After the chaos of the first day, I was half expecting the second one to be just as scattered.
It was not. It was a quiet, good day.
Late, For Once
On the first day I sat in a room for an hour waiting for a meeting to begin. This time it went the other way.
I took a Rapido and reached college around 1 PM. The meeting had already started. I found a seat and caught up.
What the Session Covered
The session was genuinely useful — practical information that is hard to piece together on your own and easy to be told in an hour:
- IndiaAI Fellowship and the research grants available to scholars
- Turnitin — the plagiarism checking software
- Google Scholar — an introduction and how to use it
- Scopus — an introduction and basic usage
- Permission letter process for getting an official email ID and Wi-Fi access
None of this is exciting on paper. But it is the groundwork everything else sits on. Grants decide what is possible, Turnitin decides what is acceptable, and Google Scholar and Scopus are where most of the reading and citing will happen for the next few years.
The Empty Seats
The one thing that bothered me was how many part-time scholars did not attend.
I understand why. Most part-time scholars have full-time jobs, and getting away for an afternoon session is not always easy. But this was exactly the kind of session that saves you weeks of confusion later. A lot of people are going to have to figure all of this out on their own.
The Attendance I Never Marked
Here is the slightly funny part.
On the first day, I stood in front of a camera so the biometric system would know my face. On the second day, I did not mark my attendance or do the facial biometric check at any point. Not once, the whole day.
The system knows my face. It just has no record that I was there.
Letters, and an Invitation
After the session, I met the HOD about the permission letters for my official email ID and Wi-Fi access — the same process the session had just explained. I got both.
Then the HOD invited me to give a guest lecture. One hour, on 18 September 2026, from 2 PM to 3 PM.
I did not expect that on day two. I am still preparing the slides.
Two Minutes With My Guide
Around 4 PM, I met my guide. It was a short meeting — about two minutes. Nothing much was discussed, and then I left.
After a first day where I could not meet my guide at all, even two minutes counts as progress.
Where Things Stand
- Official email ID and Wi-Fi letters: done
- Attendance for the day: not marked
- Guest lecture: 18 September, slides in progress
Compared to the first day, this one was calm. Fewer moving parts, more actual information, and one new thing to prepare for.
That is a good second page.
Written on 8 September 2026.