Our guest in this first episode of NiSERCast is Prof. Varadharajan Muruganandam, from the School of Mathematical Sciences at NISER. In this episode, we discuss his long journey in academia — his PhD days at IIT Kanpur, teaching at Pondicherry University, his experiences teaching in France, and setting up institutes like NISER. We also touch upon the impact of computers on academia and, in particular, research in mathematics. Listen in to hear about his meandering journey as an Indian academic! Episode Notes:Ravi Shankar and Carnatic music Madurai Kamaraj University Marshall Stone and Stone–Weierstrass theorem Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur UB Tewari Henry Helson Mathematical Reviews Harmonic analysis Harish-Chandra VS Varadarajan Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Madras Presidency College Weierstrass p-functions Kronecker’s theorem Stirling’s formula Four color theorem Harmonic series Leonhard Euler Georg Cantor Moore machine, Punch cards and Intel processors (286, 386, and Pentium) \(\LaTeX\) David Hilbert Felix Klein University of Poitiers Pierre Deligne Nicholas Varopoulos PV Narasimha Rao Hyderabad University, Pondicherry University, Benaras Hindu University S Kumaresan, VS Sunder, and Mathematics Training and Talent Search Programme René Descartes and Cartesian coordinates GH Hardy George Mallory, Tenzing Norgay, and Edmund Hillary Jordan curve theorem Thiruvalluvar