Visweswaraya Museum

When my parents came to Bangalore I had a dilemma where to take them. I thought that taking them to temples and parks would be the safest option so that they won’t get bored. As it turned out I took them to Lal bagh the first day. They got bit tired after watching all the different trees and love-birds (pun intended). Then I wanted to take them to a place nearby. So I took them to Visweswaraya Museum.
My mom and dad have a nose for science. We used to watch science related programs on TV like Surabhi on doordarshan from my childhood itself. So they quite naturally loved the science stuff in the museum.
In the ground floor there were working models of various mechanical components especially engines. The Kamalhassan movie style balls moving through various pipes and taking different paths and finally reaching the starting point was fascinating to watch. Demonstrations of waves and ball moving up with the help of pedal power were nice learning experiences.
In the other floors there were models in Electronics, Space science and Bioscience. Electric arc formation during lightning was also demonstrated with good effect.
We also saw a 3D video show in which they showed about underwater exploration. At one point we felt as if a thing in that movie was moving straight towards our head. The 20 minutes video was awe-inspiring.
We also attended a science magic show. In that the ‘magician’ showed magic based on science. He burnt a paper but it didn’t change into ashes. It was brought back as it was before burning. He did that by soaking a paper in a chemical (whose name I don’t remember) and water mixture. He lit the paper with a matchstick. Due to lower density the chemical stays on top of the paper and it alone burns. The water saves the paper from burning.
He performed various tricks. Finally he called me up and asked me how many of his questions I have answered. I said none. So he said I deserve punishment and asked whether I want a single punishment or the same punishment 100 times. I obviously opted for the first one. He took one square board with a big nail on the center of the board and told me to sit over that. All broke into laughter and I told I would better go for the other punishment. Then he gave me another square board with 100 nails on that and told me to sit over that. He gave the board to another volunteer and told to check the sharpness of the nails. They were sharp indeed. I bravely(!) sat and the audience went silent for a moment. Nevertheless nothing happened. I knew nothing would happen because pressure = force / area. Since force was spread all over the area pressure would be less and hence I won’t tear my trousers and its contents.
If you get time do visit the museum once. It’s definitely better than spending time in parks and malls. What I have mentioned in this blog is very less. There are lots of interesting stuffs and I guarantee that you won’t get bored.

Commercialism or Faith?

Last weekend, when my parents came to Bangalore, we visited 3 temples. The temples that we went were huge. Those temples were awe-inspiring architectural marvels. Most of the Gods’ statues were decorated with Gold, diamonds and other valuable stones.
Nevertheless they didn’t give us a divine feeling. Getting tickets to see the Gods’ statues sooner and at close quarters gave me a sense of false faith. Are the poor not allowed to see the shrine at close quarters just because they don’t have money?
You lose the feeling of the divinity and tranquility associated with temples when you see various shops and eatables within the temple premises. What would a child who comes to visit the temple think? It might think that temple is yet another shopping mall.
In another temple they had kept miniature models of Gods and their avatars that move with the help of motors and microprocessors. As we had expected tickets were collected to see these things. Selling books, gold coins, lamps, etc adds to these. How much more can one commercialise things!
The money, which is gained in such a way, is purportedly used to support a charity school. In this case the temple authorities could very well spend the entire money used to build the temple for the cause of charity. The gold, diamonds and other valuable stones used for decorating the statues and gopura would be worth lakhs and they could have rather been used to serve the poor and the downtrodden.
I do donate to one charity school. I visit the school in regular intervals and have some fun with those children. What could give you more happiness than seeing a poor child getting new clothes during a festival? Give some money to the poor whenever you can and see their happy faces. That will give you more peace and satisfaction than visiting thousand such temples.
All that said I maintain that I am not an atheist. I do believe in God. According to me temple is a place where there is peace and you can meditate and pray. Temple is a place where there is no difference between rich and the poor. For me God is not a statue decorated with valuable stones. God is Love.
I would like to quote a few lines from a song in my favourite movie “Anbe Sivam”:
யார் யார் சிவம்
நீ நான் சிவம்
வாழ்வே தவம்
அன்பே சிவம்

Bad Way to Know People’s Needs (KPN)

Last Sunday night I had a horrible experience with KPN bus service. GG's friend (girl) was supposed to leave on that night in KPN bus to her hometown from Bangalore. She had booked a Sleeper bus that was supposed to leave at 11 p.m. She had reached the place at 10 p.m. itself.
The other buses came and went but her bus never came. Finally at 12.30 a.m. the KPN guys had told that the bus has met with an accident and they don’t have spare buses. They just offered to refund the money. They told the stranded passengers to find their own way out. When GG’s friend had asked the KPN guy how could they be so irresponsible, that guy responded rudely, “We are like this only”.
The passengers got agitated and fought with the KPN guys. At one point one of the passengers who is a lawyer went on to slap the KPN guy. Then the KPN guys took steel rod and the situation seemed very precarious.
GG’s friend panicked and called GG and I went to that spot at 1.30. By the time I went Police had reached. One of the passengers called up the Police and the Police intervened at the right time.
The Police, however, were only able to stop any violence from happening. The KPN manager came at around 1.30. He said that since it’s Sunday they didn’t have any spare buses. He told that he has called up Vellore KPN guys and they are sending a bus. That bus will come only by 4 a.m. The Police couldn’t help much when the manager told like this.
The Police told the passengers to take a call. After all the drama most of the passengers didn’t want to stay anymore in that office that didn’t even have a toilet. Almost all passengers got just the refund of the ticket cost and left.
The sheer irresponsibility of the KPN guys was shocking. How can they keep the passengers in waiting at late night when they knew their bus had met with an accident? How can they be so rude to their passengers without whom they can’t run their business?
KPN refunded just the ticket cost without even the tax amount. Compare this with an airline; in Europe if your flight gets postponed by a day the airlines have to give each passenger 500 Euros per day as compensation.
It’s more appalling to know that a well-established bus service like KPN lacks even spare buses. How do these guys operate such a mammoth bus service when they don’t even have a spare bus?
It was a sorry sight to see women among the passengers. They were horrified after seeing all the verbal and physical fight. By the time we collected the refund and left the place it was 2 a.m. Leaving the passengers helpless in the night was a terrible thing.
The most ironical thing was KPN stands for Knowing People’s Needs. If this were their way to know people’s needs they have a long way to go indeed.