Job is where the house is?

Today, I am in a mood to dwell upon a non-academic factor that I considered while applying to positions in India, namely, housing.

I wanted to be in a place that could offer on-campus housing.  I associated on-campus housing with safety and freedom from worries about commuting[1].  Of course, campus life at N1 cannot offer the facilities that the older campuses can offer (like a gym, grocery stores etc), but still, it is good to be located in the interior of a gated campus, away from the "thoroughfare" and the noise generated by heavy trucks at night.

At the time of my interview, I came to know that although N1 was not offering leased housing to its members, it had acquired a small number of some very old houses close to the academic buildings and renovated them.  Those of us who really wanted to live inside campus opted for it, even though it is a somewhat awkward arrangement.  My house is a mini-version of the kind of houses our grandparents lived in: it has two rooms, an open porch that doubles up as a dining space with a tiny kitchen and (here comes the best part) a courtyard (surrounded by walls but open at the top) with the bathroom across the courtyard[2].  The main entrance and the door that separates the courtyard from the dining space are both grilled doors.  Before moving in, I got the courtyard covered with asbestos sheets [3] and the grilled doors covered by nets.

To put it mildly, it is not the kind of house I would ideally choose to live in, but at that time, it was a better option than having to look for a house outside, given that I do not speak the local language.  Moreover, as I mentioned before, my excitement at joining N1 overcame all other concerns.  My father, a retired military officer, also told me stories of the kind of dwellings he had lived in and assured me that my house was a luxury.  He said, "you will grow to like it so much that you will not vacate it even when the house in the permanent campus is ready."

The house offers many advantages.  It has been renovated from an old house, is located in the remotest part of this housing complex and is surrounded by trees and greenery on all sides.  The advantages, therefore, are that childhood memories of my grandparents make me happy, there is absolutely no noise (not even that of neighbours watching TV), I have a beautiful view from my window, especially of the rising sun, and what's more, I enjoy mangoes fresh from trees in the summer and have a lot of space for cultivating a garden.

The disadvantage, however, is that precisely because of the location, I am occasionally welcomed back in the evening by rats, frogs and therefore (gasp) snakes.  After my first (and so far, only) encounter with a snake at home, the administration immediately arranged for night lights around the house and regular grass cutting.  The encounter itself was very funny.  It was a huge snake, about six feet long and was sitting in a corner.  I screamed and called the security guards. After they entered the house and assured me that it was non-poisonous, I started taking pictures and videos of it.

(My other encounters with snakes have been in the academic buildings.  Recently, we discovered a banded krait behind my office.  Our socially responsible and humane students promptly picked it up and released it in an isolated marsh.)

Ever since then, my house help spends a considerable portion of time everyday safeguarding the house from snakes, for example, by sprinkling carbolic acid in the courtyard.   Thanks to her diligence, my house has survived an entire monsoon season without a visit by snakes.

Although I don't foresee my father's prediction coming true, with generous help from our civil engineer and also because of the other advantages like easy commuting, I have been fairly comfortable in this house.  I have even made peace with the bathroom-in-the courtyard  issue.  Since I am happy professionally at N1, the house seems to add to my overall well being.

However, my feeling of contentment has been severely put to test by some recent developments.  Yesterday, N1 hosted a consortium, which had representatives from all the new-ones [4].  While socializing with the other representatives, I came to know about housing arrangements at their institutes. It turns out that while one of them has already moved to their permanent campus, including the faculty quarters, the others have arranged leased housing in complexes nearby.  From what I could understand, these are spacious and very comfortable houses (apparently, with three bedrooms) and not too far from their campuses.  After I heard this, I was too embarrassed to mention the housing situation at N1.  It did not help that when I entered my house that evening, I was greeted by a swarm of wasps.

Tired and sore and extremely upset, I started questioning my decision to join N1.
"Can I really stay here? Why am I torturing myself?"   I dozed off for the night thinking on these lines.

I was much calmer when I woke up today morning.  I enjoyed the sound of birds, the beautiful sunrise, fresh home-made parathas [5] and a pleasant bike ride to my office.  I am still aware of the housing disparities between N1 and the other new ones, but am certainly not entertaining any ideas of moving just on account of that!!  Sometimes, one tends to take matters more seriously than one should, I guess.  I mean, who changes jobs just to get a better house?

For now, I will turn to values that our grandparents taught us: contentment, patience and of course fearlessness (which will come in handy if that banded krait makes its way into my house).


