by Sachin Murdeshwar
Mumbai :-McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School Affiliate, in association with Nehru Science Centre, and Dr N.S. Vahia Foundation, has organised a seven-day exhibition and a series of lecture demonstrations on ‘Exploring Brain and Mental Health’, at Nehru Science Centre. The event will be organised between February 11, 2019 and 
Mr. Parveen Pardeshi, Additional Chief Secretary Govt of Maharashtra and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra will inaugurate the exhibition at 11.30 am on February 11.
As part of the exhibition, a specimen, as well as models of human brain, along with an exhibition of experiences of persons suffering from mental illness will be on display.
The event is a global alliance of mental health professionals, national health associations, NGOs, and other institutions. A wide range of learning sessions would include specimen and models of human brain and its working explained by experts form McLean Hospital, hands-on activities for schoolchildren about the mysteries of the brain 
Several other organizations will also share their expertise on ‘Destigmatizing Mental Illness and Promoting Mental Health’.
The highlight for many, however, will be a human brain that has been shipped from McLean Hospital to be displayed for the seven-day-long exhibit. Experts will explain various parts of the brain to both children and adults alike and highlight what causes mental illness and what promotes mental health.
From February 12, 2019 to February 17, 2019, experts in the field of mental health will organize a series of lectures open to the public that will address issues that affect the mental health of children, special children, and adults.
“Despite the high number of people who need care, mental health is something we need to focus on. I laud McLean Hospital, Nehru Science Centre, and the Dr NS Vahia Foundation, for taking up such a sensitive issue, and destigmatizing it,” said Mr. Pardeshi.
“We hope that the week-long series is engaging and fruitful, and helps us in finding a way forward and helping remove the lack of awareness surrounding mental health in India,” said Dr. Vihang Vahia, the son of the late Dr. N S Vahia, and Chief Managing Trustee of the Dr N S Vahia Foundation.
The human brain has been central to the primacy that humans hold in the evolutionary chain. Yet, for a long time, mental health issues in India have not attracted the same significance that other health issues have received. Fortunately, not any longer. Mental health and mental illness issues are now passionately discussed with increasing frequency in medical literature and the media.