Wednesday 26 February 2014

India Fusion conference; mid-way report

It's the end of the middle day of the Fusion '14 conference.  I must say, that I've felt a bit out of it all, having totally stayed on English time during the first two days, attending the morning sessions in a state of somnolent stupor.  Too bad, then, that my talk was yesterday morning.  I did feel kind of dazed through it.  Oh well;  I've at least had some good chats to people during the tea breaks, and it's been nice to catch up with some old friends.  I've made some new ones and have a calculation to do for a PhD student in Chandigarh, thanks to a referee who suggested they perform a calculation which is rather specialist (but which happen to have the means to do).

Today was the day with the excursion, which took place after lunchtime.  It was to the Akshardam Temple, about an hour's drive on the east side of Delhi.  My small amount of research before going revealed that it is very large, and also very new (finished in the last 10 years).  I prevaricated about going, partly because of just feeling quite knackered, but I'm glad in some ways that I did - getting out of the lecture theatre has really helped me feel a bit more human.  It was slightly odd going to a big religious structure that was so new.  It shouldn't have been odd, but typically we seem to go to such things (as tourists) because they are old.  I found myself musing about such thing and being glad I went, though I might have found sitting my hotel room more comfortable.  Then came a couple of hours of 'entertainment' which consisted of a series of presentations, which I struggled with a bit, not being part of the religion.  Anyway, I am glad I went on the excursion, though I wouldn't have minded terribly if it were to somewhere else.

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