Long time back when I was post-docing, I had a lab mate, MK. MK and I used to have long discussions on all topics and of course, we also had the solutions to all the problems. One of the solutions we proposed was Parental Aptitude Test before a person can become a parent.
I was reminded of the parental aptitude test as I watched Ilakiya's dance performance yesterday at the Tamil Sangam under the aegis of Delhi Karnataka Sangeetha Sabha. And wished I could tell the poor kid (they gave her official age as 11) to stop dancing and do something else. The child was physically unfit and grace was a concept alien to her. Araimandi means just that- half-sitting position. You cannot dance standing. And jathis does not imply you stomp on the ground.
But of course her parents, being wealthy and well-connected this was probably a sponsored program whereby the parents purchased a slot for their child to perform.
A child is just a child. Why can't they let her grow normally? Somewhere down the line she is going to be ready for an arangetram and maybe would like to perform dance. Or may be not. Either way it is fine, if only the parents could understand it.
The saving grace was the choreography and the music. The program started with Pusphanjali and alarippu. A jathiswaram in Vasantha and then Varnam in Khamas. This is my favorite- Mathe Malayadwaja by Muthiah Bhagvathar. And as time was running short they concluded with Valli Kannavin, again a very nice dance song. They fortunately spared us the Thillana.
The dance was followed by Nityasree's concert.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Amma and DNA
Last week I sent some DNA to Joel, my PhD advisor and now my collaborator. Amma was curious. How does the DNA look? I told her that we had dried down the DNA and it cannot be seen. Then what will Joel do with it? He will dissolve it in water and give it to bacteria. The bacteria will make more of the DNA, then we will make protein, and use that protein to synthesize our inhibitor. She nodded her head. Ever since then she has been curious to know whether Joel resuspended the DNA in water. Yesterday night when I came back from my walk she had gone off to sleep. Appa was awake and I was telling him how Joel had sent me some reagents and we are now almost on to the track to determine to function of the protein that I work with. Amma heard the word Joel and woke up immediately. Has Joel dissolved the DNA in water, she asked? She was most disappointed to know that Joel still has not done it.
As amma gets ready to go back to her beloved Madras and the serials, more than me, it is the rest of the gang who are going to miss her. My gardener who brings in big bunches of curry leaves for mataji, Ravi who does the ironing, and Lata and her husband who do the cooking and the cleaning. In fact Lata misses her the most as amma keeps everything ready for her, all the vegetables chopped and washed, the stove neatly wiped, and almost no utensils in the kitchen sink. And then she and Lata enjoy a cozy gossip session and every thing is hunky dory. After amma leaves, Lata has to come to an empty house as I am never there when she comes to do the house.
Amma shares one trait with my students. They never tell me when they are going to get back. Usually when my students go off home, they give me a probable date of return. I wait for a week or two then ask the rest of the students for the correct date of return. With amma, I ask Lata as to when her mataji will be back in Delhi. Invariably she knows to the dot when amma will be back in Delhi.
As amma gets ready to go back to her beloved Madras and the serials, more than me, it is the rest of the gang who are going to miss her. My gardener who brings in big bunches of curry leaves for mataji, Ravi who does the ironing, and Lata and her husband who do the cooking and the cleaning. In fact Lata misses her the most as amma keeps everything ready for her, all the vegetables chopped and washed, the stove neatly wiped, and almost no utensils in the kitchen sink. And then she and Lata enjoy a cozy gossip session and every thing is hunky dory. After amma leaves, Lata has to come to an empty house as I am never there when she comes to do the house.
Amma shares one trait with my students. They never tell me when they are going to get back. Usually when my students go off home, they give me a probable date of return. I wait for a week or two then ask the rest of the students for the correct date of return. With amma, I ask Lata as to when her mataji will be back in Delhi. Invariably she knows to the dot when amma will be back in Delhi.
Monday, April 23, 2007
The reservation mess
With the supreme court refusing to vacate the stay and the HRD minister on his ego trip, I wonder what is going to happen to the admissions this year.
In one of his lectures, Pratap Bhanu Mehta asked the question: What is the motive behind the reservation? What does the government hope to achieve?
The politicians are fond of saying that we are a secular nation. Then why do all sundry forms ask you to state your religion?
Even more horrendous is what we found out in an informal survey of government schools. Every classroom, at least in Uttaranchal and Chattisgarh, has to put up the number of boys and girls enrolled in that class. Then they have to put up the number of students who belong to the general category and to the SC/ST. In the attendance register, in Chattisgarh, against every child is written the information whether they belong to the reserved category or not. As the government has announced special sops to the children belonging to the SC/ST, these children are given books and other aids. Naturally, the children who do not get it want to know why this special treatment. And then they console themselves:
"Yeh chamaran hai na."
