Museum Musings

Another interesting study in how different cities evolve different solutions to day-to-day problems: how do different bus conductors let the driver know he can move? Of course the "whistle podu" city involves the conductor blowing a whistle; in Mumbai buses, a length of string with a bell attached runs along the length of the bus, which the conductor can tug from wherever on the bus he is. (The latter seems possibly conducive to misuse but clearly it has not been a problem.)

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Looking like a proper tourist, replete with cap and sling bag, I finally made my first visit to the museum since moving. Hopefully the first of several - I spent two-and-a-half hours there and still covered less than half of it.

My South Indian temple/Chithra Madhavan-loving self was obviously drawn to the sculpture gallery first. There is a high representation of sculptures from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat - after all, the museum was once the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India. Hindu gods and goddesses stand in a gallery adjacent to a separate one for Buddhist and Jain sculpture. There is also a metal sculpture gallery with bronze statues as well as objects.

I found the most unique gallery to be the Himalayan art gallery. A collection of statues, paintings and other objects from the Tibetan and nearby regions, the gallery is curated with care to actually simulate the feel of the place (barring temperature!). 

The other standout was the personal collections of Ratan and Dorabji Tata. Spanning European paintings and Oriental snuff-boxes, it was a visual treat but more so a reminder of the scale of their wealth. Was it really a coincidence that a student at Tata Institute spent an afternoon looking at the Tata brothers' belongings? 

I also visited the miniature painting and Krishna galleries. A personal favourite from the latter was a visual representation of the Madhurashtakam in praise of Lord Krishna - after all, I did listen to MS Subbulakshmi's rendition every day for a long time. 

The audio guides were definitely made for foreigners, (I'm talking explicit recommendations for things to see and buy during "your stay in India") so a lot of the information was not new. Some was though, and I do think a lot of Indians could stand to learn about the "lost wax method" and Buddhist history.  

Flora Fountain is a short walk from the museum (well, short if you can determinedly walk past the piles of second-hand books without getting distracted).

Do stay tuned for further museum visit logs! There was an entire block I didn't visit. Until then, a virtual high-five for anyone who can spot my reflection in one of the photos.