Movers and Shapers - II

[The first past of the following post can be found here.]

Starting a new faculty position is no joke.  Books have been written on it, it is a hot topic on multiple blogs/websites (for example, see here and here) and many institutions conduct orientation programmes for new faculty.  You have become a PI with complete responsibility for your research group, you are on the other side of the class for the first time and you are performing a lot of laborious administrative tasks.  Joining a new institute where you will move labs/offices at least three or four times (either move from one building to another or readjust within the same building as new members join at high frequency) adds further layers of complications.  Even with the best of planning, things can go wrong.

For example, at IISER, through the “moving and shaping,” all sorts of difficulties came up.  There were delays in ordering material and in clearing customs.  Sometimes, enzymes thawed and were refrozen during transport: this caused unexpected results in experiments!  There were sudden pressures, for example, preparing a lab (practically overnight) for a new batch of students.  Sometimes, after a move, people would realize that the power requirements were much higher than anticipated.  Sometimes, there would be water shortage.  In a new building, there could be unforeseen damages due to heavy rainfall.  With many members sharing limited space, there would occasionally be differences and vocal exchange of views. 

All colleagues I spoke to acknowledged setbacks.  But, every single one of them also insisted that they do not retain any bitterness about it.  Many felt that their efforts towards meeting personal research goals created positive energy and this helped them to see difficult experiences as enriching.

M. Jayakannan from Chemistry (joined. 2007) mentions that by the summer of 2009, labs were sufficiently equipped for active research work at IISER.  The first few publications from work done at these labs started coming out by 2010 and since then, all the research groups in chemistry have been productive.  The early faculty hires were very active in publishing, averaging about 4 papers per group every year.  This gave confidence and healthy peer pressure to those who joined later.

My colleague Thomas Pucadyil joined the Biology group in 2010.  As of today, Thomas has a thriving research lab that includes 8 student members. Recently, a publication from his lab, “A high-throughput platform for real-time analysis of membrane fission reactions reveals dynamin function,” authored by Srishti Dar, Sukrut Kamerkar and Thomas Pucadyil has appeared in Nature Cell Biology. 

During a fun conversation over a cup of coffee, Srishti (the first author of this paper and one of Thomas’s earliest PhD students) and Thomas described how they set up the lab and the “assay system” leading to this publication.  For Thomas, the experience of starting his lab with students was full of surprises.  It  required multiple managerial skill sets, which he acquired on-the-go.  Early preparations for this work were started in Sai Trinity Building in 2011: this included visiting a goat market and slaughter house one early morning to acquire the brain of a goat.  They started off with an attempt to extract and isolate a specific protein from the goat brain.  While at Sai, they succeeded in it and knew that their project had passed the litmus test.  This motivated them to develop assays that would help to better streamline the role of this protein in facilitating cellular processes.  A detailed explanation of their work can be found here.

Thomas feels that the composition of his graduate-student-heavy lab played a crucial role in choosing and persisting with this project.  With postdocs, one tends to get results sooner, but postdocs are only present for a short stint.  On the other hand, graduate students are present for a much longer time and this gives you more room to experiment and set something up. In this case, their project took more than three years to develop and the results finally started coming together in 2014.  By this time, they had gone through two relocations, first to G1, a prefabricated lab building in the permanent campus in 2012 and the second, to the main building in 2014.  Their lab is now well settled with its core facilities in place and work done by his group has exceeded the expectations of the institute.

Thomas feels the strong camaraderie among the biologists helped him to move beyond the challenges and establish himself at IISER Pune.  Similar sentiments were expressed by others.  Girish Ratnaparkhi, one of the master planners behind the multiple relocations of the Biology group, mentions that when he joined, he felt energetic and very happy to help.  He remained very involved with the functionality of the department.  Be it preparing indents, supervising the packing and moving, receiving/hosting institute guests or organizing a conference, no work was shunned.  Everything was done in the spirit of service to the institute.

Talking to these colleagues made me wonder: can such an attitude of positivity and service to the institute be developed superficially? Or is it something that stems naturally from a deeper feeling of personal empowerment, which in turn comes from research productivity?

Movers and shapers - I

Last week, I got an opportunity to talk to some of my colleagues from Biology and Chemistry who joined between 2006 and 2008, that is, within the first two years of IISER.  The people I spoke to are H.N. Gopi, M. Jayakannan, Mayurika Lahiri and Girish Ratnaparkhi.  They shared some fascinating stories from these early days: stories of adjustment, setting things up, moving, expansion and readjustment.  This post and the next are based on their inputs. 

IISER started functioning from one floor of NCL Innovation Park in 2006.  Due to limited space, several faculty members shared what they call “hot desks” in the same office.  From 9 am to 6 pm, they designed curricula, taught classes (many for the first time), cleaned and prepared teaching labs themselves as there were no lab attendants, made purchase indents for lab equipment and held regular meetings to design their future labs/offices.  After dinner, many returned for a “second shift”, during which they corresponded with their collaborators or students from former work places, wrote papers and made grant applications [1].  The second shift could continue into the wee hours of the morning.

People could walk into our director Professor Ganesh’s office anytime they needed to [2].  Many a times, they would enter feeling worried, but would come out of the office with a big smile sharing his dreams about the future of IISER.

Professor Shashidhara (Shashi) walked from his place of residence in Panchwati to the permanent campus, Innovation Park and Sai Trinity Building every single day to oversee the progress at each point (and give things a good push whenever needed).  He patiently taught new faculty members from scratch how to work through administrative rules and regulations for acquiring equipment and setting up labs as many were fresh out of postdocs and were doing it all for the first time. 

