Gainfully Unemployed!

For the University of Mumbai the academic year ends on the 30th of April. And that's what it did this year too. This of course has no bearing on the fact that the exams are still ongoing. Students are still "studying"; and teachers, still in the midst of the aforementioned students' thoughts. (Now here and we shall not dwell on whether these thoughts are any way kindly!)

As a teacher affiliated to the university, the tenure of my contract also ended with the end of April. But life is so very brilliant, and so the one paper that has been postponed into the middle of May was one that I taught. So of course, I shall be little at peace until I get to know that most people remembered to write the exam.
Till then and beyond, I shall be attempting to fill my hours gainfully (which does NOT involve staring at the television!).

good luck to me !!!!!

Good Luck!

From tomorrow, my itty-bitty kiddies (ok, so they are not itty-bitty. they are grown adults, and only act like kids!) start their exams. Practicals, followed by theory exams placed intermittently over a month and a half. Such a nice time - table, somebody may say... and I quite agree. For the moment.

The last line is in honour of the dear University of Mumbai, an institution that has effected multiple changes in the Final year Psychology course Time - table itself. Not counting the various "rumored changes" of course. Shifting practical dates and jumping theory ones have caused me to take it one zero change day at a time. Not that it affects my life all that much as a teacher thats not been hooked into correcting papers; but I do like to be up-to-date with the happenings around me when students call to verify the latest rumor.

So, anyway, with no changes intimated to me yet, i venture to say that my students start exams tomorrow. I hope they conduct the practicals well, and answer a few VIVA questions too - with the right answers. But I'm not too worried. I thinkum they will.

I'm hopping around with worry, not about the students, as much as about the exam itself, since ours is a brand new department, and this is the very first official exam being held. Hopefully, nothing will be considered too out - of - the - place.

Anyway, it seems am blabbering. so I shall stop that and get back to worrying in peace. Good Luck Kids!! (not that any of them reads my blog... so that was not really much use!)

Happy Women's Day.... and all that!

It's "Women's Day". I hate to be sarcastic about the one day the female of the human species is celebrated, but what to do? It still does not make too much sense to me. We still hear of dowry related problems every other day.... and women are still the only ones who work at home! So why bother? If the best thing an unmarried woman can do is get married, and she is still known in relation to the men of the house, just where is her identity?


Now, don't get me wrong! I love the concept of womens day. And all the freebies that go along with it. It feels good to hear all the lavish praise about the greatness of being a "Woman". All I'm wondering is... where does it all go for all the other days? Which cave is it hidden in? Because, Women do not (or at least this one does not) ask for much. Appreciation of the efforts taken, acknowledgment in the form of a little help whenever possible with the every-day, and acceptance - less bickering about who we are.

I think women's day will be every day that there are two equal halves in a couple, wholeness to an individual, respect for good work done; regardless of whether the doer was male or female, and the freedom for a person to be whoever they want to be.... homemaker, scientist, corporate person, slob, educator, or any of the thousands of job titles out there. And that's going to be Men's Day too.

Dream on ....... :)

Just How Cool !!!

Brrr... and then some! Thats how I've been for the last few days.

Mumbai / Bambai / Bombay... whatever you like calling the city, is - contrary to the thoughts of many, not hell. I can vouch for that now because it did (at least to an extent) freeze over. And hell, it is said does not freeze. (Or at least I hope so. I promise every uninteresting guy that I will think about him when hell freezes over.)

I'm a regular when it comes to using shawls, sweaters, and all that. But most years, I look like a total nut, being the only one wearing anything remotely warm in the non-existent winter here. but this year, I had lots of company. Sale of woollies shot up this year as Mumbai touched record lows that went into single digits for a total number of days that went into double digits. Over the winter, we've had just over three weeks of bitter cold in total, with the last cold spell lasting a week and a half at a stretch. The official lowest we saw was 8.5 degrees Celsius... though some claim it was much lower.
To add to it, I live in the suburbs, and we traditionally are lower by a degree or so as compared to the city. Freeze off oh fingers... and So much the better for the shawl-sellers!

When I was a student at Ruia, I roamed about getting odd looks - thanks to my affinity for woolens. So this year, as a lecturer there, I was wondering how my students dear would respond to a bundled up teacher. But why worry? I have students who are far better at the art. And needed at Ruia, I may add; since we on the top floor are treated to a wonderful and energizing continuous breeze that blows in from over the Arabian sea! I'm just amazed at the number that turned up through it all... and that too for writing a set of exams! I'm quite proud of them I must say....

My Hogwarts House

The sorting hat says that I belong in Ravenclaw!

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Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose intelligence is surest."

