Nehru Science Centre

Every Sunday I plan to take a rest by lying lazily throughout the day, watching TV or reading the fully loaded Times of India. There are hardly any Sundays when I stay at home. I get out of the house to enjoy trekking, ham radio, sailing or to see some exhibition in the city. This Sunday, I planned to visit Nehru Science Centre (not Nehru Planetarium) with my cousin named Parag, who has just given his SSC board exams.

This place is 10 minutes away from Mahalakshmi Station on Western Railway. Nehru Science Centre is a museum with loads of information for kids, youngsters and adults too. I was eager to visit this place from a long too. This place is full of knowledge, information tips and that with some examples and samples. This helps kids and a person with less education to know things in better and clear way. As soon as you enter the premises of the centre, you will find a garden which has some facts and examples explaining scientific facts like Sun Dial, How Friction works?, Echo Tube, A Simple Camera, Perceiving Depth, Polarization of Sky Light, Semaphore etc. You can also see the huge Steam and the Electric Locomotive engines here.

Further you go, you will notice a big building dedicated for the museum, which has huge halls with various themes. There are scientific models displayed in a glass cabinet, which have a button to light them and make them work. The first hall has some more scientific facts and examples like Planetary Motion, Vortex (with a live model). You will also find a huge model which explains Inertia, Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy. This hall also has a small shop where you can purchase Science based Educational games explaining the facts about light, sound, energy, light and heat etc. You can purchase these games at reasonable costs.

The second hall has some real simple and easy to understand facts. You will come across a Kaleidoscope, Interactive LCD Kiosks providing useful information. There are models displayed on Impossible Mixture, Size and Distance, Sense of Taste etc. One can actually experience a mild Electric Shock and Lightning and also get detailed information on Braille Communication.

The third hall has very interesting facts about Sound. Here, you will increase your knowledge by understanding the facts on How do we hear?, Testing your own Voice, How Sound travels?, Doppler Effect etc. Later, you enter the very interesting hall of Light. This hall has all the information on Invention of Light in the ancient period and the journey of light upto Modern Times. You can see the examples on Light used for Security Detection, Optical Illusions, Laser Applications, Telescope and Microscope, Holography, Early Lighting Devices, Invention of Lamps, Artificial Lights, Colour Rendering and also a very interesting fact on How Light can create moods?

Later, you move towards the hall with loads of Information on Reptiles and Mammals, Evolution of the Man, The Great Ice Age, Evolution of Mammals, Evolution of the Reptiles, The Age of Reptiles, The Story of Life and Evolution of Plants.

Two separate halls have been dedicated for subjects like Mathematics and Aviation.

Photography and Video Photography is allowed in the centre without any extra charge, so please do not forget to carry your camera along with you and also extra batteries along with you. Approximately, you can capture around 200 images within 2-3 hours.

The best thing I liked about this place was, the security guards do not allow anyone to enter the Science Centre with any baggage and NOT even a water bottle. Very good step to maintain cleanliness in the premises. If possible try avoiding visiting this place on Sunday as NSC is on the Mumbai Darshan list. NSC has a large canteen providing light food, lunch, tea, coffee and soft drinks.

Timings:
The Science Centre is open to public every day including Sundays and public holidays throughout the year, except two days, i.e. Holi(2nd day) and Diwali.
Opening hours: 10.00 hrs to 18.00 hrs
Ticket Counter Timing: 10.00 hrs to 17.30 hrs

Fees:
Admission Fees (Per Head) for general visitors is Rs 20/- and the Parking Charges for four wheelers is Rs 10/- and for two wheelers is Rs 5/-.

How to Reach:
The Centre can be reached by public transport i.e. train, bus, taxi or private vehicles.
It is situated on Dr. E. Moses Road between Mahalaxmi Rly. Station on the South and Worli Naka on the North at a distance of about 1 km from either end.
The nearest bus stop is Jijamata Nagar.
The nearest railway station - Mahalakshmi (Western Rly.), Byculla (Central Rly.);
Bus Routes - 50, 80(Ltd.), 91(Ltd.), 124, 154, 164, 165, 168, 172, 351.

Thanks and Regards.

