Another year at Indiana University Department of Political Science comes to a close. PhD is a caravan - we start the journey alone, we end it alone. But we never walk alone.
Two more deadlines left this sem, & (hopefully) three more years.
I'm super burnt out but I vow to return next year with a first-year's excitement.

Irony died a thousand deaths, got reincarnated, and died a thousand deaths again. 👻

The near Kroger from my apartment in suburban Indiana. Sums up why decolonization needs to be a serious project for Indians. Almost every language on this board has its own script except...
#Swagata #Namaste .

The one new thing that I learnt today.

The decline of Harsha Bhogle as BCCI confirmist has been heartbreaking. Once my favorite commentator, he has become a soft-spoken IPL aunty who gossips and justifies policies that risks Indian T20 cricket.
There's nothing tectonic about impact player, flat pitches, small grounds.

The Gandhis are one of the last 'feudal' princely houses that remains in the country. For friends who vote for the opposition,
it's your choice. No govt is perfect. But please choose wisely between treating cancer and fever. The need of the hour is chemotherapy, not paracetamol.

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Intentions aside, what 'vice versa' can India possibly benefit from Pak? The differences are irreconcilable and most of us in Delhi have learned to live with it. Except seeing that nukes don't end up with suicidal extremists when Pak collapses, it is a war of attrition.

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Our AI policy discourse ignores first order questions. AI impacts every sphere of public life. I suggest setting up a Department of Artificial Intelligence (DAI) under PMO (like DAE, DOS).
In a hub-spoke topology, DAI could become nodal agency for AI preparedness across govt.

The way West is approaching Ukraine, it looks like negligence towards Taiwan will turn out to be the biggest case of strategic groupthink blunder of 21st century. It is worrisome to see US and allies fighting their battles in the 'comfort zone'. Taiwan is being put on a platter.

IPL is planting its own seeds of destruction. Regular 200+ scores, now 250 even, is not cricket. Its boring, entertains the lowest uncommon denominator of fans (the type who dont know the difference between hook and pull) and drives the real afficianados away...

TSMC to go 3D with wafer-sized processors — CoW-SoW technology allows 3D stacking for the world's largest chips tomshardware.com/tech-industry/…

Thank you so much India in New York for your prompt response. Always trust India to be be there for their overseas students. 😊

The axiomatic error undermining much of Western Civilization is “weak makes right”.

If someone accepts, explicitly or implicitly, that the oppressed are always the good guys, then the natural conclusion is that the strong are the bad guys.

Many other limitations of IFS aside, I'll bet my life on Indian Diplomats when it comes to the art of wordplay and framing.

Learn from East Asia. Set up luxury residencies for engineers in Sanand, Morigaon, and Dholera. Take care of their kids' tuition. Provide them benefits. Ensure their family good lifestyles. Give them a life so they can freely offer their talents to India's semiconductor industry.

Absolute horror! If the opposition was in power during the pandemic, their Politburo (a.k.a. NAC) would've declared a USUSI, United Socialist Union of States of India.

Gosh, we were sitting on a Communist time bomb in 2014!

Finished this wonderful and rich work by Tripurdaman Singh. Very relevant in the election season when talks of changing Constitution, freedom of expression, and resource redistribution are flavor of the day.
Highly recommended for your next weekend read/listen.
goodreads.com/book/show/5073…

Amazing. A welcome step to let people transition between the fields. It took me five years from finishing my undergrad to starting a PhD program. Perhaps the next Electrical Engineer will pursue a PhD in Intl Relations in India within 0-1 year.

His policies aside, the biggest thing Modi did was to inspire a bunch of first-generation aspirants from the lower/middle class that it is possible to break the gatekeeping and make it big without elite connections. No one can deny him the credit of giving an 'Indian dream'.