Acknowledging History...!

I am so amazed upon reading the following email today evening:
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From: Bank of America [mailto:artsmedia@bankofamerica[dot]com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 6:00 PM
To: Gupta, Chinmay
Subject: Museums on Us from Bank of America

"This coming weekend get free admission to over 70 museums nationwide with Museums on Us™. Just present your Bank of America check, credit or ATM card, along with your photo ID." Click here to find the list of participating museums in your area, and to learn more about Museums on Us™
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While my instant reaction was this, I did a quick computation to get the number of days between today and the last time I visited a museum and the revelation was certainly not a pleasant one! Very quickly, I checked the nearest public library's website and guess what I learned - There are over 25 museums around Boston - now that's certainly very very cool!

While I quickly narrow down the options, get new camera batteries, grab a Staples Recordbook (I love taking notes!), I think its worth mentioning a few points about what can be inspiring about any museum in general (Hope post reading the pointers, my roomie agrees to give me company as I explore one museum after another starting this weekend-Hehhheehh :)). Off to the essentials:

• Visual Appeal: Stamps, ancient coins, wood cravings, manuscripts from the past - always have an amazing appeal specially when you find them housed in nice glass cases with a short description of the artefact. And such vivid visual patterns get recorded almost instantly in our minds. Which is why most of us find it easier to recall what we saw in the museum rather than what we read in a book/newspaper.


• Vocabulary: If you represent 98% of the people (Yeah you'll find me in that bandwidth;)) who visit any museum, chances are that you might words/literature in the exhibit you have never heard of before. And believe me noting down some of that esoteric stuff can be really cool. All you have to do next is when you get back home, put that scary word in google search bar, check its usage in ordinary sentences and thats it. See you added a new word in your Vocab. Bravo!


• Creativity: Have you ever noticed how the folks at museum come up with ways to market the museums in order to draw more crowds? While we all notice the museum listings on internet or in libraries-but have a look at the ad listing and you'll understand how much of reasearch is done by every museum to come up with an ultra-creative Ad.


• Management: Museums perhaps require much more money than what you and me pay at the Ticket window for their expansion and upkeep. How do they manage to do this fund-raising? Think about it !


• Euphoria: In any museum, you'll often hear those "What is this Mommy?" or "Why this is the way it is?" kind of questions kids shower their parents with. Now, if you are a parent, chances are that you'll be forced to put your thinking caps on to answer such questions. And if you do manage to give a convincing answer to your smart small wonder, you are going to feel very very happy inside! Bravo Again!

I have always believed that museums have a profound impact of our lives and psyche; but what really pushes me towards the museums (@ New Haven, DC, Chicago, Texas, NYC and now Boston) is that fact that people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities often visit a museum purely out of interest and being a part of such "interesting" crowd can be wonderful in ways more than one. Enough said - do check out the museums in your proximity here. And Thank-You Bank Of America - I loved the idea and rest assured you have a happy customer here:)

Happy Exploring Friends !

"The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.~William James"