On Academicians

Someone pointed to me today evening the irony of his choice of becoming an academician..

"I thought (before becoming an academician), that I will work for two hours a day (giving lecture at the University) and the rest of the time is there for myself..Now I realise I work for not two but twelve to fifteen hours a day." Laughing at this irony and the twist in the time that is needed to devote to work, this gentlelman dreamt for a second about being an MBA and a relaxed heaven!

Being an academician is a wonderful experience, as it affords freedom; but at the same time it involves huge responsibility and self commitment. Even this gentleman would not trade into becoming an MBA if he had a choice, for nothing in the world can make a true academician relinquish the beauty of indepth study! Do you believe that people at the age of eighty three are still writing books? Does academics somehow promise perpetual youth?? may be..

Sania..I 'm impressed

An Indian girl confronted world no. 1(my favourite Sharapova) in US open fourth round yesterday. I was thrilled as I saw this not-much-experienced Indian girl powerfully attack the mighty one. After two games I couldnt resist calling other Indian friends to tell them history is happening.

Sania won the hearts with her tenacity. Playing with Sharapova is not a joke, and sania's undefatigable spirit inspired me. She lost the match as everone foresaw but she dared to dream. A girl of 18 years taught me many vital lessons of life.

The Wander TAG

This year's Institute's Wander-Tag(Hiking Day). We all assembled at the Jena Paradies Station at 8.30 in the morning, got into a regional train, got to our destination in 15 minutes and WANDERED. 

Across the rivers! 

Through the woods.. 

Aimlessly wandering on the Wander- tag! 

The First Football Match

Yesterday, I went to play football for the first time in Germany. Everyone, except me, was in shorts. I was unanimously chosen as a goal keeper by my team. Thanks to my best efforts the other team made eight wonderful goals. We had five goals to our credit at the end.

What struck me in particular is how everyone tried to be professional even though it was a mundane match. They wore perfect dresses. They fell and cried perfectly when they fell during the course of the match. It was after three years that I was running on a playground. The last time I remember playing was as the captain of our basket ball team at my university in India.

I was totally exhausted (and I liked the feeling). The Saale river with all the greenery around near the ground made it look beautiful.

Life is a play
and you have a say..

Enjoy it as you lay
under the sky so gray

Make love and happiness your way
Deep in them
Resolute as you stay..

Life is a play
and you have a say!

Jena

The place called 'Jena' in which I am living right now. Carl Zeiss (Sony Camera Lens) has its establisments in Jena. Three Max Planck Institutes( Economics, Chemical Ecology, Biogeochemistry), Fedrich Schiller University and University of Applied Sciences are the research institutes and educational institutions here. River Saale also flows through the town

The Spirit of Non-Dualism(Adwaitam)

One of the most wonderful things that happened to me in my life is knowing little about the real Indian philosophy of non-dualism. In its crux, the person who is writing this is GOD and the person who may read this is also GOD. There is only GOD and He became this creation. He loves Himself and He confronts with Himself. It is He doing everything to Himself!

Now comes the obvious question to my mind: who am I then? Who is this GOD and what is the relation that I have with Him?

'Earth is but a manifestation of My Being.
Made out of My Life!
Wherever you look, I am there.
Wherever you walk, I am there.
Whomsoever you contact, I am that person.
I am in each, in all My Splendour.'

"I am You;You are I; that is the truth.
There is no distinction.
The appearance of differences is the delusion.
You are waves; I am the ocean.
Know this and be free, be Divine.”

Gerhard Schroeder in Jena

Today, the Chancellor of Germany, Herr. Gerhard Schroeder was here in Jena for campaining for the elections that are scheduled to be held next month. I also went to the marketplatz to see him speak...(haha.. i would nt understand what he was saying anyway.. so I went there to see him speak..). There were three speakers before him but when Schroeder took over the podium, there was a huge uproar. I went there only to see this great human.. his personality spoke of his greatness and I felt impressed. He made people laugh, applaud, agree with most of the things he spoke. The huge crowd in the city centre made me feel as though I was in the age when the mighty Roman Empire existed and learned men of the city assembled in the Market Place to make decisions about the governance!

After his talk got over, everyone dispersed and I met Andre and Ingrid who were on their way to having a dessert. I joined them and enjoyed the ice-cream and came back to my office..:)

I can.. I can..

I really liked this post on PV's Blog..

The Berlin Trip

I went to Berlin on Wednesday. I wish to narrate something very interesting that happened on thursday morning. I had to catch two underground trains for getting to the Embassy, the journey in the 2nd one a little longer than the first one.

When I was in the second metro train, there was a mass exodus of all the passengers at one of the stations before my destination. I thought this could be a very important place which has all the factories of Berlin! In 30 seconds the doors of the train normally shut down and the trains zoom ahead. With three more stops to my station I was sitting in comfortably, yet I was pretty uncomfortable seeing that there is not a single soul other than me left in the train..

suddenly.. as the doors were about to shut.. one of the many co-passengers( i could make out.. she was not a German) came running and shouted... GET DOWN ..GET DOWN.. I jumped out and asked her whats the matter.. she told me that because of some damn problem everyone has to get down there and catch a bus for the next leg of the journey. I had very little time left for getting to the Embassy and I could see the metro train leaving for a maintenance shed somewhere down...

