by Sita Krishnakumar, Chennai, India
[box]There’s more we can do![/box]
I visited the Birla Planetarium in Chennai recently with my two young children on a weekend. They were thrilled to watch a 3-D movie, a planetarium show, and, play with a few working exhibits. There were so many school children who had come from nearby towns and villages, ably managed by their teachers. The thrill on their faces to be in the city, in such an expansive space with scientific wonders made them ignore the heat and their bare feet on a hot summer day. But there are so many things that are so uncared for in what can be a wonderful experience to children and adults:
1. There is plenty of outdoor space with park equipment that is all broken and overgrown with weeds.
2. There are outdoor exhibits that are not well cared for.
3. Of the nearly 80 hands-on exhibits inside, not even 20 of them function.
4. The seats in the planetarium are broken and damaged, spoiling the experience.
Having a planetarium in the central part of a city, with such open space is a boon. It should be a novel experience for visitors. Just as the city’s parks are being spruced up and maintained, the outdoor space can be cared for. The school children who come with packed lunch, can eat and play outdoors and make it a day of fun-filled activity.
On weekends (during which time there is maximum crowd), college students can be signed up to volunteer and help with the hands-on exhibits. This is a learning experience for them (as to how to impart knowledge to others) and value for the children who just walk by the exhibits not knowing what they mean and having no one to ask or demonstrate.
Local tourism is booming in India. People are slowly learning to loosen up themselves and their wallets. The increasing number of visitors to places of interest is proof for this. It does not take much to keep ourselves and our environment clean, even with a small cost. Though we are a very young democracy, we can instill values in our youngsters in places like the planetarium by maintaining them well. We can take efforts to keep our environment clean, promote green tourism and build a verdant future for our great country.
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