Thursday, August 09, 2012

Lessons at the museum!

The thought of visiting a museum should be transformed very soon from a ‘yawn’ to a ‘yes!’ for the little ones…

“I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand,” said the popular Chinese thinker and social philosopher, Confucius. The sayings of Confucius have, through the years, significantly influenced and shaped the thoughts of the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese and the Vietnamese. And although an age-old adage, it is very applicable in these times too, especially in the formative years of one’s life. In this era of rapid learning, a place where children can learn and understand different subjects in interesting and fun ways, is a museum. But sadly, in India museums are considered soporific, and one realises that it is not without good reason, especially after one visits museums in the West. For example, Washington DC is dotted with museums and a visit to the museums is a usual weekend outing for parents with kids. “My son simply loves the Air and Space Museum. Here his science lessons just seem to unfold, in front of his eyes,” said an enthusiastic mom who was visiting the museum with her son. While the kid tried to understand ‘gravity’ with the paraphernalia provided for experimentation in the museum, his mother further explained, “As parents, we also learn new things along with our kids. Also, we can explain certain subjects, which are otherwise difficult to grasp, through such museums. It’s very interesting!” India, owing to her vast heritage and history, has no dearth of museums, but despite the vast knowledge they hold within, our museums fail to thrill the visitors. In such a scenario, it’s difficult to spark enthusiasm in our children towards museums. Be it the Victoria Memorial Museum in Kolkata or the museum housed within Hawa Mahal or The Nehru Memorial Museum – with its chapped walls, faded letters on information boards and lack of cleanliness – all of them are practically screaming for attention from the authorities! The caretaker of City Palace Museum in Jaipur mentioned that, “Every day the museum is thronged by a lot of tourists. But most of them are foreigners. Very few Indians come here… they are not interested.

Actually, foreigners are intrigued by our culture and heritage, that’s why they come. Indians would not come unless it offers something that interests them.” During the light chat I shared with him, he also spoke about insufficient funds available for renovating as per international standards.

It is said that museums represent a country’s past and history, and to bring these relics of our nation back into the public life, The AusHeritage Ltd (Australian Heritage Conservation Institutions) has extended its expertise to restore our museums to convert them into lively knowledge centres. So while they’re at work, we, at home and school, need to devise teaching methods that involve the children, so that they learn by not only ‘hearing’, but also by ‘seeing’ and ‘doing’.


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