I... me... myself

Meet Krishna:

What was once a childhood dream constructed by pictures of big cats and crocodiles has now become my career: you might say I monkey around for a living! I am an animal behavioral ecologist, specializing in studying nonhuman primate (monkeys, to the lay-person) social behavior and disease ecology. Sounds complicated, quirky? I also dig dinosaurs (not literally!), herping, spelunking, expeditions into the uncharted, and prefer traipsing through hot, steamy rainforests to sitting in concrete air-conditioned buildings. Electronic gadgets fascinate me, but I am not as obsessed with them as I am with sport. In a nutshell, I gravitate more towards the outdoors.

Personality-wise, I’m quiet, laid-back, just a bit more solitary than the average Homo sapien sapien, and seldom jump into a confrontation or argument. I don't loose my cool easily but when I do, I make little sense even to myself. Rather than going out of my way to acclimatize to change, I like to sit back and let nature take its course, for adaptation to occur at its own pace, for life to find a way (it quite often does, and fairly quickly. All one has to do is shift gears at key moments!). I can get sentimental at times, but such occasions often intersperse longer periods of pragmatism and matter-of-factness.

Where ones’ work also happens to be ones’ biggest passion, other interests might take a back-seat. Not here. I am very interested in playing and following sport, with a strong passion for football (strictly of the European kind; sorry America, but the word ‘soccer’ doesn't exist in my vocabulary). In addition, I like to think (!) that I can play a bit of cricket, tennis and volleyball. I also especially like the Beatles (but loathe Heavy-metal: gives me headaches), beer, Manchester United and everything the club’s ideologies stand for, collecting and building LEGO, fantasy, the city of Chennai in Southern India (my hometown), spicy food, Kamal Haasan’s acting and charisma, and finally topical comedy or satire that mocks socio-political issues. Speaking of which, I am politically liberal, leaning towards center-left social democratic ideologies. In an ideal world, I’d favor a mixed economy in which the private sector is reigned in by the government enough to recognize the dangers of income inequality and/or exploitation.

Last, my two biggest reasons for starting this blog. Number one, my academic career. An endless stream of writing competitive grants and research papers have taken their toll, and I’ve decided its time to pursue writing more on random topics as a full-time hobby. Number two, my personality. For someone who is generally quiet rather than talkative in the midst of company, it provides a nice platform! Readers may notice that my style of writing is slightly more British than American. Nonetheless (no offense, Brits, but I think its consensual that British English is downright boring!), you’ll find that it has a nice blend of humor and seriousness, factual statements and personal opinions. So “buckle your seatbelt Dorothy, because Kansas is going bye-bye”. Welcome... to my world!