We wanted to submit Reshma's papers by April end. This is urgent because her fellowship can be extended only if she has papers. So we made plans. These many experiments, these many days, I start writing simultaneously...
First, it took us three weeks to get the reagents to do Real Time PCR. This is a technique by which we can quantitate the amount of a particular protein made in a cell at a given time. We ordered the reagents in March 2nd week and it came to us yesterday.
Second, the machine we use to do real time PCR conked out on 26th March. It needs some parts to be replaced. It will take us 10 days. So they say. Maybe, maybe not. Then there will backlog bookings and my student will have to squeeze in time. So now we are looking at some where around April 15th if all goes well. The experiments that we need to do will take at least 3 weeks if every experiment works. We are now into May.
Third, we need to do some imaging. We need reagents again. We called up the agency to find out the pricing. He has not called back. So we have to chase them, place the order, and then wait. At least 3 more weeks. Meantime, the confocal microscope that is required for imaging has stopped working. They are promising repair but no time frame has been fixed because the part needs to come from Germany. We also need the engineer to come and fix it. Last time one of our machines failed it took us 3 months of persistent nagging to fix things up.
Deadlines never work in research. I know. My students know. But still one hopes. And one gets frustrated! Especially when one is so close and yet so far...
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Hindutva
The past week belonged to Varun as he shot into 'limelight' with his election speech. As I do not have television I did not watch the televised speech. But from what I read in the newspapers it appears to be an immature, rabid, hate-mongering speech. Of course he is still standing from Pilbhit.
I think I have written this elsewhere too. My problem with the Hindutva is: Who has appointed you as the spokesperson of Hinduism? The brand of Hinduism you practice is not the one I recognize or practice. My brand of Hinduism tells me that all men and women and children are one. It tells me to treat everyone with respect. It tells me not to divide people into religion and caste. So does that make me a non-Hindu? Hinduism after all admits that there are many paths to God and you can choose any one path.
I am not sure what was Varun's motive behind the stupid speech. Was it to gain publicity? Was it to proclaim that he was a Hindu? (If God exists then does God need to know whether a person is Hindu or Muslim or Christian? Surely if he is all pervading, all knowing, He would automatically know what you are?)
Oh, then there is a piece by Nayantara Sehgal in Outlook. One sentence caught my eye:
"The difference between Varun and his cousins, Rahul and Priyanka, is that while they were nurtured on the family's secular ideals, he was simply not there. He may have kept up with his cousins and his aunt, Sonia, but having not been brought up within the family, he lost out on his family inheritance, both the ideology and the training."
I have no idea what to make out of it. My first feeling was: What nonsense. Varun is an adult and he should know, by now, what is right and what is wrong. As for the family inheritance the less said the better.
PS: My right arm is still out of action though I can use it for limited purposes. I am figuring out how to do things with the left arm which is partially functional.
I think I have written this elsewhere too. My problem with the Hindutva is: Who has appointed you as the spokesperson of Hinduism? The brand of Hinduism you practice is not the one I recognize or practice. My brand of Hinduism tells me that all men and women and children are one. It tells me to treat everyone with respect. It tells me not to divide people into religion and caste. So does that make me a non-Hindu? Hinduism after all admits that there are many paths to God and you can choose any one path.
I am not sure what was Varun's motive behind the stupid speech. Was it to gain publicity? Was it to proclaim that he was a Hindu? (If God exists then does God need to know whether a person is Hindu or Muslim or Christian? Surely if he is all pervading, all knowing, He would automatically know what you are?)
Oh, then there is a piece by Nayantara Sehgal in Outlook. One sentence caught my eye:
"The difference between Varun and his cousins, Rahul and Priyanka, is that while they were nurtured on the family's secular ideals, he was simply not there. He may have kept up with his cousins and his aunt, Sonia, but having not been brought up within the family, he lost out on his family inheritance, both the ideology and the training."
I have no idea what to make out of it. My first feeling was: What nonsense. Varun is an adult and he should know, by now, what is right and what is wrong. As for the family inheritance the less said the better.
PS: My right arm is still out of action though I can use it for limited purposes. I am figuring out how to do things with the left arm which is partially functional.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Chain snatching
Yesterday I went with appa to Munirka to pick up my shoes from the cobbler. As we walked back, I was engrossed in telling appa about the results we have obtained in the lab, I felt claws on my neck. I thought it was a monkey and put my hands to remove it and simultaneously turned sideways. That is when I saw a man, short and stocky, wearing a striped cream coloured shirt and brown pants, running towards the motorcycle. I ran towards them but they revved up the motorcycle and turned into an alley. I threw the bag of shoes at them but I was never very good at throwing things. All I ended doing was tripping over and falling on the road, scraping my elbow and hands and breaking my glasses.
Oh never mind the trip to the doctor to get it dressed and get a shot of anti-tetanus injection, what bothered me most was the situation. There were two girls watching the whole scene from a balcony on the fourth floor, there were couple of workers walking down the street, there were sundry other people. They must have noticed the robber sneaking up behind me. Not a shout was raised, not a person tried to stop the robber, the girl in the balcony was busy describing the scene to her boy friend on the cell phone. Sheesh!
Anyway, this is the last time I wear gold chains to please my mother!
Oh, before I conclude I must say that the police were polite and helpful. They made me sit down, they went through my statement, and they promised to do something. Whether it would translate into action is debatable but at least the trip to the police station was not nerve racking as it is usually assumed to be.
Oh never mind the trip to the doctor to get it dressed and get a shot of anti-tetanus injection, what bothered me most was the situation. There were two girls watching the whole scene from a balcony on the fourth floor, there were couple of workers walking down the street, there were sundry other people. They must have noticed the robber sneaking up behind me. Not a shout was raised, not a person tried to stop the robber, the girl in the balcony was busy describing the scene to her boy friend on the cell phone. Sheesh!
Anyway, this is the last time I wear gold chains to please my mother!
Oh, before I conclude I must say that the police were polite and helpful. They made me sit down, they went through my statement, and they promised to do something. Whether it would translate into action is debatable but at least the trip to the police station was not nerve racking as it is usually assumed to be.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Delhi Public Library
After a long time, twenty five years to be precise, I became a member of the Delhi Public Library once more. The library membership is free but one needs to show identity proof as well as residence proof. I lacked both because I do not have a ration card, my passport has Colorado address, andI do not have a driver's license. The officials asked me about my voter's ID card but I did not have one as I have not till now registered as voter anywhere. It was an impasse till the elections were announced. Then there was a drive to get voter registered, which is when I got registered and got my Voter ID card. Ha, that also means, hopefully, if my name is on the voter's list, that I get to vote for the first time in my life.
The library is now a mess. Though they have got computers and we can borrow DVDs, there are hardly any English books. I was told that they have all been borrowed. I have to check out the Hindi section. The librarians can hardly be bothered to keep the place neat and tidy. The books are put on the racks higgeldy-piggeldy.
Why cannot we be bothered with libraries?
The library is now a mess. Though they have got computers and we can borrow DVDs, there are hardly any English books. I was told that they have all been borrowed. I have to check out the Hindi section. The librarians can hardly be bothered to keep the place neat and tidy. The books are put on the racks higgeldy-piggeldy.
Why cannot we be bothered with libraries?
Saturday, February 28, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, February 6, 2009
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...
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...
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...
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