Of neurons and neanderthal notions...

I hate sunday evenings, for I spend most sunday evenings cribbing about how quickly the weekend went past, and of course in preparation for the 'dreaded' monday morning blues. Today's 'monday morning blues' were overcome in bed, for I realized I didn't have to hurriedly get to my office desk, with 2 big monitors (not the lizards... more of the display screens ;)) greeting me, for it's a holiday in serene scenic Switzerland... called the 'federal fasting day'... the rationale of which completely beats me, anyway, that's a different thing altogether, since Switzerland has managed to keep me continually surprised for almost 3 years of my existence here on a lot of inane counts ;)

Having hibernated and lollygaged on blogging for a while now, nothing short of a swift kick on the behind was essential to get those rusty 'blogging neurons' cranked up :)... and lo and behold, should I say I'm back with a bang ;)... enough of tomfoolery... coming to serious business now, when I tell 'curious' people what I'm trying to search for in the world of brain research, batting many an eyelid, I get perplexed stares as though I come from an extraterrestrial dimension, where 'discussing' brains is something only for the brainless :)

When I say I study brain function by building computational models, I'm asked questions like isn't it the job of psychiatrists to study the brain, do you work with 'insane' people, do you perform brain surgeries :D etc. and more so as I'm not 'qualified' to be a neuroscientist, with an engineering degree... I laughed out of my life when an elderly relative back in Bangalore once asked, why are you studying neuroscience after engineering, don't you think you would go mad yourself trying to fix mad people :D...

With all candour, though my convictions for this switch remain unshaken hitherto, regardless of the kind of questions I face, there's a fundamental awareness that seems to be lacking, this awareness fuelled by curiosity amongst a certain strata of educated, well-to-do, 'scholarly' people. Agreed that fields of research are rather abstruse by themselves and that not everyone need know all the nitty gritties, but what's disappointing is the fact that callous apathy seems to override mindsets, rather than the inquisition to venture beyond known realms. Ranting under the hot sun, with a majestic view of Lac Leman, and the alps in the foreground is rather fun I must admit ;)... so what would I do in my capacity to contribute my 2 cents worth to try to bring about awareness of any kind... be 'aware' of this space ;)