My experiences with the UPSC Civil Services examination – From an ex-aspirant’s perspective
UPSC Civil Services examination is probably one of the toughest experiences one can go through. More than the technical aspects of the examination, overall as an experience, it can be challenging and takes a lot away from our personal lives. It offers people job security and in general, there is a lot of honour attached […]
Just Another Tea-Break Rant
Being in love with tea is the most committed relationship I have ever been in. I have been accused of romanticizing tea by the whole world and I am not shy to admit that I am indeed, guilty as charged. Each cup of tea brings a sense of tranquillity that awakens all my senses together. […]
The Many Faces of Participatory Methodologies
At our recently concluded annual seminar, Prof. Rajagopalan, of the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B), mentioned that the idea of “participative approaches” has gained currency within development work and literature. Stating this, he pointed to how participatory approaches are seen as the panacea for all ills that plague development-related work. A significant point […]
A Tribute to Sandhya Rao
…Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise… Maya Angelou. I heard about your death the afternoon before I was to leave for Bihar. I couldn’t believe it. I kept reading the message on my cell phone over and over again, thinking it has […]
Fitting into My Own Shoes: Reflections from the Field
Reflexivity is customary in social anthropology and resultant epistemology. George Herbert Mead defines reflexivity as “turning back of the experience of individual upon (her – or himself)”. Reflexivity is always retrospective and hence this blog post is about what I was looking for in the field, what I found and how I perceived it then […]
Brexit: Mad Dogs and Englishmen
The recent referendum in the UK reminds me of this classic Noël Coward song, cheerfully sung also by Danny Kaye ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ [1]. Mad dogs and Englishmen [2] Go out in the midday sun… It’s such a surprise for the Eastern eyes to see That though the English are effete They’re quite impervious […]
Reflections on Fieldwork
One of the new aspects of my job at CBPS, which I have enjoyed, has been field work. The GrOW project, in particular, has provided me many opportunities to do field work. Previously, I had either worked on secondary or primary data, which I had played no role in collecting. This experience led me to […]
Life Imitates Art – Cinema and Violence against Women
Life imitates art far more than art imitates life – Oscar Wilde In the normal course, it is art that imitates life. The art forms – literature, painting and cinema – for the most part depended upon and depicted reality. It was art holding up the mirror to life in the description of pastoral England […]
Let us save our dear Mother India!
More than two decades ago, when I made a phone call home using a public booth near Ganga dhaba close to my hostel in JNU, my father casually informed me that the police verification for my passport was over! First I did not understand what he was referring to, as I had not yet applied […]
The Nobel for Poverty
Angus Deaton, a professor at Princeton University, has been awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in economics, for his econometric work in three fields: the estimation of demand systems, the use of microeconomic data is estimating aggregate consumption, especially his innovation of ‘pseudo panels’ based on cross section data, and his use of household consumption survey […]