 




[1] Comment overheard from a colleague: "it is hard to go to bed not knowing how you are going to get to campus the next morning."
[2] Before you squeal in horror, let me assure you that the bathrooms are themselves proper rooms and not open corners!
[3] I am a bit obsessed with safety issues.
[4] Yes, yes, I know that you know what I am talking about. But, I have now started enjoying the "new" names.  So, let's just stick with them, shall we?
[5] especially because they were made by someone else, my house help, one of the most special people in my life at N1.

Sporting spirit

I just played badminton with my PhD student and two other colleagues.  It was fun!
N1 does not have much by way of sports facilities yet (although there is a plan for a good sports complex in the permanent campus).  Last year, some colleagues took initiative and got the administration to build a badminton court in front of our office complex.  But, it fell into disuse during the scorching summer and monsoon.  Soon after monsoon ended, my student initiated the procedure of getting the ground cleared up for a badminton court as well as a cricket ground.  Thanks to his initiative, we all enjoy a little bit of sports in the evening and get to interact with students in a more informal setting.

This post is inspired by the student's resourcefulness and sporting spirit.  When he joined, he faced some initial difficulties in adjusting to the new set up.  He had trouble finding a place to live, had to overcome language difficulties and soon fell sick because of the cuisine in our canteens, which did not agree with his stomach.
At that time, I was away for a semester.  He spent the semester doing coursework and was comfortably settled down by the time I returned.  He now shares an apartment with a fellow grad student with a functional kitchen and these two have hired someone to cook their meals!  He often tells me amusing stories about his first few days on campus, but never complains.

A few days ago, I had an honest conversation with him to find out how he is doing and if he has any issues or problems at N1.  The student assured me that he was doing well.  His only request was that apart from a departmental seminar and our weekly meetings, we have a regular seminar in our subfield.    So, we have started a weekly seminar with just three members at present, the third being my Master's student.  The three of us take turns to talk in this seminar.  He has also been instrumental in procuring the necessary equipment and getting a virtual seminar going, in which we invite scientists outside N1 to give web talks.

His other non-academic request has been for a departmental picnic to a beautiful town nearby (this might be possible at the end of our winter school).

Recently, due to some problem in our accounts section, the monthly fellowships of our PhD students were held up for a few days.  Some of them immediately wrote up a riot letter about the problems they are facing and emailed it to all staff members and faculty, including the director.  (Although the letter was supposed to be a rude wake-up call to us about everything that is wrong with the establishment, at least from the point of view of students, most of us actually enjoyed it because it reminded us of our not-too-distant rebellious student days.  Nonetheless, the email had the desired effect of students getting their fellowships on time).  On reading this email, I asked him if he needed any money.  I was assured that he was okay because he "likes to save for a rainy day."

All in all, I am really happy and relieved that he has made himself at home at N1 and that he is such a sport!

Some sources of delight

Taking a U-turn from my last couple of posts, I thought I will write in today about some small but very positive developments at N1 that have brought back my happiness quotient to its normal level.

1) We are going to follow up Dr Rock Star's successful visit to our campus last year by yet another winter school around his upcoming visit.  We have already received several applications by students interested in participating in this school.  What's more, other than Dr Rock Star, yet another scientist, Dr Rock-Star-In-Making will also visit us at the same time and deliver lectures.  RSIM was my colleague in my first postdoc university and has done some excellent and path-breaking work since then.  He is also known to be a very good teacher and his visit will motivate our students a lot.  Our department is going to rock this winter!!

2) My teaching this semester has been going well.  I am teaching this course for the second time and feel that this semester, I am doing a much better job at it than last year.  Although the students in both batches were very good, this particular batch is extremely motivated and enthusiastic.  This year, I have also been typing up course notes for it and intend to continue with this practice.  Two weeks of classes are still left and I have already covered more material than I could cover in the entire semester last time.  Students have not burnt out yet and are still participating in class eagerly.

3) In a recent shuffling of job allocations for admin staff, the staff members responsible for the functioning of those units which are related to my non-academic duties have changed.  These staff members are very efficient and have made the work smooth.

4) Our department is organizing an institute outreach activity in a town near by, which will be held in January.  In this connection, some members of our department and one of our deans had a meeting with some people from a local council.  As it happened, I was the only person in this meeting who does not speak the language of N1- state.  The dean requested everyone to speak in English.  The council people did not pay heed and continued to talk in their local language.  But, my departmental colleagues and the dean spoke only in English and one colleague also kept translating to me what the locals were saying.  I truly appreciate their thoughtfulness in ensuring that I did not feel isolated or cornered in the meeting.