When a potential faculty candidate visited for a job interview in those days, it was easy to get discouraged at the state of affairs: no research labs, no offices and no PhD students.  Apart from generous start-up grants, some of the things that attracted the early people to join were clear communication from the leadership about future plans, love of teaching and personal ambition.  The sense that they were building the institute and were equal contributors to every stage of development gave them a feeling of personal empowerment.  My colleague Mayurika mentions, “When I first visited for my job interview in 2007, I only saw the floor at Innovation Park and empty spaces in Sai Trinity building [3].   Shashi told me that things would be ready before I joined and I instinctively believed him.  Sure enough, things were ready by the time I joined in March 2008.  I did not feel any negativity around me. ” 

The central wing of the Sai Trinity building was inaugurated in January 2008 and was adequately ready for the biologists within a couple of months.

That was the time when experimental faculty had to spend maximum time in acquiring equipment for the labs. While doing this and allocating lab spaces, they decided upon a few healthy practices, which continue till date: first was the practice of shared labs.  Except a handful of cases where the nature of research is highly specialized, spacious common labs were to be shared by multiple members.  This not only reduced wastage of resources, but also taught faculty to treat resources as shared facilities rather than individual possessions.  As a colleague puts it jokingly, the tendency to act as “estate builder” was cut off right at the beginning.  Second was the practice of looking ahead: in any lab, some extra space was kept aside for future faculty.  When people ordered equipment and material for themselves, they ordered in extra quantities so that a new faculty would have enough workspace and resources to get started immediately upon joining.  This was very crucial because the Sai Trinity years witnessed a burst in hiring. 

In the meanwhile, the right side of the Sai Trinity building was acquired for chemistry and the chemists started moving there.  At one point of time, 11 faculty members and 40 students shared a lab space of 1800 square feet.

Around that time, Biology and Chemistry started looking for suitable PhD students.  The first advertisement for PhD went out from Chemistry in January 2008.  There would be at least three more rounds of advertisement and selection procedures before 4 students were selected in July 2008.  Biology also got their first few PhD students in August 2008.  These students took course work for a year and also actively helped with setting up the labs in Sai Trinity building.  By summer of 2009, the labs were well equipped and ready for active research.  Publications based on work done at IISER started coming out by 2010.

One of the reasons my early colleagues did not cave in to disappointment or exhaustion from frequent moves is that from the very beginning, no one lost sight of the final product, the permanent campus.  Gopi describes the happiness they felt while they witnessed the official land transfer of the permanent campus land to IISER in a ceremony at Pride Hotel in 2008: “We knew this informally, but were really thrilled when we saw it happening officially.”  Jayakannan mentions that even before all the moves across temporary locations happened, they started planning for the permanent campus.  Sometimes, they would wear construction hats and spend time at the construction sites.  “We adjusted to what was available with belief and sense of involvement in what was to come.  The institute always came first.”

But, Girish has a simpler explanation for the (more or less) high spirits: “Nothing big broke during the moves.  This kept everyone happy.”

[Stories of further moves and other groups coming up in future posts.  The second part of this post is here.]

[1] It would be a while before publications started coming out from work done at IISER. 

[2] We still can: it’s just that we don’t need to do so all that much anymore.  I only discovered the location of the director’s office last month, when a group met there to plan our 10 year celebrations.

[3] An office complex in the heart of Pashan, which was to remain our temporary campus for a long time.

Home is where the office is

I am now a resident member of IISER Pune.  I’ve been longing for this day ever since I first stepped into IISER Pune and saw the construction site of the faculty housing.  For the last two and a half years, I have looked at it wistfully while driving into campus every day and imagined the good life post-moving-in.

Just imagine the possibilities: I can walk to my office every day, work as late as I like without any safety concerns about returning at night, my father will worry about me a little less, I will not have to navigate painful Pune traffic every evening and my building residents will not ask me if I can tutor their children (!!) in Mathematics.  I can now enjoy life in two of India’s best campuses and so can Abhishek (although something tells me that his enjoyment will be mostly centered around the milk shakes at Shiv Sagar, our on-campus food joint).  Oh yes, one more thing: I will not have trouble receiving Amazon packages.

I have already written before about the smooth manner in which house allocation was done.

The move today went off without any major glitches.  The movers were polite and sincere: but the supervisor tried to fool me in many ways.  He had asked for a certain sum (higher than what he quoted to my colleagues) with the assurance that he will bring good packing material: but that did not happen. The electronic items were wrapped in bubble wrap and the kitchen utensils, including coffee maker and other fragile stuff were wrapped in newspaper (which I provided!) and brought in open plastic crates.  His justification: “the quality lies not in the packing material, but in the handling.” Later, the household luggage did not fit into the vehicle brought by him and the supervisor stayed back with the remaining stuff while I followed the vehicle to IISER.  The vehicle then returned for a second trip and the guy very cleverly extracted some extra money saying that local labourers had demanded “Mathadi.”  I knew he was lying (since this has not happened to anyone in my former residential society), but I was alone and completely dependent on these people for unpacking and unloading.

After unloading at IISER Pune, he told me that his boys would be unpacking only major items like furniture and I would have to do the rest myself.  I requested him to empty all the boxes and put the things in the appropriate rooms, and I can take care of the arrangement later.  He argued a little, but gave in.  Finally, he demanded an extra two thousand rupees as tax.  Since this was not in the original quotation, I refused to pay.  Another little argument, but he gave in.

This happens to me a lot: people assume that I am nice and can be fooled easily. (They are right occasionally:  I can’t believe I paid an extra three thousand rupees for a handful of bubble wrap.)

