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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know . i i i . – t ’ a l y n t k News India Times (March 28, 2026 - April 3, 2026) April 3, 2026 26 Lifestyle T here is something quietly extraordinary about an old tattoo. Not the sharp, deliberate art of a mod- ern studio, but one that has settled into skin over decades, softened, deepened, earned. She was a small woman. The kind of small that somehow takes up an entire room. Silver silk hair, a spark in her eyes that had clearly been burning since long before any of us arrived, and on the inside of her forearm, two letters. What was once sharp and dark had mellowed into a deep forest green, the way old ink does, the way old things do, becoming more themselves with time. She was born and raised in the mountains with cold air and quiet mornings. Every day, she and her friends would walk the same path down to school, past a godna sitting outside her home, a traditional tattoo artist working with needle and soot, carrying a craft older than the mountains themselves. Commu- nity ink. Identity pressed into skin one careful dot at a time. One afternoon, this little girl skipped her lunch. Saved four paise. And made her decision. She came home with her hand wrapped in cloth and hunger in her belly, which was precisely what gave her away. Her mother, sharp- eyed as mothers always are, unwrapped the cloth, looked at the fresh initials, and then fed her daughter and took care of the wound. No lecture outlasted the meal. There was scolding, yes. But there was also love, which is really the same thing at that age. She admitted to feeling like a bit of a brat about it. As it happened, marriage didn’t change her initials. The universe, apparently, approved. When I told her that a tattoo that size would cost way more, her jaw dropped clean off the table. She found that funnier than anything, the idea that something she’d gotten for four saved paise now carried the price of a small occasion. She laughed the way people laugh when they’ve earned the right to find everything a little absurd. She spoke about snow the way people speak about first loves, with her whole face. She told us, almost conspiratorially, about the time she ate eighteen green chilies in front of her newly married husband, just to watch his expres- sion. She won that round. She never forgot it. And that same spirit never left her. She would light up at the mention of a bowl of thupka, get herself ready, and hop onto the back of her grandson’s motorcycle without a second thought, heading out into the evening like someone who had absolutely no inten- tion of slowing down. The laughter she brought into a room was the soft, full kind. The kind you want more of. The kind that makes you ask for another story, another memory, another glimpse into a life so richly, simply lived, before she gently remind you that her ninety-something body deserves its rest. There is a particular freedom that descends on people past a certain age. They stop pretending. They’ve had the mountains, the fresh air, the chilies, the four- paise rebellion. They’ve seen enough to know what mat- ters and what was only ever noise. What matters, it turns out, is time. A hand held. A story listened to. A joke shared across the table. Some- times they’ll tell you the same story twice. You’ll remind them. They’ll smile and say, “I forget things now. I’m 94.” And you’ll feel the strange, tender loop of it, the déjà vu that is really just love, circling back. And I was lucky. I heard a few of her many stories. There were so many more I wish I had. So here is what I want to leave you with: go find your eldest. Sit with them. Ask about something small, a childhood walk, a food they loved, a moment of mis- chief they’ve never quite stopped being proud of. Make them laugh. Laugh with them. Let them repeat themselves. Those stories are ink too. And like all good ink, they only deepen with time. Ajita’s Headspace was born from ruminations and memories finding their way out through storytelling. The author is an artist and de- signer based in the tri-state area. By Ajita Kapoor PHOTO:PROVIDED Illustrations:Ajita Kapoor Ajita’s Headspace: The Ink Of A Life Well Lived Community American Association For The Advancement Of Science’s 2025 Fellows Include Many Of Indian Origin I n March 2026, the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, one of the world’s largest general scientific societies and publisher of the Science family of journals, announced the 2025 class of AAAS Honorary Fellows. This latest class includes 449 scientists, engineers and innovators across 24 AAAS disciplinary Sections. At least 29 of the 2025 Fellows are of Indian origin. Election as a Fellow honors members “whose efforts on behalf of the advance- ment of science or its applications in service to society have distinguished them among their peers and colleagues,” a press release from AAAS said. “This year’s AAAS Fellows have dem- onstrated research excellence, made notable contributions to advance science, and delivered important services to their communities,” said AAAS Chief Executive Officer Sudip S. Parikh, said. Parikh is also executive publisher of the Science family of journals. “These Fellows and their ac- complishments validate the importance of investing in science and technology for the benefit of all.” AAAS began honoring Fellows with this lifetime recognition in 1874, about 25 years after the association was founded. Presented by section affiliation below, those of Indian origin are: Section on Agriculture, Food & Renewable Resources Om Parkash Dhankher, University of Massachusetts Amherst Upendra Man Sainju, USDA-ARS, Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory Section on Astronomy Meenakshi Wadhwa, University of Cali- fornia San Diego Section on Biological Sciences Ram Dixit, Washington University in St. Louis Roman Reddy Ganta, University of Missouri Geeta Jayant Narlikar, University of California, San Francisco Pankaj Kumar Singh, University of Oklahoma Health Campus Section on Chemistry Partha Basu, Indiana University India- napolis Dhandapani Venkataraman, University of Massachusetts Amherst Section on Education Pratibha Varma-Nelson, Indiana Uni- versity Indianapolis Section on Engineering Tejal Ashwin Desai, Brown University School of Engineering Srinath V. Ekkad, North Carolina State University Rajat Mittal, Johns Hopkins University Arvind Raman, Purdue University Section on Geology & Geography Dev dutta S. Niyogi, University of Texas at Austin Section on Industrial Science & Tech- nology Danda B. Rawat, Howard University Section on Information, Computing & Communication Anupam Joshi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Section on Medical Sciences Neel R. Gandhi, Emory University Anirban Maitra, NewYork University Grossman School of Medicine K MVenkat Narayan, Emory University Chirag R. Parikh, Johns Hopkins Uni- versity School of Medicine Niketa A. Patel, University of South Florida / James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital Suresh S. Ramalingam, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University Ravi Thadhani, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center / Emory University Section on Neuroscience Sandeep Robert Datta, Harvard Medical School Section on Physics Vinod M. Menon, The City College of NewYork, City University of NewYork Section on Social, Economic & Political Sci- ences Madhu Khanna, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Section on Societal Impacts of Science & Engineering Erwin P. Gianchandani, National Sci- ence Foundation Usha Menon, University of South Florida The new Fellows will receive a cer- tificate and a gold and blue rosette pin (representing science and engineering, respectively) to commemorate their elec- tion and will be celebrated at a forum in Washington, D.C. on May 29, 2026. The 2025 Fellows class will also be featured in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science in April 2026, the press release said. By a StaffWriter