“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.”

~ Socrates

“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they

can learn.”

~ Albert Einstein

I have been asked for my opinion on the mentor-mentee relationship and I am happy to do so. I have been writing about this subject in my blogs for some time, and some of my views can be found there. I made an honest effort to offer a few constructive ideas, which I believe, would help the budding scientists/young researchers/students to navigate better during the lonely, often made hard by the lack of mentorship, travel across the academic world.

First, let me replace the phrase “mentor-mentee relationship” with the more conventional teacher-student or guide-student relationship because the mentor-mentee relationship has a mechanical ring that I do not particularly like. To begin with, one can always learn best from examples. Many of our great scientists had no known mentor, at least not at an advanced level. Neither Newton nor Einstein had any known mentor. The same with Gauss. Both Gauss and Newton had help from an uncle if I remember correctly but only at a very early stage. In India, Ramanujan, S. N. Bose, C. V. Raman and several other great scientists hardly had anybody we can call a mentor. Of course, we can argue that had Hardy not rescued Ramanujan, he would have been less successful.

There is another famous story. The philosopher, writer, Will Durant once wrote to famous teachers of the world asking for their most memorable experience as a teacher. Among many responses received, he was intrigued by the answer of Prof. S. Chandrasekhar (of Chicago, the great astrophysicist) who sent a brief reply stating that his most memorable experience was when he taught advanced theory to a class at the University of Chicago with only two students. He used to drive 30 miles just to take this class 2-3 times a week because it was enjoyable. It was his best experience. Will Durant wrote back, asking the name of these students who engaged such a brilliant person as Chandrasekhar himself. The answer was again a short letter with two names “C.N. Yang and T.D. Lee”, both Nobel Laureates who are famous for many theories we do not need to go into. The main point to note here is that all three enjoyed the class and to quote Chandrasekhar: “We were discovering the subject in every class”. Also note the respect Prof. Chandrasekhar had for his two students, while he was already a legend at that time.

In our more mundane life experiences, what is the best a teacher can do? Let me first state that there can be no hard and fast rule. Each student is different, and each teacher/guide is different. From the school days, a teacher gets to interact and possibly influence a large number of students. From that point alone, there should be more focus on teachers, and in India, we do not fare well on that front. During my pre-PhD days in India, I probably had all in all just about three or four influential teachers, and I have talked about them in my blogs. Let me now just mention Prof. Sadhan Basu. He influenced me and other students just by being brilliant, being different, being an eloquent teacher. He taught a generation of students that it was more important to ask “why and how” rather than just being content with “what”. But, unfortunately, we Indians are generally obsessed with the “what”.

Teaching can always be best performed by examples and stories. So, let me chronicle briefly a couple of stories from my own life experiences while I was studying abroad. The first one is a memorable one that I still remember vividly. I was taking an advanced Applied Mathematics course with Prof. Lawrence (Larry) Sirovich at Brown University. I was the only Chemistry Ph.D. student taking the course, while several Physics and of course Mathematics students were crediting the course. A few weeks into the course, a problem set was handed out, that needed the use of the computer language “APL”. As I could hardly even spell “computer” and had not seen any computer in my life till then (it was the fall of 1976), I was completely freaked out and met the professor to inform him that I would be dropping the course. Professor Sirovich told me to wait and to come back on a Thursday at 4 PM. As I went, I found another gentleman was sitting in his office and talking with the professor. Therefore, I was hesitant and did not enter, but did go to the next class. Professor Sirovich asked me, after the class: “Biman, why didn’t you come yesterday? I asked the head of the computer science department to help you out. He is an expert on APL.” Not only did I feel stupid, but also stunned, as I was not used to such positive and personal treatment. I have several other experiences with Professor Sirovich that I shall chronicle somewhere else, maybe in my blogs. I went on to do well in the class, scoring A+ in both the semesters.

My next story is about my experience with Prof. Robert (Bob) Zwanzig whom I worked with several times and over multiple projects. He was perhaps the greatest in our time in Statistical Mechanics of Physical Chemistry. Once I was trying to derive an equation that involved going from Eq. 23 to Eq. 24 in a paper on phonon localization (by Sompolinsky, if I remember correctly) and I was stuck; it seemed like forever. I was frustrated and went to Bob (he strictly advised me early not to call him Professor), and said “Bob, I am stuck. I feel so stupid”. He looked at the equations, and told me “Don’t feel so bad. This is tricky. I shall show you a quick and dirty way to derive the equations.” Then he derived the equation on the blackboard by using the projection operator technique (a technique that he himself invented). But, he was very nice, almost indulgent, that did a lot to boost my morale and self-esteem. Thus, a mentor must be kind, considerate, observant, thoughtful, and after all, enthusiastically responsive.

The great scientist Albert Einstein pointed out that “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” Hence, at a deeper level, the challenge of a teacher/mentor is to ignite bright minds, to stimulate them. As Feynman famously stated, a good student does not need a teacher, and the same for a poor student. This is an interesting view, keeping a limited role for a teacher.

However, we probably are not talking of such great teachers & students. At a mundane level, a teacher/mentor should enforce/inculcate certain reading and writing habits. These two are the most important habits for success, writing in particular. This is an essential life skill in academia. The mentor must inculcate certain disciplines. I often find students are quite indisciplined in their approach to academic activities. Students must be encouraged by the teachers or guides to participate actively in discussions, must be coaxed to ask questions, not just being silent participants.

A teacher should, or, rather must, take care of certain aspects of the development of his/her students. Similarly, students should also keep in mind a few important criteria while selecting the Ph.D. guides/Mentors. In the following, I mention a few points that both the teacher and the student should ensure:

• In order to grow as an academician, the development of verbal communication skills is crucial. In general, Indians love to talk; however often, are not sufficiently articulated in expressing themselves clearly. Communication skill is an important aspect for one to develop and it can be best done by sharing thoughts regularly. Effective, useful and meaningful communication is an integral part of any successful research career. It helps when a student develops a lot of meaningful professional contacts, mingle with other researchers in conferences and corresponds with professors/peers even when they are not able to reply. Productive communication at a personal level is an extremely important ability of a student that can go a long way during his/her growth as an academician or in securing a scientific career. A good mentor should take care of this aspect in his/her student.

• Developing writing skills is an essential quality for Ph.D. students. Writing is a way to discipline oneself and will surely help an academician lifelong. In fact, it is like meditation as writing helps in clearing up the mind, perception, and concept. But, unfortunately, presently in India, the key point of concern is the lack of writing skills in young researchers, especially in English, which is very much essential in academia, and there seems to be no way out of this constraint at present. A good advisor always should make a sincere effort to inculcate certain writing habits in his/her students on a regular basis.

• While too much reading can rot a mind, focused extensive reading is a necessity. One should not get away with minimum reading. This could be fatal in the long run. Hence, there is a balance in inculcating a reading habit of a student. A teacher/mentor has a major role in building this good habit of the students or inspiring him/her persistently.

• A student should be always honest and loyal to his/her mentor and colleagues as well. Hardworking people are (almost) always honest. Honesty and hard work go hand in hand. It is important to note that the teacher and student should have mutual respect towards each other, which would create a positive and vibrant ambiance of learning. If a student is loyal and grateful, the student will also find good people around him/her. In the same way, the teachers should also have the accountability to be respectful and truthful towards everything, which would inspire his/her students automatically to follow the same path. There is a famous saying: “The apple does not fall far from the tree”. Teacher and student both must remember that proper company is extremely important. Just like a son or a daughter, a student always observes his/her teacher/mentor. Students are influenced. The term “academic father” is true.

• Both must keep in mind that working on a thesis has a time limit, which is not infinite. Therefore, the guide must advise the student to be with other motivated hard-working students – he/she should not mingle with easy-goers or lazy ones. The teachers need to note that many research students transform into good academics when they pair up with other sincere, honest and hard-working students. Hence, teachers should ensure that the students are on the right track.

