IIT Guwahati and mathematics research

This is a piece I wrote for the Alumni meet of Ph.D. students of the Department of Mathematics of IIT Guwahati to be held in Sept. 2020. More than looking back at my time at IITG from 1995 to 2003, I also reflect on the purpose of research and what I believe is important for research in mathematics in the future. 

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Not wanting to let her go...

On 14^th August 2020 it will be three years since my mother, Renuka Devi Barkataki, left us, suddenly, quietly, without bothering anybody. I had arrived at the hospital straight from the airport that hot summer afternoon in 2017 only to find her hardened mortal remains.  In the midst of the bustle, it had suddenly felt very cold and lonely. That feeling has not gone away. There have also been other major disasters in my life since, but somehow I am still not finished with Ma’s going yet.  That house in Panchabati that used to buzz with activity all the time mourned her for a while, before killing itself. Now it has transformed itself into a bad-tempered, unhappy ghost – shrouded over, musty and dark, waiting silently, to be exorcised.

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