Saturday, March 12, 2011

Overcoming a blogger's block!

I started writing this blog in a very happy frame of mind, eager to document the new and exciting scientific landscape in my land of birth and current employment.  Yet, after an entry in September 2010, I had nothing to say till today (March, 2011). I started suffering from a blogger's block even before my blogging took off.
I am still as upbeat and excited as I was in September.  But, in the last few months, I have gone through a blog-impostor syndrome.
Firstly, how can I write blogs without substantial experiences to talk about? Unlike the other bloggers that I follow, I have not written big grant proposals, nor have I supervised students and postdocs, run labs, headed committees or been part of hiring committees. In this condition,  WHAT do I write about?
Secondly, while many of my colleagues and academic bloggers in North America seemed to be  complaining about decline in federal funding of research (see this), I found it presumptuous to write about almost the reverse situation in India, that is, plenty of funding and not enough takers (at least in my STEM field).
Third, I felt very tempted to write about some situations in my institute that made me very, very angry ! But, I did not want to start off by complaining.  After my idealistic and optimistic view of Indian science, it just did not feel right to start by ranting about lazy students and irritating colleagues.
Finally, there was a voice inside my head all the time that mockingly asked me continuously, "You starry-eyed romantic! Is the situation really as bright as you claim? In the guise of writing about "new India" are you just covering up your helplessness and disappointment about not being in a top-tier research university with readily available research facilities?"

After going through this dilemma, if you may call it so, I have realized that after all,  I am only a few months into my faculty position. I obviously do not have the mature, informed perspective of academia which  people with years of experience have.  Yet, my current position in the so-called "baby department" of my  institute (whose growth is closely linked with my own growth) and the currently (as I believe) shining and promising scientific situation in India does give me a lot to experience, observe and share with other readers.  I would also like to compare my experience in India with my experience in both USA and Canada, where  I have held postdocs.

Incidentally, I have renamed my blog "Academic Garden", inspired by one of my favorite blogs "Academic Jungle".  The writer of this blog (a tenured prof at a large research university in USA) shares her perspective about creating her path through the old, established, strong and densely populated academic structure , which she (fondly) calls a "jungle", in a country which is a  world leader in science .   I am, by contrast,  a new tenure-track**  assistant professor in an equally new institute in a country which is still taking its first steps towards building a strong foundation in the basic sciences.  I have therefore named this  blog Academic "Garden".

I will be try to write more regularly. If there are any readers out there, I would love to hear back from you.  Please feel free to let me know if there are any issues that you would be specifically interested in.

**The tenure track to tenure process in central government institutes in India is different from what is commonly followed in the west.  More about it later!