Yippee dedda doo

Without meaning to sound conceited in any way, it is one of the facts of life that I am far better at giving viva voce exams than I am at giving written exams. Because in written exams, when I don't know something (which is rather frequently, considering the amount I study) I simpl blank out. In viva exams, on the other hand, when I'm asked something I don't know the answer to, I seem to have the knack of making up answers on the spot, which, luckily for me, seem to do the trick.

Today (well, yesterday, really) was my viva oral exam for my dissertation. After talking about my study, methodology, tools etc., and coming up with rather decent explanations for why on earth my study shows no significant differences between the two groups, the external examiner picked up on one my results pertaining to gender differences. He asked me why I thought such a result had come up, and from there, we went onto socialization of boys and girls in India, leading to a rather animated discussion about the state of women of India.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I'm in my element when I have to make up answers during interviews. They also know that the aforementioned topic is, honestly, something I can go on and on about*. So you can well imagine how my viva went and why I've been grinning since my exit line, which incidentally, was essentially a summary of this post.

See, it pays to be a feminist. Now if only the rest of my exams involve such discussions, I'm all set.

*Apparently, almost everyone does know this about me, because I hear the second some of my classmates I've never really spoken much to heard what turn my viva had taken, they were certain it had gone well. I need to become more enigmatic.

Ramblings...

I met a lady on the road the other day, while out with my dog for her evening walk. This lady obviously has some kind of puja that she does on a regular basis. As I passed her, she emptied a whole packet of vegetable peels in front of a cow, took a round of the cow muttering some chant under her breath, threw the empty packet on the side of the road, and walked off.

On the other hand, I met two very nice strangers today. I had only a 500 hundred rupees note in my wallet today, and needed change for my bus ride home. My usual source of change - the Xerox guy - let me down, so I stopped at the market near campus to try my luck there. The first shop I went to turned me down, but as I was leaving, one of the girls sitting there asked if 100 rupees notes would do. I said "sure!" and she handed them over. Not too many people part with their smaller notes so willingly.

I have so far very carefully resisted complaining about my issues with the public transport system on this blog. Suffice it to say, I don't like it. It is a complete pain, and getting home everyday takes me far longer than it should. Moving on. So today, classes got over early and the bus which brings me closer home wasn't due till two. Unwilling to wait two hours, I took the bus which brings me to just short of the border. From there, I took a cab to my usual bus stop, a ride that typically costs five bucks. There were three of us in the cab, and on the way to our regular bus stop, the driver asked us if we're students. All of us nodded. When we got to our destination, we held out the money but he actually refused to take it.

I've noticed the fact that I'm a student seems to get me some extra benefits from time to time. A couple of weeks back, I was late for class as usual, and there was no auto in sight. One finally showed up, and I hailed it with relief. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that there was an old army-type gentleman right behind me who had also hailed the same auto, and who therefore claimed he should get it. After growing increasingly belligerent for about five minutes, he finally asked me where I had to go. I said I have to go to college, and his entire demeanor changed. He made me get into the auto, and was practically blessing me by the time I left.

The point of this entry, you ask? You meet all sorts of people on the road. Plus I am fed up with my dissertation, and refuse to work on it tonight. And there's the fact that I wanted to cross last February's record of seven entries. Ooh, and today's the 29th of February. For another half an hour. Awfully apt title today, innit?

Awake at 3 AM...

I love maths, I do. Not the overly complicated stuff, but statistics and trigonometry and algebra... it always gave me a rush in school when I could solve any particularly tricky problem.

I left maths as a subject after school, and my association with it has been limited to statistics. I'd almost forgotten how I used to love the subject till tonight. I put off the statistics part of my dissertation till tonight, and while working on my literature review invariably made me sleepy by midnight tops, here I am, at 3.15 AM, wide awake and alert.

I've missed this.