tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86232879854346434562011-09-07T03:26:09.517-04:00An academic blog with Indian perspectivesRainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.comBlogger761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-57775684089069361482010-06-09T09:59:00.003-04:002010-06-09T10:03:38.583-04:00

I thought that this discussion of cultural diversity in a research lab would be interesting to my readers in India and elsewhere who work in a lab full with people from all over the world. Enjoy!

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-48541491472514930292010-05-30T08:58:00.003-04:002010-05-30T09:09:58.767-04:00

Simply Brilliant:

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-48712030532011270042010-04-23T10:23:00.005-04:002010-04-23T10:39:22.646-04:00

I know, I know! I am not regular in keeping my blog updated any more. My attention is diverted with so many different things that I don't feel like writing at all. But when I saw these drawings of Svetlana Bogatyr through the blog of Tanya Khovanova whom I visit time after time, I just couldn't stop my self to share it with you all. I specially enjoyed her drawings with numbers. You can visit the

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-31049802442372353462010-04-07T10:16:00.003-04:002010-04-07T10:42:04.763-04:00

Many of us know about this phrase "Indian Standard Time" which means late by an hour to any place. Although I was never late for my classes, but for any social event, reaching on time means you are greeted by workers arranging chairs and you have to sit there for long before anyone else will arrive. So when you read similar stories about other nations, how do you react? Here is a story about

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-68805418088126851512010-03-24T21:58:00.004-04:002010-03-25T12:35:54.790-04:00

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-6073789494439732802010-02-20T12:34:00.009-05:002010-02-24T09:38:20.145-05:00

I am reading "At the Helm: a Laboratory Navigator" by Kathy Barker. It makes a nice read for anyone who is planning a science career, specially an academic career, in the USA. It contains lots of useful as well as annoying advises for a new PI, but it also contains sharp witty quotes which are fun to read. I came across a funny section titled "The Genetics of Full Professors". Below is the image

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-76985589707060195822010-02-08T10:07:00.006-05:002010-02-10T10:35:08.452-05:00

I am watching 6 parts series by Michael Wood named "The Story of India". It took me some time to get used to his way of narrating Indian history. Instead of showing only old buildings, temple and monuments, he shows people and raw India as it exists today for a traveler and try to correlates it with ancient world while narrating the history of India. Many a times, he just want to show images of

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-86071659752280992262010-02-05T12:35:00.004-05:002010-02-05T12:47:32.144-05:00

Most of us, even though outside of India, are very much interested in the overall quality and efficiency of Indian Bureaucratic system, as we deal with it time after time directly or indirectly. And for those who are in India, there is definitely direct interest for its improvement. Professor Prem Lal Joshi at University of Bahrain, Bahrain is conducting a survey to gauge the public mood. Here is

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-6490162628222355842010-02-01T10:45:00.007-05:002010-02-01T10:59:51.453-05:00

Its bitter cold in north America, but there is a beauty in this cold weather. Yesterday, I went to see snow sculpture exhibition. Below are some of the examples with short description."5 seconds of life": This is my favorite. A frog is looking at an insect with the idea to attack."Chinese Opera": I like the details in this sculpture."Lantern""Man Playing Guitar": This is not probably the exact

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-73575120244317999422010-01-21T09:59:00.004-05:002010-01-29T14:34:51.679-05:00

This week's Nature has an interesting editorial on climate debate. Another important story of the week is about the Himalayan Glaciers. So what is the truth? How much to believe all the climate talks? Like any other field of science, climate science, also has its own doubts and imperfections. This piece in Nature is worth reading.Science is incremental. Any hot field of science goes through

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-75200589045216102972010-01-15T12:17:00.002-05:002010-02-01T11:22:20.317-05:00

if the above embedded link doesn't work, try this direct link. I would suggest to watch this to anyone who is involved in teaching directly or indirectly. Through the blog of midway, here is another video link which is exactly the same idea applied in different context.With the advancement of technology, the role of teacher is also changing. In today's time, the teacher is not needed to transfer

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-70293555303599629092010-01-13T11:17:00.005-05:002010-01-15T14:15:59.739-05:00

I saw this exhibition couple of years ago, but it had profound impact on my imaginary. Niki de Saint Phalle used not-only unusual technology for her work, but her biography is interesting as well. I am sharing some of the images of her work from my picture collection.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-86131002351200265882010-01-13T10:28:00.007-05:002010-01-20T10:36:27.246-05:00

