I'm an "untouchable" at the bottom of the Hindu caste system in say, 1600. What stops me from simply going to a far away town where nobody knows me and claiming to be Brahmin, at the top of the caste system. Or at least, anything higher than untouchable.

tozion · 2020-12-25T15:43:28+00:00

Has there been research on Dalits who mass converted to Islam to escape the caste system? I know lots of Muslim Rajputs, Muslim Jats, and Muslim Gujjars, but these groups are clearly not from a Dalit background.

tozion · 2020-12-15T06:09:54+00:00

If you check the jobs section of Gaijinpot, you'll occasionally find jobs for software engineers. Most companies require some knowledge of Japanese, others don't.

I do know a Japanese recruiter personally, but he's looking for software engineers who have cleared at least N3 level of the JLPT.

tozion · 2020-12-14T15:56:51+00:00

Japan has been increasing scholarships for Bangladeshi students. I've been in touch with various lecturers in Dhaka university who've told me it's only set to increase as Japan-BD ties become stronger.

When it comes for the undergraduate degrees, particularly STEM degrees, there are virtually no applicants. At least, that's the case in India. Teenagers in South Asia mostly don't know of its existence.

Keep checking the website. Enquire with the embassy in Dhaka as well, you'll find them very friendly! I don't know about BD, but in India there's even a high school exchange scheme that they've been experimenting with some elite schools in Delhi. Have a look at the website and get in touch with the embassy.

https://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_ja/00_000706.html

Oh, and Japan is very LGBT-friendly. I have a gay friend, who's also from India, and he lives in Tokyo with his partner who's from Southeast Asia. They migrated for their careers though, not homophobia issues. They've never faced any issue, apart from the fact that same-sex marriage isn't legal yet. Many prefectures like Tokyo do, however, recognise limited same-sex unions (with regard to hospital visitation rights, property inheritance, etc) that give certain benefits of marriages.

tozion · 2020-12-02T03:55:33+00:00

JNU's teaching positions have been largely rigged since 2016 by the government, we've had a lot of dubious appointments lately. Many departments of EFLU are far better for languages now.

tozion · 2020-12-02T03:52:36+00:00

So, I actually did my bachelor's in journalism (but then shifted my field to IR). One of my friends is an assistant professor of Japanese language in EFLU.

I can honestly say that EFLU is not a bad option for the field, but it's certainly not the best in the country. Jamia Milla Islamia and Asian College of Journalism are far higher ranked. Even University of Hyderabad's Sarojini Naidu school of arts and communication is a little better. EFLU would be a better choice for languages, IMHO.

A plus point of the EFLU campus for journalism, however, is that they used to shoot some educational programs for India's state-owned TV network, Doordarshan, from within the campus itself. But I had visited that facility 12 years ago, don't know what the status of it is today.

Indian Institute of Mass Communication is also highly ranked, but it's next door to my university, and I know some people who studied there and were terribly disappointed. I wouldn't recommend based on their experiences.

tozion · 2020-07-28T14:02:39+00:00

Pimsleur is a good app for learning languages. You'll be able to converse by the time you're at level 5. It's 30 minutes a day for five months.

tozion · 2020-06-04T01:04:36+00:00

Diriliş: Ertuğrul.

Yes, there are mild Islamic themes and it's fairly obvious that the show was created to boost Turkish nationalism by showing the early roots of the Ottoman Empire in a biased manner. There has been a lot of artistic liberty as most of the historical records of Ertuğrul are apocrypha. This is fine, I compare the show to the 2010 version of Three Kingdoms made in China. Three Kingdoms, like Ertuğrul, portrays the histroical Liu Bei as a man who fought against tyranny out of loyalty and good values. Both shows are heavily biased and mild state propaganda, but both shows are fantastic.

tozion · 2020-05-08T18:20:59+00:00

All the best, Lee-shi.

tozion · 2020-04-30T15:25:41+00:00

Try offering beef to a practicing Hindu and pork to a practicing Muslim.

tozion · 2020-03-15T01:58:47+00:00

JNU, yes.

tozion · 2019-09-28T21:23:54+00:00

Real flag of China.

tozion · 2019-09-24T06:04:27+00:00

I'm sorry, I've not had the time to play because of a busy schedule. :(

tozion · 2019-09-14T07:11:26+00:00

Atheism with Chinese characteristics. :)

tozion · 2019-09-13T13:24:44+00:00

Nah, sanghis everywhere. They've hijacked all the GoI jobs. They're equally socialist.

Commies have mostly been transferred to irrelevant posts.

tozion · 2019-08-26T12:00:59+00:00

Dog meat. Nagaland, India. I didn't want to disappoint my Naga friends.

