Perhaps the first thing you will notice about her is those heartfelt giggles. A closer look will unveil a world of its own- a fighting spirit, a go-getter, a steadfast and lively persona, an eloquent speaker, the list goes on. In the 4th episode of Humans of LIVE, we dive deep into the world of yet another beloved face of the Sarah Gilbert Promotion. This episode we are spilling the beans of the life and LIVE of Divya Sinha.
The Delhiites
I was born in a quintessential New Delhi household. I grew up with my older sister Diva and our Australian cocker spaniel with light brown- golden fur whom we naturally named Ginger.
Living with an older sister meant I had a partner in crime for post-school adventures, but it also meant the art of sharing was taken to Olympic levels. We practically had a "Sharing 101" course going on at home, with lessons on everything from toys to snacks. In a nutshell, it was a bonding experience that came with a few scrapes and hair pulls – but hey, that's what siblings are for, right? Haha! I love my sister to bits, but let's just say that by the time we hit adulthood, we had both earned black belts in the "Sisterly Karate" discipline.
Our parents?
Well, they had the challenging role
of being the ever-diplomatic referees in our entertaining bouts of sibling rivalry.
No matter how diplomatic our parents always think they are, they have their own favourites. Diva lives up to her name. She is a true diva and has always been mom’s shadow. I am, on the other hand, my dad’s sidekick. As long as I can remember, every weekend, dad and I used to go grocery shopping together. It was something exclusive to the two of us. No one could ever invade into that one activity.
We had Ginger during our formative years. I was very young when he passed away. I mostly remember him from our childhood pictures. We have hilarious photos of Ginger giving Diva and me a piggy-back ride. Mom still holds on to his memories and absolutely refuses to bring another pet into the family.
In my early days, New Delhi was a paradise – no kidding! Picture this: pollution-free skies and Saturday picnics at India gate with the whole family, those were how my days looked like. My family was all right there in the city, and we celebrated every festival and little occasion like there was no tomorrow. Funny, it feels like I blinked and suddenly, I was all grown up.
All Girls High and the Fantastic Four
My schooling years were a wild ride through the bustling streets of New Delhi, in a girls-only school. You wouldn't believe how amazing it was. While kids from co-education schools had their own reservations about girls’ schools, I couldn’t care less about what they thought. I had an epic high school experience. The bonds we formed and the mutual respect we developed as we grew into strong, independent women, were like a shot of adrenaline to the heart.
Let me tell you about the fantastic friends I made during that time – Jojo, Annie, and Kenji. Jojo is back in Delhi, Annie lives in Maharashtra, and Kenji, my home away from home, lives in Brussels. School brought us together and we've been inseparable for a whopping 17 years now. We chat and spill the beans on everything almost every single day, and I can't picture my life without them. They know me inside-out just like I know them. We are literally carbon copies of each other, and I am lucky to have them in my life. Bless them, they are beautiful!
The San Diego Experience
During my high school years, I was an active member of the rotary club. I prided myself in being the Student-Director of International Affairs for the club. My friends and I, we were little entrepreneurs. When we were in the 11th grade, the rotary club assigned to us a task to help flood victims in Kashmir. We had complete independence to create an initiative that will help raise money for the cause. We set up a food stall at our annual sports day celebrations in school, cooked the food on our own at the home sciences department, and ended up making a profit worth of 20,000 Indian Rupees. Our earnings went to rebuilding a school that was destroyed by the floods. Throughout the next year, we would receive pictures of the new school building undergoing construction. It felt absolutely incredible.
The branch of the rotary club in San Diego heard about our initiative and invited 3 of us to fly to San Diego to shadow our high school counterparts there. To complete the exchange, the American students were to later come and shadow us in our school. We were in San Diego for three weeks, during which we lived the life of students in three different schooling systems in USA- a public school, a private school, and a charter school.
