From AI anxiety to black holes over beer, global science festival opens in Mumbai pub | Mumbai News
4 min readMumbaiUpdated: May 19, 2026 02:54 PM IST
Written by Kaizan Kabrajee
At Shah Millar House in Khar this week, conversations usually confined to labs and lecture halls are unfolding over drinks, quizzes, live music and stand-up comedy. Scientists and researchers from all over India have taken over the pub as Mumbai hosts Pint of Science for the first time.
The idea, organisers say, is simple: take scientists out of laboratories and place them in spaces where ordinary people already gather.
“Research institutions often feel closed off. We want people to know what scientists in their own cities are working on,” said Debarati Chatterjee, faculty member at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and director at Pint of Science India.
Held every May, the festival intentionally takes place on weekday evenings when cafés and bars are less crowded. Organisers say the informal setting is central to the concept. Scientific research is stripped of jargon and turned into conversations rather than lectures.
“It isn’t a classroom talk,” Chatterjee said. “Scientists are trained to explain their work in accessible language. The whole idea is to build a bridge between scientists and society.”
The festival also aims to address a growing disconnect between young Indians interested in science and their awareness of opportunities within the country.
“These festivals are more important than ever now,” Chatterjee said. “There is a growing interest in science, but we are losing a lot of students because of a lack of awareness about research opportunities and science in India.”
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“Our students are doing great, but they are doing great abroad. They hear about scientists doing great things overseas but don’t hear about the ones doing the same thing in their own country,” she added.
The Mumbai edition is spread across three evenings, each built around a theme and featuring scientists from different disciplines.
The opening night on Monday focused on technology and behaviour. Parveen Goribindhur, an AI governance expert and chief executive of United Regulation, spoke about anxieties surrounding artificial intelligence and the ethics of regulating it in a session titled ‘From Anxiety to Agency: Responsible AI Operationalisation’.
Sharing the stage was Anindita Bhadra of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, who has spent 16 years studying India’s street dogs. Her talk explored canine family structures, dog-human relationships, and what cities can learn about coexistence from animals that live alongside people every day.
The conversation on Tuesday will shift to ecology and conservation. Dr Vishal Rasal of the JSW Foundation in Mumbai will discuss the hidden ecological and economic value of forests surrounding Rajasthan’s Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary, while Shaunak Modi of the Coastal Conservation Foundation will revisit Mumbai’s ecological past, from coral reefs and dolphins to the biodiversity that still survives within the city.
The final evening (Wednesday) turns skyward. Dr Ankita Parab of Universiti Sains Malaysia will speak about tissue culture technologies and their potential role in sustaining life during future space missions. Closing the festival, Dr Prolay Krishna Chanda of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research will explore dark matter, dark energy, and primordial black holes.
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For organisers, the ambition extends beyond a single Mumbai venue. Chatterjee said the festival is also attempting to expand science outreach into smaller cities, including in the Northeast of India, where public engagement with research is often limited.
“We always hear about famous scientists abroad,” she said. “But don’t you want to know what researchers in your own city are doing?”
This week, in five cities across India, the answer to that question may arrive over a pint.
The author is interning at the Indian Express
