# Mid-semester musings

**Source**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/mid-semester-musings/
**Parent**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/page/3/

From
chasing
away
monkeys
to
preparing
a
comprehensive
yet
accessible
Spider
Graph,
Preeti
Aghalayam
writes
on the
multiple
hats a
professor
at IIT-M
wears —
whether
by
choice
or
chance

**Preeti
Aghalayam**

It’s
7.50am.
Cars
outside
IIT-M’s
main
gate
stretch
back all
the way
up to
Madhya
Kailash.
Horns
blare
their
impatience,
and the
frustration
of a
Monday
morning
commute
hangs
heavy.
As I
enter
the
campus,
a sense
of calm
descends
almost
immediately.
The
tree-lined
avenues
ahead
are
welcoming,
cocooning
even. A
couple
of
kilometres
of
driving
and a
song on
my lips,
puts me
smack-bang
in the
academic
zone.

With
earphones
plugged
in, a
motley
group of
students
walk;
some
pedal
their
way on
cycles,
unmindful
of the
traffic.
There is
an
unwritten
rule on
the
campus:
deer and
monkeys;
pedestrians
and
cyclists;
and
professors
and
staff
are
given
decreasing
order of
importance.
I slow
down,
catch my
breath
and inch
forward,
trying
to avoid
a
particularly
belligerent
cyclist
who
swerves
in front
of me. I
have
finally
made it!
Just a
minute
or two
before
8am.

As I
walk up
to the
Classroom
Complex
(CRC)
building,
I notice
the
massive
banyan
tree,
whose
arms
have
spread
everywhere.
How old
must
this
beautiful
piece of
Nature
be, I
wonder,
as I
power
walk my
way
through
a chatty
bunch of
students
to the
classroom.
This
term we
are in a
new
place, a
fully-equipped
hybrid
teaching-learning
studio,
thanks
to NPTEL
(National
Platform
for
Technology
Enabled
Learning),
a
massive
online
learning
initiative
by the
IITs and
IISc.

The
studio —
with its
plush-green
seats,
bright
maroon
curtains,
and a
full-fledged
audio-video
set-up —
is
colourful
and has
the
right
vibe for
a modern
classroom.
Pretty
soon,
I’m
letting
the
students
in — on
a giant
screen.
Yes,
this is
a hybrid
classroom
with
20-plus
students
on
campus
with us,
sitting
in those
plush-green
seats,
and a
handful
logging
in
remotely
from
Kathmandu,
Nepal.

“There
are
monkeys
in the
stairwell,”
says
Bikram\*,
his
eyebrows
raised
in
wonder
and a
bit of
fear,
perhaps.
I notice
several
students
behind
him;
they all
laugh in
one
voice.
Meanwhile,
I pick
up a
handy
stick
hiding
amidst
the AV
equipment
and go
chase
the
monkeys
away,
and
escort
the rest
of the
class
in. The
things
we end
up doing
as
professors,
I tell
you!

**Scenes
from
a
classroom**

“Well,
let us
start
the
class at
least as
per
Indian
Standard
Time,” I
joke.
Time and
again,
we have
grown
used to
all the
excuses
students
come up
with
when
they are
late to
class.
It is
not like
we have
it easy
either:
traffic
was
maddening,
parking
was hard
to find,
I had no
time for
breakfast,
and then
the
dappled
sunshine
through
the
trees
looked
so
particularly
beautiful
today I
ended up
admiring
the view
for a
bit…the
list
goes on.
But yes,
eight in
the
morning
is
objectively
early at
any
rate. I
will
give
them
that.

The
class
starts
with a
poll;
there
are
titters
as I
explain
how to
access
the
poll. I
stop
mid-sentence
realising
that
those
born in
the
smartphone
generation
don’t
necessarily
need an
explanation
on QR
codes.
“The
most
important
research
skill is
the
ability
to
observe
your
surroundings,”
I tell
them.
But
before I
can
finish,
they
have
finished
with the
poll —
and the
responses
are a
good mix
of
reflection
and
humour.
It makes
my heart
warm
with
hope.

Today’s
class is
about
making
plots
and
graphs
to
visualise
scientific
data. I
show
them
some of
the “bad
examples”;
and ask
them to
be
critical.
The
students
have at
least 10
things
to
complain
about:
some are
important,
and some
are
nit-picky.
I walk
around
the
classroom,
before
asking
them to
sketch
an
improved
version.

Meanwhile,
Dipti\*
unmutes
her mic
and
calls
for my
attention.
She
holds up
her
version
of the
(improved)
graph in
front of
the
camera.
We all
love it.
The
class
continues
with a
few more
examples
— the
Spider
Graph,
which
many
students
had not
seen
before,
is a
hit.

We have
our many
arguments
and, as
one
would
expect
from a
class
with
such
diversity
— female
students
constitute
20%,
while
40% are
from
Africa,
two
students
are from
Bangladesh,
and of
course
we have
a group
joining
from
Nepal —
the
discussion
is rich.
When you
are in
such a
vibrant
classroom,
time
progresses
swiftly.
We were
all
exhausted
at the
end of
the
hour,
though I
enjoyed
every
minute
with
them.
And if
the
smiles
of the
students
as they
troop
out are
anything
to go
by, so
have
they.

As I
walk out
of the
classroom,
I emerge
into
Chennai’s
sunshine
and make
my way
over to
the
canteen
for a
cup of
strong
South
Indian
filter
coffee.
My mind
buzzes
with the
thought
of data,
graphs
and
Slido
polls. I
check my
watch,
it’s
only
9am.

\*The
names of
students
were
changed.
To know
more
about
NPTEL,
visit:
<https://nptel.ac.in/>

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