Nonetheless, by the end of the day, everything was in the apartment and in its proper place.  No glass items are broken, but I will only know in the next two days if there has been any damage to the electronic items.  His boys were certainly very sincere and did all the packing and unpacking as per my instructions.   They also did not damage any furniture. 

 My lesson from this is that if one really wants to be free of worries and wants finesse in the handling of items, it is safest to go with a reliable, big name mover (the movers who brought my items from Canada to Mohanpur and later to Pune gave me no cause at all to worry).  With local movers, one has to be really watchful as they will try to cut corners.  But, they do the job eventually and the end product is not much different from what a big mover would have done, at least for an intra city move!

During the unpacking, an agile, middle aged lady rang the doorbell and before I could respond, walked right into the house, unpacked some of the boxes and arranged many items in the kitchen and store room.  She is now my cook and domestic help, my very own Mrs Doubtfire.

Anyways, the reality is that I am on campus, tired, but very happy.   I wanted to take a long walk on my first evening here, but could not do so as my feet are hurting a lot from standing and carrying things all day (may be I need to make my strength training routine a little more intensive!)  I hope to enjoy a nice walk tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, here’s how I celebrated … on campus of course!

Finally, a picture of faculty housing as it looked at dinner time:

If I could survive the next two weeks..

The next two weeks are going to be a handful.

By Saturday, I have to finalize a paper and lecture notes for a series of lectures.  In between this week, I have to examine a PhD thesis viva voce (thankfully via Skype). On Sunday, I will travel to Bhubaneswar for an ATM School in which I am giving the above mentioned lectures.  The scary part is that temperature at BBN is on the wrong side of 40, but the good thing is that I will get to stay in my favourite guest house.

Immediately after returning, I have to move to my new apartment at IISER.  The idea of packing, moving and unpacking is a bit daunting.  Instead of a big brand, I have hired a local packer and mover this time and even though I have good feedback about this company from my colleagues, I am still worried about things breaking or getting lost.  What if the packers show up late? The apartment security does not allow moving out after a certain time.  What if they don’t pack the items properly and it starts raining? On top of that, the movers mention that some local goons may gather around the truck and won’t let it pass unless you give them some money (it is called “Mahtari” in local parlance).  What if I don’t get the apartment keys on time (I am working with very short deadlines here as I have to travel again for a few weeks immediately after the move)?  What if the movers misbehave and don’t unpack or reassemble the furniture? What if this? What if that? Even as I write this, I realize that half of my fears are unfounded.  Strangely I had no fear at all while moving from Mohanpur to Pune, which was a much longer commute than the upcoming 4 kilometer move!  Then of course, there was the big move from Canada to Mohanpur!

My colleagues who have already moved seem to be settling down well – in fact, our registrar was the first to move into campus housing and has already taken care of a lot of issues.  So, I don’t have too many concerns about what happens after moving. Our new apartment offers pipeline gas – that itself takes care of one major hassle, that of going to a gas agency for issuing cylinders.  The dining complex is nearby: so, no worries if the kitchen is not set up immediately. 

I will finally get to live on campus: something for which I have been waiting for a very, very long time [remembering a campus housing experience from another lifetime :) ].

Now, if only I could survive the next two weeks…..

Student desertion

Yesterday, I heard the most peculiar conversation between two people.  One of them, it seems, had either moved jobs or left his job or perhaps retired- it was not exactly clear.  The other person asked him what happened to his PhD students at his former institute.  This person shrugged and replied, “I don’t know.  They probably found someone else.”

His response made me wonder about the responsibilities of advisors towards students.  Should they not even attempt to make alternative arrangements for their PhD students if and when they move?  In a lot of cases that involve moving to a new institute, the student moves with the advisor.  This requires a considerable amount of paperwork if the student has a CSIR fellowship.  The new institute may have additional requirements for the PhD programme.  But, these things can be managed.

If it is not possible to move, the student works with someone else at the same institute.  In some cases, the new advisor also has similar research interests, or the PhD supervision is done jointly with the former advisor so that the student can continue to work on the same project.  But, I am also aware of many cases where students had to significantly change their research plans.  Nonetheless, usually, students are not left out in the cold and alternate arrangements are made with active involvement from the former advisor. 

One would hope the students of the person mentioned above were able to move to a new advisor and their programme was not disturbed too much.

But, his cavalier response made me wonder: If an advisor leaves, who is responsible for their PhD students? The advisor or the institute?

Down memory lane - the move to IISER Pune

Last week, as I was waiting to meet the institute doctor regarding a medical exam, I met a colleague at the reception.  He asked me how I felt after moving from one IISER to another.

Warning: this is going to be a long post!  Read at your own risk.

This took me down memory lane and I remembered my first visit to IISER Pune.  I then realized that I was here this time last year.  I had come to attend the Pan Asian Number Theory Conference/Workshop on Bloch-Kato conjectures in July, 2012.  Apart from attending lectures by experts in this field, I thought it would be a good opportunity to meet and interact with number theorists at IISER Pune.  Moreover, I was really curious to know how another IISER was doing.
Until then, I had not been to any IISER other than IISERK.

I was under the impression that the conference would be in the Sai Trinity building, the temporary campus in the city and that the permanent campus would be somewhere far away.  However, the conference was being held at the permanent campus, situated at a central location on the Homi Bhabha Road in Pashan, Pune, surrounded by other research institutes like NCL, IITM and DRDO.  It was very close to the temporary campus.

