University Rankings: U Zurich Leads By Example

Sometime in 2012 a colleague had asked me if we'll ever see a return to quality over quantity in Indian academia. I had calmly told him that someone in the west will have to take the first step, then it'll take another decade or so for us to accept that we've been following an incorrect principle like idiots because we don't have convictions of our own, then we'll start chanting quality over quantity, quality over quantity, quality over quantity, as if we had thought of it ourselves!

Here. The process starteth 😊:

Please read: University of Zurich Quits International University Rankings

To quote: "According to the Swiss university, rankings often focus on measurable output, creating an incentive to increase the number of publications rather than prioritise the quality of content."

🤞. Hopefully academia will return to what it is meant to be about: academics.

Mr. M. K. Gandhi and Nathuram Godse

We recently celebrated Mr. M. K. Gandhi's 155th birth anniversary. Some people celebrate it every year, some don't, and to each his or her own. As for me:

I don't believe he was a Mahatma. I also have my disagreements with him on many counts and align myself more with freedom fighters like Subhash Chandra Bose, Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and others. But agreements and disagreements aside, he was at least a man with some principles, he struggled for a good cause in his own way, and didn't live a life just dedicated to the pursuit of money, power and women. Not too many people qualify to this level.

I would rather befriend a thousand Gandhis than give even five minutes of my time to the person who shot him when he was old, frail and unarmed, the first terrorist of Independent India, the spineless, impotent, coward Nathuram Godse.

I just call him Mr. Gandhi, not Mahatma Gandhi, but do respect him and think well of him. And I think this is a fair viewpoint, far more fair than those who disrespect him while they themselves wouldn't have, and do not, accept a single personal discomfort for any higher cause, leave alone going to prison in a struggle for the country's independence.

The Sheer Perfection in Evolution!

Here's something so simple, so in our faces in daily life, yet blows my mind every time I think about it:

Most of us know this: All solids are associated with 'elasticity' to some extent: you apply a force, it deforms, you remove the force, it regains its original shape. In contrast, fluids are associated with 'viscosity': when you apply a shear (tangential) force, it flows while offering a frictional resistance to the force.

Now, many biological tissues are 'viscoelastic'. For example, the synovial fluid in your knee joint lubricates the joint through its viscosity, while also absorbing some of the shock your knee experiences when you walk or run. It has both properties: the 'viscosity' of a fluid and the 'elasticity' of a solid!

How cool is that! How intelligent and concerned evolution has been! Every little thing taken care of so completely!

Trust me, every little detail of how our own body functions and the physics involved is no less fascinating than all the galaxies, stars and black holes out there :)!

I fell in love with fluid mechanics in my second year of undergraduate studies (1992) and continue to be fascinated with the subject (30+ years!).

Midsemester Exams and Breaks at Colleges/Universities

I've said this before, I say it again:

The right time to have a semester break in colleges/universities is right after the midsemester exams. It (a) helps the students diffuse examination stress and freshens them up for the remaining part of the semester and (b) allows faculty members to check examination answer scripts efficiently and declare marks as soon as students come back from the break.

What many colleges/universities have started doing instead is continuing classes right after exams and giving semester breaks during festivals instead. The supposed logic is that students can travel home to be with their parents during Holi, Diwali, etc. This has three drawbacks: (a) students don't get the much needed stress release right after exams, (b) answer script checking gets delayed because faculty members have to now distribute time between their lecture responsibilities and checking answer scripts and (c) students miss out on celebrating festivals with their college/university friends - something that actually goes a long way in deepening friendships that last for a lifetime!

And alongside the above, another thing I've said before and say again: Have only one set of midsemester exams in a semester. Some colleges/universities have two sets of exams during the semester and then an end semester exam. This is excessive! Education cannot only be about preparing for exams all the time! In fact, students have to be gradually brought to a point where they understand that education is important because it enhances the quality of their lives, and they need to appreciate and absorb knowledge regardless of whether someone is going to test them or not! Having too many exams is the easiest way to have students miss this point entirely!

Research Red Flags: Paper Retractions

Below is a bar graph depicting the Top 10 countries in the world when it comes to paper retractions. My remarks:

1. I've said this before and I gladly say it again: China is NOT a model to emulate when it comes to anything, leave alone a noble profession such as the pursuit of knowledge. This is not a statement on everyone from China. I've met some fine Chinese students during my graduate school years in the US. But China as a country doesn't understand ethics - period. And we Indians know this all too well from direct experience! From the Indo-China war of 1962 when they infiltrated our territory with the slogan "Hindi - Cheeni Bhai Bhai" (Indians and Chinese are brothers) before suddenly attacking our soldiers, to what they did to Tibet, to what they are still doing on our North East border, they are known to be without any sense of right or wrong. And this shows in their research ethics too. China is simply someone to be wary of as a potential predator, nothing more than that.