So what we essentially have done through our misguided policies is to accentuate the caste lines. They exist as I found out in another separate incident that I will relate some other time. But there is no need to emphasize it or teach our children about it in the schools.
This does not happen in schools only. When our admission lists are put up in our departments, against each student is indicated whether they belong to general category or to reserved category. Now why do I need to know whether my students belong to certain section or not? I am a teacher and my job is to teach, irrespective of which section the student belongs to. What this does is that the faculties get biased against the students and there is deep resentment against them.
At Asha-Delhi we are wondering whether we can use the Right To Information/PIL to fight this nonsense.
In one of his lectures, Pratap Bhanu Mehta asked the question: What is the motive behind the reservation? What does the government hope to achieve?
The politicians are fond of saying that we are a secular nation. Then why do all sundry forms ask you to state your religion?
Even more horrendous is what we found out in an informal survey of government schools. Every classroom, at least in Uttaranchal and Chattisgarh, has to put up the number of boys and girls enrolled in that class. Then they have to put up the number of students who belong to the general category and to the SC/ST. In the attendance register, in Chattisgarh, against every child is written the information whether they belong to the reserved category or not. As the government has announced special sops to the children belonging to the SC/ST, these children are given books and other aids. Naturally, the children who do not get it want to know why this special treatment. And then they console themselves:
"Yeh chamaran hai na."
So what we essentially have done through our misguided policies is to accentuate the caste lines. They exist as I found out in another separate incident that I will relate some other time. But there is no need to emphasize it or teach our children about it in the schools.
This does not happen in schools only. When our admission lists are put up in our departments, against each student is indicated whether they belong to general category or to reserved category. Now why do I need to know whether my students belong to certain section or not? I am a teacher and my job is to teach, irrespective of which section the student belongs to. What this does is that the faculties get biased against the students and there is deep resentment against them.
At Asha-Delhi we are wondering whether we can use the Right To Information/PIL to fight this nonsense.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
A rose by any other name...
The family cackles every time my students call me Ma'am. They find it extremely amusing.
When I joined in as faculty, I told the students that they can call me by my name. They nodded their heads very obediently and said "Yes Ma'am." Lacking forcefulness like my neighbor, Rohan who bulldozed his students into not calling him Sir, I meekly submitted to my students diktats. It was an uneasy relationship till...
Ritu and I met on the first day of college. She lives in Ghaziabad and has two daughters. Diya is now in 2nd class and Tanu has turned three. Tanu and I met for the first time on the eve of Holi. She gazed at me uncertain as to who I am. Tentatively, pulling my kurta, she said "Aunty."
Diya immediately piped up: "Yeh Aunty thodi hai. Yeh to Maasi hai."
And there I rest my case.
Happy Birthday Tanu.
When I joined in as faculty, I told the students that they can call me by my name. They nodded their heads very obediently and said "Yes Ma'am." Lacking forcefulness like my neighbor, Rohan who bulldozed his students into not calling him Sir, I meekly submitted to my students diktats. It was an uneasy relationship till...
Ritu and I met on the first day of college. She lives in Ghaziabad and has two daughters. Diya is now in 2nd class and Tanu has turned three. Tanu and I met for the first time on the eve of Holi. She gazed at me uncertain as to who I am. Tentatively, pulling my kurta, she said "Aunty."
Diya immediately piped up: "Yeh Aunty thodi hai. Yeh to Maasi hai."
And there I rest my case.
Happy Birthday Tanu.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
language woes
What do they teach in school nowadays?
I am reading project reports and wishing I was not. If the student is from rural background and English was not taught to them, I can understand and be patient about the mistakes. But the students whose reports I am reading are from the so-called elite public schools, which pride themselves on teaching English, French, German, whatever. These kids openly admit that they do not know any of the Indian languages and then they turn in assignments/reports in badly written English, with SMS language sprinkled in liberally. I now routinely ask the students not to use SMS language and abbreviations while answering my questions in the exam.
One of the students has turned in a report where the introduction was simply cut and paste from various web sites. a) I wish to let the students know that I too can google b) Wikipedia and other web sites are not acceptable references c) If you do want to cut and paste, at least ensure that the report is readable. Simply cutting and pasting information that you like does not constitute a report or thesis or whatever you want to call it.
Grrrrr!
