New exhibition at children's gallery of CSMVS celebrates the city

A colossal yellowcoloured head is too preoccupied to spot us Little Pao is a trueblue Mumbaikar named after his favourite pillowy bread As his giantsized papiermachehead lords over the Childrenrsquos Museum we look around to map his posture Paorsquos one hand holds on to the museum wall the other clutches a tree and opposite his beaming face is a stretched out footWriggling through Bhendi BazaarPao the mascot for Mumbai in a Box a new exhibition at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya CSMVS is playing with a sandbox The sensorial display envisioned by puppet theatre company Katkatha found a home at the museum that is in the midst of their centennial celebrations ldquoWe wanted to do something special for children to celebrate the occasion and what better way than a tribute to Mumbai that has nurtured us over the yearsA comparative visual where tiled floors contrast skylinesChildren across age groups who visit CSMVS are from different walks of life speak different languages and have diverse interests Our idea was to create an experience that would resonate with every single childrdquo shared Vaidehi Savnal head Childrenrsquos Museum adding that it was meant to be a sensory experience after kids were deprived of physical interaction for over two yearsChildren walk down the sensorial mangrovebound pathwayLeaders of tomorrowWho decides if a tree should be cut down Who rules that forestland should be used to realise dreams of concrete Anurupa Roy art director at Katkatha shares ldquoIt is sad that children are not made part of such crucial decisions We should ask them if they are willing to embrace temperature extremes and floods Being alive to the city is a process that happens through accountability the lifesize drawing board is a sponge for a childrsquos ideas for the city that would berdquoA display unit sporting trees made up of waste aluminium scrubsA black board with oneinch square tiles and colourful doodles strewn across its surface abridges how kids wish to build their island city Once inside the gallery we follow a trail that pieces devices of kinesthetic learning together The snaking path begins with mangroves that have Mumbai breathing Our feet sink into a makebelieve bumpy stretch where dried leaves twigs and pebbles hoist their arch The next stop is a textured wall where a plastic lizard a tiny puppet and a knobbly faccedilade await usKids look at miniature departments of the museumBecause touch has a memoryldquoItrsquos hard to develop an interest in intangible heritage after a certain age So start young Our team decided to deliver that effect keeping in step with body intelligencerdquo Roy reasons As we crawl down a narrow passage only to land in Lilliputian Bhendi Bazaar miniature seekh kebabs handi biryani ornate hand mirrors grab our eye Further glass cabinets with mini ittar displays merge with the call to prayer azan Before we could find a handy tape recorder hidden in the folds we are prompted to rub our finger on a white speck And lo We smell mogra We could have missed lots had we not crawled under JJ Flyover In the colour wheels attracting natural light or the turnhandles and switches orchestrating moods and shades the show has successfully parcelled a lesson in elementary physicsCSMVSrsquo tiny conservatoryHistory heralds the futureThis new exhibition their first in nearly a year also takes us through the annals of time While one of the walls tells us how the dargah named after Pedro Shah Baba came into being another segment takes us through Lady Hardinge Hospital CSMVS was once called this and a small alley features Fearless Nadia and a prop movie set While a chaiwallah is distracted by the setrsquos goingson elsewhere kids peep through miniature versions of the museumrsquos CCTV room conservatory and restoration unit Filled with childlike thrill we end our adventure after meeting underwater creatures Like Mumbai follows the ocean we too meander on land to dip our feet into the seaTime 11 am onwardsTill August 2022At CSMVS MG RoadLog on to csmvsmumbai