A review of the Blog: with focus on the period Oct-Nov 2025

 

Should I count this, I would have written 29 posts, all but nine of those written in the last two months. So we have been picking up steam indeed. I have restarted writing my IRL diary too. One would think that these two would compete for attention and time, but they are in fact in synergy. Great! 

Should one read (I use one for I know that rarely anyone does read this blog, much less read multiple posts of this blog) my posts from these two months, they will notice not the absolute chaos but one thread of patterns too. Like the emergence of the earliest life forms in primordial sludge.

 It starts with a poem 'Is my room too full? ??'. I had yet another fight with my mother over her sending stuff. I think it is only with a position of privilege that I can think this is a problem. While space is an issue, I have never been able to put forward that I am a grown, independent man now and don't need to be taken care of. The Vatsalya is sometimes a bit suffocating, I know it may sound a chochla, but I still think it is important. I was also in a bad spell mentally at this time. I think that shows up in my Hindi poetry trilogy that ends with पूर्ण समर्पण- एक हुंकार दीवार के आर-पार, indeed, total surrender (and support, love and gaalis from DD) did help me recover, and I feel great now. Well,  it was Chhath and Diwali and the festive atmosphere too. What I jokingly call the Lauva Bhaat exodus is perhaps the best anti-depression retreat. One can't just be depressed in this atmosphere:

As Chhath ended, I tried to read a Horror book, I can't seem to get into the genre in books or games or even films - but it was bad. It was also the first GR review I xposted here. It think some of the longer reviews might feature here. But if the review if in much detail, say like the two part one on Makers of Modern Dalit History [Part 1] [Part2]. These are not full reviews, but were some of the thoughts that occurred to me while reding the book. Compare this to my actual GR review. And mind you, this is one of my longest GR reviews. This blog is more suitable a medium posting my thoughts, while GR is much worse for deep takes. Unless you are Sajith Sir, just look at these monsterosities of a review he posts on GR. That man is a legend, but I am not. Hence this blog. That noone I know reads this, or even know of it makes writing my honest thoughts much easier. In an ideal world I would be linking this in my short GR reviews, but thats not a step I am willing to take yet. One day. Not today or tomorrow though.  And as november was about to rise like the late winter sun, came I introduced the charector of R Sir to the blog. This would have sounded much less parody like if I ever had a single dedicated reader, but it is what it is. 

November is a series time and started with four book reviews, two of which were advanced mathematics related to my research, both came from GR though. Then came, what can be at best loosely, call mediation cum review cum musings on a Bill Collins poem.  This was followed by hot takes on Poker Face.  Winter for me is both the month of seriousness as well as that of love, and I had to make the case for later here. A keen reader (I have previously concluded absence of an even stronger statement- absence of any readers itself- rendering this sentance  vacuously true) would observe sprinkling of my academic lore and Easter eggs and worries in side these posts too, hence inferring my fomer designation of the season. 

Then as the month proceed, NISER atmosphere grew darker. It's the seminar and end semester exam season. Unlike the Cold in Jatani which is fleeing, coming and going in waves, this mental atmosphere is unwavering. It only grows darker till your seminar. After which it's too much of a relief, rendering you unable to do much for sometime. Which is one reason I am writing the post as of now rather than preparing for the Harmonic Analysis exam on 2nd of December. We were taught the subject in a totally non rigourous ways and the exams are rather like memorizing and then vomiting out the assignments. Totally unlike Advanced PDE course whose worry (and then triumph) promoted two whole posts here. Another two posts came from my seminar, which also went well. 

Well, that's it. A review of all the posts. Once I was in too much of must-write-something mood. In June 2024, I wrote two posts on consecutive days and that was it. I think we have came a long way from then (Yes I used the We for me and the non present readership), there is no pressure to write now. It comes naturally. I think the craft will sharpen itself soon enough. Hope the new month brings good stuff for the blog, but more importantly for the real life. This blog is some kind of a retreat, but the real world needs to go to the washing machine and take my clothes out. That I must now. 

