Featured
  • Unlike a lot of people, writing does not come to me naturally.  It has been a slow and difficult learning process, and I had to contend with massive writing project as I started the dissertation.  As it turned out, writing the dissertation was fun, but not always.  It took me an year and a half to write the dissertation after the fieldwork, and in the process, it helped me to know what other writers had gone through.  A lot of that advice came from the committee and from my peers at the University, and some of it came from webcasts on...0December 9, 2011

    The art & craft of academic writing: Interviews & talks

    Unlike a lot of people, writing does not come to me naturally.  It has been a slow and difficult learning process, and I had to contend with massive writing project as I started the dissertation.  As it turned out, writing the dissertation was fun, but not always.  It took me an year and a half to write the dissertation after the fieldwork, and in the process, it helped me to know what other writers had gone through.  A lot of that advice came from the committee and from my peers at the University, and some of it came from webcasts on…

  • Zotero is a free-software to manage bibliographies and citations with advanced functions and an easy interface As a doctoral student a lot of my time goes into managing my references. Thankfully there are many tools around to help me manage my references and to speed up the process of inserting citations while I write my papers. After a lot of trial and error I settled on Refworks that I was really happy with. Unfortunately it is a paid software with a stiff fee that I may not be able to afford once I leave the university. Thankfully, a friend told...1September 7, 2009

    Zotero: The best citation tool around, and it’s free

    Zotero is a free-software to manage bibliographies and citations with advanced functions and an easy interface As a doctoral student a lot of my time goes into managing my references. Thankfully there are many tools around to help me manage my references and to speed up the process of inserting citations while I write my papers. After a lot of trial and error I settled on Refworks that I was really happy with. Unfortunately it is a paid software with a stiff fee that I may not be able to afford once I leave the university. Thankfully, a friend told…

  • In an age of digital information, how should government publish electronic data in keeping with high standards of right to information.0July 16, 2009

    8 Principles for open government data & beyond

    In an age of digital information, how should government publish electronic data in keeping with high standards of right to information.

  • Brilliant auto-ethnography questions the rules surrounding women's lives1May 18, 2008

    Mernissi’s Dreams of trespass: Best feminist work I have read yet

    Brilliant auto-ethnography questions the rules surrounding women’s lives

  • Story of changing values in an era of globalisation; an all-time favourite5August 4, 2007

    Kamal Hassan’s Anbe Sivam: An underrated classic

    Story of changing values in an era of globalisation; an all-time favourite

  • India's Constitution is far-sighted and among the most interesting Constitutions of the world. It was framed after extensive discussions at the Constituent assembly. These debates throw an interesting light on issues that led to the Constitution, the way it is. I have often wondered why certain provisions exist in a certain way and have turned to the debates in this assembly. To make it easy for me to search these debates, I have created a search engine using <em>Google custom search engine</em> and the transcripts of the debates provided by the Parliament of India.11March 14, 2007

    Search engine for Constituent Assembly debates in India

    India’s Constitution is far-sighted and among the most interesting Constitutions of the world. It was framed after extensive discussions at the Constituent assembly. These debates throw an interesting light on issues that led to the Constitution, the way it is. I have often wondered why certain provisions exist in a certain way and have turned to the debates in this assembly. To make it easy for me to search these debates, I have created a search engine using Google custom search engine and the transcripts of the debates provided by the Parliament of India.

Latest
  • My pot belly, being 'rosy complexioned' and other stories from the field. I wrote these pieces in a course on ‘creative non-fiction’ and included them in the dissertation to provide my readers a break from the formal monotony. Sadly, most people remember sections of this from the dissertation, and little else. Such is the life of a doctoral student.

    Making subjectivity visible: Sections from my dissertation

    Posted on December 31, 2011 | 2 Comments
    My pot belly, being 'rosy complexioned' and other stories from the field. I wrote these pieces in a course on ‘creative non-fiction’ and included them in the dissertation to provide my readers a break from the formal monotony. Sadly, most people remember sections of this from the dissertation, and little else. Such is the life of a doctoral student.

    Continue Reading...

  • After watching a news report on the appalling number of schools in India without even a building to house it in, I saw an advertisement mentioning “My classroom has no walls, I have no ceiling”.  I would have thought that it were a fundraising advertisement to build schools, but for the white smiling face in the ad.  It turns out in this strange world that classrooms without walls can also be sold as an opportunity.

    Classrooms without walls

    Posted on December 21, 2011 | No Comments
    After watching a news report on the appalling number of schools in India without even a building to house it in, I saw an advertisement mentioning “My classroom has no walls, I have no ceiling”.  I would have thought that it were a fundraising advertisement to build schools, but for the white smiling face in the ad.  It turns out in this strange world that classrooms without walls can also be sold as an opportunity.

    Continue Reading...

  • The strangeness of the gate of the Delhi School of Economics compared to an equally bizarre gate in Los Angeles.

    Two bizarre gates

    Posted on December 10, 2011 | No Comments
    The strangeness of the gate of the Delhi School of Economics compared to an equally bizarre gate in Los Angeles.

    Continue Reading...

  • Mind maps can help us contend with different ways of organizing the layout of chapters, books or articles when we are confronted with different way of organizing it.

    Mind-maps for organising the layout of a chapter, article or dissertation

    Posted on November 17, 2011 | No Comments
    Mind maps can help us contend with different ways of organizing the layout of chapters, books or articles when we are confronted with different way of organizing it.

    Continue Reading...

  • Panoramic view of one of Stanford using Photosynth software of Microsoft.

    Photosynth of Stanford on a beautiful cloudy day

    Posted on November 13, 2011 | No Comments
    Panoramic view of one of Stanford using Photosynth software of Microsoft.

    Continue Reading...

  • During my last visit to India, I participated in a few meetings on questions such as strengthening the right information act, the role of the PDS, and other social issues. In all these meetings there was a vigorous debate on how mobile phones could be used on each of these issues given the rapid spread of mobiles in rural India. Despite periodic discussion about the use of technology, I did not hear viable ideas among my activist friends. I believe that this is in part because most of them are not advanced users of technology, and they have definitely not...

    Need for public service mobile application foundation for India

    Posted on November 8, 2011 | No Comments
    During my last visit to India, I participated in a few meetings on questions such as strengthening the right information act, the role of the PDS, and other social issues. In all these meetings there was a vigorous debate on how mobile phones could be used on each of these issues given the rapid spread of mobiles in rural India. Despite periodic discussion about the use of technology, I did not hear viable ideas among my activist friends. I believe that this is in part because most of them are not advanced users of technology, and they have definitely not...

    Continue Reading...

SN Google Plus
This website uses a Hackadelic PlugIn, Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5.