Just imagine where I would have been if I continued sitting the train.. ha ha.. the maintenance SHED!

Content is Important, not the container

This really is a wonderful post from Saka!

Mother ...

Mother..

Oh Mother..
Ever blessing, beautiful and benevolent
Lead us into light of wisdom

Your love inspires
Encourages
and transforms

Your presence guides
clears the vision
and fills our hearts with love

The Goettingen University's Auditorium..

This is the place where I will get my PhD!!

Let Go..

Did you ever try to LET GO..???

When I sit in front of my computer and try to write something and nothing comes out.. I let go(..the feeling that there is a deadline the next day)

When I get up at 10 o clock and there is a meeting at 10. 15 .. I let go(..having bath..)

When I go for a talk and I disagree with everything ..I let go(..the necessity to understand the speaker and sleep with eyes wide open)

When I eat a heavy lunch and I wish to also have an ice-cream and the stomach is full.. I let go..(..the feeling that my stomach is full..)

I am sure we all do it.. 'let go the wrong thing always'..

Hollywood invites me!!

I am getting invitations from HOLLYWOOD to play the role of a hero sooon.. haha(:-p) .. till I get the actual invitation I should be content just watching some of their movies !!

My First Research Presentation

I gave my first research presentation at the Max Planck Institute today. I loved speaking and my audience loved listening to me. The presentation was a success. David took me to Roy and introduced me to him. Much of my presentation was based on Roy's earlier work. Roy comes from Netherlands and is a well known professor in entrepreneurship research.

Two days with Prof. Amartya Sen

Yesterday Prof. Amartya Sen came to be honourned with an Horonary Doctorate by the University of Goettingen. It was the most cherished time for his student Prof. Klasen and students of Prof. Klasen (including me) . We were very happy in the nobel laureate's presence.

It was thrilling to observe him. He looked so very simple yet so very powerful. I felt so very happy when Prof. Sen was acclaimed by the University President as one of the most prolific scholars of the contemporary times. He even said that it was an honour for the historic Goettingen University to confer an Honorary Doctorate on Sen.

We strolled together through the city centre till his hotel.I was holding his 'hononary doctorate' Certificate in my hand along with his other books and his long jacket. He took the jacket from my hands, wore it and said with a smile... I will make it easy for you. As the reception continued in Wilhelmsplatz, I, Julian and Prof. Sen went to the statue of the damsel of Goettingen which is kissed by everyone who obtains a Doctorate from the Goettingen university. He laughed at the idea of kissing it himself and agreed to getting photographed with the ceremonial statue of Ganseliesel.

We strolled by discussing Iraq war of which he was very critical. After reaching the hotel he looked at me and said.. 'Can I have my things now?' The night before he apparently didnt have good sleep and came to the hotel to rest for a while.

Later in the evening he came to the restaurant in which a formal dinner was hosted in his honour. The Indian Ambassador of India to Germany Sri Rangachari and the first lady, Consul General of India(Hamburg Consulate) and his wife, dignitaries from the university, other VIPs and our research team had dinner with Prof. Sen. When he came he stopped by and spoke to Isabel (a colleague of mine who organised most of the event). Towards the end of the dinner session, Stephan Klasen asked me to escort the Ambassador and the first lady to the Goettingen Railway Station. They left for Berlin after the dinner. When I returned, the restaurant was mostly empty. Prof. Sen was also going out with Stephan klasen. He looked at me and asked 'so you left the Ambassador at the Station'.. I smiled and replied in affirmative. I inquired if he liked the German food and he opined it was wonderful. He then left with Klasen to his hotel.

Today I got up early in the morning and got ready for the next meeting with Prof. Sen. Isabel went to his hotel to bring him to the conference room in the central library where around fifteen members of our research group and Stephan Klasen assembled to interactively learn from Prof. Sen. His scholarly nature so evidently expressed itself as he commented on various critical issues that arose in the research that our group presented in front of him. He came to the black board to explain diagramatically a point that he wanted to make and gave a game theoretic solution to one of the problems.

After the seminars at 12 o clock he had a press conference in the same room and all of us left. At 12. 45 Prof. Sen, I and Prof. Klasen started to the railway station. I had already purchased tickets in 1st class in the ICE leaving Goettingen at 1318 hrs for myself and for him. As we walked, the master and his student conversed with each other with the student expressing his heart felt gratitude to his master for coming to Goettingen and for accepting the invitation. The grand old man looked at me and asked me to give him his laptop bag as I was carrying all his baggage. I was adamant and asked him to kindly permit me to continue carrying his things as I didnt have any trouble. He consented with reluctance.

