Some days............

Some days are good
And some days are bad
And some days just around the corner
Things change forever

Some days are wild
And some days sober
And some days just around the corner
Life befriends the stranger

Some days are calm
And some days are wild
And some days just around the corner
You lose her, whatsoever

Some days are painful
And Some days are euphoric
And some days just around the corner
Time freezes just for her

Some days are chaotic
And some days too much in order
And some days just around the corner
Life meets the same stranger

A trip to Pichavaram

If you heading south of Chennai, on East Coast Road, and if you are not stopping at Mahaballipuram, then you are definitely bound for the land of ‘Brew’ and ‘Bread’ – Pondicherry or Puducherry, as its now called. A third reason could be the ‘Beach’ but I did not find it to be that alluring because it was more rock than sand. I am sure that there are hidden beaches in and around Pondicherry, which are pristine and un-crowded. But other than the three ‘B’s, what really caught our attention was the presence of a mangrove forest nearby and the second largest mangrove forest in the world at that. The place is called Pichavaram and is situated 60 km south of Pondicherry on the Bay of Bengal coast. For the uninitiated, a mangrove is a swamp like formation on the coastline consisting of plants and vegetations which are tolerant to saline water conditions. Mangroves shelter fish, birds, crustaceans and other marine life. Mangroves are also important because they form a buffer that defends coastlines from flooding, erosions and tsunamis. India has both the largest – Sundarbans and the second largest (Pichavaram) Mangrove forests in the world.

According to us the best time to visit, any place in and around Chennai, is between November and February. All other months are really hot and humid. And though Pichavaram is a so called forest, it’s on a beach and without much shade or cover from an unforgiving sun. The ideal time in the day to visit Pichavaram would be 9 am, when the place opens for tourists, and wrap it up before 12 noon. Make sure you carry caps, shades and water bottles. We started from Pondy around 7:15 am and reached Pichavaram by 9 am. Ideally one should start a little earlier, say 6:30 am, and then one can do a few stops on route. The drive is scenic in patches and traffic less early in the morning.

 

 

 

The ECR is good to drive, other than the road within the Cuddalore town limits. It’s a horrible patch and if you are driving your own car you definitely need to give it a good pampering after the trip is over.

Food is a challenge as there are no good restaurants on the way. We packed our breakfast from Pondy and had it on-route and had planned to come back to Pondy for lunch. But if one is able to pack a light lunch as well then you could spend more time in Pichavaram. There is a restaurant of the tourism dept at Pichavaram but we did not visit it and hence cannot give a review per se.

 

The ticket booking office is a non-discreet building, with the ticket counter like any old single screen movie theatre. There is ample parking space if one is travelling by car or taxi. To venture into the sea one has two options – row boat or motor boat. The row boat is a better option as compared to the motor boat as a row boat can easily negotiate the insides of the mangrove forest and there is no danger of the blades getting tangled in the undergrowth. We were two people on a single row boat but our oarsman, Mr Sarvanan, told that the row boat can take up to 10 people and more the people it’s better for him to balance the boat and navigate. The row boats can be hired on an hourly basis with the minimum charge being approx Rs. 200 for two hours. Then there are four and six hourly charges.

Sarvanan, our oarsman, started rowing the boat and showed us the route we would be taking in the next two hours and it seemed like we were in for a boat ride in a lake. We didn’t drive this long, early in the morning, for just a boat ride. Bhujji started conversing with Sarvanan in his native tongue and told him that we wanted to go deep into the forest and see the place where a scene for the movie – Dasavatharam was shot. Sarvanan got all excited and started talking about places deep within the forest where there is very little sunlight, places where the branches tangle around you like snakes, place where there is a beach within all this and more. He said he could cover all this within the two hours that we had, at a price of Rs. 400 more. And this is what people usually do, buy a normal ticket and then negotiate with the oarsman for a better ride.

After the deal was set, Sarvanan changed course and started rowing with a purpose. Within no time we were in a new world, it was surreal and exciting at the same time. We had so far been to places where the plantations or woodlands were really tall, like trees, or were shrubs, like in gardens.  Or like a sugar cane plantation were the plants would be just a foot or two above you and have really dense growth on the ground level, where little light would penetrate. This was something like the later.

 

 

 

 

But what made it much more bizarre was that we were rowing through it and there was three to four feet of water beneath us. The water was murky and had no visibility. Had the water been clear it would have added to the surrealism. For now we just had to concentrate on the world above the waters. Bhujji was right in mentioning that it looked just out a scene from the movie - Anaconda.