Sometime back I posted reading suggestions for 4-5 year old. This list was based on what my daughter and we liked to read on regular basis. I thought I will continue to post similar suggestions as she grows, but lately things have been more complicated. As she is growing, her interest is also changing.Most of the books for young kids are animal based and convey interesting ideas. The very fact

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-46425502937812406162010-01-10T10:42:00.011-05:002010-03-10T09:44:16.966-05:00

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. - Mahatma GandhiI was remembering this quote while reading a review of "3 Idiots" at the blog of Sumedha. She makes an interesting alternate point as compared to the movie. The movie's message has to be clear, unambiguous and strong otherwise it can not reach to the masses. However, life is more complex than that.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-82385240095132128272010-01-05T15:25:00.005-05:002010-01-20T13:28:40.780-05:00

Long long time ago, there was a clever man somewhere living in a far far village. He had a donkey for his business which was very helpful. Now, as with anything else, this donkey was getting old and becoming more and more of a burden. Since it was not possible to get good money for an old donkey in the open market, this clever man thought about a plan. He announced a lottery, everyone who was

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-65063600077224474022009-12-31T20:42:00.002-05:002009-12-31T20:44:59.038-05:00

I wish you and your family very happy and prosperous new year 2010.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-18982335123443345232009-12-15T10:00:00.003-05:002009-12-15T10:04:14.180-05:00

If you don't believe me, check out FSP's latest post and comments on bizarre things students do while attending a lecture. May be things have changed in India since I used to be a teacher (9 years have passed), but I still believe probably not up to this extend.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-17802102563220873472009-12-10T09:55:00.003-05:002009-12-10T10:04:56.097-05:00

I thought to share a film about the beautiful world we live in. It is as beautiful, as terribly troubling, as hopeful and exciting as how each of us choose to live every day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU&feature=player_embedded

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-21204868619014651742009-12-08T15:17:00.014-05:002009-12-08T15:33:19.697-05:00

Chicago is one of my favorite city in the world. The city has a beautiful downtown and charm of its own. Here are some of the pictures:Downtown Chicago1 2 3 4 Bahai Temple 5 6 Swaminarayan Temple 7 8 9 10 11

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-9498050377832401812009-12-08T14:48:00.002-05:002009-12-08T15:01:18.589-05:00

Yesterday I had to go to Indian consulate for my daughter's passport renewal. While any kind of bureaucratic work inside India can be quite painful, my experience with Indian mission abroad has been quite fine (This is my 9th year outside India). Most of the jobs get done on the same day while passport can be done in a week (Those readers, who are in India, can you imagine that you can actually

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-75668744697084957232009-12-04T09:00:00.001-05:002009-12-04T12:06:12.841-05:00

We have a great culture and one of the oldest civilization, no doubt! But it still amazes me that how self-obsessed and self-pampered (and also misinformed) we are when it comes make fake claims about Indian culture and civilization. Here are some examples taken from a recent spam email message I received from an old colleague: - दूनिया सबसे पुराना लोकतंत्र भारत में अस्तित्त्व में आया था. Many

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-25662154100694699942009-11-25T11:00:00.005-05:002009-11-25T14:28:58.947-05:00

Those of you, connected to scientific research is going to love this video clip.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-4982116739662604162009-11-19T15:51:00.000-05:002009-11-19T18:20:42.444-05:00

Last week I had my doctor's appointment and while waiting for my turn in the waiting room, I was browsing some travel magazine. There was a section on India tourism inside the magazine and in the section, there was an ad with a picture of herd of elephants and big bold note "we still believe in joint family system". Now this is a mode of denial. Like any other society, India is also going through

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-44668013156581649932009-11-19T09:36:00.013-05:002009-11-19T12:32:29.438-05:00

Some of the readers of this blog came from while searching about Jaipur Zoo to the page I have put here earlier. Actually, Google shows very few images of Jaipur zoo and this image is one of them. Curiously, when I Google Jaipur, I was very much disappointed to see the that the most of the images came from travel agencies and hotels and they are heavily photo-shopped, which means they were

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-68017236316238272692009-11-18T13:17:00.016-05:002009-11-19T09:35:55.026-05:00

There are times when I feel strongly about something and want to write and there are times when I am contended just to read different things and don't feel like writing anything. For these times, I will share pictures from my camera from different places around the world. I have been fortunate enough to travel to many destinations inside and outside of India for various reasons. Some pictures are

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-15155727918212136392009-11-11T10:06:00.008-05:002009-11-11T14:01:22.812-05:00