I am reading project reports and wishing I was not. If the student is from rural background and English was not taught to them, I can understand and be patient about the mistakes. But the students whose reports I am reading are from the so-called elite public schools, which pride themselves on teaching English, French, German, whatever. These kids openly admit that they do not know any of the Indian languages and then they turn in assignments/reports in badly written English, with SMS language sprinkled in liberally. I now routinely ask the students not to use SMS language and abbreviations while answering my questions in the exam.
One of the students has turned in a report where the introduction was simply cut and paste from various web sites. a) I wish to let the students know that I too can google b) Wikipedia and other web sites are not acceptable references c) If you do want to cut and paste, at least ensure that the report is readable. Simply cutting and pasting information that you like does not constitute a report or thesis or whatever you want to call it.
Grrrrr!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Occupational hazard
As the semester/academic year draws to a close, universities start scrounging around for gullible faculty who will not only set the question paper but also evaluate them. It is an occupational hazard. Some times it is unavoidable especially when your alma mater approaches you. But some are downright nusiansical. Like the private university that sent many of us a large packet with a letter stating that the VC of their university has been pleased to appoint us on the panel to set question papers. The best part was that I was supposed to set questions for Botany, a subject I haven't studied after the 12th board exams, as they had figured out that I was an expert in it. I promptly put the whole thing in an envelope, wrote a regret letter and asked my technician to send it off at the department's expense. He was very worried. Should I send it by registered post, he asked. I don't care. Just send it off. He took the decision. Knowing his madamji has no clue about life, he decided to send it by registered post.
But the best response to this idiotic packet came from my colleague, Shyamal. He says he always takes such packets and puts them in the dustbin unopened. Next time maybe that is what I should do.
Poor amma is beginning to feel the heat of Delhi. She is longing for the salubrious climate, as appa calls it, of Madras. A dose of TV soaps would also help.
But the best response to this idiotic packet came from my colleague, Shyamal. He says he always takes such packets and puts them in the dustbin unopened. Next time maybe that is what I should do.
Poor amma is beginning to feel the heat of Delhi. She is longing for the salubrious climate, as appa calls it, of Madras. A dose of TV soaps would also help.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
What is in a title?
Yesterday night, around 10pm, my friend called up to discuss whether a Ph.D. can use Dr. or a MBBS can use Dr. I blinked, my attitude being what do I care?
This morning, piqued, I checked the dictionaries. So here we go into the origin and the usage of the word Doctor.
The Oxford and Webster dictionaries describe it as a noun describing a medical doctor or a person who has obtained Ph.D., the highest degree that a university offers.
The Merriam-Webster degree further provides the etymology of the word as Teacher from Middle English Doctour.
My students love to use Wikipedia, believing it to be more complete and comprehensive than any research papers. So I turned to it to see what I can come up about the usage. It provided the origin and usage of the word Doctor. Apparently there is also Biology wiki called Biocrawler, hmmm, wonder if the students have discovered it? Anyway, the site provides the answer to my friend's question. The usage differs between US and UK. In US, the M.D. degree is considered as first-professionals and therefore, are allowed to prefix their name with Dr. In UK, only those with Ph.D. can do so.
Of course none of our beloved politicians and cine stars who have been conferred the honorary doctorate can prefix their names with Dr. Remarkably both US and UK are agreed on that.
But my favorite is what I discovered when long time back we were living in Lucknow. One of our neighbours had a name plate in front of their house. It was written Er. X. I was puzzled by Er. The dictionaries describe it as an abbreviation either for Emergency Room or for Erybium. They missed the third. Er in this case was an abbreviation for Engineer!
This morning, piqued, I checked the dictionaries. So here we go into the origin and the usage of the word Doctor.
The Oxford and Webster dictionaries describe it as a noun describing a medical doctor or a person who has obtained Ph.D., the highest degree that a university offers.
The Merriam-Webster degree further provides the etymology of the word as Teacher from Middle English Doctour.
My students love to use Wikipedia, believing it to be more complete and comprehensive than any research papers. So I turned to it to see what I can come up about the usage. It provided the origin and usage of the word Doctor. Apparently there is also Biology wiki called Biocrawler, hmmm, wonder if the students have discovered it? Anyway, the site provides the answer to my friend's question. The usage differs between US and UK. In US, the M.D. degree is considered as first-professionals and therefore, are allowed to prefix their name with Dr. In UK, only those with Ph.D. can do so.
Of course none of our beloved politicians and cine stars who have been conferred the honorary doctorate can prefix their names with Dr. Remarkably both US and UK are agreed on that.