काम पूरा हुआ? Happily Ever After का भ्रम

 किसी भी बड़े काम को छोटे छोटे कामों में बात लिया जाए और फिर क्रमबद्ध तरीके से करें तो आसानी होगी। ये एक जग प्रसिद्ध उक्ति है। मुझे कभी तर्क समझ नहीं आया। आखि़र तो काम पूरा ही करना है, और मनोविज्ञान तोर से तो यदि हम एक काम कर लें तो एक आलस्य आ जाता है। अभी 4 दिन पहेली सेमिनार हो गया , तब से एक नया काम नहीं हुआ अपने लिए। DD और नई लड़की जिसका ज़िक्र एक दफ़ा किया था उनका थोड़ा ज़्यादा मदद किया। बाकियों का भी इधर उधर कुछ। लेकिन रूम में झाड़ू भी लगा दे ये नहीं होता साहस। आगे क्या पढ़ना है कुछ रखें हैं, लेकिन ये मोहिम भी यहीं तक सीमित है।

दरअसल कुछ सफल हो, जैसे ये सेमिनार या पहले भी कोई परीक्षा, तो जो अंदरूनी सुकून आता है और आगे काम में मन नहीं लगता । इति समापन । ॐ शांति शांति शांति। लेकिन ये सब फ़िल्मों किताबों की बाते हैं कि Lived Happily Ever After | असल में तो एक ही यात्रा अंतिम है, एक ही धाम मुक्ति धाम। उससे पहले किसी मंजिल में नहीं है आराम। आखिर आराम हराम है। लेकिन हम शायद हरामखोर ही हैं। कठोपनिषद्  में भी अंत और मोक्ष के बारे में कुछ ऐसा ही कहा गया है, स्वामी सर्वप्रियानंद से यूट्यूब पे देख कर पढ़ रहा था एक समय। लेकिन बीच में छूट गया तो छूट ही गया। अब देखते हैं, फिर से चालू करने का मन को बहुत है। शायद ज़ेनो की भी गलती ये ही थी कि को काम को भाग भाग में तोड़ देता था, आत्मा एक है और कर्म का हिसाब भी अथक हो रहा है, तो शायद जीवन को भागों में और काम को उपक्रमों में नहीं तोड़ना चाहिए।

Post seminar debriefing

 वर्षों तक वन में घूम घूम, बाधा विघ्नों को चूम चूम
सह धूप घाम पानी पत्थर, पांडव आये कुछ और निखर
सौभाग्य न सब दिन होता है, देखें आगे क्या होता है

-Ramdhari Singh Dinkar in Rashmirathi


If I may be dramatic, and being dramatic is what I suppose I am at least entitled as of now, and quote Dinkar, yes, my luck has woken up. And woke it did, at 1600 on the 25th. Yes, the 25th I called dreaded on the day itself. It has been kinder to me that I had been to it in times of tension. Even when ungrateful, I have somehow still been treated kindly, I have been a lucky man most of my life. In this way, at least. Well by topic was nice too, I got to show an image from a news article titled Solar Eclipse 2019 in India: Best Places to Spot the Annular Solar Eclipse in India   in a maths talk. It does look beautiful. 

Dare, and that I will for I am on my entitlement period as abovementioned, I say it looks better in the slides. 

Ek aur https://t.co/XdKn8B4h3w pic.twitter.com/ml7WF8y3l6

— Aryan Kumar Prasad (@Aryan_AKP) November 27, 2025

Gloating over what I call aesthetics (my lack of taste of which will be clear from the Blog's theme) and success aside, lets go over the talk. There were faces I didn't expect to come. Like last semester, R Sir made an unexpected entry. But this time, like in my Seminar for his class and unlike the RKHS Seminar in April, he was more content and fine rather than bewildered and bored as one normally sees him during talks. This was the highest praise I got from the seminar. This trumps multiple audience members and 2 committeemen letting me know that my talk was good. Even Panchalli, of the-algebraist-taking-advanced-PDE fame, said that it was the most entertaining talk of the session and the only one where she did not feel sleepy, even if I understood nought. My talk did not have elaborate poetry or such, or jokes or gimmicks as some love to add. The most "gimmicky" thing was the photo of the Solar Corona to explain why the Corona problem is called so. But blame Newman for coining the term. This one ain't on me. 

My narrative structure did work, it seems. But one committee member, better known as Fatakeshto for his in-seminar antics, he told at the end of the talk that "you promised to take us to Kashmir, but took us to Daringbadi. I was not bad, but misleading". But I still think the talk would be too bland without the "clickbait" of the Kashmiri Corona Problem.  Estimates are dry, pure estimates might catch the fancy of some, but I think motivation, and mind you I ask of no dastardly "real world" applications, for estimations are needed. And hopefully, next semester, I will be completing reading Carleson (1970) , with of course help from Garnett which unlike Duren has actual complete proofs., and take the committee to Kashmir, but only if  तुने मुझे बुलाया शेरा वालिये, मैं आया मैं आया शेरा वालिये . That's it, hopefully no more seminar talk for six months. 