As a first generation immigrant, it is inevitable to constantly compare the life outside and inside India. My daughter goes to school and it is also inevitable that I constantly compare her school experience with my own schooling experience. Here are the random list of things which I like in USA and which I miss from India on very regular basis. This will give idea to many people in India what to

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-4307016864150782382009-11-09T17:31:00.008-05:002009-11-12T13:02:58.389-05:00

In my previous post, I described an example of efficient and fast bureaucracy. I wanted to give few examples of Indian bureaucracy which is slow, inefficient and corrupt, but somehow I do not feel like writing about it. My this week's feeling is more of sadness than anger. When the whole system is like that, it is wastage of time and effort try to describe that. I will just write few points which

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-30635273845182305182009-11-06T07:56:00.006-05:002009-11-09T17:57:26.640-05:00

I will write some real life examples (either from my experience or from experiences of someone I know) of bureaucracy with the idea of what it should be like and what it shouldn't be like. Dear readers, please consider providing your experiences (positive or negative) of Indian bureaucracy as well as bureaucratic system of the country where you are living, to make this discussion richer. The idea

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-31370919834103423702009-11-05T12:29:00.009-05:002009-11-05T17:43:48.961-05:00

I have written previously (here, here and here) about attracting talent (I mean, people who otherwise don't feel obligation to return out of nostalgia and family obligations, and looking for more professional opportunities) from abroad to Indian education system. Today I will write about a big negative factor which will affect you regularly whether you return to some big name institutes or any

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-18555262865667319962009-10-29T09:33:00.004-04:002009-10-29T10:10:23.772-04:00

These days I am in mood of art, so I will share an interesting video with you all. I liked it very much and I hope so do you. Its very dynamic and the beauty lies in the pictures as well as its creation from sand and colors of light on it.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-68794022436127573432009-10-27T15:11:00.004-04:002009-10-27T15:13:41.051-04:00

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-71499292598229999992009-10-26T23:43:00.002-04:002009-10-26T23:54:01.021-04:00

After years of sleeping somewhere, suddenly my creative surge came into existence after a Rangoli project at my daughter's school. I had done some oil paintings long time ago but since then never had chance (or wish) to do anything. I am into sand paintings these days. While I was searching some motivation ( or design) for the canvass I bought for the purpose, I came across this beautiful site

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-47772923529976723902009-10-26T23:22:00.006-04:002009-10-27T09:32:40.403-04:00

I have been following with interest discussion related to IIT entrance exams at the blog of Nanopolitan. He makes many valid comments about the extreme pressure created by the exam on students as well as about coaching centers. In the country where job security after traditional education is so scarce, the obsession with IITs is hardly any surprise. Maybe we need statistics of from IITs and also

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-27999469850493555662009-10-16T16:50:00.001-04:002009-10-16T16:53:01.017-04:00

I wish you all a very happy and joyous Diwali.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-15894204210171198822009-10-09T09:40:00.002-04:002009-10-09T09:45:55.639-04:00

I came across this beautiful site created by University of Chicago School Mathematics Project for young children to increase mathematics learning in their daily environment. Its beautifully designed with simple activities for children and parents. http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/Learning can be so much fun if combined with passion and imagination.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-74810993493339427422009-09-25T09:03:00.001-04:002009-09-27T17:53:50.128-04:00

Education, in its current form, where an average child spends for 20+ years in school/college/university etc. to be able to useful to the society, is very recent human endeavor, for past 200 years or so. This is the need of post-industrialized society where the demand of highly specialized individual is higher and such long education years are necessary. Modern societies need more people who can

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-39067361594649267212009-09-15T13:05:00.006-04:002009-09-16T09:46:00.949-04:00

This is merely a small sample (few hundred hits in last 2 days), but this map of recent visitors of this site gives some idea about the concentration of Indian academics (who else might be interested in content of this blog anyway?) around the globe. It is no surprise that most Indian academics are located in north America and Europe (of course, other than in India :)), where there are more

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-76133528811362402972009-09-14T09:00:00.003-04:002009-09-16T17:02:01.499-04:00

Disclaimer: This post is provoked by an anonymous comment at the blog of Nanopolitan. I have no intention to disrespect anyone from any institutes.If you read regularly the reader's comments on the pay scale related posts at the blogs of "Life at IISc" or "Nanopolitan" (just to clarify, I am talking about comments, not the blogs by itself, both of these blogs are very thoughtful and respectful),

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-59979771310173713882009-09-05T15:39:00.005-04:002009-09-05T16:51:06.530-04:00