• A student must understand the importance of a good thesis advisor or mentor in his/her growth as an academician. It is one of the most significant decisions in a Ph.D. student’s life. Students do not know or understand how important this decision is going to be until much later in their academic careers. A student needs certain preparedness while selecting the mentor. In several departments in academia, a guide, supervisor or mentor is “assigned” to a student and the student is not permitted to change the guide afterward. Though a frequent change of mentor should not be encouraged, the teachers should ensure that there should be an exit pathway or way out for the student if he/she needs to change the mentor. The student does not know his/her future, but one can try his/her best to make the next 4-6 years that he/she is going to spend in a research group, successful and enjoyable.

• The teacher/mentor should ensure certain continuity in studies. From Rabindranath to Vivekananda, all great people advised us to shun laziness, to write and work everyday. In IISc Bengaluru I have indeed seen such people and they have my respect. Long vacations/breaks are counter productive.

• Finally, a mentor must earn and keep the respect of the student . Students are no fools. They observe. I have found that some professors often indulge in behavior that is inappropriate and immature. To be a mentor, one needs to be careful and avoid such acts.

All the above aspects and many more are put forth in a book entitled “Vignettes for Success in Academia” written by me and recently released by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), edited by Prof. Ashok Singhvi. In this book, I, as a teacher with teaching experience of about 40 years, pointed out some of the points mentioned above in order to help Indian researchers, young students, and newly joined faculty members who face an uphill battle continuously, often with insufficient help from the system. A researcher’s journey from self-learning to self-appraisal, from failure to success is covered in the book along with well-narrated examples of several great minds. The stories of the great minds would surely inspire and guide the young researchers to expand their vision and to build self-confidence.

Acknowledgement

The author thanks Dr. Sarmistha Sarkar for help and suggestions in preparing this essay. I also thank DST-SERB for a National Science Chair Professorship.

No one was ever really taught by another; each of us has to teach himself. The external teacher offers only the suggestion which rouses the internal teacher to work to understand things.

~Swami Vivekananda

Biman Bagchi is National Science Chair Professor (DST-SERB) & Honorary Professor, SSCU, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Confluence, its editorial board or the Academy.

I thank the editors of Confluence for inviting me to share my “perspective and thoughts on the process of mentoring in the broad area of mathematical sciences”. There are many outstanding mathematicians in India who are undoubtedly better qualified to speak on such an important topic. Some of them have even taken effective steps to improve mathematics in India considerably.

I believe that it is important to start from an early stage and spot talented students in mathematics as early as possible. This is essential for mathematics to blossom fully in India.

My journey in mathematics essentially began in 1971 when I joined ISI as an M. Stat. student. For the first time I was being taught by active mathematicians and statisticians who completely changed my outlook and approach to mathematics. At that time overall scenario of mathematics in India was not very satisfactory. There were essentially two internationally recognized centres in the country for research in mathematical sciences – TIFR and ISI (located only at Calcutta then).

TIFR became a strong centre for research in certain central areas of mathematics such as number theory, algebra, algebraic geometry, Lie groups, representation theory, ergodic theory and other specialized fields. Many TIFR mathematicians became leading figures in the world in their respective areas of research. ISI was considered as a leading centre for research in statistics and probability in the world. It was probably the most prominent good centre for research in certain areas of mathematics too.

However, these two institutes stood as isolated ivory towers with hardly any impact on the rest of the country. There was practically no interaction between even these two institutes. One can see how bad the situation was from the fact that for quite sometime the Bachelors and Masters programmes in statistics of ISI was possibly the only high class option available to most students in India (especially in the eastern region) who wanted to pursue higher studies in mathematics. As late as in 1979-80, Armand Borel, a permanent professor of mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, expressed his disappointment to me that TIFR, in spite of having so many world class mathematicians, had no impact on the country.

Since then India has come a long way in mathematics. Now there are many good options to study mathematics available to students. Formation of the National Board for Higher Mathematics in India (NBHM) by DAE sometime in the late 70s was a turning point for higher mathematics in India. NBHM regularly organizes schools in mathematics for college and university students as well as for research fellows and young faculty. It also conducts Mathematics Olympiad for school students. Led by some of the best mathematicians of the country and with active participation of mathematicians from across the country, by now it has made invaluable contributions to the improvement of mathematics in India. Added to this the introduction of B. Math.-M. Math. program of ISI, the Mathematics program of CMI and IISc., and introduction of mathematics in new IITs, IISERs, NISERs etc. have helped the growth of mathematics substantially in India. Today India is internationally recognized as one of the advanced countries in mathematics.

In spite of all these, there is still much room for improvement. I will now proceed to give my ideas on how we should go about making further improvement. There are several stages of education starting from school to college to university and finally to research that a person has to pass through to become a scientist. I shall be concentrating on each of these stages separately.

School Level

I shall repeat a view which has been expressed at various fora. At the beginning level, say up to class four or five, the course content should be minimal. Till this time the conventional classroom teaching should be limited to languages, literature and arithmetic only. This will leave time for extra curricular activities like sports, debate, drama, music, reading stories and articles, fun games using geometrical shapes, numbers and natural sciences etc. Visits to museums and science museums should be organized. Written examinations should be conducted on languages, literature and arithmetic only.

All major educational centres should have outreach programmes to schools. In this respect, the introduction of mathematical olympiads for school students at higher level by NBHM has been very effective in generating interest in mathematics. This has given opportunities to the students to attack problems beyond their school curriculum and think originally.

College and University Level

In my opinion, this is where independent India went quite wrong. To start with the salary of teachers as well as funding for research were quite poor. The infrastructure of universities and colleges were dismal. This automatically led to serious brain drain problem. The importance of bright young students being taught by active scientists was not realised even by scientists themselves. I have often wondered why did planners of independent India not try to strengthen the universities. Did J. C. Bose, P. C. Ray, K. S. Krishnan, S. N. Bose, M. N. Saha, Vijayraghavan, R. C. Bose and even P. C. Mahalanobis etc not teach in universities and colleges?

ISI was the first research institute in India that introduced Bachelors and Masters programmes in statistics. The high national and international standing of ISI’s B.Stat. and M.Stat. degrees is a testimony to the difference that learning from high quality researchers can make for young students. In a KVPY interview a professor from IISc told me that they were finding it hard to get properly trained and motivated research scholars because of the poor teaching in universities and colleges. Through KVPY programme they hoped to catch some bright students immediately after they left school and train them during vacations at IISc and other institutes. Other programmes where some limited number of bright students were given opportunities to work with active mathematicians and scientists during their vacations were also introduced. Clearly these measures were too little for a vast country like ours.

NBHM has done a splendid job by organizing regular training schools for college and university students, research scholars and junior faculty. It also organizes schools in some specialized topics. Since last one and half decades several new IITs, NITs, IISERs, NISERs have been opened. All of them are required to run UG and PG programmes. This has helped to improve mathematics in India and is quite likely to show its benefit to the country in the near future. However, it is unlikely to cater to the majority of students. The standard and the infrastructure of the universities must be improved substantially if India wants itself to be counted among the best in the world.

Research in Mathematics

It has been correctly said by Professor R. Gadagkar: “A Ph.D. degree is awarded to a person who has shown evidence of conducting original research and has produced significant new knowledge to a chosen area of work.” (source article) However, in my opinion if the thesis contains a new and interesting idea or a new way of looking at a known thing, it should also be enough. To achieve this the supervisor of a research fellow should leave him/her as free as possible. However, it is the responsibility of the department to which the research fellow belongs to prepare her/him to a level where he/she is in a position to identify which area interests him/her the most and choose the supervisor accordingly. In mathematics, except in highly exceptional cases, a fellow must not be assigned a supervisor in the first year of her/his joining the department. During this period the student should be exposed to the basics of several current areas of research.

It is the responsibility of the research fellow to prove herself/himself worthy of a Ph.D. degree. The supervisor should be careful not to contribute much to the work of a research fellow though he or she may help the fellow to find suitable problems. He or she may also suggest some directions in which to proceed if the fellow seeks advice.