On the first morning, as we entered the permanent campus, we noticed huge announcements at the entry gate about the conference.  As the car stopped in front of the conference venue (a building by the name of HR4 as I was to learn later), my heart skipped a beat.  The campus looked really impressive.  I had not expected that the construction of such a huge building (housing conference facilities and the future guest house) would be complete at a (twin) sister institute.

Prof. Raghuram, the Mathematics co-ordinator, who had recently moved to IISER from Oklahoma, welcomed us and took us to the conference room.  On entering and registering, we all got an umbrella designed with the logo of the institute and a special value of the Riemann zeta function.  We met Prof. Shashidhara, the Dean of Faculty and Research, who inaugurated the programme and gave a small welcome speech, followed by another one by Raghuram.  Both of them talked enthusiastically about how their Mathematics group was growing, the number of faculty along with the research areas represented  and the newly launched Maths PhD programme.  Shashi said two things which I still remember.  Firstly, he mentioned the very high faculty-student ratio in the Maths PhD programme.  To me, this meant that the administration there was aware that very few faculty members were working hard to build up a strong PhD programme and was appreciative of their efforts.  Secondly, he mentioned that just as experimental scientists need good experimental facilities to grow, Mathematicians need more interaction with others through conferences, workshops etc. To me, this meant that this was something which the administration here supported generously [1].  In short, he said exactly those things that I was desperately waiting for IISERK administration to recognize regarding my former department.

After the first half of the conference was over, I took a small walk around their campus during lunch time.  I came to know that the new hostel was ready, the lecture hall complex was well underway (it is now functional) and the construction of faculty housing had already started.  As I walked around, I also saw the pre-fab lab complexes.  I also noticed a fleet of IISER buses and small vehicles, which plied between the two campuses.  I took one of these buses to the temporary campus at Sai Trinity building and met a friend there, who gave me a very good idea about the life of a faculty member at IISER Pune.  I received lots of inputs about the availability of decent rented apartments around the area, the safety of women in Pune and related matters.

Just before this visit to IISER Pune, I had started to think about moving to another institute.  But, I had not thought about it seriously - in fact, I was procrastinating on it because the task of planning, doing a round of several job applications/interviews as in 2010 and executing a move seemed daunting.  What's more, I was a little overwhelmed with all kinds of news/rumours about how moving in India is really difficult, how job candidates at certain new institutes were insulted by randomly formed selection committees (I read many of these stories on the comments to the pinned post on Prof. Giri's blog), delay in processing of applications etc etc.  So, even a simple thought experiment of moving would increase my (already very high) levels of cortisol!!  One could say that I was misinformed to some extent and hesitant to come out of my "comfort zone" even though it would be better for my mathematical growth.

That evening, as we waited for a car to take us back to the hotel, I was talking to a senior colleague, Dr. Nice Prof from a different institute.  We were discussing the pleasant weather at Pune.  He jokingly said, "Aap Yahaan kyun nahi aa jaate [why don't you move here]?" He had simply said out aloud what I had already started thinking, namely that IISER P would indeed be a very good place to apply to.  It had a well-staffed (and growing) Mathematics group, a non-trivial group of number theorists and good infrastructure.  What's more, it was in the IISER family - so, I was familiar with and believed in its objectives and academic structure.  But, I was not sure if they were hiring and would entertain my application - if not, it would be an awkward situation.  I thought more about it and made up my mind to ask Raghuram the next morning.  At the very worst, he would say no.  But, at least this would force me to come out of my "comfort zone" and would be my first concrete step in exploring other opportunities.  As a very wise friend pointed out, where was the need for hesitation or awkwardness?  I already had a permanent position, but was just looking for a better opportunity - this is not a crime!  I should ask and I should ask confidently.

So, I approached him the next morning and received a prompt answer, "Yes, we are hiring."  He told me about the hiring procedure, patiently answered all my questions and directed me to the FAQ page for faculty aspirants.  He also told me more about the number theory group at Pune.  So, the matter was decided: I would apply.  It did not mean that I would get the position, but I was willing to try.  I was planning to return in September for another conference and would prepare my application package by then.  But, in the next week, I felt the need to apply as soon as possible.  I contacted potential referees who agreed to write reference letters as soon as needed and sent me plenty of encouragement.  Thus, for some time, I put aside a question that always gnaws at my mind before I apply for any thing, "am I good enough for this?"  I thought, "maybe I am not, but I must apply to find out."

On a dreary Friday morning, determined to put together my application package, I woke up with a headache.  It was raining very heavily and my domestic help did not show up.  I had to request my neighbour for a ride in her car.  She too had just returned from a visit to IISERP and while we drove to campus, she was praising it.

As luck would have it, our new Int. PhD students were joining on that day and I had to meet them to assign them course work, mentors for reading courses etc.  I also had to attend a long meeting.  After that, I remember having a meal at our local tea shop and one of my colleagues remarked, "Kaneenika, you look like you have hit a wall." You bet!  After that, I jumped into preparing the application, with copious help from The FAQ page for faculty aspirants at IISER Pune.  I again wrote to Raghuram, who promptly answered all queries and reminded me to take care to"apply through proper channels."  I called up a former colleague who is now at IISER TVM and he told me exactly what to do.  I then had "the talk" with the Dean, Faculty at IISERK as we headed for another meeting.  Although surprised, he fully cooperated and mentioned that he will speak to the director as soon as possible.
By 9 pm, the application was ready and sent by email to IISERP.  In the application, I mentioned that this was an electronic copy and a hard copy would be forwarded soon through the proper channels.