 

Often at places we had to bend our heads, when we were passing through the undergrowth, to save ourselves from getting hit by a root, or was it a stem? We followed a small stream for some time, with vegetation all around and over us, and then it would open up into a small clearing of sorts, where the water was deeper, and the foliage was a little spread across.

 

 

 

Then Sarvanan would choose another maze and row us inside of it. Baffled we asked him if he knew the route and he told us that there are over hundreds of such labyrinths in the whole stretch of the mangrove and it took him more than two months to memorize all of them.

 

 

 

 

Often in between we saw other boats and fishermen going about their daily chores.

 

We were hoping to see a lot of birds, as it was early in the day and it was also the migratory season in south India, but got a little disappointed at that front. We only captured a lone Kingfisher.
 

 

 

 

Sarvanan mentioned that there are options to catch mud crabs and go fishing within the mangroves. I am sure there might be arrangements made, similar to the ones seen in National Geographic, to catch and cook, for if we are ready to spend the right moolah. Again if negotiated properly, one can carry a little brew and proper lunch and have a hearty meal on the boat with family and friends, within the mangroves. But I don’t want to give ideas here to the Indian tourist lot, who are unruly in general and disorderly at best.  But for those who appreciate nature and the wonders around, plan this trip well and experience something which is not your usual boating in the lake or a visit to the beach, for sure.

 

So for next time, we are thinking to get Bhai along for little fishing, which he completely loves to do, and crab fishing as well. Maybe an extended trip into the still unknown and definitely the beach within the mangroves. Then there is Mahabalipuram too, which was looked over in this trip, to be visited.

  
Until then, there is Bhujji getting ready with a post on all the gastronomic outing we had in Pondy. Not sure if I can wish you Bon Apetite!

                       
P.S: Our Oarsman, Mr Sarvanan’s, number is 09626616204. Keep your Tamils skills handy for a meaningful dialogue.

Soaking Nuts and Fruits for Christmas

“Cooking requires confident guesswork and improvisation-- experimentation and substitution, dealing with failure and uncertainty in a creative way”

                                                                                                             - Paul Theroux

I must admit that this is the onl kind of failure I would like to meet with on a daily basis. I love repeating my experiments and when they disappoint me I feel even more charged to set them up. I wish I had the same spirit for Life and my work in general. So as promised I have managed this post in between m vacation. We are leaving for Kerala in five hours but I had to post something. So here it is our experiment for the day.

Tis the season to be Jolly indeed and so we  decided to  soaking the  fruits and nuts for our christmas cake. We just came from a short trip to Pondicherry and I am all geared up for some baking after my encounter at Baker's street. That deserves a post of its own but since it's the season to bake cake I decided this post would come ahead and grace this blog. I have referred to a lot of recipes and the time period for soaking the nuts and fruits for christmas cake varies from a day ahead. a week, a month to a year. The longer you soak the better they  turn out to be says most recipes and I remember my aunts who were nuns referring to their time period for soaking nuts as 24 days. My hubby is uber excited after the Master Chef at office so he decided to take this soaking business seriously. 

We have been chopping the nuts and fruits from 6am and we finally have let them soak in peace. I am all excited since this is my first christmas cake. I hope nothing goes wrong after 21 days. We are lucky to have lavished walnuts this time because of our stock from Kashmir, I don't think we would bother adding walnuts next year. And the liquor from Pondicherry is the high light. So this  year's cake has supplies from Kashmir and Pondicherry which makes it even more special. I don't think a recipe is requires for this process but then when we needed one we did skim through umpteen recipes. So here is mine.

Ingredients for Soaking nuts and fruits for Christmas cake

Almonds- 150 gms chopped

Wlanuts- 150 gm chopped

Cherries- 100 gm finely chopped

Dates- 150 gm finely chopped

Sultanas/Raisins- 200 gms

Tutti fruity- 250 gm

Rum- 200ml

Wine (Red)- 200ml

Brandy - 200ml

Directions

Chop the nuts and fruits finely. If the pieces are big and chunky the cake will fall off or crumble when you  slice the cake. Once all the above mentioned ingredients minus the liquor is chopped, add them to a mixing bowl of plate and add the liquor.

 You will soon notice that the liquor is absorbed by the fruits immediately. I added a little more of rum when my hubby transferred the soaked nuts and fruits to an airtight container. 

Most recipes suggest stirring the mix for the first seven days. I will be doing the same. And I have my fingers crossed for 25th of December. Hope you baking enthusiasts and skeptics try this for once. If not baking lets make it an annual family ritual, what say?