Academic Autonomy

As a precondition to approving grants and recognizing the programmes, the regulatory bodies should not insist on universities and institutes following the course structures laid by them. It is completely justified for the regulatory bodies to satisfy themselves that the programmes of educational organizations meet the desired standards before recognizing the degrees and granting funds. The ideal structure varies from subject to subject and also depends on the strength of the organization. The regulatory bodies can lay down some guidelines and specify minimum standards to be followed to get their recognition. This will allow many educational organizations to impart education of the high standard that they are capable of.

There is a tendency among the planners now to impose teaching on all research institutes. This cannot be done overnight. The research institutes have not been developed like universities. Many of them do not have proper classrooms. Most of them are small with a small number of scientists working in a few specialised areas. The infrastructure of all research institutes should be strengthened, both physically as well as human resources, before insisting that they run full UG and PG programmes in science. It will do great harm to the country if our scientists are not given sufficient time for their research.

Finally, I must point out that science in general and mathematics in particular is for creative thinkers. One must give total freedom to researchers to choose his or her area of research. Science, including mathematics, has always produced and will continue to produce useful work if the creative thinkers are given complete freedom.

S. M. Srivastava is Visiting Professor at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Confluence, its editorial board or the Academy.

Questions of mentor and mentee in India cannot be extricated from the political and social developments. In order to understand these debates, the first part of this article explores those vexing dimensions of social and political mobilization that determine the diverse and unequal forms of educational ideologies, structures and practices related to Dalits. The second part investigates the impossibilities and possibilities related to Dalit reading of the quandaries connected to mentor and mentee. Broadly, it examines the social realms of  students and faculty members from Dalit community in the context of the debates on mentoring. This article is based on the experiences of some of the students and teachers from Dalit community.

Dalits and the Caste based worlds of Education

The social worlds of mentor and mentee structure the power via so-called modernized educational institutions. The traditional knowledge system was also based on the power and hierarchy of caste. Though public educational institutions are valorized for its power to overcome caste-based conflict and education (Beteille 2006:174), the contradicting forms of powers related to caste and education function in two ways. Firstly, privileged teachers from upper castes/dominant communities restructure the curriculum and teaching according to the interests of the students from hegemonic castes (Singh 2021). They are aware of the deprived background of the students. It is a conscious attempt that is grounded in caste and power to alienate the students from weaker sections. Problems of Dalits who have entered into the field of post-independent Indian education scenario need to be specified to understand the complex nature of existence and social locations. On the one hand, Dalit teachers are discriminated by the upper- caste-non-dalit students (Ovichegan 2015:79-80). Dalit teachers, for upper caste students and teachers, are those who avail the reservation and therefore lack teaching skills. Dalit teachers too face various forms of psychological harassment. On the other hand, Dalit students have to face similar experiences of caste discrimination related to reservation. However, suicides of Dalit students are challenging the credentials of so-called modern, educational spaces (Senthil Solidarity Committee 2008). Rohit Vemula committed suicide due to the caste bias inherent in the university (Farooq 2016). Payal Tadvi’s suicide demonstrates how caste discrimination still exists in the field of medical education (Shantha 2020). There are exceptional teachers who are sympathetic towards the issues faced by Dalit students and teachers. Nevertheless, the so-called progressive academics are able to perform their act of protest without genuinely questioning the politics of casteism. Dalit-student and teachers’ activism is critical to the various forms of caste bias and discriminations in the universities. The public university is gradually transforming as a democratic space and also as a threat to holders of power (Deshpande 2016). Questions of caste are still not seriously addressed in class-based student and teacher activism, teacher’s organizations etc. (Pathania 2020: 536). Thus, Dalit students and teachers have to face the double discrimination of the public educational institutions. These institutions are undermining the reservation policies of Dalit students through the introduction of controversial reservation for economically weaker sections. Dalit candidates suffer due to the lack of vacancies. They are rejected in the open positions. It is a sort of unwritten law that Dalit students only apply to reserved jobs for scheduled castes. Administrative systems are manipulated by dominant caste employees to not fill reserved quotas (Jogdand, cited in Ovichegan 2015:163).

Dalit students are excluded from teaching positions in the private institutions due to their lack of dominant caste connections. The term ‘(lack of) quality’ is used to justify such casteist exclusion. On the other hand, those elite-education experts who criticize the neoliberal, private education in India also work in private educational institutions. This interesting migration of the progressive academics with their archetypal-class enemies/reactionary academics (or with those rightwing, conservative teachers who justify the privatization of education) towards private educational institutions also shows the bizarre educational-ethical crisis in India. This peculiar exodus is being justified by the elite academicians themselves through their convoluted articulations. Distinctions between the public and private institutions are erased by equating both as zones of critical thought and enquiry (Baviskar 2021).

Therefore, political institutions in the neoliberal era are weakening public institutions and strengthening the vicious circle of private institutions. The nexus between the dominant caste, market and state determines the direction and nature of education. Through establishing the private institutions, these political elites are successful in appeasing the interests of dominant sections-castes and the market. Private universities are projected as liberal dens with elitism and high fee structure (Mishra 2021). These transformations take place in a period in which public institutions are criticized as places of seditious interventions by the orthodox-majoritarian political forces, and dominant right-wing Hindu ideology is being reproduced through private institutions (Gill and Gurparkash 2020) Dalit students and faculty members hardly exist in the anti-dalit/reservation approach based privatized, educational institutions. Generally, there are teachers with upper caste/non-dalit background in public educational institutions who do not want to mentor the dalit students especially at the research levels. Dalit students and teachers who are conscious of their rights are not able to expose such discrimination due to the power of the casteist academicians, administration and related academic and administrative networks. Therefore, these issues are not discussed in the typical, status-quoist research on education. When it comes to caste and gender relations, Dalit girl students have to face casteist, sexist discrimination in the campus from non-Dalit students/teachers. Dalit girls who face sexual discrimination are sidelined in a patriarchal, casteist academic system. Dalit trans students are discriminated in the homophobic and caste-based educational systems (Khokar 2021). Even at the post graduate levels, there are instances of Dalit students being discouraged to do dissertation by the teachers from dominant castes. It seems that they are doing it to discourage Dalit students developing expertise and skills related to research. Often Dalit students complain in their personal conversations with friends that teachers mock them by asking whether they studied at English medium schools or they can speak and write in English, etc. There are also instances of upper caste/elite teachers from the minority communities asking Dalit students similar questions. At the same time, remedial teaching for Dalit students is projected as a means to tackle the educational issues of Dalit students. However, Dalit students are aware that it is just an eye wash to evade their real issues related to education. Dalit students are thus excluded from different research openings/jobs saying that they are not competent enough to indulge in sophisticated educational activities. Dalit activists and students who write on educational issues of Dalit students are usually dismissed as pamphleteering without academic rigor. There are so called sensible academicians who include such kind of writings to diversify their outdated syllabus in order to show that they are conscious of the subordination of Dalit students. At the same time, they often remain insensible to the everyday academic struggles and problems of the Dalit students. As discussed earlier, these issues are hardly noticed by the public. Dalit teachers are forced to take voluntary retirement due to existing horrendous forms of caste discrimination. However, such cases go unnoticed because they are not speaking it out due to the fear that they may lose further opportunities. Life worlds of Dalit academicians and students therefore unveil the impossibilities that challenge simplified construction of the power relations between mentor and mentee in typical, value neutral way. Deliberations on these forms of struggling lives of Dalit academics and students need to be understood differently than that of the typical way of looking the academic world(s) in homogenous fashion. Dalit students and teachers who have to seek legal remedies are also worried about the consequences. They argue that even after seeking legal aid, they have to return to the same, inhuman, hierarchical world of academia. Bureaucratic-academic nexus also knows how to scuttle the political interventions of powerless Dalits. The post-Lyngdoh Committee scenario has suppressed the dissent of the marginalized students who enter lately into academic institutions. The restrictions on the contestable age of the candidates in the student polls imposed by the Committee block the entry of Dalit students into student councils and other decision making bodies, who often enter higher educational institutions late due to their underprivileged background and lack of various capitals. Thus they are sidelined from the spaces of campus politics and democracy. These are some examples of the structural hindrances to Dalits’ education/teaching.