2. The USA needs to course correct. They've been knowledge leaders for too long, have earned too much respect globally over the last several decades, to allow themselves to be No. 2 on this list.

3. I'm ashamed that we are in the Top 3 of this list! All our talk of the great "Indian Values" just went down the toilet, didn't it?

There is one, and only one, correct approach to research: Get onto a problem that really interests you, or a problem that you genuinely believe is important to solve, and keep at it till you have something significantly useful to say. Then, and only then, put it out as a research paper or conference presentation. Every other approach is dishonest at some level or another and belongs in the dustbin. (And stay assured: All lies eventually surface and bring shame. Far better to climb rankings steadily and solidly than try to cheat our way up and get embarrassed on the world stage like this!)

Note: Further below are the worst offenders from our country. Dig up the names and email addresses of Directors, Chancellors, Vice Chancellors and CEOs of these universities and send them love letters. Congratulate them on setting an example for our students and inspiring them to get ahead by cheating their way up instead of sustained, steady, hard work.

Vegetarianism NOT Essential to Hinduism

I'm surprised that Hinduism is still being correlated with Vegetarianism! This is just plain nonsense!

We Punjabis are non-vegetarians, Marathis are non-vegetarians, Bengalis are non-vegetarians, Telugus are non-vegetarians, Assamese are non-vegetarians, Orriyaas are non-vegetarians, Malayalees are non-vegetarians, and dear Idiots, even Kashmiri Pandits are non-vegetarians!

Have we gone mad or something?

A certain amount of meat is needed for a healthy and strong body. By all means we must eat that much meat. If you eat more than what is necessary, it's a problem. Not otherwise.

The article below is an example of what this vegetarianism myth leads to 👇:

Gujarat more audience of war than participant? State has high nationalistic fervour, but ranks low on army recruitment – Firstpost

I have no desire to see our nation becoming a ghaas-phoos nincompoop nation that is devoid of all strength and valour!

Every so called "Guruji" who preaches vegetarianism as a pre-requisite for spirituality and religion needs to be rejected. These fools simply don't know what they're talking about! They'll weaken the whole nation with this nonsense!

No wonder we've been invaded so many times! No wonder!

A Case for Course Correction: Navratri and Garba

As Navratri celebrations unfold every year, we see the following three things happening. All three are distortions of the truth and we need to be on our guard and not let our minds get swayed. Here goes:

1. Most Garba Dance events use film songs. This is a complete nuisance. Navratri is a celebration of the Nine Nights of Mother Durga. The whole point is to worship the Mother. We come together and celebrate Her Divinity with Devotional Songs (Bhajans) and Dance joyfully to the same. That's Garba. It is an opportunity to remind ourselves that there is a joy and celebration higher than worldly pleasures. In fact, it is our understanding and appreciation of this higher joy that enables us to stay steady as we go experience the joys and sorrows of the world. Dancing to film songs during Navratri celebrations defeats this whole purpose!

2. In recent times there has been a push for vegetarianism and poultry and meat shops face resistance. This has no context whatsoever. There are many Hindu communities - Bengalis, Orriyas, Assamese, Rajputs, Kashmiri Pandits - that do not forsake poultry and meat products while celebrating divinity. This is a personal and community choice that is best not interfered with. To each individual his or her own and to each community its own. (And how do you expect poultry and meat businesses to make a living every time you force them to shut their shops?)

3. In recent times there has also been a whole lot of hullabaloo every time a Muslim is spotted at a Garba event. This is madness! I reject Islamic extremism as stubbornly as anyone else (I also reject Sikh, Christian and Hindu extremism with the same stubbornness) and am perfectly alright with exercising caution and not allowing extremist elements to disrupt celebrations anywhere. But those who want to celebrate with us must be welcomed with open arms. And examples abound of Muslims participating in Hindu festivals not only at the level of celebrating but also at the level of helping with decorations (many Muslim women are experts at Rangoli designs) and singing devotional songs for the Mother.

There is a reason why we celebrate Divinity frequently in the din of our life and challenges in the world. Let's not forget that reason and miss the whole point.