Prof. Klasen told that we could have lunch in the restaurant in the train. Yesterday also the Master had his lunch in the train while coming from Frankfurt Airport to Goettingen. He said that the lunch in the train was wonderful and he would like to definitely have it today also. "I hope you will not burden Pawan and he will not be needed to pay..", he said. "Amartya, you are our Guest of Honour", Klasen replied. We reached the station when the journalist who would take the interview of Prof. Sen in the train came. After formal introductions, Prof. Klasen bade three of us a good bye when the train arrived and I remember him saying, 'Thank you very much Amartya". The master and his student had wonderful chemistry between them.

Inside the train we went to the restaurant for having lunch. The tables were full and so Prof. Sen asked the journalist to begin his interview. In five minutes, however,a table got free we could go lunch. The interview continued.. the journalist was asking plently of questions..'Is outsourcing good for rich countries? Does globalisation help anyone? Your view of ethics ..does it imply a responsibility of richer countries towards poor? Is lack of ethics the cause for poverty? ..' Prof. Sen was looking at both of us as he gave his answers. Though I had no role in the interview I felt very much a part of it, as his gaze into my eyes made me feel that he was telling his opinions not to the journalist alone or but to both of us. After 30 mins, the interview had to stop as per the prior agreement with the journalist. He gave him little more time to ask two more questions. Lunch arrived and we started having lunch.

Prof. Sen now started speaking to me. He asked about mother father siblings educational background and about how I landed in Klasen's research group..:) I told him and we also discussed some of his answers to the questions raised by the journalist. Prof. Sen has to submit a new book by tuesday and this was the reason why he told me not to permit the journalist to interview him for more than 30 minutes.

After lunch, we still had one more hour of journey to undertake. As we sat in the comfortable chairs of the 1st Class coach, Prof. Sen started working on the final touches that he had to give to the book. He told me that he wanted to have some medicine. I immediately jumped out of my seat and told him that I will go and bring water. He nodded. I went and got a glass of carbonated water and a glass of normal water. I told him that I got both the varieties and he smiled and said that he was feeling cared. I felt very humble at this remark of his and told him that he was the first Bharat Ratna I ever met in my life and that he was the pride of mother India. He smiled again and said that he got bharat ratna along with pt. ravi shankar. He recalled that there are only three Bharat Ratnas alive today, he, ravishankar and abdul kalam.(nelson mandela never crossed our minds)

He later resumed working on his book. Before the interview, he told the journalist that he was a little worried about finishing the book that he has to release this tuesday and he wanted to work. Later, we spoke about my research work and he said he is very interested. He told me to send my research results to him and he would be interested to see them. I felt thrilled. He told that I should come to HBS sometime as there are people who would be interested in the work that I am doing. He also told me to make a point to meet him when I come there. Two mintues before the train reached the Airport, Prof. Sen asked me to give him one of his bags. Something very interesting happened here. I wanted to tell him 'Please dont bother about me Prof. Sen'..but I landed up saying ..'Please dont bother me Prof. Sen'.. Haha.. He laughed aloud and told a fellow passenger.. 'see he is carrying my luggage and tells me not to bother him'..

We came to the shuttle bus stop for going from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 from where he was scheduled to take his flight to London. In the bus he asked me if the bus was going to Terminal 2 or to the Frankfurt City. I laughed and told him that my father also asks similar questions and that he too was very careful. He too laughed. I assured him that we are heading to Terminal 2. In few minutes, we were at Terminal 2. He showed me his United Nations passport and said that for going to London it doesnt help. I asked him to show me his ticket so that we can see if there were some more details about the flight. He told me that he has an e-ticket and he doesnt care where the printed copy of his ticket was. At the checkin counter, he got his boarding pass(seat 2-a in Business class) and asked the lady at the counter a variety of questions: about the longue, how he should procced and how many seats were booked in the flight, how many seats were there in the business class, what kind of aircraft it was ..

We took the escalator for going to the level above the ground and there we spoke the last few words of this meeting. He said in all his love that it was so nice taking to me.. I replied and told him that it was an honour to even get to see him.. He smiled as we reached the security gate.. I told him to give me permission to touch his feet. He told I should nt do that. I replied and told him that I touch my parents feet everyday and he too should permit me.. I could only bow...

Prof. Sen looked back after the first security check and waved his hand.. I too waved.. after 2 mins he looked back again and waved his hand again.. indicating that I could leave now.. but I could not leave this great man.. I continued standing there.. his hand baggage was checked and he was really on the other side and I was surprised when he turned back again and waved his hand for a third and the final time after which he was out of my sight.......

DADDY

Dad.. this is being written for you as I remember each and every moment that I spent with you when you came and stayed with me here..Wish you a happy flight back home and thanks for all the encouragement and love and for being here with me!

I miss you Dad.

I felt like a small child much loved all the time in your presence. Thanks for your care.. for coming into the kitchen and guiding me intutively as to how we could make Indian food(and for bearing with the wonderful taste I come up with) .. thanks for hugging me and sleeping in the night( making me feel so very secure as you used to do when I was a kid) .. thanks for telling me what I should and what I should not( and for being an example of idealism for me!)

Daddy.. as you fly back to India now..I am left here with a lot of warmth in my heart and rebounding spirits and ..I dont feel alone, thanks to your vision that you have made my companion!

Love You Daddy!