Teachers from higher strata of the casteist society thus approach students with their preconceived notions. A Dalit student, who is from comparative well off background is asked about the details of her/his family. At the same time, this student and the one from the lower-class background are made to remember their Dalit background. Both students are usually criticized as not proficient in academic writing and therefore are excluded from different opportunities related to academics. At the same time, students from privileged caste-class backgrounds are promoted irrespective of their mediocre capabilities. In most of the cases, Dalit students are excluded through giving lesser grades. Faculty members who write on caste-related issues show their indifference by discouraging Dalit students in the case of job applications, recommendation letters, scholarships etc.

Dominant political parties and their teachers and students protect those who do caste discrimination. They suppress the legal interventions of Dalit teachers/students through manipulating administrative-legal institutions. For instance, Dalit student, Deepa P. Mohanan from Kerala, the most literate state in India, had to fight against the vicious-academic and political circles for her rights (Indian Express, 07th November, 2021). Dalit students are preferring legal education irrespective of their discrimination in respective private/public legal institutions. The protective role of law and policy is challenged in the lives of Dalit students and it further hampers their further educational pursuits (Shaikh 2021). They have realized that dominant castes are detrimental to the educational aspirations of their community. This is applicable to the Dalit teachers and students from the developed and underdeveloped states in India. The progressive and reactionary-teacher/student associations are equally wicked in their casteist practices against Dalits in campus. A Dalit student’s protest in Kerala has even culminated in burning his Ph.D. thesis as a revolt against corrupted faculty recruitment (Zulaikha 2021).

Dalit students and faculties across various disciplines are facing different types of isolation. Is it possible to address the question of mentor and mentee in context of the Dalits in Indian higher education? How many Dalit students and Dalit faculty members are able to leave such educational institutions with casteist-psychological aberrations? Do they have any other alternatives? Whether the   so called South Asian academic diasporic community is free from similar biases towards Dalit students? Do Dalits have the capital to start their own educational institutions? Whether post-Independent, Indian higher education thus subverts the Dalit aspirations related to education and democracy or not?

Mentoring in the Age of Brahminic-Neoliberal-Educational Ideologies and Practices?

Mentor-mentee relations become complicated in the era of university during the pandemic. Unequal knowledge power relations in the offline to that of online mode becomes worse for the students who do not have access to internet and related devices. Mentoring for the marginalized students is caught in the aforementioned continuities and discontinuities. Mentors and mentees from the marginalized sections therefore may become cynical to such insensitive educational systems based on dominant caste ideologies and interests. There is a popular understanding that romanticizes the agency of the autodidacts and argues that irrespective of mentoring one can secure educational qualifications, knowledge etc. However, it may be difficult for the oppressed sections to overcome vicious sites of knowledge-power. As a mode to challenge the existing, hegemonic sections’ monopoly over the education systems, mentor and mentees from the suppressed classes-castes have to depart from the existing methodologies and curriculum by developing critiques based on their knowledge and experience. Anti-caste movements across India explored the possibilities to create their own spaces of education. Pedagogies that are rooted in the political and social firmaments of the oppressed of course challenged the dominant approaches to different disciplines. However, the current generation that carries forward that legacy have to strengthen their critique to the privatized and exclusionary end of the public educational approaches. Mentoring therefore has the historical challenge to generate epistemological break-through to subvert the established canons, genres, etc. There are critiques to the nature of discipline itself (Guru 2002). Socially regulated economy privileges skills over knowledge as well. Those communities who are sidelined from the core of knowledge production have to re-read the existing rationale of privileged groups’ homogenous, educational policy regime. Exclusion and inclusion in the Indian higher education persists in caste ridden society (Neelakandan and Smita 2012). Moral education of the oppressed have to shift away from the reductionist-totalitarian-religious cum methodological world of powerful groups to reflect on the futures of inclusive education.

References

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Deshpande, Satish (2016). “The Public University after Rohit-Kanhaiya”, Economic and Political Weekly, 51(11), pp. 32-34.

Farooq, Omer (2016). “Rohit Vemula: The Student who died for Dalit Rights” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35349790 Accessed on 8^th December, 2021.

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Khokar, Vani. (2021). “How I survived a ‘Woke’ Indian College as Dalit Trans Student” https://www.arre.co.in/pov/how-i-survived-a-woke-indian-college-as-a-dalit-trans-student/

Accessed on 12^th December2021.

Mishra, Sidharth (2021). “Political Liability: From Liberal to A Comprador Campus”, New Indian Express, 22nd March, 2021.

Neelakandan, Sanil Malikappurath and Smita M. Patil (2012). “Complexities of Inclusion and Exclusion: Dalit Students and Higher Education in India”, Journal of Social Inclusion, pp. 86-100. http://doi.org/10.36251/josi.44Accessed on 12^th December, 2021.

Ovichegan, Samson K. (2015). Faces of Discrimination in Higher Education in India: Quota Policy, Social Justice and the Dalits, London and New York: Routledge.

Pathania, Gaurav (2020). “Cultural Politics of Historically Marginalized Students in Indian Universities”, Critical Times: Interventions in Global Critical Theory, 3(3), pp. 534-550.

Senthil Solidarity Committee (2008) “Caste, Higher Education and Senthil’s Suicide”, Economic and Political Weekly, 43(33), pp. 10-12.

Shaikh, Almas (2021). “Dismantling Casteism: Role of Law in Protecting Students” https://www.theleaflet.in/dismantling-casteism-role-of-law-in-protecting-students/ Accessed on 12^th December, 2021.

Shantha, Sukanya (2020). “Payal Tadvi Suicide Case: Supreme Court Allows Accused Doctors to Pursue Education, The Wire, 8^th October 2020. Accessed on 8th December 2021.

Singh, Yuvraj (2021). “Why Indian Teachers Must Become Anti-Caste Practitioners First, The Wire, 28^th April. https://thewire.in/caste/why-indian-teachers-must-become-anti-caste-practitioners-first Accessed on 08^th December 2021.

Zulaikha, Raniya (2021). “Dalit Scholar in Kerala burnt his PhD Thesis, Accuses Universities Left Govt. of Excluding from Jobs” https://maktoobmedia.com/2021/03/12/dalit-scholar-in-kerala-burnt-his-phd-thesis-accuses-universities-left-govt-of-excluding-from-jobs/ Accessed on 8^th December, 2021.

Dr Sanil M Neelakandan is an independent researcher from New Delhi, India. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Confluence, its editorial board or the Academy.

On 8th September 2021 BCCI announced the name of M. S. Dhoni (MS) as the mentor of India’s T20 team for the upcoming ICC T20 men’s world cup. The captain of the team, probably the vice-captain too, both prospective mentees, were involved in the process of his appointment. As the news spread, the players and other prospective mentees rejoiced. So, MS must have something in him, appropriate for a mentor. He was a fellow player of some of the team members, captain of some and may even be an idol of a few. Some had experienced his association and others had heard from friends about him. It is said that he is the “captain cool”. Pressure or ease of the situation in the field, success or failure at the end of a particular game … nothing elicits any expression on his face. Possibly, internally too, he does not feel perturbed in such eventualities. This helped him to win more games. Not only that, he is said to have helped juniors in cutting across their ego while retaining their self-confidence intact or giving it a further boost. Cricket lovers across the globe, not only the Indians, know many of his qualities and all agreed that it was a masterstroke from BCCI.

Mentors are there in every field and at every level. In academia, which is often limited to reading, writing, thinking, experimenting, innovating, discovering etc., we have formal mentors like teachers, supervisors, deans, principals etc. However, to complete the list of mentors, one needs to add the parents, some other family members, some senior students and some fellow batch-mates. But there is a question. Do all the mentees rejoice like the players on MS’s appointment as mentor?

