Morarji intends to do a year of field research to examine government, private and NGO efforts to make education more relevant in Jaunpur, a marginal, rural, mountainous block in Tehri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand. She has been preparing for the research for four years. “Since I am not a native speaker of Hindi, (I) have studied the language for one year in India and three years at Cornell in order to reach a level of fluency necessary to conduct my research,” Morarji writes.

Morarji says she came to India in August 2006 as she expected that she would receive her clearance soon and would be able to begin her research in the new academic year. “I have remained in India since then, conducting language studies, visiting family, doing volunteer work and making contacts for my research in Uttarakhand,” she says.

“For me, the biggest hardship of this significant delay has been financial. I have had to take out a student loan to cover my travel, health insurance (which is required by my university in the US) and living expenses,” she writes. Morarji says she hopes to pay this loan back “if/when I eventually get my grant.” “But this may not be possible since the grant terms require me to conduct my fieldwork for one year from the time I get the clearance and funding. So this has been a big, unexpected, financial burden that I am likely to feel the effects of for several years to come,” she says.

... contd.