5) Finally, I totally love the current weather and the greenery around our current location.  If I feel like taking a break, I take a small walk or go for a joy ride on my bicycle.  In general, the ride between my home and department is very pleasant.  In addition, I have explored some paths which are fun to go on- while one goes through a mini forest around a river, the other path goes straight to a nearby government organization with its own residential complex.  My domestic help has sternly warned me against going on the first path alone, not that I listen to her.  While going on the second path, I like to imagine the future (I don't know whether near or distant) when N1 will have its own fully built campus.

The real job

My last couple of posts have been about administrative responsibilities at N1 and how they leave me with mixed feelings.  Although I may occasionally complain about how these responsibilities take away from my "real" jobs of teaching/research, the truth is that these activities give me a strong sense of belonging and contributing to N1.  They make me feel that N1 is my own institute.
In other words, serving the institute is also a "real" job and an integral part of my professional life.  

So, recently I did a careful and candid rethink about why I have been getting so stressed out about activities which I consider fun and important.  I came up with the following reasons:

1) Lack of clear demarcation between admin work time and research time.  In theory, I spend the mornings doing research work/teaching and take up administrative work after lunch.  But, my habit of frequently checking emails as soon as I step into office distracts my focus because I feel the urge to reply to emails which can wait till afternoon.  Some self discipline and prioritization is therefore required.  I notice that on the days when my mornings are spent productively, I am also able to focus well during committee meetings and even enjoy them.

2) Although our administration is very supportive, certain matters do take time to be resolved, especially those related to the student complaints I routinely receive.
When a student brings up a problem and I am not able to resolve it immediately, I myself feel helpless and impatient.  Perhaps, this is is the reason why I get more annoyed when students accost me repeatedly about that issue.  This attitude is self-defeating.  I believe that the right thing to do is to pro-actively forward the complaints to those who have the authority to address them and also to keep reminding them till they look into it, but to be inwardly detached, as it were!

3) There's too much on my plate.  I certainly don't want to shy away from serving the institute in any way possible.  But, while it's great to be enthusiastic about institute matters, it is equally important to understand one's abilities and limitations and take up only as much work as one can perform properly (of course, this capacity increases with time).  It is also important to focus on one duty at a time.
The other day, I was in an important meeting, but had to keep coming out of the room to take phone calls about another administrative matter.  Because of this, I missed some key points that were discussed in the meeting about which I had a lot to say.

I welcome feedback from readers about how they balance their time between research, teaching and admin work.  If you faced issues similar to those above or other issues which might have affected your efficiency, especially at the early career stage, please share your stories and tell us how you resolved them.

Meanwhile,  I would like to conclude this post by a very thoughtful comment that Vijay left on my previous post and which has lots of useful advice about one's involvement with administration:

 I emphasize with your time management jugglery. It can be tough. There are many good ways to manage in a way that we still end up having time for science. Some shun all administration and isolate themselves. They need to be protected, not envied or deprecated by others who put in their effort in science administration (which is important if the place is to be ours). How do we, in the latter category deal with our day? My personal take ( and as I said, there are many ways to skin this fish) is that much of the stress we face at meetings is because we feel its something that detracts from our main interests... Being stressed about being in meetings makes us less efficient at meetings, resulting in more meetings and more stress. Going prepared with clear goals and getting out of a meeting and then switching off is much better: Easier said than done, and I wish I followed my advice. As with meetings, so with students and colleagues. If you are visible and accessible, assume you are fair game for being accosted for a discussion. When in such a discussion, its better to be involved than feel that your time is being taken. Much of our bonding and the culture of an institution come from such interactions. When you want to be left alone, hide. Others should sense when you have to be left alone, of course, but in general I prefer to be accessible in error rather than people keeping away in excessive caution.

Roller coaster

Last month has been a roller coaster ride for me, both personally and professionally.  It started with incidents which made me seriously evaluate my professional needs and personal well being at N1 vis a vis what N1 expects from its employees.  There were also some episodes,  specific to an expanding new institute, which were sometimes exciting, occasionally frustrating and sometimes, just confusing.

This post is going to be about a lot of things because I am not focused enough to just write about one issue right now!

Immediately before Dussehra, I found myself spending a lot of time in committee meetings. Now, in principle, I have nothing against committee meetings - a lot of them are about framing or revising rules and regulations about various aspects of N1, for example, our academic programmes, disciplinary code of conduct, various issues that come up as an institute moves from a transit campus to a permanent campus, faculty welfare etc.  I have gained valuable experience by being actively involved in these committees and like my other colleagues, have been able to bring up many important points which I feel strongly about.  The only thing that I don't like about these meetings is that they take precious time away which could have been spent in research work or preparing for a class.  But, I don't think it is reasonable to complain about this because there are other members who have many more responsibilities than I do.