The most interesting part of that experience was debunking the assumptions we had about them, and the assumptions they had about us. In their minds, we did not have things like shopping malls or the internet in India. In our minds, all American kids were supposed to be rich without any struggles in their lives. We were kids, and our perceptions were limited to the lens through we saw each other from afar. My American counterparts only knew us from movies like the Slumdog Millionaire, and we only knew them from teenage Hollywood musicals. It was an enlightening experience, getting to know each other and realizing that we were more similar than we were different.
Charting my own course
Like many Indian youngsters who had a biology background, I found myself on the well-trodden path of post-school coaching classes, geared toward a future in medicine. Whether it was my own decision or a nudge from my parents, I can't deny that these classes were intense. From the very beginning, I made it clear to my parents that becoming a doctor wasn't my goal, and they respected my choice. However, they still wanted me to take a shot at the entrance exams for medical school (I’m sure every Asian reading this is smiling). As fate would have it, I ended up pursuing pharmaceutical sciences, the field I had my sights set on all along. The thrill of knowing I was charting my own course was nothing short of exhilarating. Yet, the journey through college was a roller-coaster I could never have anticipated. It was a transformation unlike anything I had ever experienced.
Those First Days
Imagine this: I had spent a dozen years in an all-girls school, and suddenly, I found myself in a college where the male population seemed to outnumber the women by a considerable margin. It was an environment foreign to me, with boisterous guys, a species I hadn't encountered in such numbers before. I'll admit, it was a bit intimidating at first. Slowly but surely, I found my footing and began opening up to my classmates. Along the way, I formed some truly deep friendships. Four years of pharmaceutical school gave me a glimpse of the direction I wanted to take, but the path forward wasn't entirely clear.
I wanted to pursue a Masters. There is a highly competitive exam for pharmaceutical graduates in India called the GPAT. Those who pass it gets a full scholarship from the government to pursue their MSc studies. But just like any competitive professional test in India, passing this test required academic prowess and endless days of studies. I prepared for two years, sacrificing every festival and every family occasion that came my way. When I passed that test, I was on cloud nine. You know how in Bollywood movies the hero has a winning moment? The happy ending? That was the happy ending for the protagonist of my own little life story. At least that’s what I thought back then.
I began my MSc in Pharmacology in a prestigious University. It was the time when COVID was looming over our heads. We had on and off in-person and online classes. I soon realized; I wasn’t really enjoying my studies. After two years of relentless hard work, I was exactly where I wanted to be, but that quite didn’t seem to be my happy ending. In Bollywood movies, the hero never makes a wrong move. Was I then a supporting character of my story rather than the protagonist? After throwing my life to something for two years to get somewhere, it was hard to break it to my parents that I did not see myself there. Quitting at that moment also meant that it came with social tolls. South Asian kids do not have a habit of quitting.
Never a Risk Taker
Growing up, I almost always followed Diva’s footsteps, especially when it came to academics. I was more comfortable opting for safer options, never really straying away or charting an unknown territory. This was also the time that I did not have my sister, at least, in physical presence as she was already studying in Australia then. My parents allowed me a year to find a backup plan for my future. If I could land a good alternative, they would allow me to switch.
Then I stumbled upon LIVE!
A big shout out to Kenji, who steered me towards the Erasmus Mundus opportunity. I looked it up and decided to try my luck in European Vaccinology. From the day I knew I was selected for the interview till the actual day of the interview, I studied my heart out. I went through more than 200 immunology videos and numerous study materials and fell in love with the concepts. The interview went great, the jury board was good to me, although I couldn’t honestly read their faces. Initially I thought I might have blown it, but then, the results were out, and I was in! When the email arrived, dad was watching a cricket match and mom was dicing vegetables. They read and re-read my letter of acceptance with full scholarship. They were jubilant and I was back to being the protagonist of my story. This time, for real.
Barcelona!
I feel the first Erasmus destination is basically the place where you tend to make a home away from home. In this process I was more than grateful for Moumita (or Momo, as we like to call her) to be there. I was the first to arrive in the UAB accommodation, the Vila and was literally alone for the first week or so. When she moved in as my roommate, my life took a 360-degrees turn for the better. Then the others moved in, and Vila became a beautiful place.
