A farce called higher education in India

As the protests at HCU continues, our university also jumped into fray with allegations of caste bias.  While the case is being debated, what caught my attention was the statement made by the outgoing Vice chancellor.  He, and I quote the newspaper here, says "that he is completely against any student being made to leave the university without a degree."
In another incident, I realized that only 3 students have opted for the optional course I offer. When I tried to find out about the reason, it turned out that they wanted the marks/grades without sweating over the course (if I was kind enough to give them the handouts and ask straight questions out of the handouts, they might consider taking the course).
Finally, I forgot but at the Delhi International book fair was a stall selling project reports.  They had all kinds of reports and all one had to do was to put in the name of the students, the name of the supervisor, and the name of the university. Voila, it was done.

In a depressed mood, wondering what the heck was I doing,  I discussed this with my colleagues.  Our suggestion is simple. Let us give the students the degree the moment they get admission into an University. I do not have to teach, set questions papers, grade exam answers (let us give all of them the highest CGPA to avoid insinuations of discrimination), write research grants, get money, worry about thesis, coax students...why bother?
Which of course is what SVS Yoga Medical College in Villupuram, Tamilnadu did. The only thing is that college had demanded heavy fees for a simple certificate.
So please tell me what higher education are we talking about?

The death at Hyderabad Central University

I was undecided about posting on this issue. Then my brother asked about it yesterday and so here it goes.
The student politics on University campus can (and is) be truly vicious.  Having been on many committees where I had to interact with students, I can say with confidence that the issue is never what it appears to be. Intolerance can be very high among the student groups maybe because at that age they are also very passionate about issues.  Truth has many shades and even after inquiring deeply into the matter, the truth might never emerge. There are still cases where I have doubts about the veracity of the matter but I could not do much.
That said, it is also true that ghettos exist. Students from one particular caste want to be with students from their own castes only.  The Dean of Students at my university has actively tried to this issue by making allotment of hostel rooms a completely random procedure which many students, including foreign students, did not like but accepted it when the administration refused to budge from their stand.  In such a situation, feeling alienated is very common.
Most of the universities do not have any support system and in such situations student political groups become de facto support system. Political parties exploit the vulnerable. No political party is innocent.
My colleague who was at HCU also tells me that the caste politics at HCU is vicious.  The Ph.D. supervisors come with their own baggage and might (or might not be willing) to help out students. I always tell my students that before joining a lab ask yourself whether you are comfortable with your supervisor and with the lab because you have to spend the next five years in that lab. They become like your family especially in sciences where you to have spend time in the laboratory.  The interactions are more in such a situation and if the students in the lab are not friendly, your life can become miserable.  Of course many times the students have no choice and they are forced to join a lab which they might not like. Many universities, including my department, make it difficult for the student to leave the lab or to switch the labs.  In such situations, the political outfits on campuses become the sanctuary. The political outfits and the student unions can (and do) pressurize the department and the faculty.
I do not know what happened that lead the student to commit suicide at HCU.  All I know is that I really wish that the political groups of all shades would exit the campuses leaving the students to get on with academics. Of course they need to engage in political discourses but do the political parties need to make the students to dance to their tunes?

Agatha Raisin mysteries- books by M.C. Beaton

I first read the romance novels by M.C. Beaton and from there I stumbled on to Agatha Raisin Mysteries, featuring an ex-PR person Agatha Raisin. I read two of them over the weekend (I purchased them at the book fair)- i) Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet; and ii) Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death.
The reviewers describe Agatha Raisin as a quirky person who is socially inept. She sells off her PR agency and moves to Cotswolds to settle down in a village.  She is abrasive, blurts out whatever is on her mind, and moves from one disastrous love affair to another. In between she gets embroiled in murders and gets to solve them.  There are some fairly constant characters- the policeman Bill Wong who possesses really obnoxious parents, Mrs. Bloxby who is the Vicar's wife, and James Lacey the next-door neighbour whom Agatha wants to marry.
The mysteries were nothing great to speak off. It was fairly clear from the first murder who had done the murder.  I read them hoping to understand what the reviewers had liked about Agatha Raisin. I gave up. She is really an unattractive and unpleasant character. I understand that is supposed to be the selling point of the book but this feature became monotonous and tedious.
In fact, that is the major complain I have about M.C. Beaton's books. Her characters- whether in Agatha Raisin or in romance novels- are really unpleasant. She also specializes in creating unpleasant parents (at least the romance novels I read contain unpleasant parents).  Maybe there are books with pleasant characters. I do not know. I do not think I have patience to read through the rest of her books in an attempt to find it out.
I also picked up Brother Cadfael Mysteries.  And the Emperor of Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee.  But I will have to really pluck up courage to read the book.  Working on cancer cells in a lab is different than to encounter real cases.

#odd even- a success?

I was wrong.  I believed that it would not work.  But it has. Surprisingly.  Today was the major test as it was a working day after a long weekend.  I went out in the evening to the mandi to buy vegetables. There were few odd numbered cars but most of the residents had abided by the rule.  Usually, the mandi is packed with cars. Today it was a pleasure to walk. Most of the cars parked on the kerbside were even-numbered. 
A woman was grumbling about the odd-even rule to a vegetable vendor. Who knows, she told him, how long this will last. Maybe the government would extend the rule, she told him.
I exchanged smiles with a woman standing next to me.  She said to me:
"Such a stupid woman.  If it will help in bringing the pollution level down, shouldn't it be extended? And look at it! There was no traffic jam today.  A journey that used to take 45-60 minutes was over withing 20 minutes.  People like her do not understand."
One of the reasons it has been a success is because the schools are closed. The game will change if the schools were to reopen as many parents drop and pick their child from school instead of trusting the school buses. 
So keeping my fingers crossed, here is hoping that the pollution levels is brought down in Delhi.