Ishani's Pen

It’s been almost 2 months since I have settled in the beautiful city of Mangalore – the once unfamiliar city feels more like a ‘new home’ now, the people who seemed “foreigners” before are now more welcoming – the language barrier doesn’t seem like a problem anymore and I am also making an effort to learn Kannada for basic communication! However, one thing or rather culture of this place seemed a bit disturbing to me – the look of horror that is reflected in the people’s faces when they come to know that I am a 28 year old unmarried and “working” woman. What I realized here is that unlike North India or maybe unlike Assam, women’s education is not well promoted here. Though Mangalore is very near to Kerela, the state having 100% literacy rate in the country, literacy here is sort of limited only to men probably! Another thing which I had observed is that no sooner girls reach their teens, they are hooked up for marriage. And it is not that they are allowed to complete thei...

I was 18 years old when I moved out of my hometown, Guwahati for a hostel life in Delhi. That was July 2009! And now with the successful achievement of doctorate in 2019, I have completed 10 years of hostel life. With each hostel, I had gathered new experiences and made many new friends – some of whom are still in contact with me – and learnt many different things about different places of India. Like every other PhD student (and losing my father in between), I too was faced with the dilemma of whether I should continue with further research and move abroad or look for job in India. I believe that everything happens    for a reason – we just need to seek what that reason is! Though I had got a postdoctoral position in one of the “white collar” institutions of India, NCBS Bengaluru, I decided to join a teaching job in another city of Karnataka, Mangalore. After a tiring and SOLITARY journey of almost 7 hours (with 2 flight halts in between) from Guwahati, I landed in this ...