Random Thoughts

  I have taught 4 different courses, each many times since I joined the Institute. Although I approached teaching very skeptically and hesitantly in the beginning, I have come to enjoy portions of it, especially when I'm deep into the problem solving phase of the course. One such course that I've taught many times is the basic Quantum Mechanics (QM) for 3rd year students. I've always enjoyed problem solving lectures in this course, and it seems that the students have enjoyed it too over the years. On one occasion after teaching this course, one of the students review comments mentioned that they enjoyed this course a lot and would have benefitted even more had I also taught the Mathematical Methods (MM) and the Statistical Mechanics (SM) courses as well. These courses precede and follow QM, respectively, in their course curriculum. I think this was the ultimate compliment and I couldn't be more grateful that students recognized the effort. Although I have taught MM seve...

I was raised by an English Professor and therefore, have been around books since my childhood. I was made to write long essays in English whenever I had a new or unique experience. Most of our bedtime stories were read out from children's books written in English. Given my environment and my inherent nature, my favorite pass-time as a kid was reading novels. Therefore, it was from a very young age that I started understanding or imbibing the importance of writing and speaking grammatically correct sentences. I was corrected every time I said an incorrect sentence.  I will forever be grateful for having learnt good writing and speaking in the English language. That has indeed helped me in my career. But gradually, as I grew up and without even my knowledge, I became a snob. I started judging those who could not speak impeccable English. I thought these people were not well educated or had performed poorly in school. I was a good student and this snobbishness stayed with me through c...

To the students who think they're so smart that they can fool the instructor: Sorry to break this to you, but no, you're not fooling anybody! In fact, you are the fool if you think otherwise. So, let me tell you something that might shine a light on your otherwise dead brain. Learning is a two-way street. If you want to learn, I am willing to teach over and beyond what is expected of me. I will still teach even if you don't want to learn because that is my job. However, like they say, you can only bring the horse to the water, you cannot make it drink.  When you leave the class, I notice. When you talk, I notice. When you don't bring a notebook or a pen and pretend to be attentive, I notice. So, to reiterate, you're really not fooling anybody. I frankly don't care. I am happier teaching a small class of students who are sincere and want to learn. In fact, that's better for me. As then, we are in sync and I don't have to worry about the distractor...