Back in time: Reflections on Kolkata's BITM as a heritage property and a pivot for scientific progress

Standing in the historic and scientific premise of the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, the first under the National Council of Science Museums, which recently earned the recognition of the Grade I heritage building through the Blue Plaque, we bore witness to an engaging chat with Museum Director Subhabrata Chaudhuri on its historical significance and evolution along with the progress and development of science which found its way to the museum through its varied interactive artifacts.  

Back to the past

Starting off, “Satyendranath Tagore’s son was the owner of this premise. After an unsuccessful business, he finally handed over the property to the Birlas at a sum of Rs 24000. It was only in 1920 that this building came up. During the freedom movement, a lot of leaders used to frequent this house. After our independence, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr BC Roy, who had been to various science museums the world over, got in touch with the Central Government and with the initiative of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Birlas were approached. They were happy to part with the property and the Museum started functioning on May 2, 1959. It was initially under the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research and gradually the Planning Commission set up the National Council of Science Museums and BITM became its unit and headquarters in Eastern India.” recalls Chaudhuri.  

A Momentous Recognition

Talking about the heritage recognition he mentions, “It’s a great occasion that finally this building has got heritage recognition. It also gives due recognition to the tireless efforts of Indian scientists like Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose, Prafulla Chandra Ray, and Pramatha Nath Bose who had to take science forward against all willful troubles created by the then British Raj. During the post-independent period, the responsibility of taking science forward came as a big responsibility. But we still have a lot to do in this populous country.”

Keeping up with time

Shedding light on the upkeep of the heritage property, he states, “It is very difficult to identify the right type of heritage architect but we have a committee comprising specialists and with them we are preparing reports. Agencies are being engaged to go for structural auditing of the building. Based on this audit we will go for restoration. This is time –taking but in the right direction.”

The stepping stone

The Museum is credited with changing the visions in famous scientists over the years. He divulges, “If an individual happens to be from this region, they owe their careers to some extent to BITM. In fact, the first formal address to the youth through a public demonstration lecture was delivered in this heritage building by none other than Satyendranath Bose in 1960 who was a champion of promoting science education in mother-tongue.”

Restored Models

Many of the artifacts are original and restored. Talking about them Chaudhuri conveys, “We have a Fiat Tipo 1925 model belonging to Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose. We used to engage our drivers to take it out for a round but we discontinued it. Today it is permanently placed at the Transport Gallery. There’s a Beam engine owned by Dwarkanath Tagore which was used for tugging the ships in the Calcutta port.”

Recognition of Women Scientists

On entering the premises you will see busts of ten indian women scientists. He explains about giving them a rightful place, “It is a global problem. Going by statistics and reports women scientists are paid less and not many are made institutional heads. They face a lot of discrimination. But things are changing very fast, especially in India. My personal opinion is that women are coming up even better than men. A lot of women scientists contributed a lot but are not known to the public. That is why we came up with the busts of ten women scientists introducing them to the people.”

Keeping up with the Dynamics

Chaudhuri mentions when asked about embracing the rapid changes in technology, “Today’s modern science is likely to get outdated by tomorrow's new. Generally, we stick to the fundamentals which don’t change; only the forms change. In communication, earlier people used to express through signals and codes but today it’s by emojis. At the same time, we have lots of programs so that the youth is not deprived of emerging areas of technology like biotechnology, AI, etc. There are QR codes on our artifacts which would give further information with soundtrack, virtual movements, etc.”

Vision

Apart from the recently inaugurated Television Gallery, Chaudhuri’s vision for the future involves, “showcasing the development of science and technology against all odds by setting up some period rooms which trace history and uses modern technologies in parallel. Say you might be able to talk to Prafulla Roy through AI, who knows?”