On Monday morning, I handed over the printed application to Dean, Faculty.  He got the director's approval and handed me a "No Objection Certificate" by noon!  To date, I feel grateful that the higher authorities understood my need to apply and fully cooperated, even at such short notice.  Meanwhile, I also got an acknowledgement of my application from Pune.  I scanned and emailed the NOC to them.  Just as I was waiting to meet D o F to take the NOC, I made the mistake of telling a trusted colleague about this application and requested him to keep it "strictly confidential." As if!! By Tuesday noon, everyone on campus, including the tea shop owner, knew.  I have written here about the comical consequences of my indiscretion.  But, the colleague still remains one of my favourite colleagues at IISERK.

Soon, I also received an email from IISERP, inviting me to give a seminar talk and attend an interview with the selection committee, which was meeting the next Monday on the 13th of August.  I got ready for it.  Since everyone on campus knew about my application, I took advantage of it by practicing the job talk in the preceding weekend with some Maths and Physics colleagues who live on campus.
Their inputs were very helpful.  I then made other preparations for the visit [2].

I arrived at the IISER Pune guest house at Mira Mohan Apartments on Sunday late afternoon and was generously fed with bananas, Maggi noodles and a hot cup of Masala Chai by the resident care-taker, Ramji.

The seminar talk was scheduled next morning, followed by the interview in the afternoon.  As I sat waiting for the committee to call me in, I started to get nervous again.  Will it be like the interviews mentioned in the comments on Prof. Giri's blog?
Will they ask me why I want to move from IISER Kolkata? Will they talk to me in a friendly or insulting tone?

All my fears were allayed within seconds of entering the board room.  Prof. Ganesh, the director, introduced me to all the committee members and immediately put me at ease.  It was a very professional, but at the same time, friendly meeting.  I was asked about my teaching and research activities at IISERK.  They did ask me why I was interested in IISER Pune, but no one asked anything inappropriate about IISERK.  In the later half of the interview, one of the committee members asked me what kind of admin work I had done at IISER K and what kind of committees I had served in.  When I started naming the committees, one member interjected and said, "wait, name the committees that you were not in," after which everyone started laughing.  I was also encouraged to ask questions - my only question was if my PhD student could move with me.  I was told that it was possible.  I came out of the board room very happy and relieved.

IISER Pune informs candidates within a week of the interview whether their application has been successful.  The formal letter comes after BOG's approval.  I also got such an email within two days of returning to Kolkata and then waited for the formal letter.

The formal letter arrived in the end of August.  I saw it in the early morning and immediately wrote back accepting the offer.  It was a bright and sunny morning.  To celebrate the good news, I went for a run around the IISER campus and was treated to Aloo Puri by my domestic help after that.

In early September, I visited IISER Pune again for another conference.  I thanked both Raghuram and Shashi for timely processing of my application, but both of them smiled and acted as if it is routine matter :)  Dr. Nice Prof, who was also visiting for this conference, was very surprised to hear about my upcoming move, joked about it and did not believe me when I reminded him that it was his suggestion.  Just like in July, we were taken for a walk around the campus.  But, this time, I felt as if I was a host and not a visitor.

In retrospect, I still feel amazed at how quickly and smoothly everything worked out.
The application, interview and formal offer happened within a span of one month.
First and foremost, my referees wrote up the letters at short notice.  Secondly, the people concerned at IISER Kolkata cooperated with the move.
Finally, the application got a very good treatment at IISER Pune and when I joined, I was provided with timely help by the administration, which helped in settling down quickly [3].

This also brought back memories of my application to IISER Kolkata way back in 2010, which was also promptly processed.  Even when I had joined there, I was provided a lot of help in settling down.  I believe that this kind of efficient and polite treatment of applications of faculty aspirants and the organizational help received by them on joining goes a long way in motivating new faculty members to give their very best to their organization.




[1] Mathematics at IISER Pune has been very active in organizing international conferences in focused areas.  Next year, we will be organizing two very big Mathematics events, one of which is very closely related to my research area.  I will be writing more about them soon.   

[2] I have written before about my casual approach to dressing up.  But, for the IISER Pune interview, I thought very carefully about what to wear.  In fact, I could not decide what to wear - so, I took three different formal dresses with me to Pune, so that I could choose the best one on the day of the job visit.  As you can see, I REALLY wanted this job :-) 

[3] On the personal front, I had the keys to an apartment and a new car within a day of arrival, prompting one of my colleagues here to name me "superfast Kaneenika."

Thoughts on moving

My stay at N1 is coming to an end.  Packers and movers will move my household tomorrow.  I plan to leave the day after, spend an evening with a very dear friend and colleague and fly out to New1-city after that.

Planning and coordinating the move has been very smooth this time.  After a couple more signatures on my no dues form, I will be good to go!

I was going through some of the initial posts on this blog about my excitement at joining N1.  I have spent a little more than two years here and have learnt a lot. At the time of joining, I did not anticipate that I will move.  I imagined that I will live "happily ever after" at N1, but now realize that one cannot predict the future in such certain terms.  My experience here has been mostly very positive.  I feel privileged for getting a chance to teach motivated and sincere students,  work with talented and energetic colleagues and serve the institute.

I hope that my experience at N1 can enable me to do a much better job at New1.  The three most crucial lessons I have learnt during my stay here are

1) the importance of time management  to balance both research and teaching activities

2) to serve the institute wholeheartedly, but not to take any unpleasant interaction with colleagues personally

3) to always remember that while an institute needs the employee, the employee needs the institute more [this is something I learnt from my colleague, Prince Calming]

But, I have to admit - I have developed a serious aversion to attending meetings!  See the contrast in what I felt about attending meetings here (last year) and here (this year). [1]

Recently, when I was talking to a relative [who thinks I am too starry eyed for my own good] about the upcoming move, he remarked, "It's nice to see you excited to move to New1. But, weren't you as excited two years ago when you were moving to N1?"

