After the Storm

[Hey Diary, as I'm writing this I'm in the U.S. visiting DAI fans, but I really need to catch up on last year before the new year begins.]

I was suddenly alone in Mumbai after my month of touring India.  The trip was fantastic but had worn me out; breathing all the city air was taking its toll.  But there was no time to rest, because in the coming weeks I was involved in three important functions!

Interview:  
The ladies left February 20th, and my interview in Pune was February 22nd.  DAI readers will recall that I had previously visited Pune for the purpose of giving a "job talk", and speaking with the director.  I later learned that this wasn't quite enough formality, and that I would need to visit IISER Pune once more for a formal interview.  Actually, it's a bit like the British system in that everyone is to be interviewed on the same day.  A day when several prominent Indian mathematics professors arrive for the proceedings.  For example the previously mentioned Dipendra and Sujatha.  Unfortunately, the extra trip to Pune pushed me a bit over the edge and I was quite hoarse the morning of the interview.
I serendipitously discovered a natural, if unpleasant, temporary cure for a hoarse throat.  I won't say exactly what it is, but it's a miniature version of the cure for my digestive troubles in a previous post.

Anyways let me briefly say the interview went well, and so DAI has been renewed for a second season!  I'll be an Associate Mathematics Professor at IISER Pune, the only foreign employee of any of the IISERs, and (I believe) the only mathematics faculty in the country without Indian family.

Wedding:
March 1st I went to Sagar's wedding.  Sagar is a canteen friend of mine, one of the TIFR grad students.  (Actually an alumnus now: congrats!)  He had kindly invited me, and I excitedly bought myself a kurta for the event.  A kurta is a traditional Indian men's dress.  Now DAI readers may recall how jealous I was of my female friends getting more attention than me during my trip.  The solution to this problem for Western men is simply to wear a kurta, because then everyone, women and men and children, will stop and check you out.

For the wedding, folks took their seats in a large room, and watched the ceremony.  Traditional music played, Sagar wore some cool headwear, the couple walked several times around the fire, smoke filled the room.  There was a reception afterwards with traditional Marathi food.  See this video:  The first half is Sagar's math cohort in attendance, and the second half is Gerald's indulgently long coverage of my kurta modeling.

So, although India is renowned for pricey weddings that last many days, not everyone is into that, and this only took a couple hours.  Nice and simple.

Jugglology Lecture:
Okay so readers have probably figured out that I'm really into both math and juggling.  It turns out there is a little overlap between the two, which I like to call "jugglology".  Let me just briefly say that one can describe a typical juggling pattern with a sequence of numbers like 534534534... .  The numbers tell you how high the tosses are, or really how long the ball takes to reach the other hand.  To describe what sequences are possible is a pleasant exercise in mathematical modeling.  For more specifics see this site.  Over the years I've given several "recreational math" talks on the subject.  It's a fun talk to give because at any time I can fall back on my juggling experience or my math professor experience.  Yes, most of the time I'm juggling during the talk.

Word had gotten out about my juggling availability, and I gave one of these talks for "Science Day" March 4th at Mumbai's CBS school.  I think it went pretty well.  If I had been totally over my travel sickness, I would have made a video for you.  Maybe next time!  On that matter, I have a fantasy of being invited all over India to give Jugglology talks.  If you're at an Indian school, why don't you hire me to come?  I can give more serious talks for the grownups too!

After the talk I met up again with Acushla, who works in the same campus.  Acushla escorted me to the airport where I met an arriving Adrian (next post).  We discussed putting the Hindi (natural) numbers in alphabetical order (using Devanagari).  Do you know which odd number comes first?  If so, post in the comments.  This has been a matter of some debate.