Pre Seminar briefing

 The dreaded 25th has arrived. There have been no 'gentle reminder' but my guide has already announced my talk before:

Dear all, 
This is an announcement of a math seminar by an integrated MSc-PhD student. The details are as follows.
Speaker: Aryan Kumar Prasad
Date and Time: 25-11-2025, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM.
Venue: SMS Seminar Room.
Title: Zeros and Factorization of Bounded  Analytic Functions
Abstract: In 1962, Lennart Carleson solved the Corona Conjecture, a major problem concerning the maximal ideal space of the algebra of bounded analytic functions on the unit disk. Carleson proved the result by solving an equivalent analytic formulation known as the Bezout problem, or the reduced corona problem. The proof relies on precise estimates of the moduli of bounded analytic functions, which in turn require an understanding of how these functions vanish. In this talk, we will derive the necessary and sufficient conditions for the zeros of a bounded analytic function and construct the canonical factorization using Blaschke products.
All are cordially invited.

Slides are also made, the report submitted and printed out. Mocks given. What remains is the actual talk. This blog post, the bound on whose maximum readership will not be above 5, is just ranting, venting and procrastinating. 

I have tried a different approach to the seminar this time. Narrative based. Starts with motivation, develops the machinery, and states some estimates without any proof (they are in the report though) and even lays out a roadmap for completing the proof of the Corona Theorem a la Wolfe.

 The meat of the talk that develops the Blasckhe products is the part I found most unsatisfactory. The theory is nothing much advanced, even Rudin and Convey have it (but I will swear they were absent when i was looking for them). The "big brain" proofs are the equivalence of Corona Problem nd Reduced Corona Problem as well as the two estimates, neither of which will I be proving. I can only hope to make "motivation" masaledar enough to suit the bland basic complex analysis I am serving.

The tension this time is unlike before. I might have said before that I was more worried about the presentation in R Sir's class. That turned out well. But I was worried about a last minute change and in aew of R Sir there. For today, I think my work itself is not worth anything. I am not afraid of $\epsilon$ or $\delta$, the problem is, I am not getting much after boring the committee with those. Also, I do think I am rather unprepared to deal with questions if someone asks me more regarding the Gelfand theory implications. 

I should not waste my time here and get back to those functions. I will just leave you with my thoughts, which Nana Patekar perfectly delivers:

Advanced PDE Seminar Advanced

I previously noted the tention regarding the internal assessment for the Advanced PDE course. Today it happened, and it was a job well done, and satisfying enough it was. What was supposed to be a 20 minute disaster became a 2 hour learning cum satisfying experience. 

As noted previously, once again it was Krantz who came to my rescue. And on top of that I even prepared notes. Yes, me, the one who needs a scribe to do rough calculations, wrote down notes myself. Full 12 pages of monstrosity it is. It was, for I need now to rewrite it and submit it to R sir. 

The entire talk was like an actual teaching experience with an argumentive, attentive, eager and open audience. It was unlike previous seminars which were an anxious perfomance to a largely don't-care audience with some troublesome elements sprinkled in between. It was teaching. Teaching like R Sir. Teaching as if the teacher cares if the subject. As do the audience. Board work, matters. Pace of writing, matters. Knowing what to erase, matters. Giving references, matters. Knowing which step is the key, matters. Teaching can be an art as well as a science. To quote Snape on Potions, it is a "subtle science and exact art". Well, it can be. We all know what it can be at its worst.

Chalo, talk done for this sem too pic.twitter.com/wyoKoaZyYq

— Aryan Kumar Prasad (@Aryan_AKP) May 2, 2025

I think it is probably one of the few times R Sir appeared to be almost happy with any student. I made a silly silly mistake regarding some domain, was caught and panicked. Instead of the usual R Sir we all love and fear, he took on the stage and worked it about on the spot with me. That he did. Unbelievable. Even consulted me about it. He has an heart, it's just not open to public. 

Anyway R Sir was satisfied with my work, I have no need to give another attempt or attend other's second and third attempts. All this modulo submission of giving the assignment next day that is.