I head off to India for about three weeks starting December 15, and will give a series of lectures in five cities. The talks are sponsored by The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (special thanks to Professor L. S. Shashidhara of Pune for organizing this).
It will be busy and probably exhausting, but I always enjoy meeting my Indian colleagues, and at the end there’s a reward in Delhi: a friend’s son is getting married and I’m invited to the ceremony. It won’t be one of those religious groom-rides-in-on-a-white-horse affairs, but it will be fun, and my first Indian wedding.
For my Indian readers, here is the schedule giving dates and topics. I don’t have times or venues, but you can contact the relevant institutions to get those, or I’ll post them here if they tell me. There are several topics ranging from straight scientific research on speciation to free will and “ways of knowing.” If you do want to come, I’ll be glad to sign any of my books that you bring.
Here are the talks in chronological order:
I will, of course, put up posts documenting my travels and all the good local food I expect to have (and have requested as my only emolument). I look forward to revisiting one of my favorite countries.
That sounds delightful. I haven’t been to India since the late nineties, though I’d very much like to go again. The wee cow reminds me of the one that lived outside my gate.
The problem of learning about a country like India from its History is that you have no idea what the modern place names are. Oh, Bengaluru is Bangalore, and Thiruvananthapuram is Trivandrum. Got it. Sounds awesome. Have fun!
On drosophila, Spike Milligan, who spent his childhood in Pune, wrote,
Warm welcome to Thiruvananthapuram/ Trivandrum!
Hope it clears up some over there. I saw the other day in New Deli you couldn’t see across the street.
Bengaluru? An opportunity then to hook up with Mr. Das & the female Jerry Coyne.
I Love India. Namaste
Names like Mumbai instead of Bombay are reverting back to the pre-colonial names.
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I get a lot of vicarious pleasure from your Indian posts.
Great to see you coming back to India . Sadly you are not coming to my state (tamil nadu) , even so I will try to get into one of your lectures .
Hope you have a great trip and enjoy some great food .
PS: kerala (thiruvananthapuram) has some great fish curry and also banana chips
Delhi is famous for tungde kabab and also the mughal biryani
Bengaluru you get great idli/dosa (rice pancakes ? )
Malayalam is a language of Kerala. Does anyone know of any other palindromic names of languages?
That’s great news! I’m in Jalandhar, about 3 hours away from Mohali (Punjab). So delighted to get the chance to finally meet you in person! Welcome to India!
P.S. Although I know your hosts have got it all covered, but please let me know if I can be of assistance in any way.