Ravenclaw students tend to be clever, witty, intelligent, and knowledgeable.
Notable residents include Cho Chang and Padma Patil (objects of Harry and Ron's affections), and Luna Lovegood (daughter of The Quibbler magazine's editor)

Incedently, my scores for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were just a mark less. I wonder, does the Sorting Hat worry at such times... about scoring errors, situational factors and all that error variance? Or does it just follow the "Highest Score Assignment" strategy?

Well, Happy Sorting! :)

Take the most scientific Harry Potter
Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

FREE !!!!

I am amused. Very amused. This mirth is because I have encountered the most rocking "free" offer ever!
Ma bought a box of strawberries the other day. The typical thing... rectangular cardboard box, full of green stuff, n a sparse layer of strawberries on top. Mostly it's a waste of money, but I suppose her actions were governed by the years of tradition that insist one must eat the fruit of the season! So anyway, to continue - she bought the strawberries, and handed the box over to me to 'deal with'.Meaning, check if all the strawberries are in decent non-pulpy condition, fill into container, and dispose off the rest.

So of course, I had to do something to feel like I was not being very helpful! After disposing off the strawberries (some stomach wards), I started rummaging through the green stuff to "check for more strawberries" - basically to make a nuisance of myself.
And wonder of wonders.... I did find something! Not red and triangular faced with green hair and freckles, but slender and green and hot! A very pretty hari mirchi! Now of course, I had the license to do this in style..... and dumped the whole thing out and sorted through it. I ended up with enough green chilli's to use for a couple of spicy meals at least.

I'm liking this. Free offers, zindabad!

PING!

Ok. So the Mad One writes again. After sparing the minds that chance upon this page for nearly a year, she is out to cause cognitive injury again. Apparently, the treatment failed.

This time there is no attempt to decide on time-lines, frequency of torture, or any such thing. She learns from the past, and does not attempt it this time.

And she is obsessed with being different, so while people all over the world return from breaks with bangs, she insists on doing it with a PING!

Good luck, ye poor souls....

The Great Urban Indian Shadi: A Prequel (The Unwed Friend)

When Indian urban women marry, they buy tonnes of stuff... clothes for the trousseau, jewelery, utensils taking the top 3 spots. But the bride ain't the only one.

An important player in the game of spending money is the yet-unwed friend. Or her parents. Each bride has about 3 or 4 of these. There is great deliberation about just which saree to drape, or which lengha to wear... whether each of the decided sarees has a blouse on it - or should a new one be stitched? What kind of jewelery goes best with which of the decided garments... all that jazz. The beauty parlor is visited, and various bits of makeup are experimented with. Basically, a great deal of effort gets taken. the major reasons for this could be:

1. A threat on part of the bride that her friend "better look good".

2. An insistence about showing off their kid on part of one or more parental figures.

3. A desire on part of the girl herself to steal her ma's best saree, by wearing it and then staking a claim later.

4. The "you're next" theory: getting used to being a christmas tree.

After all this effort, one wonders what this young lady will be up to during the wedding. Well, most likely, she will spend a greater of her time playing second rung host, and running all over the freaking place (possibly faster than her her apparel will allow) to find people or things. When she is not doing that, she will be taking charge of the bride and all that is associated with her - getting her ready, giving her anything she needs, including moral support and comfort and helping her relax by giving her gossip on what's happening besides the wedding.

She ends the whole episode by wondering why she couldn't have been in jeans.. and so much more comfortable. Not like anyone was looking at her anyway! But she's got a few things out of it. Like ma's neatest saree.

And so forth marches the wedding season.

Hydra

The gigantic mythological monster gave its name to the tiny thing in the sea. but before the Greeks came up with concept of the Hydra came the biggest of them all - Life. Ever noticed the funny way life has of replacing every jhol thats resolved with another? Almost as if the new question rises from the fact that one has made peace with the earlier. And how when one reason to smile disappears, the smiles don't? They take time, but soon find a way out for some other reason.

May be, we should start celebrating new beginings and 'ringing in the new' when we experience these shifts too. From the old head of the hydra, to the new.
And more power to u!

I just wonder what happens when you manage to get rid of all the heads. Thats Nirvana, may be.

Nuu Jaab!

Finally, after a longish hiatus, I have re-entered the world of the employed. Albeit part time. But I'm liking it. (1 must not use the catch line of another.)

I now work as a counsellor (someone pray for the poor souls I counsel) and researcher in a headache clinic. One of the first things I intend to research is if the migraines are more intense after interaction with the counsellor.

What I really get kicks out of though, is that everyone calls me 'doctor'. From the staff to the patients. Fun. :D