I also get routinely inundated with a lot of complaints from students about various problems.  I sympathize very much with students and bring up their genuine problems at the appropriate forums as soon as they are brought to my notice.
However, sometimes there is a delay in the resolution of the problem partly, because administrative procedures take their own time and partly because the authorities concerned may not take the problems as seriously as one would want them to.  Students, on the other hand, become impatient and want quick fixes!   Recently, I have had to be very firm with some of these students, asking them explicitly not to interrupt me when I am on my way to a class and also not to call me up at night unless there is an emergency.  Then, they are quick to jump to the conclusion that faculty members do not care for them.  This is very annoying.

The Dussehra holidays were very eventful for me, personally.  My brother got married and it's great to have a new member in the family.  It was also a lot of fun to meet many family members and cousins who I meet only during weddings!
During the wedding, I was given the responsibility of co-ordinating with the guest house where all our relatives were staying and also arranging for pick up and drop off of all guests.  According to my father, I was most suited to do this task because of my experience with organizing conferences and hosting seminar speakers at N1!

After I returned to N1 after the wedding,   I got some great news from the department.  We have been given a lot of money by the institute and will now be able to spend comfortably on a lot of things that we wanted, for example, our own library and new high-end computers for the department!  I am particularly excited about having the freedom to invite lots of rock star seminar speakers from all over India.
We will also host another winter school in December.

In a few minutes, I will leave for my home town to celebrate Diwali with my family.  I was initially planning to stay back at N1, but last night, I realized that I have not spent Diwali with my family since 1999 and it just doesn't make sense to be in the same country as my family and still spend it alone.  So, I made last minute flight bookings and surprisingly, got a really good deal!  I am looking forward to all the fun we will have at home,  to spending time with my sister-in-law and also, to possibly catching Ra.One (that is, if it manages a Diwali release).

Here's wishing all my readers a very happy and auspicious Diwali !!

Prince Calming

Prince Calming refers to a senior faculty member at N1, who is one of my mentors here.  As his pseudonym suggests, he is a calm and quiet person, not much given to display of emotions or making authoritative statements/judgements about anything or anyone at N1.  He pretty much keeps to himself and is rarely seen at our tea shop/faculty mess - the two famous hotspots for N1 gossip.

At the same time, however, he is very well informed about institute affairs and does not shy away from expressing his opinion and taking a stand on important matters.

He does so, without making a big noise and more often than not, accomplishes his objective.  Then, he moves on to other things.

One of his most endearing qualities is that he keeps an eye out for the well being of his younger colleagues.  Many of us freely approach him if we have any questions or concerns about professional matters and receive useful and effective advice from him.  

In the last fortnight, I faced some difficult situations at N1 and was a frequent visitor to his office.  It also happened that one day, we both had to travel together to a nearby city (about two hours drive away) for some important institute work.  I learnt a lot of things while conversing with him and I am sure he won't mind if I shared some of them on this blog (although I am equally sure that he does not know about the existence of this blog.)

For starters, just a day before our trip, I had had a bit of a showdown with another colleague in PC's presence about an institute matter.  We had a difference of opinion about something and since this other colleague has a habit of continuously talking without giving others a chance, I ended up raising my voice and sharply contradicting him.  I believed then (and still do) that my point was valid, but I could have certainly put it across in a softer voice :)

During the drive to the nearby city, I asked PC how he manages to remain calm in the face of extreme provocation.  With a smile he answered, "it comes with age."

"Can you please elaborate on that," I asked, not content with his cryptic reply.  He obliged me by telling me some stories from his first few years in his faculty position, when his reaction to certain events at his former institution were similar to mine above.  However, unlike me, after some of his outbursts, he got into trouble.  I found it very difficult to relate PC's current personality to the stories he was telling me and thought, "wow, there's hope for me!"

One day, I was feeling very overwhelmed about some problems and asked PC for advice.  Instead of encouraging my ranting, however,  PC immediately pointed out that the trait that could be most harmful to one's career is negativity.  N1 is not perfect - no place is.  But, as a responsible member of this institute, if someone feels that something is amiss or needs to be corrected, one should take initiative and bring it up confidently with the concerned people/committee.  This is much more useful than gossiping about the problem.  He then gave some more examples of some issues that he had faced and how he resolved them.  "But, Dr PC, " I asked, "in your position and at your stage of career, you can bring up issues fearlessly and people will listen to you, where as, if I bring them up, I will be immediately branded a trouble maker."  

He again corrected me and said that as a member of N1 community, I have every right to raise an issue and should do so.  However, he also warned against expecting results overnight.  The gist of his advice seemed to be to take up the matter and pursue it patiently. 

