Princeton

Life goes on. I move out of Princeton. I am nostalgic. There is lot of work to do before I leave though. It will keep me occupied - and one day, two months from now, I will be in a plane to India. What will be my feelings. How were these innings. The performance could have been better. The application could have been better. I was happy, I was destroyed, I was lonely and sad. I admired, I was relentless, I felt awed. Princeton showed me so many colors. I will move on. What will become of me? Will I learn? Will I grow? Will I contribute? Will I be valued, appreciated? Will I laugh and say again "I am so glad I did this"? Yeah, I am glad I did this - the post-doc with Pablo. An experience of a lifetime.

Rich boys, poor boys

Rich boys go to Evalueserve, poor boys go to DRL
When rich boys get the best education, they get the most lucrative jobs. When poor boys get the best education, they get the most rewarding jobs.

A salut'

http://www.princeton.edu/cbe/news/archive/?id=7387

Stop!

Dear people of the World, please start accepting print-outs as valid documents. I requested a one-page letter from UK. It arrived via DHL. How much oil, man-power, time and money got wasted. If only I could use a print-out. I feel guilty of being so inconsiderate.

India trip

This time my visit to India was longer than usual. When you stay longer, you are no longer a tourist. You become part of the society. You stop planning your everyday visits. Living in a place is very different from visiting it. This trip was very interesting. I jot down below the major things I remember from the trip:
1. Politics was most interesting this time - Anna Hazare and co. vs the uncivil society aka political leadership
2. Delhi's ring road is now totally green. North to South Delhi travel by car takes as little as 15 mins at 1 AM, 40 mins during the day (non-office hours). I still did not dare to drive during office hours.
3. It appears 1 rupee coin is no longer in circulation. Shopkeepers distribute candies instead. Do they keep a different variety for diabetic shoppers?
4. RTI act is showing its mark - policemen have stopped taking bribes, government officials have started responding to even email complaints. I was challaned for Rs 100. (there is no zero missing).
5. The water situation has significantly improved in Delhi. For the first time in the last 12-15 years, I was able to take shower in fresh water during the day.
6. Inflation is rocking - you need to carry at least Rs 10,000 if you are going out.
7. Delhi metro has reached Gurgaon and the airport. It is so convenient to reach Gurgaon now.
8. Some of my friends are now faculty members in IIT.
9. India's doctors work very hard and are very good.
10. Bollywood scriptwriters have crowned investment bankers as the coolest people in the World.
11. It is still life as usual for most people.

White man's burden

"Research is all fraud", a friend of mine had told me. He is a graduate from IIT, an engineer by training and a trader by profession. "PhD is our national timepass" - CEO of a very successful BPO in India had once spoken these words in a townhall meeting of his company. He too was from IIT and an MBA from a top B-school in the US. When I had told someone that in the pharma company where I work, we design processes to make drugs. He did not believe me. We cannot design chemical processes, we can only 'buy' them. We, the citizens of India, are truly 'third world' in our attitude. And, it is not the common man, but it is the highly educated - even the engineers from the so-called best engineering colleges of the country. We believe we cannot create anything new. As a consequence, all research is fraud, a waste of time for us. This is the reason why I find that the most proactive peers of my undergraduate class are now MBAs and bankers. It is the 'white man's burden' to create technology and drugs and all the good things in life. We are happy to create their replicas and cheap 'jugads', we are happy to manage their finances, we are happy to invest their money in futures and derivatives trading.

Diwali 2009

Diwali 2009, 6.30 PM: I am sitting in my room in New York City and sipping tea. You can’t burst crackers here. No houses around me are decorated with lights. No candles or diyas. To any observer it will be just another day. But, there is traffic in a different domain. Lot of texts are being exchanged, lot of phone calls to old, forgotten friends are being made. Lot of Diwali dinner invitations being sent. Ya, we are celebrating Diwali. Not out loud with crackers, but at our homes or at friends' homes – by gathering together, eating food and lighting some diyas. If it was not for my friends, I would not have cared to do anything this Diwali. But, I am getting a feel of it now. I am getting emotional about it.