The recent past

I have been a free bird, not limited by any daily office routine; an outsider, not being a part of any system. I browse the Net, do hypography (@ forums.hypography.con) read and edit at wiki, and occasionaly write a book or two. I call myself a science communicator with interest in science education.

This phase of my life began some five years ago. Before that I was a scientist fellow at the National Institute of Science Communication (presently it is called NISCAIR). At that time, I was associated with a science magazine called Science Reporter. I had to go to the office everyday, talk to its editor Biman Basu, and the associate editor Hasan Jawaid Khan, most of the time, and occasionaly, once in a month, produce an article or two for the magazine. I had a regular column in Science Reporter called Curiosity Corner, in which I used to answer several questions asked by teenaged science students, related to various facets of science. In fact I produced about thirty articles in this series on topics ranging from Energy to Brain through topics like 'sizes and shapes' etc. I enjoyed doing it! I also frequently wrote about computers for the non initiated. At that, PC's were a bit expensive and so was the internet connectivity, but many readers were interested to know more about them.

Those were the days

The most memorable part of my life, was the time I years I spent at IIT kanpur as a graduate student. It was indeed my first opportunity to stay away from home over an extended period of time, I stayed there for more than seven long years. It was possible for me to do so because, all graduate students of IIT kanpur are assured of a scholarship, which is much more than what a graduate student can expect elsewhere.

I had o room of my own, I could make many friends, with whom I could chat and discuss any topic.

About Me

My Name my Identity

My father inherited my surname from his forefather, he in consultation with my mother gave me my first name, I decided the middle name, while I was an adolescent, The result is that my name was Rakesh Mohan Hallen, till Indian Institute of Technology conferred on me a Doctorate degree and so I am presently called Dr. Rakesh Mohan Hallen. Friends often call me Charlie.

Memories Of the School

I completed my primary and secondary education in a neighboring private school, called Lahore Montessori School. To begin with I had an average record, till the class 8, onwards I started getting noticed and becoming smarter. The result I stood First among the thirty odd students of my class in the Board examinations for "higher secondary" and received a distinction in physics. Incidentally, I was the only student from the school to passed the examination in First division or get a distinction in any subject.

Those were the days!

Since I had received a distinction in physics and fared pretty well in mathematics too, my first choice was an engineering education. I appeared for the IIT entrance too, but my father could not afford an off station education for me (I have six brothers and sisters, all of them younger than me). So the best choice left for me was to persue for a B.Sc. degree. At that time, B.Sc.(hons.) Physics was the undergraduate course in vogue at Delhi University. Incidentally I may add that I have resided in a rented house, located very close to University of Delhi, in a locality called Jawahar Nagar. But, although my marks in the High school examinations were above average, they were not sufficient to get me admission in B.Sc. physics hons. I had no option but to choose the next best course, B.Sc. (hons.) Chemistry. Those days, for hons students, classes for the main subject were conducted at the University Department of Chemistry, which is located about 2 km away from my residence and classes for the subsidary subjects (physics and mathematics) were held in college where I was registered, the Hansraj Collge, located about 500m from my residence.

I remember, that from day one I was the most vocal student in all lectures. I would ask almost all teachers lots of questions. It is during this period, from 1969-72 that my present personality started taking shape. For example, I initiated some wall papers in the college and the Chemistry Department. I also wrote poems that were published in the college magazine. In addition I prepared notes for the History of Science paper, a qualifying subject in B.Sc (hons.) curriculum, for which no book was available as per the syllabus. I even gave most of my classmates copies of these notes, the result, I was fairly popular among my 300 odd peers.My favorite teacher was Professor M. M. Kapoor, I often used to engage him in long discussions. He is now a friend, and we often enjoy a cup of tea together.
After I graduated, I opted to get into postgraduation, I was indeed by the profession of a university teacher, I wanted to be one. The other thing that fascinated me was non equilibrium thermodynamics. I wondered how the second law explains the living organisms. I had reads some books and articles by Ilya Prigogine on the subject and wanted to persue futher on this course. I knew that it would be indeed impossible to go to Belgium, so the next option was to study close near home. I would have loved to bee admitted to the M.Sc. program at IIT Kanpur, but again the family limitations came in the way, and ultimately I registered for the M.Sc. in Chemistry at DU. My performance during M.Sc. was an improvement over that in B.Sc. I Was indeed counted amongst the brightest students of the batch. In the second year we could opt for one stream from the three, I opted for physical chemistry, perhaps my inclination towards physics persisted. In the final semester I wanted to persue Non equilibrium thermodynamics or statistical thermodynamics, but Professor V.M. Khanna the only esteemed professor who could offer the course would not do so because I was perhaps the sole student opting for it. Ultimately I opted for Advanced Chemical Kinetics, Professor H. C. Malhotra agreed to take this course. Prof. Malhotra was definetly not as dedicated as Professor V. M. Khanna, but was ready to innovate. So he allowed the three students who opted for the course, to study on their own and teach each other in the class. Perhaps his sole contribution was to set the examination paper!
Any way I passed the semester, I was the highest scorer and my cumulative performance was perhaps second only to one. I was rather average as regards the practicals, and my performance in practicles bogged me down.