Taming the Lightning: A Variety of Plasmas
For a theoretical plasma physicist, plasma is an abstraction without a persona. However, for an experimentalist, each plasma has an...
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John Pucadyil
- Oct 15
- 5 min
A Sentimental Journey to Aligarh
I spent close to eight years at Aligarh from 1964 to 1972, first as a PhD student and later as a lecturer in the Physics Department. My...
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John Pucadyil
- Oct 15
- 5 min
Remembering Prof Rais Ahmed
We celebrated the 100th birth anniversary of Prof Rais Ahmed, the former head of the Physics Department, Aligarh Muslim University and...
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John Pucadyil
- Oct 15
- 5 min
2018: When the Floods Came
The news came this week that the disaster movie “2018- Everyone is a Hero”, was made India’s official entry to the Academy Awards 2024 by...
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John Pucadyil
- Oct 1
- 4 min
Plasma-Grown Diamonds
The crystal structure of diamonds is unique. Each carbon atom in a diamond has a strong chemical bond with four others. This renders...
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John Pucadyil
- Oct 1
- 4 min
Technology and Work
Every technological advance has changed the way we work. With the plough, the hunter-gatherers became farmers. The spinning jenny and the...
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John Pucadyil
- Sep 17
- 5 min
Gaseous Discharge Conference in Pondicherry
A gas discharge is one of the processes that create a plasma, a gas with a good fraction of molecules ionized. In the simplest case, it...
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John Pucadyil
- Sep 9
- 5 min
Tony Joseph’s “Early Indians”: An Appreciation
Several reviewers have hailed Tony Joseph’s “Early Indians” (Juggernaut Books, December 2018), as an important book. It adds indisputable...
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John Pucadyil
- Sep 9
- 4 min
My Zoom Background
Every Sunday afternoon, my family get together for a Zoom meeting. The participants, apart from my wife and myself are my two children,...
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John Pucadyil
- Aug 24
- 5 min
On Promoting Plasma Physics Research in the Indian Universities
During the early days of the Plasma Physics Programme, the forerunner of the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), it became apparent that...
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John Pucadyil
- Aug 15
- 7 min
The Cold Plasma Business
The invention of methods to produce non-equilibrium plasma at atmospheric pressure liberated plasma technology from the oppressive...
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John Pucadyil
- Aug 6
- 6 min
How Technology Drives Inequality
“The amazing thing about technology is that it is a great leveller; it recognizes no caste, creed or religion”: so said Mukesh Ambani in...
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John Pucadyil
- Jul 28
- 5 min
Technology: its Origin and Evolution
Courtesy: Pexels-czapp-arpad This is an appreciation of the book “The Nature of Technology” by Brian Arthur, a leading thinker on...
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John Pucadyil
- Jul 28
- 5 min
Two Summers in Kothamangalam
A message from Vinny Varghese, the Secretary of Mar Athanasius College Association, announcing the release of a postal cover in...
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John Pucadyil
- Jul 18
- 5 min
Travelling the Kerala Roads
After a long period of stay in Ahmedabad, I decided to return and settle down in Kerala after my retirement from active service. We...
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John Pucadyil
- Jul 7
- 5 min
Experiments with Plasmas: Dusty Corona Plasma
An Electrical Corona (From the eBook: Experiments with Plasmas) I had a conviction that a student working for his Ph D degree should earn...
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John Pucadyil
- Jul 7
- 5 min
Waste to Energy Technology in the Indian Context
Image by andreas N from Pixabay The realization that the “waste to energy” was more than a slogan came to me when, during a half year...
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John Pucadyil
- Jun 24
- 6 min
Experiments with Plasmas: Cross-field Instabilities
(Adapted from the e-Book: Experiments with Plasmas) Plasma Physics in India began in Allahabad in 1920 with Saha’s fundamental...
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John Pucadyil
- Jun 17
- 4 min
The Importance of Reading Fiction
Image created by Bing My journalist friend, Shubhasree Desikan, made a perceptive comment on a blog I had posted on Medium, “A Hero’s...
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John Pucadyil
- Jun 6
- 6 min
Lessons from Setting up a Plasma Technology Diffusion Centre
FCIPT in Gandhinagar in 1997 I always had an entrepreneurial streak: finding technical and knowledge resources to solve problems. I have...
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John Pucadyil
- May 30
- 6 min
“The Covenant of Water”: An Appreciation
I heard about “The Covenant of Water” through a YouTube video on CBS Mornings where Oprah Winfrey announced the book as her 101st...
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John Pucadyil
- May 24
- 5 min
The House on the Hailey Road
Indian authors writing in English come in two categories: Those who write for the world and those who write for India. Authors like...
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John Pucadyil
- May 17
- 6 min
Ploughshares and Swords: India’s Nuclear Quest
For those keen on learning how India’s nuclear and space programmes were nucleated and developed, there is a new book. “Ploughshares and...
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John Pucadyil
- May 10
- 4 min
Voices from my garden
Tired of living in rented houses in Ahmedabad, I decided to build my own home in 1987. My preference was for an independent house with a...
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