But my favorite is what I discovered when long time back we were living in Lucknow. One of our neighbours had a name plate in front of their house. It was written Er. X. I was puzzled by Er. The dictionaries describe it as an abbreviation either for Emergency Room or for Erybium. They missed the third. Er in this case was an abbreviation for Engineer!
Friday, April 13, 2007
Manga madness
When anyone asks me what we do for a particular festival, I am always at a loss. To me festivals are associated with food. Each festival has its specialty. Okkarai and Inji lehyam for Deepavali, Thiruvadurai sees amma making Kalli-kozhumbu, Janamashtami results in seedai, and so on...
Today is Varsha Pirappu/Tamil Puttandu/Tamil New Year. And to me it is associated with the best of all- Manga Pachadi. Amma boils raw unripe mango slices with turmeric, salt, jaggery and gives it a tadka of red chillies and neem flowers. It is supposed to symbolize the coming year- sourness of mango, sweetness of jaggery, bitterness of neem flowers, the hot and the salty- all in balance. To me it is simply ambrosia. I wait for the entire year just to have this.
No lab meeting today as Sneha, my collaborator, is celebrating Vishu. Mac, my student, is happy. He does not have to do his journal presentation.
Happy New Year!
Today is Varsha Pirappu/Tamil Puttandu/Tamil New Year. And to me it is associated with the best of all- Manga Pachadi. Amma boils raw unripe mango slices with turmeric, salt, jaggery and gives it a tadka of red chillies and neem flowers. It is supposed to symbolize the coming year- sourness of mango, sweetness of jaggery, bitterness of neem flowers, the hot and the salty- all in balance. To me it is simply ambrosia. I wait for the entire year just to have this.
No lab meeting today as Sneha, my collaborator, is celebrating Vishu. Mac, my student, is happy. He does not have to do his journal presentation.
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Nature abhors vacuum
Nature abhors vacuum. Since I got relieved off the teaching loading, other things have rushed in.
The audit date looms large in horizon. Thanks to my laziness and incompetency of my lab technician (who believes that I, being a woman and so much younger than him, do not know any thing), the finances are in a mess. I am chasing missing copies of bills, ensuring that everything including chemicals purchased are entered into stock register, permissions granting the purchase, and the least quotation are in place . I do not know why they make a fuss because the ones who want to cheat the system still do it. The other day a vendor told my colleague that a particular equipment costs Rs 1 lakh if purchased from abroad. However, if she so desires, he can get it made locally for Rs 10,000.
"Madam, you pay me Rs 1 lakh from your grant and I will pay back Rs 90,000 as a cheque in your name."
See, how easy it is to siphon off money from grants into your personal expenses!
So we spend our time calling for quotations, figuring out the lowest quotation (L1), doing all sorts of paper work because the agencies are worried that we will siphon off money. I could have easily spent all this time working on my experiments!
And the prime minister worries that the quality of research is declining in India!
The audit date looms large in horizon. Thanks to my laziness and incompetency of my lab technician (who believes that I, being a woman and so much younger than him, do not know any thing), the finances are in a mess. I am chasing missing copies of bills, ensuring that everything including chemicals purchased are entered into stock register, permissions granting the purchase, and the least quotation are in place . I do not know why they make a fuss because the ones who want to cheat the system still do it. The other day a vendor told my colleague that a particular equipment costs Rs 1 lakh if purchased from abroad. However, if she so desires, he can get it made locally for Rs 10,000.
"Madam, you pay me Rs 1 lakh from your grant and I will pay back Rs 90,000 as a cheque in your name."
See, how easy it is to siphon off money from grants into your personal expenses!
So we spend our time calling for quotations, figuring out the lowest quotation (L1), doing all sorts of paper work because the agencies are worried that we will siphon off money. I could have easily spent all this time working on my experiments!
And the prime minister worries that the quality of research is declining in India!
Monday, April 9, 2007
Semester ends
I am done with classes for this semester. All that is left are the student presentations and the final exams. Woo Hoo!
I should not complain. This semester was very relaxed. All I had was one class per week. Last year was tough. I started with full load of Biochemistry. I was also on GSCASH and had to deal with a horrible case of sexual harassment. Then in the monsoon semester I had the full load of Human Genetics with dashes of Genetics as seasoning.
Now that was a googly that life threw at me. Who had the brilliant idea of putting me up for Genetics? With chemistry and biochemistry as background, genetics was always a horror for me. Yes, I know it has game theory and lots of mathematics but I have always made it my life's mission to avoid anything remotely resembling maths.
