Sthanapati: How did Dr Ramatosh Sarkar, a mathematician, help the planetarium in reaching its goals?
Subramanian: Dr. Ramatosh Sarkar worked with us in Birla Planetarium as a Curator for more than 30 years. He was a very cooperative, very congenial, very knowledgeable person. Sarkar was with me almost from the beginning. At that time he was an M.Sc. in mathematics. We took him initially as a lecturer. He worked under me – in the sense it’s not as a higher staff to a lower staff, very close. If he has a problem he will come to me. Even if M. P. Birla created the problem, before answering him, he will come to me. As a matter of fact once he wanted to go to Japan for a conference. He was short of money. He approached the Birla Group for some …show more content…
BITM is the first major science museum in the country. Of course there was a small science museum in National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. Then there was a science museum also in Pilani. In Pilani museum the emphasis is on industry. Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, Chief Minister of our state and the Chairman of our Executive Council was keen to see that BITM develops as a science museum, something like the Science Museum London or the Deutsch Museum, Munich.
Sthanapati: Did you interact with stalwarts like Mr G D Birla, Mr M P Birla, Dr B C Roy or Prof S N Bose in BITM?
Bagchi: Of course many important personalities used to come to our museum when I was there. But I did not meet Mr. G D Birla in BITM. Mr. M P Birla was the Chairman of our Finance Committee. He used to take lot of interest in our work. Prof S N Bose had come once for a lecture during my time, most probably.
Dr B C Roy had expired before my joining the museum. But then B C Roy was so interested in the museum, I find the first Executive Committee minutes, there was a controversy between B C Roy and G D Birla. G D Birla wanted the museum to be a copy of the Pilani museum where exhibition of industrial objects will be there. B C Roy is mentioning, as noted in the minutes, that he wants an educational museum, not a museum of show piece of industrial objects. And the science museum in India has taken a note of what B C Roy said, science museums in India are really educational
Subramanian: Dr. Ramatosh Sarkar worked with us in Birla Planetarium as a Curator for more than 30 years. He was a very cooperative, very congenial, very knowledgeable person. Sarkar was with me almost from the beginning. At that time he was an M.Sc. in mathematics. We took him initially as a lecturer. He worked under me – in the sense it’s not as a higher staff to a lower staff, very close. If he has a problem he will come to me. Even if M. P. Birla created the problem, before answering him, he will come to me. As a matter of fact once he wanted to go to Japan for a conference. He was short of money. He approached the Birla Group for some …show more content…
BITM is the first major science museum in the country. Of course there was a small science museum in National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. Then there was a science museum also in Pilani. In Pilani museum the emphasis is on industry. Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, Chief Minister of our state and the Chairman of our Executive Council was keen to see that BITM develops as a science museum, something like the Science Museum London or the Deutsch Museum, Munich.
Sthanapati: Did you interact with stalwarts like Mr G D Birla, Mr M P Birla, Dr B C Roy or Prof S N Bose in BITM?
Bagchi: Of course many important personalities used to come to our museum when I was there. But I did not meet Mr. G D Birla in BITM. Mr. M P Birla was the Chairman of our Finance Committee. He used to take lot of interest in our work. Prof S N Bose had come once for a lecture during my time, most probably.
Dr B C Roy had expired before my joining the museum. But then B C Roy was so interested in the museum, I find the first Executive Committee minutes, there was a controversy between B C Roy and G D Birla. G D Birla wanted the museum to be a copy of the Pilani museum where exhibition of industrial objects will be there. B C Roy is mentioning, as noted in the minutes, that he wants an educational museum, not a museum of show piece of industrial objects. And the science museum in India has taken a note of what B C Roy said, science museums in India are really educational