Sally and Bean-Webtoon

 I got into reading webtoons because of kdrama.   Fortunately, Naver has English version, though I think should read the Korean version alongside the English version to improve my language skills.

Most of the webtoons, honestly, are meh!  They are set in fantasy European kingdoms and are not my cup of tea. 

Then are some that were absolute favourites. Unfortunately, they got made into kdrama and the entire premise of webtoon was ruined.  The prime example is See you in my 19th life.  The webtoon was a lovely read with the heroine being able to remember all her lives with each of her birth.  The resolution of how she is able to get out of the curse was the highlight. The kdrama completely ruined the story leaving most of us watchers wondering why the writer of the webtoon had even agreed to dramatize it in this way. 

Then there are those that I wait with bated breath for the weekly episode.  Sally and Bean is one such webtoon.  Sally is a grumpy witch and Bean...well, he is a really stretchy dragon.  Sally and Bean tells their story.  There are Unicorns, and trolls, and demon, Pazuzu, who has been actually mandated to guard Sally... It is a funny and heartwarming story.

Other than Sally and Bean, I am also reading The Crown Princess Scandal.

On Science awards in India

 The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award was finally announced.  As expected 12 men were awarded.  If you were to look carefully at the list, you will notice also that most of the men belonged to one state.  All of them work in Institutes.  The Print carried an article by Mohana Basu who asked where are the women.  The Hindu had an editorial asking not only where are the women but what about the scientists working in Universities.

Sadly, we do not exist.  Despite the hype about how women were at the forefront in ISRO, the fact that there is a women DG helming CSIR, it is the sad fact that we are ignored.  In fact, I was very amused at the Whatsapp messages circulated by my school friends who lauded the ISRO women scientists for wearing saree to the work place.  Why is it that men are never asked to wear dhoti or panchagajam? That is the traditional attire isn't it?  The reality is that we laud women not for their achievements but for wearing sarees and being a good mom along with being scientist.  No one ever asks whether the man is a good Dad.

As for the Universities, well, the less said the better.  The Universities never had great funding and now, it has been reduced to almost nothing.  The Central Universities are still in a better position than the State Universities.  I do not want to talk about appointments/recruitments in the Univerisities because every one knows how they happen.  That being the case, no one is going to fight our case.

Finally, the committees are helmed by men employed in the Institutes. So unless we consciously make a case for women and for Universities, nothing much is going to change.

Long stitch Anchor kits

I have been explaining to my friend's daughter how important it is to have hobbies while doing Ph.D.  Experiments never work at the first shot.  Sometimes it does not work even after many repeats.  It can be very frustrating especially when you cannot really figure out what is going wrong.  The PI, including me, are never of the patient sort. They demand data.  Often times, when they demand data or project report, they want it, like, yesterday.

The only way to deal with these frustrations is to develop other interests.  Hobbies become very important stress busters.  

I do lots of cross stitch, crochet, knitting.  

Last year, when I was in a slump dealing with so many Covid related deaths, my sister-in-law handed me an unfinished piece of embroidery.  Her advice was that I should do it because I loved doing it.  It will help me, she said.

Well, it took me a year.  I finally finished the piece of embroidery and it did help me through the tough time. 

The kit that my sister-in-law gave me was from Anchor India.  This is the fourth piece that I have completed.

 

Developing School Pedagogy

It has been a year.  Lots of things happened. Some good and some bad.  The good news is that my friend's daughter has joined Law School.

The NCERT books are back in news.  After the government decided that there was no need for student's to learn about evolution (look at the Cheetahs- they grew their winter fur even after transplanting to India. So where is evolution?) and Mendeleev's periodic table, a new committee has been constituted to  design new NCERT books.  The panel of experts does not have any body connected with education. It does have Sudha Murty (who is in news every day), Shankar Mahadevan (musician), Vimal Kumar (Badminton player) among others. There are two mathematicians- Manjul Bhargav (who was on NEP 2020 panel) and Sujata Ramadorai.

Of course, there is no need for educationists to be on panel. What do the teachers know?

