Ritanjali Hastir, Associate Editor, 11th December, 2019
As yet another year is on the verge of closure, members of Keekli Book Club (KBC) had a great outing where they walked the talk. Like it is said, if you don’t know your history, you don’t know where you are coming from so the members were taken to the Shimla State Museum, Chaura Maidan. The morning started on an exciting note as all the members of the Club gathered at Scandal Point on The Mall, to take a small step towards wisdom, knowledge and exploration of the unknown.
On the way to Museum, members got an opportunity to learn about various heritage structures that they came across including Thomas Cook Building, CTO, Western Command, Railway Board Building, Gorton Castel among others.
Each child got an opportunity to learn something new and look at the building in a different light which was always there but yet never registered. Members were warmly received by Hari Chauhan, the State Museum Curator who was kind enough to allow the children to dive into the world of heritage.
He briefed the students about the importance of a museum and how it helps in maintaining the heritage culture of the ages gone by as they are the reference points for cultural values. He also inspired them to look at simple household items of grandparents as antiques and old fashioned.
The members then embarked on a two hour long journey into the museum that brought them close to various topics like military, arms, trucks, missiles and uniforms; jewelry from different state districts, their dresses; sculptures; miniatures painting and contemporary art; currency; stamps; vintage camera, Gandhi’s stay in Shimla and much more.
The most fascinating feature for the young readers was the library which is based on Buddhist style of learning. Children were all excited to take off their shoes and enter the temple of knowledge. The tribal art and masks along with wonderful wooden carvings seemed to impress the little ones a lot.
Each member was given a topic from the museum to knit a story around it which will soon be shared with our readers. The day ended on a happy note as all shared they experience over a lunch treat and made wonderful memories before the year ended.
Very nice.