What is India?

'You guys don't care too much about time, do you?', asked a friend, today. For a moment, I was taken aback, not knowing if an accusation was implied . I was relieved when he went on to tell me about one of his professors who had spent some time in India and had come back with such stories. I don't remember how I answered his query, must have mumbled something about generalisations not holding good in India. What then, is the truth of India?

I went to the city library earlier this week and found a full section on books on India and Indians. (What was more surprising was to find another section on Pakistan sitting right next to the Indian one. At least the books seem to coexist peacefully.) Every other author seems to have mastered the knowledge of the history of India. Yet, most Indians seem to have a naive and narrow view of our own country, giving more importance to petty issues like religion, money, movies and cricket than literacy, ethics, pollution - issues that require far more attention.

Shashi Tharoor puts it rather eloquently in one of his books that India is an entity greater than the sum of its parts (playing with words comes naturally to him, albeit at some cost). 'My friend is going to India on a month long project. She wants to see the 'real' India', quipped a friend some days ago. I then had the tough job of first figuring out what the 'real' India is, and then guiding my friend's friend towards it. I was lectured upon the reality of education in India by my roommate. 'Indians have to study for a job, dude. What's the use of research when it has no applications? You can't survive in India, dude.' I choose to postpone my comments on this. Such illustrious views deserve being trashed separately.

What then is the one thing that is true for every part of India or every Indian? Is there such a thing at all? I am struggling to come up with an answer myself, more so from a place that is another huge melting pot. Here, some Indians seem to take pride in speaking Hindi, Tamil, etc in public. Others trash everything that has enabled them to reach here, and take to all things American like ducks to water. Still others choose to play safe, pretending ignorance of issues other than their chosen areas of work.

Politics is an issue of enormous proportions in the epic that is India. Centuries of leaders, sects, followers and faiths have ensured the present confusion that seems to pervade every political entity the country.No one has a clear agenda or set of beliefs, but even that is a generalisation that I overlooked while writing.

All generalisations seem to break down when the issue is as special as the idea of India.

Cattle class, etc.

'Cattle class' was talk of the town, and indeed the whole country, last week. But I don't think the man was far from the truth. For one, it is a phrase used to describe the economy class, and very apt at that. Isn't that the way we are shoved in and out of economy class airlines, railways, buses, shared autos, rickshaws, possibly every mode of transport. A seat for two can fit three, and even four, if required. Railways is an epic in itself. The berth you just reserved for yourself does not belong to you, it is government property, so it is as much yours as it is mine. Saikat, my friend from Kolkata once told me of this seat-grabbing ploy he once saw. It involved fake shit, which people would hurl through the windows of trains, so that no one would want to sit on that seat. And just think about the locals running in Mumbai. I guess cows have it way easier, moving around carefree on the boulevards of India, sans red lights, one ways, etc. I can never forget Saikat's hilarious rendition of how he travels in the locals, fighting with every other person around him, for an extra heel of space. Bring as many new trains as you might want to, introduce the metro, a/c buses; things are likely not to change.

What else... the fire alarm has been buzzing around in our apartment pretty often over the last week. For some reason, I think its due to Vinod and his cooking skills, if not his cooker. For the uninitiated, there is something gone awry about everything that Vinod does. He lost his laptop and backpack at a coffee shop in Barcelona, he worked his ass off on an internship in Finland and was given an average grade, he forgot his I 20 and still made it the US, he forgot his certificates, his cooker does not whistle.. the list is endless, and growing.

Sridhar is right with my question in the last post, it was Jean Paul Sartre who declined the Nobel on philosophical grounds. The other voluntary refusal was made by Le Duc Tho, a Vietnamese activist who refused the 1973 prize that he was jointly awarded with Henry Kissinger, because Vietnam was still not at peace.

I went to a Hay Ride today, not quite cattle class though. Had a nice time reaching the place, with Richard, my Tour of Madison guide, driving me to the place. The ride itself was no big deal, a group of people driving around in a tractor. But it was a nice time playing volleyball, meeting a lot of people and eating very good food.

We did our bi-weekly shopping yesterday, so the fridge is full. We have stocked up lots of cookies and stuff to snack up. Sankar's got a new set of Bose headphones and Sriram's advisor is coming back from Princeton in ten days.

