46

Dear Readers, 

                     Long time back, a friend of mine shared a link on facebook of an online comic series called PHD that mocks each and every intricate nuance experienced while writing down one's thesis. I am an online subscriber of that hilarious piece of creativity which leaves a scholar fresh each time he logs in. It is a specimen  of intelligent sarcasm or 'dry' humor at its best. 

                      Well! what reminds me of this is the fact that recently, I have been awarded my doctoral degree. This brings to an end a long drawn out process of accomplishing an arduous task of becoming a doctor of letters. A whole cycle of events beginning with registration and including allotment of superviser, finalization of research topic, synopsis construction, synopsis presentation, archival research, field research, thesis compilation, submission has come to a halt with the final event- the viva-voce examination. phewwwww!!!!

                        It feels that finally I have given birth to a baby after a gestation period of four years. I feel tired, exhausted and spent out after the excruciating experience, yet a smile comes to face each time the bound thesis is placed next to me like a carefully wrapped new born. I stare at the title like a mother does,  looking at her child's forehead in anticipation of his/her future (while the mother imagines when her child will start to walk, in this case, a scholar imagines when will the thesis get published!). I am thankful to many without whom this work would not have been possible but my heart also goes out to the monograph itself    for it brought me closer to my effeminate self.....

45

Dear Readers,

                     The touring is on across the length and breadth of Bikaner sub-division and with each passing day, I set my eyes upon beautiful landscape hitherto untrodden by me and get to learn about mysterious and interesting phenomenon. One of the recent visits to places like Bajju and Sri Kolayat was an enchanting experience. Sri Kolayat is a great place of antiquary significance. It is an oases, at the banks of which, the famous sage Kapil propounded his philosophical and epistemological doctrines.

                  The area around Sri Kolayat is mineral rich and accommodates various mines. Metals such as Gypsum and China clay are excavated out of these mines, some of which are so huge that an individual might get lost in them while negotiating his way out. It is an altogether different story that these mines are posing a grave threat to the eco-system of this location. The point I would like to make here is related to Geology.

                    Rocks unearthed from the different levels of the mines are a storehouse of information on the story of how our planet evolved into its present shape. Some of the specimen that we studied(all the credit goes to the gifted scholarship of my colleagues) were fossilized remains of sea mollusks dating back to millions of years. These fossils prove the existence of Tethys sea around this area about 200 million years ago. 

             After inhaling a deep breath, when one glances across the vast desert landscape around this point, he/she can imagine himself(without much difficulty) stranded in the middle of a terrifying, huge and roaring ocean. Such are the ripples of history which can transcend all set notions and compartments of time and space and pierce right into our soul even through these opaque obstructions. What a wonderful feeling it is to hold time in your hands...... 

44

Dear Readers, 

                     One of the most ludicrous and yet deadly professional spats that plagues our nation is the one between bureaucrats and academicians. There are countless incidents daily when both try full-heartedly to downplay each other. While the bureaucrats are dubbed as haughty "babus" who are soaked in corruption and power-games by the professors(much of this discrediting of the 'steel frame of the nation' is caused by their obstinate delay in extending the retirement age of faculties all over!), the administrators mock the teachers as 'good for nothing' idle gossip mongers.  

                       Worst affected is the society at large. Streamlining professional inter-relationships would help in better policy making and later, most importantly, in better implementation. The bureaucracy should realize that rather than expecting teachers( primary, secondary school, college and university teachers) as an extended army of clerks to work tirelessly collecting 'data' for government schemes, they should be utilized in  more productive ways. One of the suggested fields can be evaluation. By this is not meant a report card of the executive but a critical appraisal. 

                        There is much to be blamed on the fraternity of teachers. The bureaucrats are doing a better job than us, that goes without saying because they are made to work while we hardly work! Most government teachers(at all levels) are (excuse me my blokes for saying this) rejected candidates of the PSC's. Those who get into sarkari jobs after not making into IAS or state services try to make up for the lost opportunity by assuming as much power-airs as possible. This is achieved by keeping at stake our primary job, teaching in classes, and indulging in profligate politics. The absence of genuine research in Uni's produce ill-equipped lecturers. What ability of teaching would one have if he is not humble? 

                       This topic is endless and has an unfathomable abyss. To put things in place, suffice is to say that teachers should focus on teaching and prioritize students. They should influence public opinion and/or policy making but not act as de-jure implementers. As for the 'sahibs', little can I say lest I evoke your condescending disapproval but one reasonable request is to think of us a little more useful!!      

43

Dear Readers, 

                   I return to doing what I do best- sing eulogies to the desert! The months of March and April is the time when exams are held in all colleges and universities across India. In our university system, this time also brings with it hectic touring all around the Bikaner sub-division inspecting colleges that are affiliated to us. So, we go up north to the colonized settlements of IGNP canal or west to colleges bordering Pakistan or  east to the horrifying desert of Churu(the place which records the highest and the lowest temperatures in north India). While travelling so, we encounter ebullient views that leave us spell-bound.

                    The other day, we were on our way to a place called Gharsana which lies on the ancient Bikaner-Pugal road a further way up ahead. After a drive of about a few minutes, we found ourselves traversing a grand desert which looked quite intimidating. Not a soul to be seen for miles and no hamlets or villages. We went past a village called Sattasar and started running parallel to the great Indira Gandhi canal(said to be one of the world's greatest irrigation projects). Right then, after a hair pin bend to the right, I saw lofty sand dunes standing on the banks of the canal looking down onto it with the grandiloquence of foresighted visionaries. I could not resist the kiddish temptation of climbing atop the faces of those grandfatherly figures in spite of chiding discouragement from my senior colleagues. 

                         The view was soul-stirring. I found myself at the top of a knuckle-head sand-dune which afforded a 360 degree view of golden landscape dotted with greens and whites and blues quite alike the kundan jewelery of Bikaner that has earned global renown. For as far as the eyes could see, sand and only sand resembling waves of the deep ocean was visible. And....And in the middle if it all, the serpentine canal, flowing with the might of a perennial Himalayan river, meandered its way down. I pray to God that one fine day in winters, I could return to the same spot, sit there all alone and meditate for hours......

42

Dear Readers, 

                     Today I wanted to write something about aesthetics as I usually do. Something about flowers or the sensuous breeze these days or some breathtaking views of the desert that I came across recently but none of these could become the subject of this post. I could not infuse romance once again because of the scenes that flashed before my eyes after I switched off my television. 

                       News channels reported the assassination of an honest and upright police official at a place called Kunda in UP. Irrespective of the different versions of the conspiracy theories, the scenes of a devastated and debilitated home were moving and destabilizing. After skipping a few other channels, I could divert my attention partially to the effect that what I saw appeared to be another killing or just another news far away from my immediate environment. 

                          Such incidents evoke varied responses but most of them end with a benign forgetfulness. When I was a student at DU, we heard of a brutal murder of an engineer named Satyendra Dubey in Bihar. He was a bright IITian who stood up against local organized road contract mafia. He influenced me a lot and inspired me to think differently. Back then I realized that a nation's character is built by its Satyendra's, its Zia-ul Haq's, its Vikram Batra's and many more such men and women. Let us salute the people who make this scorched hell a place worth living by sacrificing their lives just as a noble shepherd had done about two millennia ago.....