Breaking the Glass Ceiling and Male Shrew in Academia!

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Educated women of the upper middle class, who have made it to the higher echelons of their profession, live in a bubble. They believe that most women who make the right choices at the right time, with a little luck can make it too. After all, men require education, good choices and luck too. But women who behave in an authoritative way are seen as insufferable prima donnas. This assertive, aggressive, ‘insufferable’ woman was what Shakespeare termed the ‘Shrew’ and made famous in his play ‘Taming of the Shrew’.

Klara and the Sun: Kazuo Ishiguro’s Futuristic Dystopian World

~ Jeemol ~ 2 Comments

Klara and the sun is the latest (2021) science fiction novel by Kazuo Ishiguro who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017. Klara and the Sun, set somewhere in the United States, is a futurist novel of what science and artificial intelligence could do to create a dystopian society. The protagonist and narrator in the novel Klara is an AF, Artificial Friend, a humanoid robot designed as a companion for children. 

Yoga, yoga asana and the art of relaxing!

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Happy Yoga Day! Dear Friends: Enjoy this wonderful day with the art of relaxation! June 21, 2021.

Unni-Verse

It has been some time since I wrote a post on yoga and other forms of meditation. See here. While meditation is hard enough, relaxing is an art and a difficult one too! Yoga asanas (poses) and pranayama (breathing exercises) presumably help you to relax.

Yoga is what I really enjoy, even when the classes are held online as it is now due to the pandemic. People tell me that since I have been doing yoga for decades I can just do it by myself and do not need to attend classes. Theoretically, yes I can. But practically, it never happens. Even if it does, my mind will trick me into doing a quick 10-15 minute fixed set of yoga exercises and convince me that I have done enough for the day! Our teacher is a young, dynamic, friendly and always has a smile on her face while she coaxes…

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Origins of the COVID-19 Virus

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Till recently a lot of us were convinced that the origin of the COVID-19 virus was the wild life market in Wuhan, China. There is much more uncertainty now regarding the origins of the virus. Recently articles in popular media and in some scientific journals have stated that the virus is the result of lab-leak. Read here for some enlightenment.

Brand Ambassador for Pet Store: New career option?

~ Jeemol ~ 1 Comment

I am an Economist and I teach in a Management School. I have many colleagues in the discipline of marketing and a number of our students are placed in companies with roles in marketing. So I am well aware of the term Brand. In simple terms a 'Brand' is a type of product manufactured by a particular company under a particular name. A relatively new term, popular in the past decade, is 'Brand Ambassador'. A Brand Ambassador is defined as 'a person, especially a celebrity, who is paid to endorse or promote a particular company's products or services'. The key words are celebrity and paid. We normally think of popular movie stars like Shah Rukh Khan, brand ambassador for Byjus learning app, or Aishwarya Rai for beauty products. And they are paid in millions I believe. A new career is that of being an 'Influencer', person with more than 10,000 followers on social media! Influencers also become Brand Ambassadors. Being neither a celebrity nor an Influencer, imagine my shock when I received an offer from a pet store to be their Brand Ambassador!

Lives and Livelihoods: Strategies to Curb India’s COVID Crisis

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Discussion on containment choices beyond binaries, including medical preparedness, physical distancing, accelerated vaccinations, scaled-up testing, closure of indoor spaces, contact tracing & isolation, and beyond. We will also discuss why real-time, reliable, credible data is essential for a comprehensive strategy to defeat the pandemic.