 Do watch out for my French food safari in Pondicherry. I promise you a review on all the dishes and restaurants I savoured. But for now 'Deck the halls with boughs of holly.......

Master Chef at Office

WHO was all excited when he came home clutching an email print out that had declared a Master chef- chocolate special at their office. The instructions for the competition required each team with 3 members to come up with an innovative dish using lots of chocolate and strawberries/ any berries, nuts , kiwi or cinnamon.

WHO  told me I was part of his team because he had already committed to participate and his bosses had high hopes set on him.I invited this trouble by sending away to his office cakes and cookies for potluck and so when the team members had to be selected people unanimously yelled at how WHO deserves to lead the team because his wife ( that's me) is good at desserts. Frankly I don't believe the junta was madly in love with my cooking. This was perhaps their way of  enjoying a weekend by dumping the responsibilities onto someone else.

I have never experienced such a packed weekend with WHO all excited. We made three desserts over the  weekend and had my cousin brother over to finish them off. We made a strawberry cheese cake with white chocolate and a baked cheese cake by the way. It started seeping under my spring form tray and was mess when it cooled down. It did not give us the desired wow factor when we tasted a slice. My cousin forced us to try it once again because he found it heavenly. WHO was bent on the ideal dessert onto which he could show off some plating skills. And so I came up with the idea of trying a layered dessert set using ring moulds. We had a tough time getting the mascarpone cheese and white slab of chocolate. We felt our stars were waging wars to prevent us from participating in this event and as our first dessert flopped and then the chocolate mousse came out lumpy we decided we would not go ahead. And that's when I decided to go with ring mould and invent something of our own. And then we came up with this dessert. WHO named it " Chocolate layers with surprise strawberry centre"..The title I taught him was something complicated and so I liked his simple version.

And as we often deduce the climax of stories from the way they unfold you must have already realized that WHO indeed won the competition and he bagged first prize among thirteen teams and I am proud of my darling boy for taking our idea forward and plating it. He says plating and the surprise strawberry centre helped him bag the first prize.But I think it's his dedication too for if not him I would never bother trials of three desserts to try one.

 I am not giving away the recipe for now because I am waiting for few more pics taken by some of WHO's colleagues. It so happened that our camera was not functioning for two weeks and was under repair when this whole chocolate season began and I regret not having photographed  my creations giving them the due credits they deserve. But for the first time in our married life we got so engrossed onto a task so enjoyable so kudos to WHO's office for organizing this contest.

The winners and their creation. For those who aren't familiar with WHO he is the guy in the centre.

These are some of the creations plated by the other participants I guess the one below is a panacotta.




And this is a chocolate bundt cake with some strawberries and kiwi stuffed in the centre.

I am sure this bunch of guys had fun posing as judges and eating the cakes too :) 

I found the channa chocolate cake as per it's decoration quite interesting.

I like chocolate in any form so I can't say one was better than the other but obviously there was no novelty in most of the desserts according to WHO and maybe most desserts had an overwhelming chocolate feeling and the other ingredients was not sufficient to neutralise the chocolatey flavour.

I loved this dessert I could imagine how it would taste and this is something I would call my comfort dessert :)

First day at school

I woke up today feeling quite nostalgic. I dreamt my first day at school. And I was quite excited while narrating it to my hubby over a cup of tea. I don't claim to remember every single incident of my childhood unlike my brother, but the very few incidents that I remember, I cherish for a lifetime. I believe , I remember them for a purpose. Every time I go through my self doubting phase, I open my treasure  of childhood memories and they strengthen me. It helps me understand how I evolved ( that's a trendier word, than admitting I changed)

Today morning I remembered my first day at school. I remember the lunch box I carried. It  was an orange coloured mini briefcase with hardees written on it in bold yellow. ( Hardees was the Mc D of my childhood). Inside the case was my lunch box with a sandwich and a thermos with horlicks)

I remember my excitement in carrying it to school. No matter how many times I was served sandwich and horlicks at home, the fact that I was carrying a tiffin like my dad did to work excited me a lot. Such was my pleasure of owning the lunch box that while the teacher taught us rhymes, I opened my box and started eating. I don't remember if I did this out of hunger or at the pleasure of the new found independence of having a box that I could open and eat whenever I wanted. But I remember the teacher trying to make me understand I could not eat when the classes happened. I remember my mom trying to explain school had rules and time table. Even as a kid I found rules absurd and conforming to them a pain. Maybe radical education was my motto from birth.

