I am Zakhiya, a PhD scholar at the National Institute of Advanced Studies Bangalore. I am a Bachelor's and Master's graduate from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune. For my PhD I try to understand the social systems of wild bonnet macaques from the Bandipur Mudumali area. I am an ardent fan of scientific methodology, and an irresistible devotee to my own curiosity.  I am still figuring out and exploring the areas I want to commit to, but thus far I know that I have my intellectual interests span across ecology, evolution, animal behaviour, anthropology, sociology, pedagogy, politics and equity. This might sound diverse but at the core of it and in my pov, these are all complex systems, and what I basically am passionate about is understanding the functioning of these complex systems with all its complexity, details and nuance. 

Apart from this, I draw and write when expression becomes inevitable and I definitely and inevitably need to play.