Geography education for 21st century India

Geography education in India’s schools is ailing severely. The State is too slow to respond, though there are signs of some efforts to improve the situation. The slack needs to be taken up by civil society organizations that share common goals.

Chemical engineering and geography!

While working on a design project as a final year chemical engineering undergraduate student at the University of Mumbai, the professor who was teaching us “Process Plant Design” told us this tale. The British engineer who was responsible for the designing the Taj…

Dividing up India! Licence plate geography

Yes, India is one country. However, we divide it up in so many ways so that we can organize things better. In this series, we will look at how we divide up India for various reasons.

A new country is born!

This post is about the birth of a new country… and the best job you can have! Explore!Many people are excited about it (the people who wanted the country and international business people for a start), others not too happy about it (one government was unhappy), others are nervous (the…

A tribute to my guru

There is a saying in the Kannada language: “whoever teaches us even one syllable, that person is our guru.” It is also said, “the wealth called knowledge, is the supreme among all the wealth.” Ergo, a teacher gives us the best among all wealth. How do we repay this debt? A tribute to my guru…

Shaking Earth, Rushing Water: Japan in Crisis

Japan’s recent earthquake and tsunami are part of Earth’s natural processes.

[Please note: many links in this post are no longer functioning. This is a common problem with providing external links in a blog.]

When a line is more than a line

Why does it matter where lines are drawn on a map? Is it just a question of being correct? Why do we feel upset when lines are drawn incorrectly on a map? Explore!

In May 2010, my friend Girish alerted me to an ad on CitiBank’s website. On this…

Free educational books for resource-challenged schools, educational NGOs

We are distributing several books, FREE, received from a donor. Please check out the details on how you may get copies for your organization/school . . .

Geography that can make you CRY!

This is about an explorer’s blunder that led … to an accidental discovery … to a lot of shouting, screaming, panting, crying, and dancing about … to how most of us today enjoy our meals. People just can’t let well enough alone. And we should be thankful for that!

We got fresh!

Well, actually, we just got refreshed! :-) Today is Vijayadashami — an important day in India. On this day, people celebrate the triumph of good over evil. It is also considered an auspicious day for beginning noble tasks.

A visit to the Samskrtam book fair in Bangalore

Samskrtam, the classical language of India, is a vital component of any understanding of India and the Indian subcontinent. Area studies in geography require at least a basic functional understanding of Samskrtam. This posting is one geographer’s…