I remember a farewell meeting of one of my colleagues during the first decade of this century. Some of my ex-colleagues were invited there as special guests. One of them repeatedly expressed his idea about teacher-taught relation and the “cyclic” circulation of knowledge. Teachers are the givers of knowledge, students are takers of it. Students are to reproduce that knowledge in the examinations and then take their turn as teachers. Then they are to give the same knowledge to their students. Thus knowledge cycle runs. I had a jerk in my brain. I had something to say. This giver-taker relation does not assume creation of any new idea. No innovation, no discovery, just the knowledge cycle repeating over and over again. I was the principal of the college at that time (after serving the college for about 28 years as a teacher). By default, I was presiding the meeting. So, I had to say something as the last speaker. At that time, the number of persons in the dais and audience reduced to 20% or less of the peak attendance, which was when my ex-colleagues had spoken. Most of the audience left the premises after giving gifts to the retiring teacher!

In my speech, I tried to say that the teacher-student relation needs to be conducive to discussions and fruitful for creation of ideas and innovations. Even if, in most cases, the teachers have read more and gained more experience, freshness of the students’ mind is important. Her uncorrupted views and approaches on the subjects of learning might produce interesting and new paths. In addition, it generates mutual respect, faith etc., creating the platform for a healthy mentor-mentee relation. Very soon, I understood that I was saying something that was too foreign to my audience. So, I changed my topic. No wonder, on our way back from the meeting, colleagues and ex-colleagues were talking in low voice about the absurdities of the Principal’s views. Oh! I uttered the words: “mutual respect”!

I have believed from my school days that all relations, including those of teacher-student, parents-children should rest on mutual respect. There is an old saying that when a son turns sixteen year-old, the father should treat him as a friend. But, it is more of a saying than a belief or practice. And, what if the child is a daughter or the son is below sixteen? Actually, “mutual respect”is an absurd concept for such relations in our culture. Some of my colleagues, who were my co-workers in some tasks beyond the compulsions of service, laughed at my claim. They were confident that I was unable to differentiate between affection and respect!

However, “mutual respect” is not the only issue for a successful mentor-mentee relation. This is a very complex relationship. To elaborate the complexity, I will describe a case I heard. It is about a PhD student and her mentor. After the mentee was admitted in the institution and they were introduced, the mentor remembered that she knew the mentee as an introvert child of eight or nine with some exceptional academic qualities and some exceptional problems of language development, social mixing etc. Thus she was a problem child in both senses, advanced in some traits and lagging in some others. Now, she started to mix with her like a friend. Soon it was clear to her that she was carrying the exceptionalities till now. She felt an urge to take up a challenge of mentoring her. When the issue of selecting PhD guide appeared, she sent the mentee to her own PhD supervisor instead of accepting her. At the same time, she briefed the PhD supervisor about the matter. During the next few years, she guided her in research related works as and when necessary. Not only that, she took her to different outings: restaurants, movies, mini pleasure trips etc whenever possible. Initially, the mentee was not feeling comfortable to be part of all these matters beyond studies and showed arrogance or displeasure to be with her in these outings. But, with the passage of time, she learned to adjust to all these and became more social. By the time of submission of PhD thesis of the mentee, the mentor was happy that she could almost fulfil her aim.

So far we have mostly discussed the personal aspects of the mentor-mentee relationship. However, the mentor needs fairly high degree of knowledge of the topic or subject which links the mentor and mentee as well. Otherwise, the mentee does not feel secure and the process does not take off. In general, mentees try to accept mentor without judging relevant knowledge level of the mentor. Exceptions to this may be seen due to (i) excessive self-pride of mentees and/or (ii) suspicion about new and unknown mentor when the previous one worked very well.

While starting the journey of mentoring, an able mentor should be able to read the psychology, level of understanding, personality quickly and proceed appropriately. Flexibility becomes an important issue here. An able mentor does not show rigidity in practice, even if the level of the mentees does not match the personal “syllabus” or expectations of the mentor. An effective beginning may help to accelerate in later stages to cope up with such issues. But the problem may not always be so easy to handle. One or two mentees might be diehard egoist. In general, it would be useful to silently ignore their ego and treat them at par with other mentees. A good mentor helps to sort out the “real important points” from many “seemingly important issues”. She absorbs a lot of pressure about the past failures and imbibes spirit of future success in the mind of mentees. In the process, workload of mentees reduces, their confusions get cleared up and these help them to concentrate on their works. Not only these, gradually they feel confident enough to express their ideas. They develop self-respect and respectability.

Except in some office trainings or academic training institutions, generally mentors are senior in age compared to the mentees. But it is not compulsory even in academia. It is not rare that a PhD scholars’ supervisor is junior to the scholar. Even in regular degree studies, some students may re-join academic institutions after prolonged discontinuation from formal studies. Generally, mentors try to develop friendship with the mentees. It is not difficult when age difference is not very much. But is it possible if the difference of age is significantly large?

To give a reply to it, I will share a purely personal experience of mentoring children of four or five years when I was in my fifties. Outside my college duties, I used to attend some mini schools for children. I used to attend such a school once or twice a month. There was a 4 ft x 5 ft black board in the school. Whenever I attended the class, I asked the children to come to the board to write or draw whatever they learnt. Always four or five children came to the board at a time and wrote or drew whatever they could. Always I would start my comment with “well done”, be it right or wrong, good or bad. Regular teachers or mothers or grandmothers of the children felt it to be inappropriate indulgence and sometimes some grandmothers protested to it. But, I, with folded hands, politely asked them to be patient. After the “class” I would meet with one or two or more children one to one. Let me skip some less important details of the sequence of events and jump to a climax. One day, I sat face to face with a child. The child drew something and said it to be a well-known animal. As usual, I said it was well drawn. Suddenly, the child slapped me on my thigh and rebuked me, “It is so bad and yet you call it good!” Just remember, the age difference is about 50 years in this interaction and it does not become a barrier to the friendly behaviour.

Now, a note is pertinent about the other end of the spectrum. How close they can be in age? Can the mentors be the classmates of mentees? Hopefully most of the readers will be able to find the answer by reflecting on own experiences. Classmates come really close to each other when a mentor-mentee bond starts to develop between them. Sometimes, it also happens that one of the two friends is mentor in respect of some issues and the other in some others. Finally, can the mentors be juniors? In some cases, particularly in the field of work in offices or institutions, juniors in age can assume the role of mentors. However, such cases are not very common.

Let me conclude now. Mentors can do their work well when they appear to mentees to be fellow travellers with little bit more knowledge and anticipation of the road, as if they have travelled the road just once before. They talk and behave with mentees like friends with a little bit extra. They should be co-thinker of the problems faced by mentees. In some cases, the inner feelings of the mentees start to get clearer shapes in association with the mentor. Then the mentor reaches the level of their philosopher, a friend-philosopher. In some cases, the relationship deepens further. The friend-philosopher mentors help the mentees to choose the route to various facets of future life. They become guides too to the mentees. Friend, philosopher and guide is the ultimate of a mentor’s role to the mentees. But, that need not be the target to the mentor. A “friend plus” position to mentees is good enough for mentors.

Debabrata Majumdar has formally studied and taught Physics and retired from service in 2016 as Principal of a degree college in rural West Bengal. He is a believer of lifelong learning and life-centric education, and now engaged in exploring the process of learning by children. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Confluence, its editorial board or the Academy.

The success of a mentor-mentee relationship, just as in any other relationships, relies on mutual respect – respect for each other’s strength and limitations – and on the mentee’s willingness and capability to work around the limitations. However it is perceived that the relationship is inherently between unequal partners. The mentor has more knowledge, experience, power and visibility in the community, and the person who gains the most is the mentee. Is this perception correct? How can the relationship succeed if it is so?

A PhD is as much about learning advanced topics and creating new knowledge, as about learning how to do research. If the former can be called a technical skill, the latter can be called a soft skill. In exploring a new problem or a new area, both the mentor and mentee are in the same boat. The mentor may have an advantage of knowledge and experience, but the mentee has an advantage on age and time. While the mentor may be working on the problem along with several of his/her responsibilities, the mentee is expected to spend most of the time on the problem.

