PART 4...

THE NICOLA TESLA MUSEUM

This masterpiece was just next to me, 1.5 kms apart, which houses a huge collection of Nicola Tesla’s work who’s known for his remarkable contribution in the fields of Electromagnetism and wireless radio communications. 

The museum is like a small world of Tesla wherein one can upgrade himself with any form of information viz. books, journals, original documents, photographs etc. apart from this, there’s always a person as a guide who’s well versed with at least two languages to help enlighten the visitors about this great personality and his contributions to the society aiming to bring life at ease. Being an Engineer in Electronics and Telecommunication, I was lucky to witness Tesla’s experiments through demos, it reminded me of many of the curricular activities that I had come across during my college days. 

A wish to be here can cost you around 500 Serbian dinar which was nothing compared to the stuff that you get to see inside which is practically like a temple for curious priests like us.

DAY AT THE SCHOOL

Next day was already scheduled for a visit to a school for an interactive session between us and the kids there. Being a cultural exchange program, I had decided to wear a ‘sari’, which helped me stand apart from the crowd as when I entered the classroom, I got to hear whispers of ‘wooowwww’ from the kids sitting there. 

There was a reason for that which was, that the people there, they love Bollywood movies and this attire was something they have had a chance to see just in movies and that day it was their first instance of seeing someone standing before them in a sari! It became a special welcoming moment for me! We had the role of language instructors so it was our job to interact with the kids and enlighten them about our cultures and places we had come from. As I concluded my presentation, the questionnaires began to come up. 

Initially I hadn’t thought much about this because the students were hardly around 12 to 13 years of age but they seemed very confident as they didn’t hesitate to put their doubts before me. It was a good interactive session in process, and as it was proceeding further, all of a sudden there was a kid who asked me “Why do you guys worship cow, because here it is like food for us?” A question that left me flabbergasted and also confused as to how I should reply that. Of course that must’ve come genuinely considering age of that kid and the curiosity that they have, so I tried explaining practically: India is a country which still carries its long lasted occupations of agriculture and animal husbandry. Also, Cow is an animal which is very helpful to us as in number of ways. We get milk from it which is considered to be a complete food as it is enriched with almost all the nutrients. Further, cow is also helpful for plowing a field which in return is useful for growing food grains, even cow dung has many uses, it can be used as a manure, secondly, it is often used as an insulation by applying it on the walls for temperature control in the houses, and many more. So if cow is capable of helping us in so many ways and somehow is responsible for our good health, it sure is worth worshipping and we are proud that we treat it that way. I hope my answer must’ve made a positive impact on the child and also to the people present there.