Young Investigators Retreat

As a colleague from Delhi University put it succinctly: It was a paid holiday on duty leave.

The retreat collected all those investigators who have recently (within 1 or 2 years) joined either institutes or Universities. It also collected post-docs who are desirous of making a move back to India. I was sort of misfit because technically speaking I have not recently joined (it has been now 5 years) the University. So I have no clue why I was invited. But hey, it was a paid holiday on duty leave.

It was fun because we got to meet each other. In these hectic times one does not even know who has joined the adjoining institute. And meeting was crucial because now we know at least whom to rope in as examiners for our student's thesis.

It was not fun because a) many of the sessions turned out to be cribbing sessions b) none of the panelists were from Universities.

I will expand the point b here for nothing can be done about point a.

The Universities and Institutes operate on different budgets in India. The Institutes have humongous budgets, many times their faculty can survive without writing grants, and the focus is only research. The Universities operate on smaller budget, the teachers are paid less than their counterparts in the Institute, grants are essential to run our research programs, and the focus is equally on research and teaching.

Does it mean Universities are bad? I do not think so. I, for one, am very happy that I am at an University. I also happen to think that Universities are absolutely essential because it is the Universities who churn out students for the Institutes and other places. The Universities require good faculty- faculty who are good in both research and teaching. Unfortunately, none of the post-docs I met at the retreat were even considering the Universities as a career option. They were so focused on joining one or other Institutes. Oh, yes, there are IISERS but it is very important to realize that this is an institute on the lines of IITs and not an University with its diverse student population.

Most of the problems faced by the Universities are due to the administrators who singularly lack vision. As most of our VCs are political nominees they have no stake in improving the situation. So a combination of factors has become responsible for the lack of good faculties in our Universities.

But we need to reverse the situation. I think the Universities have to become pro-active in recruiting good faculties because otherwise the situation is going to deteriorate. It is pointless to blame the Institutes for taking away the good faculties and students.

That said I do wish there were panelists who were from Universities. There are plenty of good teachers as well as good researchers in the Universities. These people have done tremendously well in spite of all the obstacles. They could have provided the perspective from the University point of view. Just so that the new post-docs do not think that the world begins and ends with the Institutes but realize that there is whole world out there that can provide them with a wonderful career opportunity.

Starting tomorrow I am off to another meeting. Ugh.

Just a thought

As I struggle with my students (one of them who is supposed to be writing his thesis has gone off on a sightseeing trip), I was suddenly stuck with a thought. What would a class consisting of Bertie Wooster, Monty Bodkin, Bingo Little, Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright, Freddie Widgeon, Ronnie Fish, Stilton Cheesewright et al. would have been like.

All right. I admit I was reading Wodehouse when the thought stuck but...

small things in life...

Today morning as I traveled by auto to CSIR, I marveled how wonderful it is to breathe through clear nose. I know this is stupid but I suffer from allergies through the year round. It means that my nose is usually clogged and I make all sorts of weird noise as I try to breathe. The allopathic doctor had only one remedy in his pocket: steriod nasal spray. The upside (or downside) of being a biochemist is that such words usually don't impress you. I know what steriods do and thank you, I was not taking them. I decided to try ayurveda. The doctor gave me a bunch of medications, some of them downright nasty, and instructions as to what I can eat. I pretty much cannot eat anything other than boiled vegetables and rice and stuff. No oil, no sweet, no fried items, no cold items...the list is endless.

But, as I marveled today, how wonderful it is simply to just breathe. How wonderful it is to be able to sleep through the night without getting up in the middle of the night gasping for breath. I felt as wonderful as I did couple of years back when I wore contacts. I have been with spectacles for so long that I have forgotten what it is to be able to see without glasses on frame sticking on your nose. But with the contacts, I was able to forget for few minutes at least that I need pair of correcting lenses to be able to just see.

Such small things in life...