Can We Do Things Differently?

 Most of the time, the answer is yes. But we don't. 

Teaching- there are many ways to teach so that students enjoy the process, and learn better. But we don't try hard enough..

Improving Admissions in Institutions- many untried ways exist. Paying commissions to agents is not one of them.

Recruiting faculty- Going out to meet Ph.D. scholars instead of just advertising.. how many have tried this? I have, with some success. At a new university..

Motivating Faculty as a leader- having a tea and a chat with them regularly helps. Have a chai room in your institute if you don't. 

Spending Your Time- in a way that you enjoy it, doing things you like, minimising things you don't like to do (visiting govt. offices is one I don't), and so on.. listening to the radio doesn't cost anything, for example.

Friends of All Ages

 I have friends across age groups. They range from about 3 to 70 plus.. and I keep making new friends fairly regularly. Here is a run-down on a few..

Friend's Mom who was also a friend, L.A. above. Anushka, an FB friend turned friend, below.

Above, musically minded friends, young and old. Below, IITD friends, new and old...equal number of

 beasts and beauties in this one!

A very useful friend, above, who did my makeup for a wedding. and below, friends of different ages- the bride, her dad and his dad at the same wedding.

Naveen, ex-Ph.D. student, with Mohan, ex-PGDM student from XIMB. Lionel and Nethravathi (the river in Mangalore), below. 

Group of faculty and a kid taking lessons, above, and students from Indore, below.. 

An IMT gang below, and Fanni and Bharti at a conference, above.

Harshad and wife, above.

Prachi, and Akansh, latest friends and Golf converts. Indore.

Varunika, and Pratyush, with their Mom. Karaoke party.

Maya, my niece, above, and Manjari's kid (no longer so little) below.

and Amyra, my latest cute 3 year-old friend..above and below.

There is no Single Right Way

All our life, we are attempting to do things right. But what is right? Who decides? You should decide what's right for you (within bounds of decency, of course). For example, what to wear. Formal clothes are such a pain, for example, particularly when we ape Western wear in Eastern Tropical climates. Why can't we develop our own norms for what is formal, if we need to-or have multiple possible attires, including some traditional options?

It goes on in all walks of life, not just what you wear. Many people have achieved happiness or success doing things which did not feel right to someone or the other. Some were crucified for it historically too. Being judgemental about other people comes a bit too easily to most of us...a lot of us may have been judges in a past life!

Sometimes advice is sane, but mostly, it is a case of one size does not fit all. Career choices are also somewhat similar. I became an engineer (I mean I got a degree in engineering), but I turned out to be a non-engineer-whatever that is. So exploration may be a good idea, as far as your own choices go, so long as you can afford to be independent economically. If you can't, well, follow the advice of all the well-meaning folks and do what's RIGHT.

Same Singer Different Sounds

I am sometimes amazed by the ability of a singer to sound very different. I am of course talking of playback singing in Bollywood, an under-recognised art form globally. But anyway, I am going to illustrate using a favourite singer's songs. Kishore Kumar is the singer. A sample of his different sounding songs-

1. Ajnabi, tum jaane pehchaane se lagte ho.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIQmdaEerPE

2. Mere sapno ki rani kab aayegi tu.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EofAlMh2Huo

3. Tum aa gaye ho, noor aa gaya hai.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSjrsT8pTbQ

4. O manchali, kahan chali.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13q8acgdiY4

5. Ajnabi se banke karo na kinara.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kci6Q_mpUVU

6. Dukhi man mere sun mera kehna.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWk-Lwn1rcg

7. Tum bin jaoon kahan.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uqJhSXH89Q

8. Bachna ae haseeno, lo main aa gaya.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsjLQOco35U

9. Naach meri bulbul ke paisa milega.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzRz0p_UGhw

10. Meri pyari Bindu... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr_enRRcyuw