After my post on admission process for Science and Engineering Ph. D. program, some readers were interested about the admission process in American business schools' Ph. D. program. Knowing that the page still remains the most popular page of this website, I asked my friend (lets cal him "V" here), who is a Ph. D. student in a top business school, to write about the admission process for the

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-65351372746510698182009-08-27T05:44:00.000-04:002009-08-27T12:20:03.482-04:00

Since I started this blog, I wanted to take up this subject but was afraid to touch because I wanted write it with sensitivity. I also wanted to bring something useful to the discussion without being offensive to anyone which is hard when what you really want is to criticize. Schizophrenia or any other mental illness is a taboo to many societies and so much so to Indian society. But in our case

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-12003996952346050242009-08-18T14:52:00.015-04:002009-08-24T16:05:13.208-04:00

There is an interesting discussion going on at the blog of Prof. Madras on the article of Dr. Ganagn Prasad about the ranking of Indian research institute. If you read comments of this post and other blogs which discuss the topic, the main issue seems that which institute is better within India and why? You can also read all the short comings of the study at these comments and postings. I am less

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-3821352059287947852009-08-17T14:13:00.002-04:002009-08-17T14:18:45.021-04:00

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-67322695285893816502009-08-07T16:16:00.006-04:002009-08-24T17:22:45.911-04:00

Brain drain from India to developed world is a serious phenomenon. Reasons are many fold which I will not go into detail in this post. I read it somewhere which I can not find anymore, that there are more Indian scientist working in United States than Indian scientists in India. Science in India is in dire state and is seriously is in need for more scientist to improve the quality and quantity of

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-11840369229723831702009-08-06T12:00:00.009-04:002009-08-12T10:06:15.682-04:00

I met this couple last year in one of the local play ground. They were in their late 50s, very successful academics in their respective field and they were with 2 year old twin boys. They were bit older to be a natural parents of kids and also boys had darker complexion same like most Indians have as compare to the white complexion of the couple. My first assumption was that probably they are the

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-68627129706300812352009-08-05T12:52:00.005-04:002009-08-05T21:42:46.902-04:00

My 5 year old daughter performed everything which was told to her for the Rakhsha-Bandhan day. She put "Haldi", "Kumkum" and "Chawal" on her 2 year old brother's forehead and then put sweet on his mouth before tying the Rakhi on his right hand. Then she demanded that he should do the same for her and tie the Rakhi on her hand as well. She don't understand why only brother is supposed to protect/

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-76715203161057187982009-08-03T17:04:00.005-04:002009-08-04T14:15:11.164-04:00

This is a story of an outstanding woman Janet Rowley who has received America's highest civilian national award for 2009 "Presidential Medal of Freedom". Her decades of work in cancer research established that cancer is genetic disease and provided ways for more precise detection and treatment for the disease. While reading her story it is hard to ignore the fact that she stayed at home after

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-23702301040230383282009-08-02T12:31:00.009-04:002009-08-03T11:24:41.207-04:00

I visited a Hindu temple in my city yesterday. One of the striking thing you note when you visit Indian temple or Indian market in USA is elderly women and men in their 60s walking crippled or with the support of a stick or relative. This is in striking contrast where average American population at this age group seem to be very healthy and active. They go for swimming and gym regularly and care

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-54385246630264205882009-07-30T17:36:00.003-04:002009-07-30T17:50:09.228-04:00

Tatvi, an assistant professor of physical science in one of the elite institute joins today on this forum. Together we hope to create interesting discussion around academia and life in general. Welcome aboard Tatvi!!!

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-67142951719859842342009-07-29T11:38:00.002-04:002009-07-29T12:08:53.598-04:00

These days its hard to write anything due to various summer related activities, so blogging is more sporadic. Once summer is over, I will be able to write more regularly. Here is a beautiful evening picture of a boat in the lake Michigan.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-83836733156282445792009-07-17T11:50:00.007-04:002009-08-03T11:25:11.308-04:00

Every physics student at some point of time gets in love with Richard Feynman and his lecture series on Physics. Here is a good news for Feynman fans, Microsoft has launched the video series of messenger lectures series online with the new research website Project Tuva free for public to enjoy the beauty of physics being told beautifully. You will need to install Microsoft's new browser

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-4002846184925459802009-07-16T10:42:00.007-04:002009-07-16T11:26:07.130-04:00

