Confessions of a Sleepish Researcher

Today I decided to sleep for some more time; extension of my sleeping hours.....Everyday, I go to bed aiming that the next day should be early for me, and that I get up at the first bell of the alarm. "Early Bird catches the Worm", thats an old English saying which could also be heard along with "Early to Bed and Early to Rise makes Jack Healthy, Wealthy and Wise". Sayings are after all for the sake of speech......the coziness of the bed is always irresistable. Curling up in the bedsheets and spreads brings the feeling of not getting up. Even after extending the alarm for every hour, the laziness and drowsiness remain. The dissretation still lies unworked.......Harding and Riskin call me to induct them.....so does Meisner, Solinger and other Chinese economists....law of value, commodity production, markets, planning, all seek to make their way in and be comfortable............China beckons......but sleep does too!! May be I should get up early from tomorrow.....the dissertation needs to be stylized well.....some polishing required too. Sacrifices make life.....I hear the notes of a prayer song floating through the morning mist!!Is that for me?Is my sacrifice to be counted as a loss of sleep........Every paradise has ample room for a 'crown of thorns' too!!

Summer-What a Time!!

Life has gone topsy-turvy these days. The 'discipline' in real sense is lacking; some exterior force is out to create chaos. The seriousness one needs has been making a slow progress. Life's order has been turned upside down. The tension is not just physical, but mental too, with the ever-pervasive fear of the purse strings becoming too loose to be tied up!!And there is only one scapegoat to take the blame.......SUMMER!!

Of all the seasons, the Summer months not only mean sweaty bodies, sun strokes and sun-burnt skins, but also physical weakness. As the fluids are sucked off the body, relief seems a far away mirage!!Water now costs more than fossil fuels.........The purses also take a heavy beating in the scorching heat..........The medical costs increase.....the nights are expected to offer more coolness.....but sometimes that is no guarantee!!If the windows are closed, then heat would take a monstrous shape, and if the windows are opened to let the cool breeze in, then there is the soft music of the mosquitoes!! The water crises deepens, with supply of water getting down to a trickle.....So bath seems a luxury at times!! But the bad body odour forces one to undertake this phenomenon not once, but twice in the day!!And as the cool water flows down of the shower, you decide that the paradise on earth is certainly not Kashmir, but your very bathrooms.........If water supply is the itching area, then the costs of electricity add to your woes in these months.....The supply is also a headache with frequent breakdowns, adding to the running sweat!! The various cooling devices in the form of coolers and air conditioners add to your electricity bills, as behind "every boon, there is a curse too"!!

Cost-cutting measures are also distant dreams......Even your food habits change adding to your expenses!!Fruits, juices, health drinks, revitalizers, refreshners and call it whatever you like.....all do give respite, but can dry up your pockets!! Summer is also famously associated with holidaying!! So, trips to higher reaches are the norm.......Trips to the Alps and Himalayas make families add revenue to the transportation agencies namely, flights and trains......As educational institutions close down for two months, the parents of the brats pray that the institutions open up early!!But bills of coaching classes and personality development programmes also rise up, as the mercury shoots up!!

So, Summer effectively means High Costs and Burning up of your hearts!! In the midst of all this, there is also a Dissertation to be written.....Will the Concept of Socialist Market Economy of China Under Deng Xiaoping fall in the right place given such severity of the situation?? It should, for this Summer is also a decider for my Research Life........Its a perfect time to do 'Re-Search'!!