The festive season starts in India, and I am sure to miss it dearly. As a kid, navratri would mean staying up late on the pretext of raas garba, running around with friends and getting up late in the mornings. Over the last two years, the fun reduced, but I still managed to sneak out for an evening of dance and fun. I don't know what's gonna happen here. Would be nice to get some of the festive season in India to Madison.

Thursday updates

My weekends seem to have shifted to Thursday and Friday... the things that a single homework does to your schedule! I attended a proteomics lecture today, got very little between the ears, and learnt more at lunch with the speaker. That Harvard has around 8000 labs in all and takes in less than 70 students every year was news to me.

Till not so long ago, I was performing titrations in labs and despairing whenever my readings would be way off the expected values (which was more often than not). I also had the honour of recording the highest ever error in gravimetry during my masters. I zoomed out of every window on the Prof's grading scale and was lucky to escape with a B-. The students in the course I TA for have a pretty challenging job at hand. The tolerance levels are stringent and their experiments are graded on the basis of their accuracy and precision. The only saving grace is that this contributes to only a third of their total grade for the experiment, meaning that even if something goes wrong, they still earn some points.

I also stumbled onto the fact that Hargobind Khorana worked for ten years at an Institute five minutes from my place and was also awarded the Nobel during this period. That reminds me of an interesting story that I would pose as a question here. Who is the only person to have declined the Nobel prize? Answer coming up on Sunday (cheap publicity, I know!).

Racing against time

Coming just a month into graduate school, the title sounds a week bit exaggerated. But this is what I have started doing, and I am getting increasingly convinced with each passing day that this is how things would be during my stay in Madison.

Weekly homeworks: I never really gave them a damn in undergrad. But it is one big race here. The whole of Sunday goes away in solving equations, fitting curves and trying to get a grip of what the prof says in class. And this is just homework. The lectures are related but need their own time. And the classes are just picking up their pace.

TA: labs and discussion. Labs on Monday and Wednesday require that I demonstrate the basics of the experiments for the day, while on Fridays I try to take the students to the next set of experiments. I spent close to four hours preparing for a 50 minute discussion, which turned out to be pretty ok, I guess. What beats me is how I will be managing once classes catch steam.

The town had a triathlon today. Some were out running, biking and swimming; and the majority was out cheering, clapping amd playing music on the streets. Everytime I see so many people running or jogging, I am reminded of a book I started reading recently where the author wonders how this place would look from a chopper. People seem to be running round the clock from place A to place B. Why couldn't the people in place A just stay there and let the others be wherever they were? Guess the author would need some convincing on that.

The last seven days have disappeared in a haze. Looking forward to another week of learning.

First week of classes

Monday and Tuesday passed off pretty quietly. The big difference I could see around the place was the increase in numbers. All the undergrads were getting back. Bascom Hill was full of colourful shirts, shorts and skirts stretching out in the sun, playing power frisbee and having fun.

Wednesday was day one for classes in the University. The Department was brimming with activity, classes were running full, the bell assumed more meaning, office staff became busier and the knowledge cycle gained the yearly acceleration. We got our first weekly homework in the first class and having struggled with it for three days, I have had a satisfying learning experience working it out. Till very recently, a homework used to mean copying a set of notes blindly. Thursday was an easy day while Friday meant I would be facing the set of students I would be TAing for. The discussion scheduled for 50 minutes got done in 20.

Labour Day meant that I had a long weekend ahead. Saturday went in house cleaning, lazing around and the bi-weekly shopping stint at Woodman's. Vinod and I started our confectionary consumption duo, our home finally got a trash can, and we had masala dosa for dinner.

Sunday and Monday flew away with the homework assignment. Most of the town seemed to be getting back from the hangover of the Friday football game. The town is basking in the pleasant sunshine and the mornings are getting cooler. Sriram is diving ever-so-deeper into his books. I am getting increasingly convinced that he will end up as a brilliant, mad mathematician in one of the topmost mathematics institutes of India. Vinod has been attempting to teach Sri the beauty of Bollywood music. Raja came home for dinner yesterday and has gone back with a recipe for masala dal. What else... we also got an interesting visit by our neighbours who were looking for a bulb that would fit into the a/c vent.

Tuesday is working day here but I don't have any classes. Its funny with these holidays. Americans do no labour on Labour Day (sorry.. that is as far as I can get). For a first week, its been steady. I have my first lab on Wednesday. Hoping that everything goes well.