Chennai: B Aswatha, a student of 7th grade of a private school at Pallavaram, is an aspiring Palaeontologist in the making.
Breaking free from the stereotypical educational fields of medical and engineering, Aswatha has chosen paleontology which is an alienated term to be heard in the modern world. Palaentology is the study of fossils and the evolution of life on Earth.
Speaking with News Today, the child prodigy says, “I think I was five when I was first taken to the Egmore museum. There was something about the fossils that kindled my interest and made me to scan through the encylopedia to gather more information about the fossils. It was love at first sight for me. I like to travel to historical places in order to see the wonder of art, the old monuments. It is important that every one of us learn something about history, we are what we come from.”
The collector kid has more than 74 varieties of fossils in her own mini-museum which includes Ammonites, Echinoids, Gastropods, Belemnite, Lopha and Nautilus etc. Some of those fossils are very rare, she said.
She visits Perambalur and Ariyalur districts of Tamilnadu in search of fossils with her mother during holidays.
Speaking about her dreams and mentors she said her aim is to become one of the best palaeontologist in world. She further said her parents are helping her very much on the quest to achieve my dreams.
“Geological experts Dr. Nagendra from Anna university , Dr. Ramkumar from Periyar University have been my guides and theĀ motivational pillars,” she added.
She is now being invited by several colleges for special lectures on fossils. “What started out as a hobby has led to such a honour, we are overwhelmed by such offers . We had zero knowledge about this field and we are left clueless from where her interests was build on this particular field of palaeontologist. It isĀ destiny,” says her parents.
Article by Martin Nova