On the soft skill, it is true that the mentor has a lot of advantages, but the key to success is for the mentor to be extremely generous to ensure that the mentee has all the support (s)he needs for his/her research. This includes ensuring a hassle-free research environment, administrative support and access to resources (including papers, talks and visits to conferences). While it is tricky to ensure this, a culture of healthy interaction with other faculty members in the department, with a possibility of finding other co-supervisors or even changing the advisor, needs to be nourished. Given the uncertainties in research, it is important that the mentee is guaranteed such support during his/her first few years. In an Indian environment, assistantship and other financial support for the mentee are often guaranteed by the institution with minimal intervention by the mentor, and it is important that this practice continues.

PhD as a beginning or end of research

While there is a wide variety of quality of PhDs, it is also important to understand the purpose of those doing PhD. A typical PhD student in IITs and other research institutes is expected to spend a lifetime doing research, and so it is really important that they get a deep foundation in the fundamentals, a wide background in their area of research and also learn the art of doing research. Because of these reasons, there is considerable emphasis on course work, comprehensives and seminars for them.

However there are those for whom the PhD degree is just that, a means to a specific end, rather than the launch of a research career. This may be for getting a promotion, meeting a requirement laid down by the UGC, or it may be to get a specific kind of job in the industry. For most of them, PhD is the end of research, perceived as creating new knowledge and writing papers. For them, the breadth of the area and the analytical tools are more important. Understanding and acknowledging these aspirations will also help set expectations appropriately.

Conflicts and dealing with them

Conflicts may arise in the working relationship in many ways:

• On the technical side, it is possible that the mentor and mentee quickly realize that they have divergent interests. This can happen due to a variety of reasons. It is possible that from the beginning, the interests diverged. Such a relationship should be agreed upon only when the mentor and mentee both have supreme confidence that the mentee can pursue research independently, and complete his/her PhD without the mentor’s active involvement. A better arrangement would be for the mentor and mentee to work on problems of mutual interest at least until the first successful publication which would substantiate the confidence of both parties. In any case, it is important that there be set and designed processes for regular monitoring of progress (which we discuss in further detail below). This situation can also happen when the mentee is ready to overtake the mentor in his/her knowledge and capability, and this is a good situation to be in, for both parties.
• There is no progress for a long period of time. While this is not uncommon in research, this can also happen due to a variety of reasons. The mentee may be sincere and persistent, but may have capability issues. This is a less serious problem. This is where the mentor’s expertise comes into play – to suggest simpler and more realistic directions to help mentee get through his/her PhD, and ensure that the mentee learns the soft skills, gains some expertise and moves on. After all, there is a wide variety in terms of quality of work over a long research career, and some students do tend to grow better over a period of time. The other problem can be that the mentee is sloppy, gets distracted and misses commitments and meetings. While some amount of digression is common and useful in PhD, it is important to ensure that they don’t come in the way. This is also addressed by institutional processes that spell out the need for commitment, regular meetings and follow up on instructions, early on in the program. With some monitoring, if there is no improvement, this kind of behaviour may even result in terminating the relationship; the sooner this happens, the better it is for everyone. After all, PhD need not be for everyone, and there is much more to building a career and life than a PhD degree.

• Sometimes there is complete breakdown of relationships between the mentor and mentee even in advanced stages. Whatever the reasons, seeking early redressal through the doctoral committee and if necessary through the institute/university grievance redressal system is important. Institutional mechanisms like a broad-based doctoral committee, periodic doctoral committee meetings including the entire committee, and institute/university wide grievance redressal committee are useful for precisely these kind of situations and hence it is important to take them seriously.

According to an internet dictionary the word ‘mentor’ means “an experienced and trusted adviser”. The word comes from Greek mythology – Mentor was the teacher of Telemachus, son of Ulysses in Homer’s Odyssey. When I began mentoring mathematics students some 55 years ago, I did not quite fit that description – I was not experienced. I had not yet got my PhD (but had published 3 well received papers). And my lack of experience showed – the first student I mentored quit mathematics without a degree. This student did a piece of research which he showed to me and I discouraged him from trying to publish it. I had a high opinion of him and thought what he had done was routine and that he should aim higher. Some 6 months later we found that a student of Atiyah – a big name in mathematics – published the same piece of research in a respectable journal. What is more, unlike my student, he had been asked to look at the problem by his mentor. My student came up to me and said “It wasn’t that bad, was it boss?”. I felt pretty awful. This episode is something that I am unable to live down to-date.

There were other students who did not make it to a PhD, but I do not hold myself primarily responsible for that as I do in this case. My relationship with that student or that of any other student has been largely informal though in recent years the age-gap has made it practically impossible. I used to insist that my students address me by name and without the prefix ‘Professor’ but do not do it any longer.

Till some five years ago my interactions with young people was limited to graduate students and junior faculty. I have been by and large a “successful” mentor: quite a few of my students and junior colleagues are established mathematicians of high standing. But I am not sure how much credit I can claim for that. There is an old quote of Francis Bacon which is along the following lines: It is a pity that those whom we would like to teach most are the ones who need it least. Most of my students belonged to that category and so would have achieved the heights they have scaled without my interference – the branch of mathematics they pursued would perhaps have been different. The standard practice in most graduate schools is for the guide to propose a problem for the student to pursue. I did do this in some cases but often enough, the student found the problem to work on by himself, though I had an indirect role in that I educated him in relevant topics. I think that is the ideal thing to happen if the student is highly talented. Less talented ones may need some help in finding a problem to work on. The mentor with experience behind him can locate problems which are interesting yet accessible to a student with somewhat limited knowledge. Basically no two students are alike and one needs to channel each student in a way suited to his/her tastes and abilities. Most of my students moved away from my own area of specialisation in which they wrote the thesis and I was happy when they did so. I have always insisted on my students acquiring a wide scholarship: for one thing that will help them branch off into areas other than the area of the PhD thesis; secondly even if one is a successful researcher it is not clear that your work will stand the test of time while if you acquire wide scholarship you can certainly pass on to the next generation something that has lasting value.

I abhor the practice in which a guide is assigned to a student immediately on entering the graduate school and the guide looses no time in proposing a problem – something that unfortunately happens all too often in our universities. I was an ardent admirer of the Soviet system before the break-up. In the fifties and sixties they produced a galaxy of great young mathematicians. That seemed the result of early spotting of talent and subsequent nurture. However, as an expatriate Russian mathematician told me that while the system took care of enormously talented youngsters, it simply was not good enough to take care of others who were in the second rung of the ladder whereas the American system made good mathematicians out of lesser talent.  I realized at that point that I was extremely lucky in that at TIFR. The students were a highly talented lot. But even among them, as I said earlier, there were some whom I could not lead on to a degree. But I do not have serious feelings of guilt as with the first student I mentioned: they were unable to cope with the peer pressure that they felt. In two of those cases they were not making adequate progress on the problem I had suggested, and I hinted at how they could proceed thinking that I was helping them. As it turned out they were upset with me –  they perceived it as not allowing them to think more for themselves!

I have essentially spoken of my experience as a mentor and I leave it to the reader to draw conclusions about mentoring from that. I think I owe my ‘success’ largely to the student recruitment methods at TIFR and of course the inevitable luck.

M S Raghunathan is a mathematician with Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai. He is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan honour. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Confluence, its editorial board or the Academy.

The mentor-mentee relationship is like a teacher-taught relationship, albeit, in an adult environment. Though the primary aim of the relationship is the same, to teach the mentee skills and prepare her for her future academic journey, the environment in which it is set is different. The idea is to impart research-training rather than passing information and knowledge.  Also, in school, the relationship is based on distinct age-gap, which may not be the case in research, reflecting its adult nature. Additionally, school has set goals and expectations, i.e., gaining marks and obedience, which are not the desired ends of a research relation.

In a mentor-mentee relationship, the environment is flexible, the expectations are individualistic and there is space to manoeuvre one’s wishes and choices. The idea is to develop an individual with a thinking capacity and one who is able to be sensitive to her surroundings in particular and to the world in general. The training would involve analytical understanding, critical thinking and deep questioning, rather than a mere transfer of knowledge, facts, ideas and information.

Here, the mentee has considerable freedom to think, assess and question. She has the liberty to exercise her intellect and express the feelings, opinions and ideas, emerging thereof. It is in this context of a confused and de-limited hierarchy, a space containing two adult opinionated minds, individual aspirations and a formal background, understanding the mentor-mentee relationship becomes important.

