Slam bam

Recently Union Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh slammed the faculty and research quality of IITs and IIMs. He said that the excellence of these institutes is because of their students and not the teaching staff. (See the article here.)

Any MBA student will tell you of their grueling work schedule. I had a fair share of the experience during M.Sc. Chemistry at IIT Bombay long ago in 2001-2003. Every semester we gave two sets of exams - one in the middle and the other at the end. Interspersed between these would be quizzes and written assignments for every subject. In the senior year in preparation for the research life ahead the professors as part of their courses had us looking through literature in journals, write reports on the findings and even make presentations.

Clearly then along with the students, the faculty also have their work cut out and need to do more than simply using the chalk and blackboard in order to maintain standards. Doing good research requires you to keep abreast with the latest developments in your field, to be quick enough to ride on the tide and to build a solid niche for your work amidst that.

Maintaining a balance between being a good teacher and a quality researcher becomes a matter of being passionate about what you do and managing it well. Discussing new findings appearing in journals with students and colleagues enables to identify the possibilities therein for you. Engaging the senior students in mentoring the younger lot can help in taking some of the load off.

We now have a total of 16 IITs and in addition there are six IISERs. Until a year back some of the professors from University of Pune and scientists from NCL were roped in for taking classes at IISER, Pune besides performing their regular duties. Due to shortage of competent faculty the existing staff has to perhaps bite more than they can chew. There is a need to bring in more hands for the job.

Science in India still suffers at the behest of brain drain. Out of the 20 M.Sc. Chemistry students in my class 18 went to either US or Germany to do their Ph.D. and then continued to stay on longer for pursuing a post-doc. I know of only one of them to have returned recently to IIT Bombay as an Assistant Professor.

I feel the general perception that doing science and making money do not go together should be changed. Eyebrows should not be raised when professors call for higher pay scales. Giving encouragement, incentives and rewards wherever due would make the demanding job lucrative and go a long way in luring back more and more lost talent.

DPS Mathura Road where I schooled which had started off in tents eventually became one of the largest schools in Delhi where you had classes from Nursery to XII and each class having 6-9 sections. This was possible only because the architects were able to envision the great future despite the humble beginnings. The huge Angstrom Laboratory where I am currently working is relatively new and first opened its doors a few years back only. Similarly our newer universities and institutes should be built while keeping the imminent progress in mind. The older ones should be timely upgraded and an improvement in the working conditions should be brought about.

As much as world class students deserve world class professors, the world class professors need world class facilities to motivate them to do better still.

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PS: What is your take? Are our professors as bad as the Minister thinks?

The Man of My Dreams

I recently read the book The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld. The story begins in June 1991 when Hannah at the age of 14 years old sees her parents separate. As she grows older she meets three men. There is Mike who truly loves her but she doesn’t find a soul mate in him. Then we have the handsome Oliver who gives her attention and much more but has a roving eye. Finally there is Henry for whom Hannah has held a torch for years. She moves to Chicago to be near him only to learn he has a girlfriend. They begin to spend unusual times together, acknowledge their once up on a time crush for each other and recognize the “weird thing” happening between them. But ultimately their relationship doesn't move any further and this is the closest Hannah comes to finding the man of her dreams.

When Henry steers towards Suzy, a heartbroken Hannah goes to New Mexico where she learns to live again. With some soul searching, she is able to confront the demons of her childhood that have always held her back. Nearly two years later one day in May 2005 she writes a letter to her therapist telling her the lessons learned.

Here are a few of the lines Hannah says in those pages and my comments (in italics):

"Perhaps this is how you know you're doing the thing you're intended to do: No matter how slow or slight your progress, you never feel that it's a waste of time.”
*When looking at other people’s lives and success, in a moment of weakness we tend to question our own worth. I feel in such a situation we should think like Hannah to strengthen our belief in what we do.*

“I wanted to hold happiness in reserve, like a bottle of champagne. I postponed it because I was afraid, because I overvalued it, because I didn’t want to use it up, because what do you wish for then? The possibility, that I was intimidated by getting what I wanted, is the hardest one for me to consider, which might mean it is the likeliest.”
*It is indeed our fears that tie us down and make us hesitate when all we needed to do was take a leap of faith.*

“I don’t mean this to be glib,” Hannah continues, “but I feel like a lot of life is distasteful and embarrassing. And you just push through it. Isn’t that the big lesson we learned from living with Dad? You fix what you can, and you let time pass.”
*It is hard to wait for time do its magic but mostly it does work.*

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PS: Would like to share any quote from a book that stayed back with you?

Winter wonderland

I have spent a significant part of my life in Delhi. I have even spent a day in the snow clad Rohtang Pass. Somehow I still felt wary of facing the long winter in Uppsala. But that changed when I set the first step on the tarmac outside Arlanda airport. The first brush of cold was like a welcome hug with which my fears vanished.

In late October, 2010 when I arrived in Uppsala the temperatures were close to -2 to -4 deg C. I could already spot frost forming over leaves. I was also told that the conditions were just right for a snowfall and that it could happen any day. On 9th November I was taking some prints when I just chanced to look out of the window. Lo and behold what I see are tiny flakes falling down from the sky. As it was a light snowfall there was a dreamlike quality to it and I stood there entranced. A few hours down the line when it still continued it managed to bring everything in its fold.

Watching snowfall from the inside is one thing and braving it outside another. It caused the (only) breakdown of the bus service. I had to wait at the stop for an unusual 1.5 hours that evening. In between the cold and snow was so difficult to bear that I went back to my office building to keep myself warm. But even with the discomfort I still felt a surge of excitement while walking over fresh snow. The very next morning was a beautiful sight. I realized that it had snowed all night and there was a thick layering all around. The snow on top of the bushes reminded me of icing on a cake. My first ever snowfall was beyond my expectations.



A few days later I was in for stunning rare views. I guess because of the very low temperature all the trees and bushes had frozen which gave every place I swept my eyes a mystic quality. I had never seen anything like it before. During the next few months I saw the magic repeat only once more.



Over time -18 deg C became a standard. In a break from this for a couple of days it was 0 deg C and everybody joked about how hot it was and that summer had come. In contrast on one occasion the temperature took such a dip that the water coming out of my eyes froze. I could sense the inside of my nose solidifying.


Through most of the winter the real challenge for me was to train my brain into not thinking that pitch darkness at 3 pm was night and time to go to bed. It wasn’t that difficult to combat the cold. The reason was the excellent heating system in not just the houses but also the offices, food stores and even the buses. I would only be exposed to the icy weather when standing at the bus stops and during the short walk from home to the supermarket. I came to observe that management of the snow on the roads was extremely good in Uppsala as a result of which the buses were rarely late. All I had to do was be on time at the bus stop according to the schedule.


I think I fairly enjoyed my “real” winter experience. October to March is not an extremely long time. But not getting to see the sun, having to wear heavy gear every day and being extremely careful of the ice on the road when walking to avoid slipping eventually did take its toll. The good thing is it has made me appreciate the brightness, greenery and colorful flowers that the summer has brought. See the photos below and you'll know that it truly is so.

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PS: How was your winter experience? Has summer started for you?