Nobel goes to an Indian scientist...

I was very pleasantly surprised to see the news papers today morning. The head lines read - India-born scientist wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry! There cannot be a better news than this for a rational Indian like me. I read through the column to know more about the hitherto unknown Mr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and found out that he started off as a Physicist, transformed himself into a Biologist and won the Nobel for Chemistry!! He must have had a wonder lust doing research in various fields of science. He should be such an inspiration for young students in India to choose fundamental science rather than run-of-the-mill IT or medicine as professional careers. It is time that we, as a society, got rid of our fixation with these professional courses and develop a healthy respect and a sense of inquisitiveness towards science before it is too late. It is already alarming to note that we (Indians) produce far less number of scientific papers, publications and doctoral thesis than we ourselves did in the 1970s. Emergence of IT may have been a boon to Indian economy but, certainly it seems to have been detrimental to our contribution towards research in fundamental science. And more importantly, one can never over emphasize the significance of scientific temper in a society mired in blind beliefs and irrational practices in day to day life.