I just knew I was not ready. Not ready to smile and draw slanting lines or paint apple on top of a single ruled page with A written all over. I was not ready to wake at 6 am and form an assembly line at  7. 

As days passed by and the teacher realised coaxing would not help, she decided the all time favourite punishment of teachers - beating with a wooden ruler ( I am so grateful we had no canes in Kuwait). I must admit I was a retard to believe a stranger would behave like mom just warn me with stick rather beat me. So when the teacher actually struck me with her ruler, I peed instantly wetting my skirt. I remember walking home all wet in a spare skirt the aayah who assisted the teacher. I had learned my lesson for lifetime, to conform. I wonder how differently they could behave to students who find it hard to accept the disconnect between school and home, real life and the foster one school imposes onto students.Years later I still harbour the same feelings for school but I regret for the years in between when I was trained into a docile hound. Today after a long time I feel I am my 'self' again and to think of it 3 or 29 it doesn't matter what age you are to understand the hoax around you :)

Taste of Jammu

I had a fabulous week at Jammu and Kashmir 3 weeks back. Though I have been trying to write about it, I was caught up with work and these pics got buried under my pile of unfinished posts. So before I lost track of my memories of Jammu amidst research, I thought I should put this up after all I struggled a lot with my weak batteries and tired camera trying to capture J&K in 7 days. Since I was on a conference at the University of Jammu, I spent 4 out of my 7 days in J&K at Jammu.

Jammu also known as the city of temples is a hot spot for pilgrims touring Vaishno Devi and Amarnath caves. I would call it a sleeper town, a very hot and arid one mostly located with dhams and a couple of small markets.But having lived in metro cities in the past 6 years, Jammu and it's silence was a warm welcome.I should admit at the outset I thought Jammu and Kashmir were twin cities and I was unaware of their cultural and geographical diversity. I landed Jammu Airport dreaming Kashmiri Wazwan and cold weather though I was well informed by then that Jammu was quite distinct from Kashmir. But then every city has it's charm and I did my best to unveil it through my gastronomical interest. Luckily I had a friend who was a Kashmiri pandit and from his mom I learnt some Kashmiri recipes. She was superexcited at our visit and prepared a banquet with all the popular Kashmiri dishes which I actually did not get to sample when I reached Kashmir. So thanks to Vikas and family I got first hand experience of Kahwa, Pink tea and many more delicacies right in Jammu which made my trip even special.

If there's something that excites me when it comes to shopping it's the sight of fresh vegetables. I think I inherited this interest from my mom. She ends up shopping more than we need for the week because she can't resist fresh veggies.I grew up in the Middle East- a desert basically. But the biggest joys of my childhood days was always connected to our weekly trips to the Fish market. I loved the sight of veggies and fruits even then. On my return back to India, I was disappointed at the sight of markets I visited. Vegetables always looked tired and asphyxiated. So I got used to the notion of munching on inferior quality veggies when the fresh ones were exported to far away lands like the one where I grew up for instance. So to the surprise of Vikas my friend I was in love with the vegetable market in Jammu and the vegetables looked so fresh, I thought I could eat them raw there.These pictures were captured in the dark and my batteries were really weak so maybe they can't give you a view of what I would want you all to see. But I found some fascninating veggies I hadn't seen elsewhere. The pic above ( starting from left) shows Gilki, Saag, Nadru and Shalgam. Gilki belongs to the Tinda, Lauki family. The saag has a pungent flavour something similar to leaves of Radish. Nadru is lotus stem and a delicacy the people of Jammu and Kashmir hold very dear. Shalgam or turnips are used in pickles, salads and curries.We visited this market for my friend who wanted to buy apples. We were told the apples come from Kashmir and is cheaper there but we were still happy to buy apples for Rs 40 per kg and pears for Rs 20 per kg. My friend had 8 kgs packed for her whole family while I managed to learn the local vegetables.

The prime attraction in Jammu city is Baagh- Bahu and Bahu fort with a garden and an aquarium which people boast is the largest aquarium in India. Both the garden and fort is named after the Raja Bahulochan who built this fort 3000 years ago. The fort is a religious place and has a temple dedicated to goddess Kali.It is here that Vikas introduced us to a popular snack popularly known as 'Kachaloo'. Kachaloo is a tuber similar to yam and mixed with a couple of spices it is a very spicy snack that could make you cry or worry your tummy. I just loved the ceramic bowl the hawker had in which he mixed his condiments.The aquarium was small and did not have the variety of fishes they promised us at the ticket counter and the gardens had very few flowers that wooed us but Kachaloo was worth the trip to the garden.

