1. Nuances of Husain Hinduism An article on the recent controversy of Husain's painting (in the 60's) of a nude Saraswathi. I hope to include some more on this issue in the future in order to provide a more balanced and complete view of this issue. Until then, apologies to those who are offended by this article.
  2. After the recent round of nuclear tests carried out by India, the National Security Advisory Board released a draft report on the Indian Nuclear Doctrine in August 1999.
  3. Here is an article on IIT undergraduates which appeared on the web.
  4. An email that I happened to receive a while ago. This should be read keeping in mind the age of the people who wrote it as well as the social interaction (or lack thereof) between the male and female IIT students.
  5. If you thought that most Indians speak/write good English, you may have to change your mind after reading this message.
  6. It is of interest to study the composition of the faculty of any place. Here is some data with regard to IITM where I work.
  7. Do you know why we have toilets in Indian trains? This was obtained from V. Balakrishnan.
  8. Chewing Their Way to an Ancient, Unsightly Bliss : A humourous article that appeared in the NYT about paan chewing in India.
  9. Black Tuesday: the view from Islamabad : An article by Pervez Hoodboy, a physicist from Pakistan after the Sept. 11 WTC and Pentagon attacks.
  10. A class apart: An informal article on IITians that appeared in the Hindu -- original link has been preserved.
  11. Dr. Lawrence W. Summers, President of Harvard University made a speech on January 14, 2005 giving his understanding as to why there were so few women, especially in tenured faculty positions at top universities in Science and Engineering. This has been fairly controversial. Here is the transcript of that speech as well as a (copy of the) letter that he wrote his faculty members in response to the controversy. I've preserved links to the original version available at the President's website.
  12. An article on string theory (something I work on for a living) titled "String Fellows" (by Alok Jha) that appeared in the Guardian (Jan 20, 2005).