Mentoring, and being mentored are not just new, I would say, but also a strange processes in academia, at least in the Indian context. Prior to choosing a research degree, the Indian education system does not offer any such substantial experience in the same vigour to its students. Before this, it is more of a dependent relationship, assumed between a teacher and a learner. There is more of transfer and less of exchange. Not only there is considerable hierarchy in the relationship, but also, authority.

This relationship changes in a research programme. The expectations here are different. However, the remnants of the old system loom large and deep. One is moulded by and is used to it. The transformation is not easy because there is no facilitation to effect this change. Neither there are any guidelines nor a system to support this transformation. It largely depends on the understanding (or the misunderstanding) between the mentor and the mentee. But, of course, there are expectations, opinions and a thesis to finish. The major challenges in this relationship are the individuality, uniqueness and personalization that it demands despite being understood as a general process.

Though the mentor has to disseminate a universal research training to her mentees, its application has to be unique, considering the fact that it is between two adults, in individuated capacity. In the process, the mentee’s interest in the subject and the course, her commitment towards research, truthfulness and personality play an important role. This would also include her capacity to handle emotional and mental stress that comes with this life, apart from, inadvertently, physical and intellectual vigour.

In such a scenario, both the mentor and the mentee walk on a tight rope where they have to maintain balance without compromising on the quality of the task or giving it up. This demands a commitment from both the parties to understand the nature of the task and the relationship. From the very beginning, both have to acknowledge that the journey is not going to be easy. It will have its shares of ups and downs which would ask for a mature approach. They will have to hold on to reach a fruitful, enriching and gratifying end.

In this relation, the confusions need to be sorted, the expectations clarified, the hopes managed, the efforts constant and the faith maintained. In an ideal situation, the mentor has to give out a set of general guidelines which the mentee has to abide by. At the same time, the journey has to be manoeuvred in a personalised manner while being careful not to transgress boundaries, personal or administrative.

In my opinion, the following points can bring about a healthier and a more constructive relationship between a mentor and a mentee:

(a)   Transparency – This is one of the key points in this relationship. A commitment and sincerity to keep things open and well-discussed can go a long way in keeping it productive, engaging and meaningful. Things like difficulties faced while conducting research, medical status, leave from work, major discomforts with the working style, expectations, hopes and aspirations about the mentor/mentee, and (non)-meeting of deadlines should be frankly but politely conveyed to each other.

Clarity regarding these things helps place oneself suitably in the relationship and also gives the required space to the other. It helps both the parties to understand each other better and work accordingly, trying to meet each other’s objectives while keeping the process smooth and stress-free. A lack of transparency creates questions, doubts and even mistrust and the relationship fails to grow into a mature, productive and long-lasting one.

(b)   Clarity in Administrative Procedures – This is where the institution comes into picture in a mentor-mentee relationship. A mentor and a mentee meet and interact in the shadow of an educational/research institute and hence, it is important. Intelligibility in administrative procedures gives a strong formal background to the relationship. It binds it in an official setting and sets an aim and objective for it.

Administrative transparency helps greatly because it removes procedural confusion. It places both the parties clearly and appropriately in their respective positions. It also sets a pace to the work. The what, how and when of the whole process becomes known to everyone. In case of a lapse, these procedural guidelines can be referred to. If one is aware about the expected deadlines and what assistance one is supposed to receive from the administration, the relationship gets a strong sounding board. One knows the method and this helps both the parties to adjust their work.

(c) Respect for Each Other – As discussed earlier, the mentor-mentee relationship is a complex one, and to an extent, even strange. It is not a personal relationship but has to be personalised, or in other words, customised. It is foregrounded as a formal task but has to be given a personal touch to be fruitful.

It is also important to be aware of the mentor’s theoretical disposition, experience and areas of specialisation. The mentee’s areas of interests, working style, capacities, strengths and limitations also have to be considered. A major point to be noted here is the difference in the experience of the mentor and the mentee. Both sides have to acknowledge this gap and give it due respect. Patience and openness are central to the relationship.

Issues like caste, class, gender, religion and language are also to be taken into account. Since India is a country with great diversity, these matters can affect research in various ways. It is good to see that they do not affect research and the behaviour of either side. Language, especially, is an important issue because it has a direct association with research. Most of the research takes place in India in English which is not the first language of the most of us. A gap between the knowledge of the first language and the language of research can cause difficulties and a considerable effort goes in bridging this gap.

Another emerging issue is that of mental health. This is becoming an increasingly serious and pertinent issue which needs attention. Modern lifestyle brings with itself its set of problems in the form of fear, stress, anxiety, panic and even, depression, and a research degree is no exception. In fact, it can even aggravate it.

This menace is silent, predatory and also stigmatized. Many times, its arrival is secret and in case, even if the affected person is aware, she may not feel confident and strong enough to open up about it. It is possible that one of the sides may be affected by a mental issue and it is important for both of them to be sensitive to it. If there are signs, one needs to consider them. And better still, it would be good to have an open conversation at the beginning itself to clarify any such difficulty or give the space to each other to talk about it in case any such mishap occurs in future. This gives both of them the required confidence and faith to take up this new and difficult task.

A mentor-mentee relationship is a crucial one in the professional lives of both the persons. It has to be handled with utmost care and sensitivity. Understanding each other’s emotions and giving space to them are essential. If carried out in the earnest, both have a lot to learn. It is a wholesome relationship where the mental, intellectual and emotional dimensions have to be balanced. An intellectual life is a long and rigorous one – cooperation and sensitivity would only help it to go a long way.

Shivani Agrawal has recently submitted her Ph.D. thesis at Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Confluence, its editorial board or the Academy.

This article is part of a Confluence series called “Mentor-Mentee Relationships in Academia: Nature, Problems and Solutions”. 

The disruptions caused by the unprecedented time of Covid-19 have brought about some structural changes in the established orders of almost all the institutions including academic ones. These disruptions have also brought to the fore the glaring inequities in access, distribution and allocation of the resources, and the callous attitudes directed towards marginalised individuals or groups. Some students with physical and cognitive challenges as suggested by many research conducted during this pandemic really had a tough time in coping with online teaching (Sudirman Nasir , Hasanuddin Becky, Claire Spivakovsky , Raffaella Cresciani, Report published by National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled). This was because it did not suit their ways of perceiving or grasping information and knowledge or it did not take into account the necessity of providing accommodative and conducive environment. However, some students benefitted from this new strand, as their needs were taken care of by their care takers or family members at home. Both the situations draw our attention to the fact that the academic institutions in general are oblivious to providing inclusive environment in the classroom. They shirk their responsibilities in order to refrain from obstacles or challenges, or they are not well equipped with the ideas, strategies or resources of imparting lessons in a way that they are adaptive and accommodative in nature. It is to be noted that the pandemic has not brought about a complete rupture in existing institutional structures. It has provided us with a significant vantage point to assess the existing inequalities and unjustness that are mired in our individual and collective attitudes, cultures, institutional policies, strategies, schemes, organisations and so on. It is true that the absence of level playing ground for marginal groups and communities and lack of adequate infrastructures of care or the lack of understanding their diverse needs emerge as one of the biggest impediments in the way of shaping one’s career, getting access to various resources and leading a dignified life. Nonetheless, sincere endeavours, collaborative efforts of the authorities and stake holders, academic engagements and civil societies and mentorship can contribute to reducing the inequities of access prevalent across groups and communities. This article discusses the problems that persons with physical and cognitive challenges confront on account of exclusivist attitudes in academic institutions.  It focuses in particular on the classroom situation and attempts to bring to the fore how unpreparedness of teachers and students, the absence of adaptive teaching curriculum and teaching techniques, the absence of empathy and active listening, the unavailability of access to adequate learning material can lead to alienation of the students with physical and cognitive difference which ultimately leads to their complete withdrawal. The article by taking recourse to personal anecdotes and small stories makes an attempt to diagnose the issues or concerns that come in the way of achieving inclusive environment and attempts to suggest some ways, the implementation of which may make the students with physical and cognitive differences feel that they are an integral part of academic institutions.