Though Jammu does not produce almonds and walnuts and they come from Kashmir, this was the first time my friend and I got to see nuts and pulses heaped like a mountain. Almonds, Walnuts and Razma ( not Rajma) is a treat for pilgrims who visit the city who might not make it to Srinagar thereafter.Though the nuts are overpriced than Srinagar it's way cheaper than any other part of the country. According to the experts a good quality almond when crushed between fingers produces oil. A decent quality of Walnut costs Rs 160 per kg with shells. Walnuts and Almonds are used very generously in the Dongri and Kashmiri cuisines. Kahwa uses almonds and Walnut paste is added in chutneys.



The Razma grown in this region is smaller than the Rajma we usually get in the market. And way it is cooked is different too, from the Punjabi or any other North Indian versions of Rajma.

A very popular snack in Jammu is kulcha. This is nothing but a bun stuffed with tomatoes, onions, chillies and cheese or any other stuffing. Kalari kulcha is the most popular kulcha which is bun stuffed with cheese. I love the pot the hawkers carry with the stuffing which is placed slanting on top of  another plate with the other veggies for the kulcha.

The conference we attended did not offer us non vegetarian food and since we stayed at a dham we had no access to non vegetarian food there either. I had lured my friend with pictures of Kashmiri Wazwan on the flight and since she was not joining me on my trip to Srinagar we decided to taste Mutton rogan josh from a restaurant. Now since Vikas my friend was a Kashmiri pandit settled in Jammu, he took us to a famous restaurant in Jammu that was run by Kashmiris. Though Vikas did not pass the rogan josh in flying colours and I realised his displeasure when I tasted his mother's rogan josh later, my friend and I had a wonderful time with Rogan josh after days of razmah chawal. On my trip to Kashmir later I realised the rogan josh served to me was similar to this curry that I had at the restaurant in Jammu. Which makes me wonder if there are different versions of Rogan josh in Kashmir. This one I tasted in restaurant was similar to the curries I had in the middle eastern restaurants in my childhood. Rogan josh has two meanings- Hot oil or Passioante red . I guess it gets this name from the red fiery Kashmiri chillies and the way of cooking it with a passionate heat.

Vikas's mom had a spread for us which she began cooking a day ahead.We were so stuffed with nuts and tea that when we sat for dinner we found it hard to finish one round of dishes served to us. My hubby said we would regret this later when we would wish we had atleast one of these gravies to savour.  The picture below shows Mutton pulao, Mutton Yakhni ( curd based gravy), Kheemia ( minced meat with spices), Dum aloo and Mutton rogan josh.

I have developed a fondness for yakhni and did try it in Bangalore once. I will update the recipe soon. Nadru or lotus stem was cooked in yakhni style too the pic of which you can see below. Nadru is also fried as chips for snacks.

I loved the way aunty made Kahwa. There are two versions of Kahwa and I will share both the recipes. Mughal tea is used for making Kahwa with tea leaves. A handful of almonds, cardamom and a piece of cinnamon is crushed. 2 tsp of tea leaves is boiled with 3 cups of water. When the tea has boiled sufficiently to the desired strength, the crushed condiments are added. Sugar can be added or avoided according to one's preference and the sieved tea is served as Kahwa. I found this version quite strong with flavour of cinnamon so I prefer the non tea- leaf version of Kahwa.



This version boils water with just one cardamom and three strands of saffron. And the result is a yellow coloured liquid which again can be taken with or without sugar. The pink tea however is a salty tea. The pink colour comes out when milk is mixed with the red coloured tea. But it was too salty for me and I had tough time associating salt to tea which prevented me from gulping copiously. I would go for the saffron version of Kahwa especially on cold wintery morning.



And it would be sinful to omit Vikas' favourite lacha kulfi. It was indeed the best kulfi I ever had minus the laccha which is just boiled vermicelli. Lali shah kulfi wala has the best kulfi in Jammu and if you ever happen to be there  don't miss it.



