Achintya Rao’s Now Page

Sick leave

I am currently on sick leave and hope to be back at work soon. I am really grateful to have the privilege of being sick and continuing to get paid. My colleagues have been really understanding and supportive, which is also something one mustn’t take for granted.

On the horizon

I will be moving into a new flat in Bristol with my partner in just 15 days! That’s going to be a busy few days, both leading up to and following the actual move. I will have to go through all my belongings in storage and decide which ones I want to keep after not having seen most of them for over two years.

Recent stuff

The PCST 2025 conference in Aberdeen was fine but hectic. I had a few issues with some of the organisational aspects, but it was really good to catch up with colleages, both from COALESCE and the wider science-communication world.

At PCST, I discussed my doctoral work with a few senior academics in the field, and several of them liked my ideas and asked me if I had published my work anywhere (besides my thesis of course). But given the fact that I am not a huge fan of academic publishing, I decided to publish some of my conclusions as opinion pieces on my wiki. The first is currently being drafted. Will probably only be able to get back to it in earnest after the move.

In response to the the introduction of English tests for adults coming to the UK as dependents of foreign workers, I blogged about my relationship with the English language. Quite a few frustrations of mine made their way into my writing there, but I wasn’t entirely unhappy with the piece.

Cricket updates

In my first game of this season (oh, some seven weeks ago), I injured my foot and the swelling hadn’t gone down after six weeks or so. After consulting with an NHS trainee doctor, I had an X-ray done last week, which showed no fractures. I therefore resumed cricket yesterday after a brief absence, scoring 6*(6) at №.9 before bowling 5-0-32-1. My first three overs were the best I have probably ever bowled, but I didn’t pay close attention to my asthma getting worse with the humidity, and my last two overs were all over the place. I am happy to report, however, that my foot was entirely pain-free during the match.

Hobbies

In addition to practising on the acoustic bass regularly, I remembered that I have a diatonic C-scale harmonica handy and am playing that from time to time too. I expect I will be playing a lot more music when I live with my partner, who is also quite musical and very talented.

My head has been in a frustrating space lately, so I am struggling to give my all during Heartwood rehearsals, but I have enjoyed learning some of the new songs we will be singing in coming months.

Pursuits

(I will keep this section largely unchanged – unless the pursuits have been achieved! – as a reminder to myself.)

My aim for this year is to acquire a UK driving licence. I don’t need or want one, but it would come in handy if I ever have to rent a car. It is a shame that, having driven in Europe for around a decade with not so much as a parking ticket, I cannot simply exchange my Indian licence. I understand why, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

For what feels like forever, I have been helping Amanda with her English translation of an old and famous Finnish text. The translation has been complete for a while, and I intend to finish editing it in the coming weeks before starting work on formatting the final piece for various platforms.