Yes, I was, and I don't see why I should not be so all over again.  

I am now moving to a place where I will be a much better fit.  There are many reasons to be happy about - the presence of an active group in my research area, the efforts made by the leadership to encourage and facilitate the growth of my future department and of course, the interest they have shown in my application.  It is always great to join a place where one feels welcomed and an integral part of the system. 






[1] During my interview at New1, members of the selection team remarked about the high number of committees that I was a member of at N1 (this was mentioned in my CV).  When one of them mentioned that I might find myself without a lot of these jobs on joining New1, I wanted to stand up and dance in joy. 
 

Moving prep - I

While many preliminary arrangements for the upcoming move had been made long ago, the main steps began today.

1) I took out the no dues form that has to be signed by a lot of functionaries.  One of the deans has signed and so has the computer center coordinator.  I hold some duties at N1, which require me to sign this form for people who leave.  There has been no announcement about who will replace me in these duties.  So, I might end up signing my own no dues form!

2) My PhD student is waiting for his release order.  There has been some confusion about his release date because as per CSIR rules, when a JRF transfers his/her fellowship, the date of joining the new place must not be more than a day after leaving the old place.  But, the train journey between these places takes more than a day.  The confusion was sorted out today.  I am very happy to see my student's excitement to move!

3) Grades for the three courses I taught this term will be submitted tomorrow.  In the online teaching plan for N1 next semester, I have been indicated as a course instructor.  Huh?

4) I transferred my gas connection to New1-city today.  This was much smoother than getting the gas connection two years ago.  I had planned to deposit a friend's empty cylinder and use mine till the day of move.  But, it did not work out because the regulator had to be deposited as well.  So, I am now without cooking facilities and have to get food from the campus canteen.  Good thing I gave up the morning tea/coffee habit long ago and replaced it with milk.  Wait, how do I boil the milk?

The "drive" to move

My resignation from N1 was approved last week.  I will be moving in December after finishing my semester responsibilities here.  So, from time to time, I will write about preparations for the upcoming move.

This week, I was back home for a few days to celebrate the festive season.  I met some friends and relatives, who are happy about the upcoming move to New1 city and have generously offered congratulatory best wishes and lots of well meant advice.  Most of what they say now is exactly what they said two years ago when I was moving to N1.  For example,

"You will enjoy the intellectual/cultural atmosphere at N1 city," 

"we will certainly visit you there," 

"the traffic is bad," 

"you should buy a car and learn driving"

and, of course, the classic

"We know so and so over there.  Here is their phone number.  You must get in touch with them.  They are verrrrrrry nice people."

None of the above, except the bad traffic, came to pass.  I never really got a chance to enjoy the cultural atmosphere of N1 city, my relatives never visited me, I did not buy a car and I certainly never bothered to contact the people whose phone numbers were given to me.  Not that I missed any of the above, but I do find it amusing that the above comments are being repeated verbatim!

But, one advice that I am taking very seriously this time is that of buying a car and learning to drive.

Ideally, I would love to just keep a bicycle and not have to worry about car maintenance, heavy traffic , parking etc.  I managed fairly well with a bicycle at my postdoc locations and at N1, but this does not seem feasible at New1 city.

Strictly speaking, one could manage without a car there, but having one does present many advantages.  For example, if needed, I can stay in the department till late to finish any important work without having to worry about safety issues and keeping a car does provide an extra degree of freedom for shopping, traveling etc.

I learnt driving as soon as I turned 18 and was very fond of it.  But, I lost touch after I went to North America.  This week, my father has been giving me lessons every morning.  It seems that just like cycling and swimming, one does not really forget driving.  However, my main challenge has been to overcome the initial hesitation.
As an 18 year old, I was indestructible - no amount of traffic and no fear of damaging my (father's) car bothered me.   But, I am paranoid right now [1].  The roads are practically empty in the morning, but it took me two days to even try driving at 3rd gear or above.  Also, I will need some serious practice before I can be confident about parking [in fact, I find parking much harder than driving properly].

My plan is to take some driving lessons again after I move to New1 city, even though my father feels it is not necessary.  Some of my colleagues  at New1 have suggested some reliable teachers.

The next question is to decide which model.  I am thinking of a Hyundai i10 sportz.
i10 seems to be a favourite with most of my colleagues and this model has an added advantage of automatic gears [2].  But, some of my friends think that once I overcome my initial fears and get more driving practice, I might not care so much for automatic gears.  So, I am still giving this more thought.

But, each time, I start to think about cars and driving, my first inclination is to think of reasons not to buy a car and strategies to manage comfortably without one.   Sadly, this time, I have no option but to overcome this fear!


Comments/tips/driving stories are most welcome!




[1] To begin with, this time, I am practicing on my brother's car, and not my father's good old Maruti 800.  That itself is a scary proposition!

[2] The other day, my sister-in-law joked that I need not fear driving as driving a car with automatic gears is as easy as driving a toy car at Appu Ghar.  

An upcoming move

I am very happy to share with you the news that I have recently been offered and have accepted a position at another "N" institute, and will be moving next semester.
Inspired by a comment left by an anonymous commenter long ago, my future institute will be henceforth referred to as New1[1].  My primary motivation to move to New1 is the tremendous opportunity that it provides for my academic growth.

Working at N1 has been a wonderful experience and I have always been very happy here.  But, I have had to take this difficult decision purely from the point of view of furthering my academic goals.  N1 and New1 share very similar philosophies and objectives and that is an added advantage.

