Reflections on Today’s Research Writing Workshop
Loyola College | PG & Research Dept of English
31 August 2026
It was an absolute joy to be part of the Research Writing Workshop hosted by the Department of English at Loyola College (Autonomous), Chennai. After a rewarding vibe over coffee and conversation, I was ushered into the MCA Hall for my session.
I was so happy to know that undergraduate students at the Department of English, Loyola College, undertake a dedicated paper on Research Writing, which culminates in a practical project.
The session began with the welcome address by Dr. Christina Sagaya Mary, who shared a touching personal anecdote that caught me pleasantly by surprise.
“It was the year 2004,” she recalled. “My father and I had come to Madras Christian College for my admission. The first person we met was Rufus sir. He assured my father that I had come to the best institution and that I was in safe hands.” Hearing her fondly recollect an incident from over 22 years ago was truly heartwarming. She further reflected on her time as a student, remarking, “I was privileged to be taught by illustrious stalwarts like Dr. Ganesh, Dr. Rajagopalan, and Dr. Victor Frederick, who shaped my values for life.”
The Department also extended a wonderfully thoughtful gesture that I personally cherished: presenting me with a Moses-in-the-Cradle (Rhoeo) plant - a lovely new addition to our home garden - 😊 along with a copy of Hermann Hesse’s classic, Siddhartha.
In my lecture, I focused on the profound importance of research in higher education. Research is not merely an academic requirement; it is a fundamental objective, privilege, and benefit of higher learning.
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I drew upon Arjun Appadurai’s 2006 essay, “The Right to Research,” where he argues that research must be democratised and recognised as a fundamental human right, particularly in our era of globalisation.
In fact, Appadurai challenges the conventional view that research is an elite, highly technical activity reserved only for specialists. Instead, he posits that it is simply a specialised name for a universal human capacity: the ability to make “disciplined inquiries into those things we need to know, but do not know yet.”
To contextualise this within the Indian landscape, I shared some thought-provoking statistics. Although dropout rates have considerably declined in India and academia has been consistently encouraging scholarly pursuit, the number of individuals actively entering research remains abysmally low.
To illustrate this point, I contrasted our national data with global figures, highlighting the direct link between research investment and economic growth:
In America, for every one lakh people, 440 involve themselves in research.
In China, there are 130 researchers for every one lakh people.
In Israel, it is 825 researchers per lakh, and
In India, it is 27 researchers for every one lakh people.
And as far as expenditure on research is concerned,
In America, $1,866 is spent annually, for an individual researcher.
In China, it is $1,368 per researcher, per annum, and
In Israel, it is $1810, while in India it is $167 per annum.
Let us now try and connect these data with the economy of these respective nations.
In America, it is worth $ 23 trillions
In China, it is $17 trillions
In Japan, $ 6trillions
In India, $ 3trillions
In Israel, 400 billions
Israel has a population that’s a mere one hundredth the size of India’s. However, it is an astounding one eighth in its economy.
Moreover, new inventions, discoveries, production, and the obtaining of patents based on research, are considered of utmost importance in today’s competitive world.
In the market economy, in particular, patents have always had a close connect with economic growth.
Even in this aspect, these nations are a tad higher than us.
For example, up until the year 2018,
China tops the list with over 4.5 lakh patents,
America with 3.54 lakh patents comes second,
followed by Japan with 1.8 lakh patents.
India has so far obtained 25,000 patents.
[Source: Our 2021 Blogpost on 26th June 2021 HERE]
In today’s highly competitive market economy, new inventions, discoveries, and patents are intrinsically linked to national development. The data points to a clear conclusion: countries that invest heavily in research achieve faster and more robust economic growth.
I concluded the session by breaking down the practical mechanics of academic writing. We discussed the core components of an impactful research paper, the ideal structural flow of paragraphs, and five essential rubrics that double as a checklist for students to use before venturing into their final projects.
My sincere thanks to Dr. Sharmila Rani, for initiating this lovely workshop for their students today.
I felt like I was on home soil, with such familiar and vibrant professors Dr. Sharmila and Dr. Christina. Special kudos to them for the excellent way in which the programme was organised today.
I would like to mention one lovely point that Dr. Christina said in her concluding note that was very insightful and hence deserves special mention here.
She emphasised on the need to break free from the colonial mindset that continues to plague research, especially in formerly colonised nations. For instance, she argued that our unquestioned reliance on APA or MLA guidelines should be replaced by a distinctly Indian style of academic formatting.
A wake-up call for academia. I’m sure this is sure going to have a transformative sea-change in academia in the years to come!
A highly pertinent and thoughtful observation, and I gladly second it to a tee!
Coming back -
A special word of appreciation to Mr. Vishal who did the MC today. Dr. Christina (with a teacher’s happiness) proudly told me that he was doing the MC for the first time. You did it with such confidence, Vishal. Kudos!
And to Mr. Dharun, for introducing me in such a graceful way. Thank you, Dharun.
Thank you dear Professors, and to all of you, our lovely students for the memorable interactions and discussions we had today. You made my day today.
A very rewarding day, in every way.
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