Looks can be deceptive they do taste way better than the pics and I loved them. My friend however had lot of salt on hers which she did not tell us till the end making us wonder why she  was tempting us poking around with her kulfi when Vikas and I were done and could easily go for another round. The kulfi wala was so sweet, he gave us a discount on the bill for this mishap and we had a wonderful time after a tightly packed day at shopping :)



The gastronmic journey of Jammu ends here and that means Kashmir is round the corner. Hope you loved this post as much as I did writing and researching on it. People tease me saying  J&K is famous for their scenic beauty and cuisine comes later well but I disagree perhaps it depends on the eyes of the beholder :)

Catharsis of a research scholar part 7 - Thesis detatchment

Many have told me this before but you never learn certain things unless you experience them and I am an experiential being. I always took my thesis quite seriously. I believed I was saving the universe with my work. I know many of you who have done this would be laughing right now and the rest would be wide awake wondering haven't I thought the same?  The thing with atleast some of us in Social Sciences is that we pick up topics close to our heart so we live them all the while. When we read the newspaper, a novel, watch a movie or hear a friend narrate an incident, we look for insights and that's how researchers are. Or atleast that's how I was. I would keep telling my hubby- "They need some lifeskills", "You corporates are screwing the education system". He trained himself to accept he was dealing with a passionate researcher. The next level would be consoling oneself not being able to put down all those running thoughts in one's head and not because you are cognitively impaired or grammatically incompetent (though your supervisor would attribute so) but because you feel anything you write is obvious or known to all. Yes, you end up believing the whole world grew with your obsession in the past few years you dedicated to research. And then you hit the pothole- I hate research phase. Days you read anything but work related, wish you studied something uninteresting, days you find some new literature and you panic because you never found it earlier. And you reach a phase I call - Thesis detachment.

I have recently realised the problem here is  that you never detached work and life in the first place. And you made the mistake or blurring the walls between life and work. It happens a lot in India and to women especially, when they are single or when they don't live with family. You have the world's time and resources and you get used to your one bedroom life so you read everything necessary and unnecessary and finally you end up feeling overloaded and detached. Now having said this - How does one stay away from this phase?

To a certain extent I think it's fine. But when I look back I regret for continuing this track so for fellow researchers there's few tips I would love to give you. 

1. Don't put all your eggs into one basket.  Don't mix research and life. Learn to stop thinking of work sometimes. Anyone who told you he works 15 hours a day is a liar. Man is not a machine, man runs machines. Science students claim they run experiments for hours. I have seen my friends set their set ups and then read something else. Unfortunately for social science students things don't work that way; we read all throughout. So it's obvious you don't do other stuff like read, go out (some do, but I have seen most don't) or enjoy. Learn to dissociate yourself for few hours a day and do something different from research.

2. Learn a new skill. I regret quitting violin, for not signing up more baking courses because those were the moments I experienced sanity. You won't lose time  from research when you engage in activities you like butu rather you will be in control of the detatchment phase.

3. Travel during weekends, meet new people. This seldom happens with people living in hostels inside campus. This is something I saw friends in Europe do and they all managed to complete their work. Something to look forward to helps us finish our work efficiently and also gives us space to detach ourselves from our thesis before it bores us. Researchers often end up asocial because we lose track of time once we start research. We end up being our sole companion and it's also irritating to talk to the same crowd who is constantly paranoid and anxious. Meeting people outside reminds us we live inside a bubble and there is a world out there.

4. Always remember your work is not for a nobel prize, it is just an academic exercise, no matter what anyone tells you. I admire people who look at research like a 9-5 job. They work only between those hours but they do full justice to their job. What I appreciate about this crowd which comprises mostly of married women is the fact that they get the better part of both their lives - research and family. They pick up topics that are reasonable and can switch off their minds as soon as they step off campus.

5. Do something everyday for your soul. Be it a jog, or buying a rose, reading a science fiction novel, reading a cartoon strip or grooming yourself. Make sure you do something for your soul. There are times you feel low because of the behaviour of others (supervisor, colleagues, journal editor or family) and that makes it even more  important that you bruise that esteem of yours.

6. Avoid negative people, negative vibes that takes you closer to thesis detachment. You will get that a lot in research life. People who scare you with their work schedules, achievements, relationships advises, big shots in their area and the job offers they get. It is also possible people overtake you and you feel lost. Beware of these people. It's an illusion, it's set up to pull you down. I use the term 'dementors' from Harry Potter for such people. They suck all the happy memories and feelings from you and make you determined to quit. But the fun part is using the 'Patronus charm' and evading the dementors.

So now you know what's causing the detachment it becomes easier to tackle. Always remember the degree you get is not for the knowledge acquisition, it is for the endurance and tolerance to a lot of these issues and for behaving professionally (that's how academics define it). It is for waking up every morning and asking yourself " Can I push it a little forward today?" and frankly it's for that you get the degree after 5 years, everything else was just part of the game.