This is exciting news for magnetic resonance (NMR and EPR) community that Encyclopedia of Magnetic Resonance is available online. Encyclopedia has great introductory articles on almost all topics in the field of solid state NMR, liquid state NMR, MRI and EPR, and is a great resource for everyone in the field. here is the link.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-90166304607339651552009-07-15T09:00:00.000-04:002009-07-15T10:19:51.498-04:00

Whenever I go to India to visit my family in a sleepy cute town in central part of India, I miss a simple, safe and secure playground in the neighborhood where children can play. Playing and physical activity for children is very important, and it should not be ignored. As population have been exploded over the years, all the open places where children could play freely are gone and converted

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-55561638659703905402009-07-13T01:03:00.006-04:002009-07-14T10:37:32.652-04:00

One of my old student (lets call him N here) wrote back to me after reading some of the posts. Its always interesting to hear back from old students and know them more. Now when they are more wise and mature, its interesting to talk with them while connecting old links. here are some of his random thoughts and my responses;I think you must have seen Generations of young Mind getting Shaped, that

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-2326131040836725012009-07-09T10:17:00.003-04:002009-07-10T16:15:31.676-04:00

There was an interesting comment yesterday on the most popular page of this blog How to enter in science and engineering Ph. D. program in American university. This comment is worth a separate post, as it talks about an important skill needed for scientific career. The reader said:Writing is intensely involved in all stages of masters and PhD studies starting with the application essay "Why PhD/

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-36521945751772439752009-07-07T18:10:00.002-04:002009-09-30T09:10:15.651-04:00

I was reading a wonderful post by PalMD about hope in hopeless situations. It narrates stories to explain that how effective communication is important for a doctor when telling a patient about their health conditions. Although I am not a doctor and never had life and death situation in my work place, but the rule applies in teaching profession as well. You can easily motivate or demotivate a

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-15844051652182015572009-07-07T13:00:00.000-04:002009-07-07T13:57:58.562-04:00

I have been reading with interest Yashpal Committee report (link) on reform of higher education system in India. It is very broad and does a wonderful job of identifying gray areas in Indian higher education system. It also suggests ways to improve the system. Since I have been through state college and state university as a student and as a teacher, I am little skeptical about the final outcome

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-80744550963938440512009-07-01T13:51:00.005-04:002009-10-15T20:13:07.078-04:00

Here are some reading suggestions for 4-5 year old which are fun:The Cat in the HatDo Like a Duck DoesMarshmallowGreen Egg and HamKami and the YaksAnimal Nursery talesStories from Panchtantra (The version I have is in very poor English, nevertheless these stories are interesting concepts for a 5 year old)Can You Tell me How to Get to Sesame Street?INSECTSSharksThe Seven Chinese SistersFish is

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-77273376516499926392009-06-30T11:48:00.003-04:002009-07-01T16:47:30.698-04:00

Last month I saw children performance of Irish Dance in my daughter's school. It was beautiful. In Irish Dance upper part of the body is kept straight and all dance steps are done using only legs and beauty lies in synchronization of steps with the music. Below is the link of world famous "River-Dance" show.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-91227943755526221062009-06-26T17:00:00.003-04:002009-06-27T12:27:29.565-04:00

It doesn't matter what is your background in India, but when you go out for the first time, the difference of culture from India to any other developed country is so strong that you will need openness and time to adjust in new country. Here are some random thoughts based on my experiences: - Food is the biggest problem and weakness of all Indians, so learn to cook before you go out of India,

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-17064206709599307762009-06-25T04:53:00.007-04:002009-06-25T05:55:06.446-04:00

My post on attracting talent has generated a lot more interest than I expected, the reason is because Prof. Madras show interest in it. His comments on my observation that the salary of Assistant Professor in India is comparable to anywhere in the world, was taken much seriously. I know for many people the salary what IITs or any other faculty position in India offer is not good enough, so I am

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-5629968493618351472009-06-23T11:44:00.005-04:002009-06-23T11:52:09.096-04:00

It was fascinating to see so many deers in Jaipur zoo. More information on Indian deers can be found here.

