‘PM Modi is the most popular followed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Indira Gandhi. Lal Bahadur Shastri is also liked occasionally’.
The newly Integrated Prime Minister’s museum in its reception zone has a levitating emblem, a large screen on left and on the right, a long corridor in which three colour streaks under the roof, green, white and orange are inching up and down in transient waves. The long corridor on its walls is emplaced with 15 panels displaying the 15 hitherto Prime Ministers of the country. In a politically charged country, 15 PMs together looks as exciting as it is for a fan of Hindi cinema to see estranged Bollywood actors Salman and Shahrukh patching up after a long time. The 10,491-sq-m museum has 43 galleries built at a final cost of Rs 306 crore, and can accommodate 4,000 visitors at a time. The top of the new museum is built in the shape of the Ashok Chakra.
From the shiniest black and silvery white of the floors to the deepest grey of the walls, the insides of the place are simple yet elegant. The place has innumerable screens, in one of the galleries, the largest screen in the museum exhibits history of freedom struggle, the screen with cleanest possible audio starts from one’s far left and curves round to the distant right, stirring the spectator from most of the sides. The screen flashes the “spectacle of determination” of freedom fighters, stimulating a sense of nationalism.
Just opposite to the big screen are 10 vertical interactive kiosks thinly zigzagging each other, explaining Mahatma Gandhi’s role in the freedom struggle of India that culminated in 1947. The other displays in the museum comprise speeches, photographs, video clips, interviews, newspaper, and some original writings. More screens in the museum silently say: future is not far.
The best way to describe what is in the museum is done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, when he said at the inauguration, “Desh ke har pradhan mantri ne samvidhaan sammat loktantra ke lakshyon ki poorti mein bharsak yogdaan diya hai (All Prime Ministers have contributed immensely towards achieving the goals of constitutional democracy).” A museum which is a microcosm of all the Prime Ministers of India stands tall without an iota of politics—all in all, it is a feel-good museum and one would want to bring all his loved ones for that singular feel. To sum it all up, the museum carries challenging times treaded and overcome by different PMs of India to help ascend the nation. A walk through the museum will surely cheer one’s sensory experience. At several places, objects in the museum are hemmed with blue and white lights akin to the graphics seen in sci-fi Hollywood movies—one would believe it to be a metaphysical realm without being wrong.
One interesting room that signifies the importance of India in world politics is a Nuclear Room, which has a blue ball as its centrepiece, surrounded by walls studded with screens. The screens display dates of every occasion pepped-up with the progress in nuclear technology of India. There are two tech-laden (smart screen) feedback walls in the ground floor, where any visitor can write about how he felt in the museum. On both of the walls, most of the screen is dominated with “Jai Hind” and “amazing experience”.
A simple entry would cost Rs 100 per person, moreover there are four add-ons—selfie with PM, walk with PM and handwriting robot, the three of them costing Rs 20 each. Interestingly, one can take a selfie with a favourite Prime Minister, get a letter written by a robot from a favourite PM and walk with any favourite PM out of 15 Prime Ministers by putting augmented reality, virtual reality, audio, visual elements and holograms to use.
The fourth add-on is ‘bhavishya ki jalkiyan’ (flashes of future), which is priced at Rs 100. It is a helicopter ride and flies 5 persons at a time, and that too through virtual reality. The ride flies visitors over the 9 infrastructural marvels completed by India, one of which is the third largest onshore wind farm in the world—the Muppandal wind farm in Tamil Nadu with the capacity of producing 1,500 MW power. The ride for a moment puts all the metaphysical speculation at rest.
In all the interactive facilities provided by the museum like a letter signed by a favourite PM, selfie with favourite PM and a walk with favourite PM, most of the men and women opt for the current PM Narendra Modi. An official said, “Out of 10 people, 8 opt for PM Modi in all the activities. He is the most popular followed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Indira Gandhi. Lal Bahadur Shastri is also liked occasionally.”
Another official facilitating handwritten letter from favourite PM said, “Most of the people have no knowledge of India’s former PMs, so they choose the current PM of the country due to his raving popularity.” The museum was opened last Friday to the public. Since then, it has been receiving more than 500 visitors a day and on weekends, it receives around 700 visitors.