The M.Sc. and M.Phil courses are being revamped (old wine in new bottle) and I have been offered partial redemption. I need not do Genetics. Which means I can participate in a M.Phil course work and teach chromatin remodeling. Sensible subject with no game theory in it.
The PRO had a chat with the Rector. The bottom line is that I continue with the News, Annual report, and other idiotic committees.
Dessert course: Butterscotch ice-cream. Amma is happy.
I should not complain. This semester was very relaxed. All I had was one class per week. Last year was tough. I started with full load of Biochemistry. I was also on GSCASH and had to deal with a horrible case of sexual harassment. Then in the monsoon semester I had the full load of Human Genetics with dashes of Genetics as seasoning.
Now that was a googly that life threw at me. Who had the brilliant idea of putting me up for Genetics? With chemistry and biochemistry as background, genetics was always a horror for me. Yes, I know it has game theory and lots of mathematics but I have always made it my life's mission to avoid anything remotely resembling maths.
The M.Sc. and M.Phil courses are being revamped (old wine in new bottle) and I have been offered partial redemption. I need not do Genetics. Which means I can participate in a M.Phil course work and teach chromatin remodeling. Sensible subject with no game theory in it.
The PRO had a chat with the Rector. The bottom line is that I continue with the News, Annual report, and other idiotic committees.
Dessert course: Butterscotch ice-cream. Amma is happy.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Recording is a serious business
Appa loves to record. I remember him sitting up late, past his usual bedtime of 9 pm, to record the All India Radio classical music broadcasts on Saturdays. Next day morning we would wake up to the new recording played on our spool recorder. However, appa also loves to erase and re-record. As he also dislikes to write down what he has recorded, none of us know what each cassette/spool tape holds.
My brother loves to classify. He is meticulous and orderly, his collections are all neatly labeled and alphabetically organized.
After much protest, appa agreed to certain changes. Each cassette that he records will have only two artists at a given time. Occasionally, he slips. As he discovered today.
Side A:
One song by R. K. Srikantan
One song by Maharajapuram Santhanam.
An announcement about the Afro-asian games. This gives us the clue that the recording was done some time in 2004-2005, when I was living in Bangalore.
One song by Sheik Chinna Moulana
Two violin pieces-unknown artist
Side B:
Vocal.
Sowmya
Unnikrishnan
Balamurali Krishna
Nityashree
Occasionally, I too can classify. On the cassette, I have written "Recorded. Different Artists".
Recording, as I said, is a serious business. Classification is even more.
My brother loves to classify. He is meticulous and orderly, his collections are all neatly labeled and alphabetically organized.
After much protest, appa agreed to certain changes. Each cassette that he records will have only two artists at a given time. Occasionally, he slips. As he discovered today.
Side A:
One song by R. K. Srikantan
One song by Maharajapuram Santhanam.
An announcement about the Afro-asian games. This gives us the clue that the recording was done some time in 2004-2005, when I was living in Bangalore.
One song by Sheik Chinna Moulana
Two violin pieces-unknown artist
Side B:
Vocal.
Sowmya
Unnikrishnan
Balamurali Krishna
Nityashree
Occasionally, I too can classify. On the cassette, I have written "Recorded. Different Artists".
Recording, as I said, is a serious business. Classification is even more.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Child labor
Jharna Jhaveri's short documentary Maya Nagri raises some very valid questions about the way our government approaches a problem. Maya Nagri is a short 20 minute documentary featuring the zari workers of Sarai Kale Khan. When the movie begins, the children have been "arrested" and are about to be taken to the police station. Apparently under the child labor law that the government has passed both the employee and the employer are criminals. So the children , mostly from Bihar, are rounded up and taken to the police station. Their names and ages (which most of the children had no clue about) are noted down. They are produced before magistrate and finally parceled off home. Nowhere did the procedure pay attention to:
1) why do the children come to Delhi?
2) If we send them back, will it resolve the problem.
My favorite moment was when the police and the locals deny the existence of these units.
On a completely unrelated note, amma who is visiting me for two months is all charged up. She got up at 4 am today ready to make masala dosa. Appa says that at this rate lunch will be ready before breakfast.
1) why do the children come to Delhi?
2) If we send them back, will it resolve the problem.
My favorite moment was when the police and the locals deny the existence of these units.
On a completely unrelated note, amma who is visiting me for two months is all charged up. She got up at 4 am today ready to make masala dosa. Appa says that at this rate lunch will be ready before breakfast.
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