Serious Stuff

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Just now our Postman gave me a pleasant surprise:

I got an envelope (circular) by Speed Post from the Nehru Museum of Science & Technology, Hijli Shahid Bhavan (Old Building), IIT KGP regarding:

Subject: Sixty Years of IIT Kharagpur - Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

Since NMST & Old Building (to say nothing of IIT KGP) have been in and out of our blogs of late, I thought I would express my gratitude by taking the trouble of keyboarding the letter in our blogspot (I do have a Color-Scanner-Copier-Printer gifted by my son and daughter-in-law for writing up the booklet Raadhaa Rhymes while they were expecting Ishani, but its Operator is Commuting between Gaithersburg and Houston).

I also thought this would give me some rest from Serious Blogging.

DB used to report to me (with a twinkle in his eyes) that some of our Senior Colleagues are complaining that I am not doing Serious Research (meaning that I am publishing only in Journals like Proceedings of the Royal Society, London, and American Journal of Physics which are not as Serious as say Physica Status Solidi, A & B, the choice is yours).

I used to reply with a twinkle in my eyes that the Research they are doing is indeed Very Serious, almost Fatal.

But being a Lover of Words (Verbiphile) I was wondering what could be the precise opposite of Serious Research and I settled on Cartoon Research [non-Hindu Clerics, like my e-friend Edwin Taylor (who lapped up Verses in Upanishads which he used to demand that I send him daily so as to reach him first thing in the morning at Boston), when they wish to denigrate Hindu Gods call them Cartoon Gods].

But Cartoon is by no means the precise Opposite of Serious.

Our Teacher of Complex Variables used to ask us in his very first Lecture: "What is the opposite of a Positive Number?". Like goats we used to reply: "Negative Number". His joy knew no bounds when he announced: "Wrong. Non-Positive Number; because Zero also is there, which is neither Positive nor Negative".

And then he would ask: "What is the opposite of Real?". Like lambkins we would reply: "Imaginary". He would smile wickedly and say: "No again; Complex is the answer, which is a mixture of Real and Pure Imaginary".

By the way, this Non-Thing is good to remember. If you wish to say that some guy or doll is not ugly, you don't have to say: Beautiful. Jut say: Non-Ugly.

That brings us to Serious Blogging. Its opposite is, mathematically speaking, Non-Serious Blogging. But Verbiphiles would prefer: Gul Blogging. Because gul is a delicious mixture of Fact & Fiction (like Real & Imaginary Numbers).

Suppose you wish to tell a story to that 3-year old Sensitive High IQ niece of yours.

If you start: "This is a story of the Cow without a Tail", that expected spark in her eyes would be missing. You should start: "This is a story about the Cow with a Horse's Tail". She would jump onto your lap; because the possibilities are endless.

Trust me, I have tried this for 40 long years on my students at IIT KGP and it never failed.


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Dear Professor Sastry,

In 2011 IIT Kharagpur completes 60 glorious years of excellence. To celebrate the occasion it proposes to bring out a volume on IIT Kharagpur, its history, its ambiance, its faculty, staff and alumni. A team of IIT alumni and faculty is working on the book which is expected to come out very soon.

Since a part of the book is about history, about people, about events that took place years back, about memorable moments experienced here, we seek your kind cooperation to reconstruct this glorious story. Only a small part of history is written. A much larger part is in the minds of the people, or recounted in their words. A great chunk of IIT history lives with you, in your memories. Hence, we request you to kindly send us any information on diverse aspects of IIT that you may have with you. The outline below will give you an idea. You can please share this information on any of the points made in the outline. We are also in need of old photographs to reconstruct IIT Khargpur pictorially. They could even be snapshots of yours with some landmark of IIT, some lab, monument, with some students, faculty or staff here. Please do send us any material you have and help us reconstruct the glories of IIT Kharagpur.
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You are also requested to join the Diamond Jubilee Discussion Forum at:

http://alumni.intinno.com/iitforum/

Thanks for your kind cooperation.


(Dhrubajyoti Sen)
For Diamond Jubilee Publication Committee, IIT Kharagpur
Mobile: 09434721888
E-mail: nmst@hijli.iitkgp.ernet.in

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gps: My succinct reply would be to quote RKN My Days page 172:


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Lord Mountbatten suddenly asked,

"What is the story of The Guide?"

Pearl Buck began to narrate it, but could not proceed very far with it. I heard her say, "There was a man called Raju--he was a guide---"

"What guide?" asked his lordship, in his deep voice.

This question upset her flow of narration. She turned to me and said, "Narayan, you tell the story."

I would not open my mouth.

Dammit, I had taken eighty thousand words to tell the story; I was not going to be drawn into it now....


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