Central Universities Entrance Test- the death knell for school education

The Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET) is a much discussed topic among parents whose kids are in the final year of school.  My niece is very anxious. She wants to do law after school which means she has to give Common Law Admission Test (CLAT).  The syllabus is frightful.  Not only does she need to know law and political science but also general knowledge and logical reasoning.  I purchased couple of books for her to study and took a peek into it. I was horrified. If I was to give this exam, I would surely not pass.  Anyway, there are coaching centers for CLAT and my niece has joined couple of them.  But every now and then she has a panic attack.  Her main worry is that how much she needs to focus on the board exams.  We discussed the matter over lunch one day and came to the conclusion that since Delhi University is going to follow CUET, there is not much point getting flustered over the board exams.  She will have to qualify CUET to get admission into Delhi University.   That is only if she does not get through CLAT.  CLAT is plan A and CUET is plan B.

The glitch?  Oh well, there are coaching for CUET too.  There is no structured syllabus for CUET because each University offers different courses and their requirements are different. As a colleague put, the exam is like Civil service exams for undergrads.  As all entrance exams, this one too is an eliminating exam.  So the sylllabus for CUET has no relevance to what is taught in the school.

The UGC chairperson has declared that there is no need to take any coaching for CUET.  I do not know which world he is living in. In the real world, CUET coaching centers have started brisk business.  

The real problem was of course was the way the students were graded in the board exams. Over a period of time, the marks got inflated so much so that even in subjects like History or English, students were awarded 100%. All they had to do was to write the key words as described in the text book.  Instead of fixing the pedagogy and overhauling the board exams, the UGC in its great wisdom decided to introduce CUET.

Meantime, my job this year is to ensure that my niece and I retain our sanity as we navigate the college admission process.

Getting a FIR registered- How I spent my Sunday

 Two days back a colleague of ours was involved in a horrific incident. Coming back home late at night, his car was hit and then he was surrounded by a bunch of goons who kidnapped him, beat him up,  and extorted money.  Two hours later he was let go.  Yesterday and today he spent trying to get a First Information Report (FIR) registered with the police.  Today I along with three other colleagues went with him as he is in no condition to deal with the Delhi Police all by himself.  

I just hope I never have to go through this ever again and I do not know how the victim took all the nonsense meted out to him without losing his temper.  

Yesterday he (with few other colleagues) spent time with the police trying to fix the jurisdiction.  The place from where he has kidnapped has two red lights.  Depending upon where he stopped his car, the jurisdiction changes.  Finally at 1.00 am today morning, the jurisdication was finalized and he was told that the FIR would be lodged later in the morning.

Later today morning instead of FIR, he was questioned again and again: Where did the accident (the car being hit) happen?  Which area was it?  How did it happen?  Did he feel anything? 

Again and again he repeated that he felt the car being hit but he did not stop because he was scared. He had to finally stop at the red light when the goons caught him. 

But the SHO and another police personnel were not satisfied. He was hiding something.  Finally, we asked them: How does the accident matter?  Is the kidnapping and the extortion justified if my colleague had caused the accident?

They said that they are police officers and that they have to get to the truth. Anyway, we finally got them to register the FIR after five hours.  It still needs to be signed but that is the story for another day.

Dos Amigos- Korean Restaurant in Munirka

Korea is the flavor of the season where India is concerned.

A class 9 examination paper had a comprehension passage on BTS, the K-pop sensation.  The ARMY (as the BTS fans call themselves) does exist in India and are looking forward to BTS concert this year.

The stores are now carrying Kimchi Ramyeon as well as Red chilli paste, a specialty of Korea.  To serve the Indian palate, there are vegetarian versions available.

And my brother tells me that there are Korean restaurants.

So it should not have come as a surprise when I saw Dos Amigos- The Korean Restaurant.  Only it was in Munirka, a village just next to JNU. Part of it was acquired by Delhi Development Authority for building residential flats.  Part of it remains as Village and a more dingy place would be hard to find. There are galis (narrow street) that never see the sunlight.

Of course, there are many students from Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Mizoram living in Munirka and there are restaurants specializing in the cuisine of these places.  But Korea?

Dos Amigos advertises itself as a restaurant serving Korean Food but all I saw was Indo Chinese items including Singaporean Hakka Noodles, which I am sure will not be recognized in Singapore.  On the other hand, if we can successfully Indianize Chinese and Italian food, why leave Korea out?  So I am sure we will soon have Indian versions of Bibimbap, ramyeon, and Tteokbokki.

P.S.  I continue to be enamored with Korean Dramas. My current favorite is A Business Proposal which is as tropey as it can be.  But when it features a Grandfather (Harabeoji in Korean) who loves kdramas, how can I miss it?  A Business Proposal is being aired on Netflix.