I never shared a room with anyone before in my life. It was a new experience for me to share my living space. We were opposites in the sense that I was super messy while she preferred keeping her corner of the room clean and organized. Bless her soul, she never complained or said anything to me. In hindsight, I am glad I had my first experience of living on my own with her by my side.
To New Horizons!
Leaving Lyon was an extremely emotional experience. Promises were made for an epic summer holiday and hesitantly we all slowly bid farewell to Crous. I will never forget it, 14th January 2023. It was maybe 6 am in the morning? Most were up to bid farewell to those leaving. I didn’t realize I was going to be so emotional but something about saying goodbye to the master LIVE family was incredibly hard.
The opportunity to do an internship in oxford was one that I am truly grateful for. I had an incredible team led by Dr. Anita Milicic and my research focus on differentially adjuvanted R21 Malaria vaccines development in Oxford and testing the immune response generated, with a special focus on MAIT cells. My time in Oxford was a welcome respite from the challenge of picking up a new language. Despite being smaller than Antwerp, the city's elegance shone through its beautiful colleges and historic buildings. Oxford's transient nature, where most study and move on, mirrored my own trajectory. Working at Jenner proved to be a transformative experience, sparking my interest in pursuing a Ph.D. The exploration of Oxford was largely a solo venture, leading to the formation of remarkable friendships, much like my diverse Erasmus experience. Now, one of those friends is set to visit me in France this December. I would also like to give a quick Shout-out to Shyami from master LIVE who supported me throughout my Oxford journey and offering a listening set of ears to my rants about life during lunch breaks! She’s wise beyond her years and I hope she knows I was grateful for her company.
Emboldened by my Oxford experience, I ventured to Saint Etienne for my Ph.D. The project, lab, and the supervisors are exceptional. Even though navigating life in France solo poses a challenge, Oxford instilled in me the confidence to trust myself, reassuring me that I can navigate life anywhere.
Of course, before I left for my new life in Saint-Etienne, and everyone starting a new journey of their own, some of us decided to finish with an epic summer trip to Italy and Croatia. As memorable as the trip was, the goodbye hit me hard. Hugging Gen always makes me emotional for some reason haha. I remember the moment when Momo, Gen and I were just bawling into a huddle at the Airport in Croatia. Gen was holding a piece of peacock feather she found from cursed island. I guess, I should also take the time to give a special thanks to Florian, Florencia and Justin for making my summer incredibly memorable. And of course, Zhanna for a memorable evening in brussels before I left for my next journey in France.
Life in Saint Etienne right now is a blend of diving into administrative tasks, rocking long lab experiments, and battling the winter blues. I'm practically buried in paperwork from head to toe. The routine of leaving home when it's still dark and returning after sundown isn't exactly ideal, but hey, here's to hoping for brighter evenings come summer. The lab scene is top-notch, and the people are pretty fantastic. My supervisors have been a solid support, making this blend of slow yet fast-paced life a bit more manageable. Weekends are a Lyon affair for now – it's been a favourite escape. However, I'm thinking Saint Etienne might unveil its charm soon. There's a certain curiosity building up, and I can't wait to explore what this city has to offer. Cheers to new horizons!
Quick Quiz: Divya’s Way!
Favourite books
Favourite Recipe from Mom’s Kitchen
Chicken curry
Peer Meter
Bart | Fashionista |
Jorge | Party! |
Zhanna | |
Idrees | Doctor |
Ivan | Adventure, Garam masala (long story!) |
Divya’s favourite movie is being remade and she is playing the role of the protagonist, which movie is it?
August from August Rush
Divya Sinha is a PhD student in Universite Jean monnet, Groupe sur l'Immunité des Muqueuses et Agents Pathogènes, Saint-Etienne, France. Her project, co-supervised by Prof. Stephane Paul and Assistant Prof. Stephanie Longet, surrounds the development of Novel adjuvanted intranasal vaccine candidates to induce long term mucosal immunity against infectious respiratory pathogens.
This story was co-developed by Divya Sinha, the guest of the 4th episode of Humans of LIVE and Dr. Adhara Madhuri on behalf of Team IVAA.