Sarawak Cultural Village

Memorable time @ Sarawak Cultural Village, Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia.

Borneo Sky

A poem I wrote in Odia language (my mother tongue), soon after coming to live in Kuching, Sarawak:

Attempted English version:

Beyond the half-lit Borneo sky;
Dark clouds cover the radiant sun.
Gentle air lends its magical touch;
Melts the sky and down it pours.
Borneo sky goes bright once more;
Sparkling with colours of countless dreams.

Borderless Flight . . . (Poem)

On the eve of my journey from Bhubaneswar (Odisha, India) to Kuching (Sarawak, Malaysia)

Here is the gist in English:

This day . . .
I let you on your path,
May you ride your dreams.

This day . . .
I have braved to overcome,
My false sense of home.

This day . . .
I leave behind the familiar,
To seek the meaning of life.

This day . . .
I spread my wings,
For a borderless flight.

Tomorrow . . .
I shall discover my chance,
To live and grow without regrets.

Note. After a few days of writing this, I remembered the original trigger for this poem -- it happens to be a poem by Dr Bhavita Saxena, which I had read in Here & Now, 22(4) (Oct-Dec 2008), p. 7 (PDF version available here).

Research Workshop @ ASCI, Hyderabad

One-Day Workshop on Research Methods and Practices in Management, ASCI, Hyderabad, India, April 24, 2009

The event was organised to enhance research focus at ASCI, Hyderabad. About 15-20 academic/research staff of ASCI (from their various centres) participated in the event. Prof. Ch. Hanumantha Rao presented an excellent introduction--full of insights about research. Here is a summary of it.

I anchored the first half of the workshop, starting my presentation with a discussion on the age-old Meno's paradox, demonstrating how it might be circumvented in practice--using a group exercise. It created some energy and enthusiasm in the group. I followed it up with discussions on some of the general issues pertaining to research, for example, linkages between the everyday world and the research world, social relevance of research, research as a paradigm of practice, breeds of research, and so forth.