Every time I have visited Bihar, about five to six times over the past seven years, I have been left amazed by the wonderful people I have met and the incredible things I have been exposed to. And, the latest trip was no exception.
In Patna, I got to visit two institutions I had heard a great deal about. The first was Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ambitious project to create a world-class museum celebrating Bihar. And, the second was the city's Kilkari Bal Bhavan, whose director, Jyoti Parihar, I had met a couple of times in Delhi at the National Bal Bhavan and found very interesting.
I didn’t have any expectations from the visit. But since museums have always fascinated me, and I had heard so much about the Bihar Musuem that was being built on a budget of Rs.400 crore, I was keen to make a visit. However, it was not an anonymous visit. The authorities had been informed about it, so I was a VIP! Which in a way was wonderful as I got to meet everyone concerned with the museum.
I was told at the very start of my ‘journey’ that the museum is different from others because its central concern is the experience of the visitors. It is a huge shift from what most of our Indian museums offer—they focus on boasting about the quantity of their ‘treasures’ rather than the way each display could bring the visitor closer to understanding the past.
So here I was walking through the story of Bihar and being allowed to touch displays, open things, turn them, play with them and let my curiosity guide me towards discovery. I was also being challenged by interactive video quizzes that forced me to think. It was a delight!
Earlier in the day, driving past the museum from the airport, the building had caught my eye because of the material used on the exterior and the low-hung look. I did not know it then that it was the Bihar Museum. The Japanese architects, Maki and Associates, and their Indian partner Opolis are the brains behind it. The spaces inside are awe-inspiring yet unimposing, and have a confident and quiet aesthetic. I was introduced to various members of the team, including the curators and in-charges of different sections. They were young and looked like they had fire in their bellies! Conversation with them was truly inspiring.
Illustration: Binesh Sreedharan
There is no doubt that huge challenges lie ahead for this museum. Crowd control is one of them, and another is, maintaining the technology and the space. But if the policymakers keep the visitors at the core of everything they plan, it would be possible to share the responsibility with them.
From the Bihar Museum I went to Kilkari Bal Bhavan, which was inaugurated four years ago by Nitish Kumar. Here, too, the design and architecture, by Kabir Vajpeyi, pulled you in. The child visitor has been kept in mind while planning the architecture, as is evident from the small spaces created for children, board games designed into the outdoor tables and interesting twists and turns incorporated in the space. Children are the explorers here. They bear responsibility to actively engage and take from this space what it has to offer. From the displays on the boards that provoke children to read and write, to the signage (my favourite being the sign outside the admin offices: ‘Matapachi’, simply put, the ‘breaking heads’ room!), the Children’s Bank where they can learn the notion of saving, the gymnasium, the science lab, the arts and craft rooms, and the dance and music studios, everything was absolutely delightful! And, best of all was a discussion I had with a group of children about what the Bal Bhavan means to them.
What struck me the most was the quiet confidence with which truly inspirational work was being carried out. Neither the museum nor the Bal Bhavan lost sight of the people they exist for. And, this is not an easy thing to come across in India! I came back from Patna with a feeling that our grand old metros have so much to learn from other cities in the country. Let us hope the learning begins soon.