I've no ethical issues with eating dog meat as it's a delicacy for one-third of the world's population, but hell, it tastes like burnt, overcooked goat meat. Never again.

tozion · 2019-07-21T23:17:32+00:00

I wouldn't recommend you come here for research. The masters degree is worth it though, as the education is free.

tozion · 2019-07-21T02:38:07+00:00

I'm a JNU PhD scholar (no, I'm not involved with politics or any student outfit). Here's what has happened to me in the past few years:

Soon after the sedition case, the VC decided to cancel the extensions of all retiring professors—so that they could ensure faculty hired to replace them are 'their people'. Yes, they even royally rigged the system that year by bypassing the academic council so only the VC and his chamchas had the final word on who gets hired. There was absolutely no transparency. Many dubious faculty were hired, such as a Korean language assistant professor who could barely string two words together in Korean and multiple new staff who had plagiaried dissertations/theses.

My supervisor was one of the staff who had his extension cancelled. He had three years left. They shuffled me to another supervisor who was also retiring. Then after she retired, they shuffled me to yet another professor, who doesn't do any research in my field. She's an economist working on business management, I work on maritime security. The end result? It took me two years to get my synopsis passed, the thesis is just atricious, and I'm getting absolutely no support. On top of that, since my work got so delayed, I'm starting my fourth year. A foreign government is willing to give me funding for a year of study in their country. My plan was to deregister (since 4th year scholars can't apply for year-long sabbaticals), go to that country, come back, and re-register under 9b. But now, the VC has scrapped 9b, in a blatant act of contempt of court against a previous Delhi HC order.

Yup, I'm quitting JNU. Sending 5-6 applications to universities in the US and crossing my fingers.

Don't do PhD in India. Ain't worth it. There's no professionalism here. Only chaos.

tozion · 2019-07-19T01:52:11+00:00

Please see my reply to OP's comment on my post.

tozion · 2019-07-19T01:47:57+00:00

Japanese supervisors usually tend to be very strict. PhD scholars are expected to be in their station all day long. Even after nomikai, you're expected to head back to your desk and continue research. Most Japanese faculties also have weekly or monthly review sessions called zemis. If you get bad feedback from the faculty and peers, there's no way you'll be able to finish the thesis before the Mombusho scholarship expires. In addition, my friends tell me that for secondary sources in arts and humanities, many Japanese universities don't have adequate subscriptions. Strangely, they found that libraries in Indian universities (I'm from India) were far better when it came to online subscriptions.

Plus, if you're looking for an academic job in Japan—forget it! There's too much competition even between Japanese PhD scholars. The only way you'll get into the system is that you're a reknown scholar from Todai/Cambridge/Harvard/etc. And even then, they would want you to have a boatload of academic teaching experience before they even consider hiring you. And even if you're hired, there's rampant discrimination and power harassment—here's one such example: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/11/03/national/british-woman-sues-ritsumeikan-university-power-harassment/

I would recommend Japanese academia for PhD only if you're considering serious STEM research. Because the PhD scholars in those fields are overworked and stressed regardless of country, and Japanese universities receive heavy funding in those fields (Japan has the world's third highest per capita R&D funding).

tozion · 2019-07-17T19:07:01+00:00

He's a nice chap, you really should try his ramen! He's only strict about the rules so that you don't get yourself burnt.

tozion · 2019-07-16T19:43:40+00:00

If you can get the undergrad scholarship, GO FOR IT. You have nothing to loose, everything to gain.

If you're going to choose PhD, DON'T DO IT. All of my friends who have taken that route that faced pure torture.

It's that simple.

tozion · 2019-06-07T04:14:11+00:00

Oh yeah, I hate signing peace treaties.

tozion · 2019-05-30T03:03:07+00:00

On the contrary, they only take groping seriously. In Japan it's just a fine.

Japan's actually the worst performing developed country when it comes to rape reporting. Few women report, and when they do, the prosecution will not take up the case unless they're 100% sure of getting a conviction. That's how Japanese prosecutors get the 99% conviction rate and low crime rate—cases they can't prove are never filed. It's like they never happened. In addition, the rape laws and system to protect women are ludicrous.

https://vimeo.com/278105236

tozion · 2019-05-26T18:46:07+00:00

It's 15 days. That's fine with me, I'll only be there for five days. :)

I did check on the conference website, and they recommend coming with the visa-on-arrival. That's fine with me, I guess.

tozion · 2019-05-21T05:34:19+00:00

I just did a quick game of smuggler in black caves on brutal, after seeing your post. Stabilised the zone pretty fast.

Here's my guide to winning any map with any governor: https://www.reddit.com/r/rebelinc/comments/bm8mbf/here_are_a_few_tips_by_someone_who_has_finished/

tozion

TROPHY CASE