If you would like a recommendation letter from me, please ensure you follow my instructions. Basic instructions are on the form which you can collect from me. It is also available online as a pdf file, about 340KB. (Please print it out on a 300 dpi or better printer or else the small fonts will be smeared.)

The eligibility and the maximum number of recos that I give are: BTP/MTech/PhD/RA: 6; BTS: 5; SP: 4; Courses: all AAs: 2; less than AA in any course: none

More instructions:

1. If all your univs accept a pdf file by email, great! All you need to do then is submit my form, and skip to point 11 below.

2. If all your univs accept a fax version, and you are willing to pay for it (about Rs. 150 or more per univ), great! All you need to do then is submit my form, and skip to point 11 below.

3. If you must send my letters by post/courier, then submit all papers in one trasparent A4-sized plastic folder (not file).

4. The folder should have the following items in the order given: my form, its attachments (stapled), the univ's reco form (open) and the waiver slip, the latter two clipped to an envelope. Do not put the form within the envelope. The waiver slip I refer to here is the waiver of your rights to see my letter, and is usually part of the university-supplied form.

5. If there is no Univ. form, then give the waiver slip clipped to the envelope. The waiver slip I refer to here is the waiver of your rights to see my letter. If there is no university-provided slip, then type/write the following words no a slip of paper and sign it: "I hereby waive my rights to see or access the confidential recommendation letter provided by Prof. Jayesh Bellare. Signature and date ......".

6. If a Univ-provided envelope is there, avoid using it if possible.

7. If you must use if, and it is OK (not glued shut), include it along with a stamped, addressed envelope that will hold the Univ envelope.

8. The envelopes should be "airmail" envelopes with the flap on the short side of the envelope.

9. The envelopes should be stamped and addressed but should NOT have a return address (I will put my rubber stamp).

10. Put appropriate stamps on the envelope (Rs. 15 as of Dec 2000).

11. Submit the form personally to me.

12. When submitting the folder, also fill in the "tabular list of universities" form which is with me.

13. Not counting my time, there are actual out-of-pocket expenses relating to sending reco letters. Most important are printing charges: I send an original laser or inkjet printout to each university. My employer does not defray these expenses. At present, I absorb these expenses, but that could change in the future. If your univ accepts pdf files from me as email attachments, that would help me a lot, as I shall be spared sending them hardcopies. I may be also willing to fax at your expense.

How I mail the envelopes:

In order to ensure that envelopes are properly mailed, my representative (usually one of the students, or my staff) takes the entire bunch of envelopes arising until a certain cut-off date to the GPO in the city to get the stamps defaced (cancelled) and mailed at the foreign post counter. The first cut-off date is usually 15 December (requests are mailed about a week later) and the next one is 30 December.

If your Univ tells you that they have not got my letter, then keep the above deadlines and procedures in mind. My letter will usually reach them in a few more days. Often there is a delay due to New-year's rush and postal staff holidays. If you want, I can email a pdf file as an attachment to the concerned professsor at your Univ, but it is likely to be a big file, so you must get his/her explicit permission.