despite the hundreds of games of Ludo that were literally ‘cut-throat’, speaks volumes about our bond! Apart from my field crew, Mandal valley and its inhabitants will forever hold a special place in my heart. Much love, especially to the best friends that I made here during the course of my fieldwork: Pramod da, Guddu uncle, Satish ji, Shishupal ji, and Anku bhai.
At IISER Pune, where I did some labwork in 2021, the short time during the pandemic was made memorable thanks to the friendship and help of Shreya Keshri, Maheshwori Salam, and Madhura Bhattacharjee. Thanks are also due to Amrita Hazra and Sudha Rajamani for their kindness and warmth.
In November 2022, with the end of my scholarship, life came full circle because I ended up writing my thesis in the same place where I wrote my master’s thesis: the National Centre for Biological Sciences. NCBS is easily the best place to write a thesis. Thanks to the productive work environment that NCBS has created, a job that would have taken 10 months in Berlin, got done in 6 months here. My thanks go to Alissa Barnes who got me access to the campus, and to the librarians for always welcoming me with a smile to my writing desk.
Lastly, this thesis also belongs to my family. My brother, Rohan (an artist) has been an inspiration in productivity. He more than made up for my absence by taking great care of my father in times of high and low. My father never understood my career choices but his support and nurturing of my wildlife-related hobbies has been trepidatious but unwavering. In the past four years, my brother and my father beautifully filled in for the absence of my mother. Thanks are also due to my sister-in-law, Rithika for her support, cordial wishes, and easy recipes; to my dog nieces, Srishti and Sakshi for brightening up the home and our lives again; and to my late dog brother, Naughty – the animal who taught me to love all animals.
My biggest thanks and love to my partner, Pritha, who—as an academic herself—understood the travails of a PhD and did her best to make the process a breeze for me. Pritha endured a tiring long-distance relationship, yet, the distance never faded the encouragement, strength, love, and grit that she kept passing on to me during difficult phases of the PhD. The last six months of my thesis writing when we were together were, of course, most memorable. To have her in my arms and to see her celebrate the accomplishment of my smallest goals (like a daily target) to larger goals (like a published paper), made me less critical of myself. Her support, love, and encouragement were crucial for the indispensable of this thesis.
Lastly, this thesis is dedicated to my mother who isn’t here to witness a moment that would’ve made her excessively proud. Starting from my first geography books that got me interested in maps to my first tiger sighting that got me interested in wildlife – everything revolves around her. She fought blindly and furiously for my career choices despite both of us being clueless about what comes after a Bachelor’s in Zoology and a Master’s in Wildlife Biology. Our relationship was built on banter and it would be gross injustice if I didn’t end by mocking her. Apart from my thesis examiners, had my mother been alive, she would’ve been the only person to read this thesis word by word. The only difference – she wouldn’t understand a word of it. She would’ve called me to ask, “What does niche partitioning mean?” and upon listening to my explanation, she’d have casually passed it off as “Ah! Yes, that’s what I thought. Just wanted to check.” I’ve missed her presence throughout my PhD, and I miss her the most as I write this.
-Rohit, 12/04/2023
Special mentions: The makers of Ludo King and Tekken 3 – two games that kept me extremely entertained in the field and during thesis writing.
Blah Ka Nas 