I am feeling a lot of things right now. I feel excited about a new opportunity and I also feel sad at the prospect of moving away from some very close friends and dear colleagues. [This has been my plight since childhood - move from a place as soon as I begin to build personal connections there- sigh!  In the last six months at N1, I have made some really good friends here!]

But, what I feel the most right now is gratitude. I am grateful to New1 for expressing an interest in my application and processing it in a very timely manner, grateful to N1 for understanding my professional needs and granting the necessary approvals [2] very smoothly, grateful to all my referees for sending in their letters at very short notice and for always supporting me in all my endeavours.  My initial plan was to apply a few months later and to more than one place so that I could give my referees sufficient time to write.  However, once my former advisor and second postdoc mentor assured me that they will write for me as soon as needed, I decided to avail this very good opportunity presented by New1.  After this, I contacted two other referees who also promptly sent in their letters.

I am also very grateful for the professional courtesy and the positive vibes that I encountered  during my interaction with the chairperson, members of the selection committee and other faculty members during the visit to New1 for my job talk and interview.

Coincidentally, this week, I am at New1 for a conference.  I have met many future colleagues and they have been very friendly, warm and welcoming, this making me look forward to the move.

Finally, I am so grateful to be in India at a time when there are so many opportunities to build a science career at new places which want you and also the opportunity to contribute towards building these places.






[1] The other possible names could be N2, NN1 etc. But, I like New1 the most.
[2] Applications to move from one government institute in India to another have to go through proper channels.  Thus, I had to take approval from the director at N1 to apply to New1.  I truly appreciate his cooperation in this matter. 

Setting up home

Those of you who read Giridharmadras's blog are aware of his pinned post giving detailed information to newly arrived faculty at IISc.  Most of the instructions, especially the ones on this page, apply to most other institutes in India, the only difference being that if you are at a new institute, paper work is not as cumbersome.  Registrar's office, finance section, PRO's office etc are most likely located in the same building and the preparatory work gets done within a day or two.
In some ways, I had started the groundwork for my arrival long before I arrived.
During my interview visit, I requested to be shown the campus apartment that was likely to be alloted to me* in the event of my joining.  The PRO, a thorough gentleman, himself escorted me to my future apartment.  There were a few empty ones and I took my pick!
This, of course, is not possible always.  In most places, an arriving faculty member will be given temporary accommodation in the institute guest house  and will be moved to the first apartment that is available.  In fact, even at N1, which was going through a big hiring boom at that time, there weren't any available apartments by the time I joined in July**.
One often hears ex-NRIs complaining how difficult the first few days are and how one gets a rude culture shock upon returning to chaos and disorder.  I had almost started believing this cliched concept, when my very wise postdoc mentor (also from a developing country) asked me how one could possibly have more difficulty adjusting to a country where one grew up than to a country which was entirely new.
I found her point valid.  So, in the months between accepting the offer and landing there, I tried to just take things as they come and concentrate more on the positives.
As it turned out, my first few days were a breeze.  I arrived in N1 with a lot of enthusiasm and my super-excited father*** to replenish my enthusiasm levels in case they dipped.  On my first day, he accompanied me to the institute, and a lot of people assumed that I am a new student.  Lesson learnt! After that he stayed back at the guest house and supervised all the repair work of my apartment (a task that I was very happy to delegate to him), while I spent quality time at N1 doing what I wanted to do: meeting my new colleagues and figuring out how things work in my department.
For the next couple of days, we did all the shopping for setting up home.  The furniture stores in this part of the country are not exactly like Ikea - so my father's help was sought (and generously supplied) in talking and bargaining with carpenters.  It was almost two months before I got all my furniture- till then, the institute provided me the basic things like bed, table, chairs etc.
I did have a bit of trouble in getting a gas connection.  I submitted the application on my first day itself and to the credit of the gas agency, they were ready to supply me the cylinder within a week of the application.  Unfortunately, they also insisted that we buy a gas stove**** along with the cylinder, to which I objected, because I already had one.   There was a verbal duel and the person at the counter refused to release the cylinder ! Later, our PRO solved this problem through his own methods (though even he could not prevent them from selling me the extra gas stove).  My kitchen was ready to function on Day 10 of my arrival.
Around this time,  a lady approached me asking if I needed domestic help.  This was truly a luxury after a decade in North America.
She asked for a certain salary.  In contrast to prevailing policy, I offered her more than what she was asking and since then, we both have been very happy with each other.  Believe it or not, till date, she has only been absent for one day and that too after giving me advance notice!  I suspect that she is one of the main reasons why I am so happy at N1 :)
On Day 15, my father returned home.  After this, I got completely engrossed in institute activities.  I never really experienced the "culture shock" people talk about, except for some awkward but hilarious conversations with colleagues described in this post!
As I look back, the only troublesome experiences I had were all related to government agencies: the gas agency, the customs and port authorities described in my previous post and finally, the police, which has still not sent my police verification report to my institute!  But, what cannot be cured must be endured!!

My next post will be about meeting colleagues at N1 and forming new connections.




* In India, apartments are called quarters or flats. 
** These apartments have been renovated from older houses because we are still in our transit campus.  The real faculty quarters are under construction.  But, the first priority of the institute, of course, is to provide accommodation to its ever growing student community.
*** I make no apologies for the fact that since my return to India, I have changed from a rebellious youth into a  "daddy's little girl":)  The funny thing is that another female colleague, who joined soon after me also showed up with a relative.  Some colleagues later joked,"Hire one. Get one free"!
**** Gas cylinders are subsidized by the government.  So, the only way these agencies can make profit is by selling other accessories that come with it, including gas stoves, Ghee (clarified butter) to cook with and even hand wash!.  I was not aware that this is standard procedure!