This was a timely wake-up call to me before I drifted into complacence and negativity.

Yet another occasion on which PC gave me some useful advice was after a meeting.  I was extremely annoyed at an administrative official who, I felt, had made a disparaging and factually wrong statement about our department.  I asked PC if I should confront this person.  PC said that if I really felt so strongly about it, I should do so, but that I should wait for 24 hours before writing or talking to this person.  As it turned out, those 24 hours were enough for me to calm down and realize that (a) I had misunderstood the context in which this statement was made and (b) I was not the right person to bring this up, anyways.  Incidentally, this reminds me of my PhD supervisor, who once said that the "reply" tab in the email inbox should be renamed "reflect".

I am now out of "the blues" [even literally so as the monsoons seem to be ending] and learning to do my job, calmly and effectively, thanks to interesting experiences and mentors like PC.

I would love to hear back from readers who have learnt important socio-administrative lessons from other mentors.  From the more senior readers, of course, I would truly appreciate more advice and tips :)

Course work: How much/little is too much/little

In the comments thread of the previous post, Hary raised an important point, namely coursework for PhD students.  Hary's perception is that PhD students at new institutes do not have enough course work before starting their research work, since faculty are too busy teaching the undergraduate courses.

Some people are of the opinion that new institutes should have started their PhD programmes after becoming well established and after their permanent campuses are fully ready and equipped.  There is much to be said for this viewpoint.
However, I feel that waiting so long before starting a doctoral program would have been detrimental to their primary objective of combining strong undergraduate teaching along with conducting research activities.  I am not sure how wise it is for any NIIX to restrict its research activities to undergraduate theses and summer research programs for the next 5 to 10 years.  NIIXs are also hiring people who are expected to do research and for many of these people, having students is essential for progress in their research programs.  So, having a well structured PhD program is one of the top priorities of these institutes.  The training of their first few students and what these students do with their PhDs will go a long way in determining the future of these institutes.

Course work, we all agree, is an important component of a PhD programme.
However, not all agree about how much course work a student needs before embarking on research.  For example, the course work that my departmental colleagues and I did as PhD students was more intensive than what PhD students in our department at N1 do. However, whenever my colleagues and I raise the issue of increasing the course requirements for our students, colleagues at other departments disagree with us because they feel that their students do not need as much course work.  So, at the moment, we have balanced all view points by asking students to do some minimal number of foundational courses, upon which all departments agree.  I don't think that determining the course requirements has anything to do with a shortage of faculty: the departments who insist most on less mandatory course work are in fact the departments which have a very high number of faculty members.

After this requirement is fulfilled, the student's advisor will direct the student to sit in for more courses which the advisor considers important for the student.  The student can also voluntarily attend classes that he or she is interested in.  For example, next semester, I will be teaching a course for final year undergrads at N1.
I have asked my PhD student to take this course because he cannot possibly start working on his thesis problem before taking this course.  He will take this course not just informally, but also do all the work required from those who credit this course, that is, do the assignments and write the exams.  Since he is a little senior to the other students in the course, the expectations from him will also be higher.
Likewise, he will be encouraged to take more courses in the future if they are relevant to his training.

For some part of this semester, he is visiting an older institute, which is running a special program in my area of research.  He will be attending some lectures given by an expert on a topic which is very important for his future project.  So, to answer Hary's question, like me, many supervisors encourage their students to spend time in Ox type institutes and do some course work, although there is no formal exchange programme.  Many of us are aware of the exposure that our students need and encourage students to make good use of opportunities available outside N1.  At the same time, however, we also don't want students to lose their focus on their research project by traveling too much, at least in the initial stages of their training.

Another resource which I hope we can utilize is our recent connection to the National Knowledge Network, which now gives us access to very high speed internet.  This month,  a senior professor in North America will be giving a series of lectures on a weekly basis which both my student and I will attend.  All that we need is to connect via gmail webchat and have the professor's webcam facing the board on which he will write (or the screen on which he will project his slides).  This way, if Mohammed cannot go to the mountain, the mountain can come to Mohammad.

With more technology, of course, one can have virtual classrooms on a larger scale in which we get instructors from all over India and the world.  This could be one more way of giving more exposure to students who would like to attend more seminars or lectures and interact with research groups in other institutes.

I would like to ask readers the following questions:

If you are a supervisor, how much course work would you like your student to do before s/he starts working on the thesis topic? Do you encourage your student to attend more courses in the later stages of his/her training or would you prefer that the student focus entirely on their research project?

If you are a student, how much importance do you give to course work as part of your PhD training?  Do you consider the course requirements at your institute or university as too much or too little or just right?