Page 5 - Musings 2021

Preface

Let us give ourselves wings so that we can fly but where and why? Let the child in us
filled with innocence, curiosity, and a limit with no boundaries, decide. Systematic is
subtle; sprawled is sublime. Desire to go for the grasp that extends our reach,
otherwise what is there to aspire. Be one with the flow; the attempt to control the
forces drains us of all that we cherish. Uncertainty, intricacy, inexplicability, etc. add
the tinge of surprise, coaxing us to unravel the depth, hitherto either unknown or never
paid heed to.

To deal with these tumultuous times, all of us struggled to survive and thrive. At
BITS, the administrative dignitaries never let us loosen our grasp. Their
encouragement and support sustained us during these difficult times. At the
department level, the whole set of faculty had been contributing in their own ways.

BITS Pilani accords with appreciation the approval of Ms KR Meera, the recipient of
the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (2015) to be a part of our endeavour.

The department wishes to acknowledge the support and encouragement of the vice
chancellor Prof Souvik Bhattacharyya. We are deeply indebted to the director Prof
Sudhirkumar Barai for sharing with us his broadened vision of opportunities and
imagination. We profusely thank the dean administration Prof SK Verma for guiding
us through the requisitions and boosting our morale. The department feels indebted to
the dean AUGSD Prof AP Singh for being our pillar of strength to help us deal with
the ordeals of these ever fluctuating aberrations. We thank all other officials of BITS
Pilani, Pilani campus for being with us in our endeavour. As the editorial team, we are
extremely thankful to all the faculty members of the HSS department for their support
in all possible ways.

The contributors have shown a predilection to challenge the language at certain points
to sustain the sense of the expression. Experts from myriad areas with their
individually distinct insight could add only a flavor that when savoured takes one to
the another world probably never experienced before.

The contribution of students, specifically Ms Punita Raj and Mr Abhijith Venugopal
also deserves special mention. Special thanks are due to Mr Yogya Modi who agreed
to assimilate the data into soft copy and give it its current shape. Sincere thanks to all
the contributors who helped us weave this gossamer of delicacies; they were given the
liberty to work on the ideas of their own choice.

No one deserves less than perfect – we hope to provide the readers with entries that
wield the charm to delight their aesthetic taste.

Devika

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