Moving bag and baggage to India

In the early February of 2010, it was confirmed that I will be moving to N1 city in India.  After the initial euphoria, it was time to plan the move.
The main component of the planning was, of course, how to get all my stuff back to India in one piece.  On the face of it, it did not look like a tough job.  I am not exactly the kind of person who owns Persian carpets or mink coats (even if I were, my postdoc salary could not buy me those things).  I was also not planning to transport any electronics (except my laptop and iPod, which would be carried by me on person).  My furniture was worth less than what it would have cost to move it.  So, books/notes, music, clothes and some kitchen things (like my ever-helpful pressure cooker) were all I needed to take back.  But, the volume turned out to be larger than I imagined.
The three options were
1) Send them in small batches through post.  This would be unnecessarily expensive and full of hassles to me (although it is a great idea for those wise people who have not accumulated excessive baggage and have just a box or two to send).
2) Hire a moving company that would ship the boxes from port to port.  Getting the boxes from home to the departure port and from the arrival port to N1 city would be my responsibility.
3) Hire a moving company that does door to door shipping.  This company also takes care of the customs formalities- you just have to hand them your passport for a few days after the shipment arrives at the port of entry.

Option 3 was more expensive than Option 2, but I went for it because I did not want to deal with customs authorities in India, nor did I want to hire yet another moving company in India to get the boxes to my house.
After that, I spent about a month researching different moving companies.  The price difference between companies was huge, but I also read several poor reviews about the cheaper ones which mentioned hidden costs and unethical practices (for example, demanding a higher amount than what was mentioned before and not releasing the goods till the extra amount is paid up or even threatening to destroy the goods).  Finally, I chose a company which had received mostly good reviews and whose head office was in the city from which I was moving.  They were more expensive, but at the end of the day, I was very happy with their services.
The second job was the packing.  Sometime in mid April, I started packing.  For customs purposes and also to be able to unpack smoothly, it is a good idea to write in detail the contents of each box.  The company also asks for the value of the goods in each box for insurance.  They also ask for total values of each category of products like books, CDs, clothes etc.  So, packing and recording every detail, though cumbersome, is essential.  The problem gets entirely eliminated if you also allow the moving company to pack for you (at an extra price of course), who will do the packing and listing for you in a couple of hours.  But, this was going beyond my budget.*
My initial phase of packing went very well, but I lost my regularity and motivation after a while.  A huge chunk of my packing was done in the last week before I left, thereby creating unnecessary stress.
Finally, I had to get rid of the furniture.  I advertised on Craigslist and Freecycle groups in my area and these items went away very quickly.
The last two days were very stressful because the boxes had to be moved, furniture disposed and apartment cleaned one after the other.  I was also very annoyed at the amount of things that I had to throw out just before leaving.  These had been lying around in my apartment for days without being used.  I resolved never to accumulate unnecessary things again and I am glad that my tiny apartment at N1 ensures that I follow my resolution.
Receiving my shipment at N1 city was quiet an experience.  I was told that I will receive it within 4 - 6 weeks.  After accounting for "Indian Standard Time", I put down the time to 8 weeks.  The goods arrived at N1 exactly 14 weeks after I saw them last!  Apparently, I had miscalculated Indian Standard Time!
My shipment arrived at the destination port city two months after departing from North America.  I was required to go to the customs office in the port city where they verified my passport, visa etc in person.  I was also quizzed about the value of my music CDs and a box which was supposed to have "fragile shrine items".  They were concerned that I was importing gold statues without declaring them!  An agent from the Indian partner of the moving company was with me.  He instructed me to play dumb and let him do all the talking (which I did happily)- I suspect that he was handling their subtle demands for bribes, but am not sure because I do not understand the local language.  The agent followed a "don't ask don't tell" policy with me.  One point that created some trouble was that my passport had a North American address and the authorities would not accept my house allotment letter at N1.  So, we had to go out and get an affidavit made.
It was a tiring day, but that was the end of my involvement with this whole business.
I had to give my passport and residency card to the company agent.  After that, the company dealt with the port authorities and delivered my goods- this took a total of six more weeks.  It was not exactly a pleasant experience to be left without my passport for six weeks.


Lessons for future academic movers:
1) Start getting rid of excess stuff in your apartment right away.
2) While packing, precisely list the values of all items.  Start packing in advance and pack as regularly as you can.
3) Words like shrine items, stuffed animals in the inventory list can cause trouble with customs.
4) If you are moving any electronics, make sure you have the purchasing bills ready.
5) Do not put your school and college certificates in the shipment.  These should be carried with you.  If you are joining a central government institute, you will be asked to produce these certificates as soon as you join.
6) Delegate the job of dealing with port authorities to the moving company - you really don't want to deal with those guys.  The company agents know exactly how to deal with them- I suspect that at the lower level, there is also a working partnership.
7) Wait patiently for the goods to be delivered and for your passport to be handed back to you.  There's not much else you can do.  So, just chill!!
8)With respect to moving companies, you get what you pay for.
9) If you know in advance what course you will teach on joining, keep the notes and materials related to this course with you and don't ship them.  By the time your shipment arrives, it may be the middle of the semester!

My next post will be about administrative matters you need to take care of once you are back in India.



*IIX institutes reimburse travel expenses up to Rs 90,000 for faculty members moving back from abroad.  This includes everything - shipping expenses and tickets for you and your family.  Depending on the institute, you might also be required to travel by Air India.