The daunting memories resurface in my mind when I revisit my learning experiences in a typical classroom where I, the only different person i.e., visually impaired was held responsible for figuring out the ways that can ensure my involvement and participation and restore lost interest. Fascinated by the idea of learning a foreign language, I had enrolled myself in a foreign language course. After initial thirty minutes of introduction and informal interaction, I began to feel disconnected and began to lose interest. The energetic and excited voices around did not prove to be contagious. As direct method was mandated, the teacher used only the target language as medium of instruction. She did make use of meta-linguistic tools such as gestures, mime, pictures etc to help learners infer, decode and proceed towards meaning making process. The over emphasis on the use of the visual means and a big no to the use of Hindi or English curtailed the options of learning that suited my need. My inactiveness and disinterestedness were mistaken for my dumbness. I was advised to drop the course. However, the efforts put in by my cousin at home who was also enrolled in the same course proved to be a saviour. Once I was acquainted with the basic vocabulary, I managed to grasp most of the things taught in the class despite the use of gestures, pictures and mimes.

The above narrated personal anecdote helps identify the persisting lacunas in teaching and learning environment and the ignorance regarding bodily and cognitive needs. The first factor that hampers teaching and learning is the rigidity of approach, method or techniques of imparting a lesson. When a teacher or a mentor prepares for the class, he or she takes into consideration a homogenous group which is able bodied, attentive, and possesses a lowered affective filter. His or her ideas regarding homogeneity fail in paying adequate attention to the different needs caused by bodily and cognitive differences. For instance, a student with visual impairment is likely to use auditory skills in making sense. A student with hearing loss or hard of hearing will be able to connect if pictures or diagrams are provided. A student with learning disability may not be able to keep pace with his or her peers and he or she may require a different arsenal of tools for learning.  It is a reality that teachers or mentors are bound by the rigidity of the institutional structure or curriculum, However, he or she can allot some time for individualised mentorship. This practice may enable mentors to know their students more and they would be able to think beyond the stereotypes pertaining to students’ disability. It might eventually encourage students to open up about their difficulties and how their mentors can help them in rendering the classroom environment conducive to their diverse needs. Here, I cannot resist from citing a personal anecdote. In one of the M.Phil. coursework classes, we were introduced to a new teacher who had just joined then. She interacted with us for a while. After the class, she called me in her room and without asking any question related to my visual impairment, asked: “In what form should I send you the readings?” Her question made me comfortable talking about accessibility related issues. Thus, the teacher’s understanding and the knowledge of the students’ diverse needs or his or her preparedness allow the scope for reasonable accommodation or adaptability in the class comprising students with diverse bodily needs and neuro diversity.

The societies are governed by the discourses of normalcy and these discourses deem certain bodies or behaviours as abnormal or deviant. In Douglas C. Baynton’s view, the natural and the normal are the ways of achieving universal good and right. However, they are at the same time the ways of establishing social hierarchy that justify the denial of rights to certain individuals or groups (18). Those who are conceived to be having deviant bodies or cognitive capabilities, become a victim of societal stigma. In Lerida Coleman Brown’s words: “Stigma is a response to dilemma of differences. stigma represents a continuum of undesired differences that depend upon many factors” (146). Moreover, the affective responses such as repulsion and fear stem from the encounter with stigmatized bodies. This phenomenon discourages students from revealing their invisible disability, as the fear of being discriminated against on the ground of their difference looms large on their psyche. Moreover, the students with invisible disabilities are apprehensive about making their disability public due to the intrinsic power dynamics underlying the teacher-student relationship. Hence, the students cannot keep with the regular pace of the class and are found to be less attentive. Their deficit of attention is likely to be perceived as their misbehaviour and sometimes they fall prey to teachers’ or mentors’ ridicule. Thus, the individuals who ought to be provided with individualised counselling, and sensitive and empathetic listening, are kept away from even the minimal access and suitable resources. It is not an easy task for teachers or mentors to learn students’ invisible disability without any intimation. However, the teachers can motivate students to speak out their mind, or create an environment where students are encouraged to divulge their difficulties or problems that they face during the teaching learning process. Moreover, the active listening on teachers’ or mentors’ part can do wonders, as it may instil empathy in teachers and may infuse confidence and optimism among students to open about their disability.

The academic institutions are known to be highly competitive in nature. The pressure of performance, cerebral commitment, peer pressure and the uncertainty of the future render students anxious. Moreover, the static ideas regarding success and ability render the academic space highly ableist. In Tobin Sieber’s words: “Ability is the ideological baseline which defines humanness and ability is the supreme indicator of value while judging human actions, thoughts, goals, intentions and desires” ((180). Further, the discourse of ability is shaped by a complex nexus of rigid criteria and parameters for the assessment of the performances. In addition, the preconceived notions about students’ capabilities are capable of influencing teachers, mentors as well as the students or mentees. One such rigid criterion is that of “speed”. The faster one is, the brighter one is likely to be perceived. Speed is often construed as one’s ability or one’s capacity. This rigid criterion does not take into account the material conditions of the individual. It is to be noted that it requires a considerable amount of time in adapting to a system which is not universally designed. Students with special needs spend most of their time grappling with getting accustomed or immune to an unsuitable method or system. For instance, if a teacher presents material or input in the classroom in an inaccessible form, the students will simply be deprived from learning during the class hours. In addition, outside the class, they spend time figuring out the ways through which they can render the material accessible. Thus, they are practically left with little time to read, revise or do assignments. Moreover, some students who belong to lower economic strata struggle a great deal in getting access to suitable material, devices or equipment in a given time, as disability friendly soft wares, instruments or devices are not always provided at affordable price. It should be noted that disability and poverty are intrinsically connected to each other and hence, it is always a mammoth task for them to get access to resources or reach out to those who can assist them in accomplishing the task. Thus, students do not succeed in matching up to the requirement of meeting the set deadline. It further initiates a vicious cycle of low esteem and poor academic performance. If a teacher or a mentor by taking into confidence the authorities or administration creates some scope for flexibility for such students, it may prove to be a great relief to students. Some flexibility on the teacher’s part may enable students to focus on their studies and it may bring an enormous transformation in students’ performance as well as their overall growth.

The disabled people are habituated with being spoken for. They are usually not assigned autonomy. They are often excluded from decision making and are less likely to have the experiences of leadership. Moreover, the absence of level playing ground for recreation activities keeps them away from socialising with their peers. Their impairment is identified as “lack” or weakness. If students with special needs are assigned autonomy and leadership in a heterogenous group or class, it may prove to be a tremendous strategy in achieving the desired goal of inclusion. It can not only ensure inclusion and full participation, but sparks curiosity, zest and optimism, which in turn, contributes to better academic performance and personality development. A personal experience at hand allows me to tease out this point. My excitement and zest new no bounds, when I was nominated as a member of the student council by my teacher at the university. For the first time, I could see and feel myself as an integral part of the institution, as I was involved in the decision-making process which meant for all and not merely for the students with disability. It pushed me to look at myself beyond my disability.

Thus, it can safely be concluded that along with maintaining professional decorum, it is equally important for teachers and mentors to humanize their profession. Active listening, debunking stereotypes, empathetic and compassionate attitude and having an urge to create an inclusive classroom can help mitigate the exclusionist and discriminatory impacts of structural debility.

References:

Baynton, Douglas. “Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History” (17-33). Disability Studies Reader. Taylor Francis Group New York And London, 2013. Print.

Coleman Brown, Lerida. “Stigma: an Enigma Demystified”. Disability Studies Reader. Taylor Francis Group New York And London, 2013. Print.

Siebers, T. “Disability and the Theory of Complex Embodiment-for Identity Politics in a New Register”. Disability Studies Reader. Taylor Francis Group New York And London, 2013. Print.

Dr Zarana Maheshwari is an assistant professor at Centre for Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Confluence, its editorial board or the Academy.

This article is part of a Confluence series called “Mentor-Mentee Relationships in Academia: Nature, Problems and Solutions”.