Banasthali Vidyapeeth

 I am on 20th December, 2017, at Banasthali Vidyapeeth, about 72 kilometers from Jaipur in Rajasthan which is one of lthe world's largest residential University. The faculty also has to stay in the campus itself and classes go on late in the evening too. It has courses from primary to Ph. D. It is one of the leading institutions established in 1935, for girls education by a Sastri family in the memory of  their daughter Shantabai , who died at the young age of twelve and who was very involved in social work and  Women's education and  from whom there was a big expectation that she would  contribute to women's cause in a big way. This University combines the spirituality of East with the rational and scientific ideas of the West. There is emphasis on spirituality and wearing of khadi . The girls are taught horse riding, flying, the University has eleven Gliders for flying, swimming, shooting besides the Indian games of kho kho, kabbadi over and above the regular courses of study. I was taken around the campus and we went to the initial building where this whole campus which is today of a thousand acres started in 1935. This was close to Gandhi's heart and Nehru too spoke highly of the education given here. They have a band which plays folk and Rajasthani music and they have won various awards in International competitions for their ghoomer dances. So many people contributed to Women's education in the beginning and Banasthali also stands tall amidst these initial efforts.

Suresh Chief Guest at Oakwood International

 Suresh was invited as a Chief Guest to the Annual Function of a school, Oakwood International on 16th December, 2017. The children from class nursery to tenth had put up a beautiful cultural programme. There was a variety of dances by all the school children and there was a big festive atmosphere the whole evening. It took us, back to our school days when we would have our Annual Programmes. But things were much simpler  then. Today there was a  huge stage, LED screens, coloured lights, music, a huge backdrop in the background as one spoke from the podium.The was a video recording and the programme was being streamed live. A  drone captured the event and things were high tech. I found a lot of dependence for dance on Bollywood film music and less on regional  and folk songs. But it was fun to see the children putting  out their best.  Suresh gave his message on environment and climate change and how children can help and he was able to connect to the children very well. In all an evening  to remember.

Broucheurs for the National Women's Summit Released

 Finally released the Broucheurs for the National Women's Summit to be held in Hyderabad from 1st to 3rd February at the Shipa kala Vedika. The paper prsentation and Short film competition posters were also released. Two famous producers of the Telugu Film industry, Raj Kandukuri and Tripuraneni Varaprasad graced the occassion. It was a great team work and now more hard labour to make the Conferecne a success needs to follow. Will now be looking forward to receiving the abstracts from students, scholars and otheres interested in attending the Conference. It is going to be an interesting Conference with films, talks, paper presentations, Cultural shows and Trade fare. Please get ready to come and spend three fruitful  days in Hyderabad.

Moodle Workshop

The University organised a four day workshop from 11th to 14th December, 2017, to teach us how to use Moodle and put our courses on line. It will still take a lot more time and practice before we fully master this. It was nice to sit in a class with Computer Science Faculty and all the young and enthusiastic faculty from different disciplines across the University. This will now be the future of education where most of the courses would be put online and available to many. Interesting to be a student again and getting home work. Found this very interesting and as an advocate of free and open courses, I am all for these kind of course. Thanks Prof. Prabhakar and Indrani for opening a new world for us.

Allahabad University in 1978

Today this looks almost like Pre History  but in 1978 but when Prof. R. P. Tripathi and his wife visited the Department of Medieval Modern History, there was a group photo taken of all the faculty members. I was a young lecturer then just getting into teaching. I am so happy that my student Harish Srinivasa   who is now a faculty member in the Department found this photo and sent it to me. Thanks Harish. This is such a gem of a collection. I do not recognise most of the people now since thirty nine years have passed  but I am in a white sweater standing third  in the second row, next to Rita Bahuguna, Madhu Tripathi. Those days photography was so rare. I can recognise Heramb Chaturvedi, DrYogeshwar Tewari. They will now freshen up my  memory and let me know who all are the Professors seated in the first row. I know the names but cannot put the face to the photo. Thanks Harish. You made my day today.

Nidhi Leaving for the States

 Children leave home and create a void. Nidhi left for the States on 7th Novemeber, 2017. Best of journey Nidhi. Have a safe flight. The house has become empty now.

Lecture at IIT, Hyderabad

On 1st Novemeber, 2017, gave  a lecture at IIT Hyderabad on Women in the Miniature paintings of the Deccan, in the Liberal arts department as part of the Cultural heritage of Hyderabad. This was the first time that I travelled to this campus and it reminded me of the initial days when the Hyderabad University Campus was being established in the 1980's. There was a lot of constructions and lots of open spaces. The buildings and the structures that are coming look beautiful. It was really nice interacting with the students.