Today is International Museum Day, a fact that I came upon purely by accident when I put on the computer and was wondering what to do.

The weekend was unusually busy and I woke up with a head devoid of ideas on what to write – a rather sad situation since I have an assignment due in two days.

So even though I am still not inspired to get on with my assignment, I am inspired to write about Museums and what I like about them.

This is beginning to sound more school girlish than warranted but then Museums are all part of History, a subject normally one doesn’t bother about outside of school.

FROZEN IN TIME

Funnily enough, the only museum I actually saw as a school girl with my class was in Class 3 when we visited the Prince of Wales Museum. We were taken to see the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro when we were studying about the Indus Valley civilization. I was fascinated by the models and fragments of pottery encased in glass cases in a darkened room.

It looked almost the same when I took my children to see it after it was re-christened Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. And it was still almost the same when I visited it with my grandchildren. Frozen in time like the objects displayed.

However, the museum is much better maintained now and organises wonderfully curated cultural events in its well-kept gardens. There is also a special museum for children and of course , a wonderful gift shop for souvenirs.

Currently, there are three exhibitions at the Museum to which I shall take the grandchildren during the summer break from school.

24th March – 31st Dec 2026

Metamorphosis II – Exhibition

17th April – Nov 2028

The Stone Age – Journey Through Time – Exhibition

12th Dec 2025 – Nov 2028

Networks of the Past – Exhibition

A CITY MUSEUM LIKE NO OTHER

One of my all time favourites is the Bhau Daji Lad Museum just outside the Jijamata Udyan or the Bombay Zoo at Byculla.

This quaint little museum has the strangest collection of objects, but they do tell a fascination story of Mumbai’s past.

MUSEUMS ABROAD

There was a time when I spent a large amount of time in Washington DC and since Prima Donna lived in Foggy Bottom, I used to visit all the Museums I could walk to.

I will, however, never forget my trip to the National Gallery where my young 3-year-old nephew ( at that time) kept asking “Mom, are we at the Rotunda?” On a later trip to the same museum, I told the children to look out for the most famous exhibits and only visit them.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

The museum I was most disappointed with was the Louvre, which I was dying to see almost all my life. Perhaps, it didn’t live up to my expectations because I saw it soon after recovering from Dengue but I can never forget how let down I felt after seeing the tiny little picture of the Mona Lisa.

SOME UNUSUAL MUSEUMS

In most cities, you will find more than one museum. And some of them are dedicated to the most unlikely things.

I was gob-smacked when I saw the Aston Martin used by James Bond in the Spy Museum in Washington DC.

Similarly, I was quite taken in by the first shoe Ferragamo made for his sister that was displayed at the Museo Ferragamo in Florence.

Or the Earthquake Museum in Bhuj which is actually a memorial to those who died in the Bhuj Earthquake in 2001

THE CAIRO MUSEUM

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square was the last museum I visited during my holiday to Egypt in 2023.

This was a fascinating place and I could have spent two days exploring the treasures of ancient Egypt.

We saw the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza in passing. It was under construction at that time but scheduled to open later. But it only opened in November. 2025. This is supposed to be the largest museum ever devoted to one civilisation!

A most unusual museum was the Escher Museum at the Hague which is a small but fascinating museum featuring the works of the Dutch graphical artist M. C. Escher.

But quite recently, I heard of a museum that is a virtual museum: https://museumofmaterialmemory.com/

This is probably the best kind of museum to see – one which is accessible at will, with free entry and objects that tell very personal stories.

I could go on and on about more museums but I’m not about to make this about all the museums you can see.

Ciao,