WRITTEN BY London swaminathan

swami_48@yahoo.com

 Date: 22 SEPTEMBER 2019

British Summer Time uploaded in London – 6-10 am

Post No. 6998

Pictures are taken from various sources; beware of copyright rules; don’t use them without permission; this is a non- commercial, educational blog; posted in swamiindology.blogspot.com and tamilandvedas.com simultaneously. Average hits per day for both the blogs 11,000.

I visited Visveswaraya Industrial and Technological Museum in Bengaluru  on 14^th September 2019 with my brother S Nagarajan, who contributes regularly to our blogs. Bengaluru students are lucky to have such a museum. I wish that I am reborn as a student. Normally Hindus pray for Moksha, i.e. getting out of birth and death cycle and merging with god. One Saivite saint said I should never be born again, but if I have to be born again I should never forget You (Lord Shiva). In spite of reading such philosophical statements, I still long to be born again because of the educational facilities available now. When I studied B.Sc and M.A, whatever I studied in the first year must be remembered until the third year examination date. But one year after I came my brother who wrote exams in three months modules. That means he has to remember a subject only for three months (for exam sake)! And the books and libraries, google and internet, Museums and seminars were not available 45 years ago.

After visiting Visveswaraya museum, my feelings grew stronger to become a student again and start from the scratch. The same feeling, I get every week when I go to the British Library and University of London library in my home town London.

We saw thousands of Bengaluru students using the inter active devices to learn something new. The success of the museum lied in the inter active devices. This is a great fun for the students. Even I, 71 year old youth,  was interested in becoming an astronaut and so I inserted my head into astronaut’s attire and became an astronaut in a minute (see the picture).

I and my brother went into the Mirror Maze and struggled hard to come out. You will bump into mirrors looking for exit (way out).

It is a very educative and innovative museum. So people who visit Bengaluru must see this. Whenever I visit a place, I always make it a point to visit the museums. My Sambandhis (In laws) in Australia bought us expensive tickets for one day cricket match between Australia and India in Sydney. My Sambandhi was surprised when I told him that I would prefer to go to a Museum to study the Aborigines rather than sitting in a stadium. Except me all our family members went to the cricket match and I spent hours in museum and took pictures and posted them on Face book and in my blogs.

The point I am making is that many people don’t know the big treasures in museums in a city. After 40 to 50 visits to Chennai I was successful in visiting Government Museum in Madras this year. The Bronze Gallery there is worth billions of dollars.

The space technology gallery in Visveswaraya Industrial and Technological Museum has following features: –

• What is Space?
• Flight Mechanics
• Launch Complex
• Mission Control Centre
• Be An Astronaut
• Satellites
• Rockets
• Space Applications
• GPS
• International Space Station
• Space Astronomy
• Story of Space
• Space Spinoff
• Indian Space Programme
• Space Materials
• Space Food
• Space Wear

The museum has seven permanent exhibition halls and two special exhibits.
1.   Engine Hall – How things work
2.   Electrotechnic
3.   Fun Science
4.   Space Technology Gallery
5.   Biotechnological Revolution
6.   BEL-Hall of Electronics
7.   Science for Children

Special Exhibits
1.   Dinosaur Enclave
2.   Science on a Sphere
3.   Wright brothers aeroplane

Please see the pictures taken by me; On the first floor there is a small book shop with very good books and educational, scientific toys and games.

I felt I visited the Nobel Museum in Stockholm again. That also inspired me a lot. I would suggest to Visveswaraya Museum to follow some ideas in the shop there. I bought quotations on Fridge Magnets there when I went to Sweden. Quotations by Indian Nobel Laureates are also sold there.

One more suggestion:- you cant come out of any museum in a western country without seeing the shop. That is, the exit (Way out)  is always through the shop. All Indian museums must follow this business tactics. It will give them a big boost in sales. No student in a western county comes out of a museum without buying a memento. Pencils and pens, erasers and boxes, bags and cups would bear the pictures from the museums. Please learn it from western countries. (In Bengaluru, I inquired the location of the book shop and bought two puzzles).

Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum,Kasturba Road,Bengaluru-560001,INDIA.

One guide book says the museum runs a mobile science exhibition that travels in the city throughout the year.

Sir Mokshagundam Visveswaraya (1861-1962) was one of the modern architects of Karnataka. He was a civil engineer and a statesman. He was born on 15^th September 1861 and so September 15 every year is celebrated as National Engineers Day to acknowledge his contributions to the country.

–subham- Lokas Samasta Sukino Bhavantu-