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-87967920856427849412009-06-22T11:50:00.004-04:002009-06-25T05:22:33.664-04:00

Whenever there is a discussion about shortage of faculty or attracting talent back to India, it is always about IITs and IISc. There is hardly any talk about state universities where this shortage and the need for a bright faculty who has international exposure, is even more acute. Many time people quote that the salaries in India are not comparable to international level, and that is the main

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-51749961639938335562009-06-19T10:35:00.003-04:002009-06-25T05:24:18.020-04:00

Its an old article, but I just came across it and found interesting so sharing it here:http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2007/02/25/the-cult-of-genius/It talks about immediate connection between the smartness and success of a person in physics. It further quotes an article of New York Magazine based on a study by Carol Dweck on correlation of IQ and immediate success of children in

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-16748828529606016812009-06-16T15:35:00.007-04:002009-06-18T20:41:50.602-04:00

Last month I saw this piece in Nature's correspondence section (Nature, vol 459, Pg 321) in response to another Nature article "we can not live by scepticism alone" My observations as a research scientist of more than 30 years’ standing suggest that most scientists in India conspicuously evoke the mysterious powers of gods and goddesses to help them achieve success in professional matters, such

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-58849739453336497912009-06-15T12:57:00.019-04:002009-06-17T16:32:43.835-04:00

Lets take a look more closely at the American Higher Education system as it stands today. For better or worse, this is the model all other countries look at, to improve their performance in science and engineering research output. American academic culture is very different then European and other models I have seen in my life (I have worked in Israel, Germany, and in IISc, India before coming to

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-14781615203614813982009-06-13T08:09:00.003-04:002009-06-15T00:55:17.188-04:00

Until my daughter started her nursery school, I was fully involved only in problems of scientific research and the problems of higher education whether in India or abroad, and never thought about early childhood education. I was educated in a governmental Hindi medium school in north India and was completely satisfied with the outcome, so why to bother? But ever since my daughter started her

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-5997850043028389152009-06-10T11:56:00.002-04:002009-09-30T14:32:54.926-04:00

I know we have the problem of mass education and there is probably no better way to deal with a big amount of population, but still...This is the question for today: Are we promoting rote learning over the scholarly one in Indian education system?With all the marks based examination system, entrance exams which decide the fate of the student, and parents who get paranoid with their child's marks

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-9901024650890199632009-06-09T09:48:00.007-04:002009-06-10T11:51:08.818-04:00

Clay models of birds made by 5 years old children with the help, support and guidance of teachers in my daughter's nursery school. Isn't it beautiful?

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-35197645945545538242009-06-04T09:27:00.004-04:002009-06-05T11:56:37.677-04:00

Yesterday I tried to compile general admission process for a Science and Engineering Ph. D. program in an American University. However there were few points missing and a couple of explanations needed about the American university system as compared to the Indian university system.In addition to your GPA, GRE score and statement, there may be 2-3 letters of recommendations from your professors/

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-35298315223129573632009-06-03T10:37:00.007-04:002009-06-10T11:04:27.523-04:00

Another question came from a M.Sc. student during my last India trip in a college seminar. The student wanted to know, how to get into science Ph. D. program in an American University. Here in this post, I am trying to compile information for M. Sc./M. Tech. students about the graduate admission system as it works for the most American universities. This information is approximate and situation

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-9554192546677949392009-05-29T14:12:00.001-04:002009-05-29T14:18:00.105-04:00

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-91197583975486395202009-05-26T13:36:00.001-04:002009-06-04T09:48:45.026-04:00

During my last visit to India, one of my old student (and now a Ph. D. herself in physical science) came to visit me. She wanted my advise for her future course of academic career.She wanted to know; how to get a post-doc position abroad? There are two factors here in her wish. First, she wants to gain more academic experience and preferably get faculty position in some university after

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-13776931253648164352009-05-26T10:28:00.001-04:002009-05-26T10:29:27.303-04:00

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-70874306790956092172009-05-24T11:37:00.000-04:002009-05-24T14:03:45.241-04:00

The "Life in IISc" blog discuses a report on the need of undergraduate education at the IISc. This is an interesting topic and brings our today's discussion about undergraduate science education at the state universities (most of them don't teach undergraduate courses directly at the university but at the affiliated colleges). This report has all the important factors why there should be an

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-86806738794000235042009-05-21T13:16:00.000-04:002009-05-22T12:48:21.242-04:00

There are some Indian academic blogs out there (its easy to find them in google), but most of them are from elite institutes such as IITs and IISc, and there is no voice from state universities and colleges. A big amount of academic activities in India happens in these places, and not in elite institutes. Only small fraction of students and faculty go to elite institutes.I follow three Indian

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623287985434643456.post-33642726863546350492009-05-21T11:42:00.001-04:002009-05-21T17:32:37.166-04:00

Welcome to my blog. Isn't it a most beautiful lamp post surrounded by spring flowers?

Rainbow Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01619911613235481638noreply@blogger.com0