Tarkarli

Tarkarli was my dream destination from last two years. I was very much fascinated after looking the brochure of Tarkarli from MTDC. I had collected lots of information about Tarkarli and other places near Tarkarli. My intention visiting Tarkarli was to see the Konkan coast, eat lots of fish and Sol Kadhi, Snorkeling and see the Sindhudurg Fort. I had made up my mind that, even if no one joins me for the trip, i will be going all alone to see the beauty.

Tarkarli is around 550kms by road from Mumbai. I took Mandovi Express on 2nd May 2008 to reach Kudal Station. As usual, the train departed late from CST station and could not cover up the distance as there is a single track on Konkan Railway. Even though the train was late, I was not bored in the train, as I got a very good company of an Indian Navy officer named Amrujkar. He works as a Commander on INS Talwaar and flies the Indian Navy Helicopter. I got loads of information about the Indian Naval ships and the technology used by the same, Radio Communication and much more. The train needs to wait at certain places for the other train to pass. The train was supposed to reach Kudal station at 16:30hrs but it was late by 3 hours. I got down and reached Kudal ST stand but could not get a direct ST bus to Malvan as Tarkarli is 6 kms from Malvan. So, had to take the Kankavli bus and got down at Kasaal. Luckily, the Ratnagiri-Malvan ST bus was late by some time, so I could reach Malvan by that bus. I reach Malvan bus stand late in the night at 21:15hrs. Finally, somehow I managed to reach my hotel at Tarkarli by an Auto-Rickshaw.

The hotel owner Mr. Gajanan.Kubal. is a superb person I met in this trip. He just asked me to get fresh and have the dinner. That is what we call "Atithi DevoBhava". He offered me Veg and Non-Veg food option. I said, How can i think of having veg diet in Konkan? I simply want to eat Fish and Sol Kadhi. In all, I paid Rs 800 for 2 night stay, 2 dinner, 1 lunch, breakfast and tea. (Rs 300 for a spacious room, where at least 3-4 people can sleep). He has around 5 rooms and its right near the beach.

The next day i.e. on 3rd May, I woke up early and went to the Tarkarli beach. I saw a group of people pushing the boat into the sea to go for a fresh catch for the day. Within some time, the boat was deep in the sea. There were many small and medium sized boats on the beach and also there were some tourists for early morning walk. I took the breakfast and headed to the Tarkarli Water Sports Jetty. Later, I went to Malvan Jetty and headed to Sindhudurg Fort by boat. You have to shell out Rs 27 (return fare) to visit the fort. You can see the only temple in India of Shivaji Maharaj. The temple is known as Shivrajeshwar Mandir and was built by his son, Rajaram Maharaj. The sword placed near the statue weighs 2.5kgs and is 3.5ft long. It is removed from the cover once in year on the auspicious day of Vijaya Dashmi (Dassera). You will also find a coconut tree with two branches within the vicinity of the fort. There around 18-20 houses within the fort and the entry and the exit to the fort is restricted during the monsoon. You will also find the foot and hand print of Shivaji Maharaj as soon as you enter the fort. There is not much to see on the fort as the fort is no more maintained, just like other forts and the outer wall is becoming weak due to the strong sea waves.

I returned back to the Malvan Jetty and enquired about the most interesting Snorkeling. MTDC has started Snorkeling near Sindhudurg as the water clear there. Scuba Diving activity will be started very soon. MTDC charges Rs 250 for a good 20-30 minutes of snorkeling. The best part of this activity is, the non swimmers can also enjoy this activity. The divers here are of great help and they take great efforts for the tourists to enjoy snorkeling. Snorkeling can be enjoyed from 9am-3pm. I was able to see at least 4-5 varieties of fish and the corals here. You can enjoy the fresh sea food near the Malvan jetty. Malvan market is closed from 1pm-4pm. You can get the Cashewnuts (Kaaju) , Aambaa (Mango) Poli, Kokam and Aawla Syrup and much more.

Later, in the evening I went for Devbagh backwaters, Bhogwe Beach and other small islands near Bhogwe beach. I simply cannot express the view of these places. Bhogwe beach is a place where some scenes of the famous Oscar nominated Marathi film “Shwaas” were shot. I was not lucky to see the Dolphins near Devbagh. You can enjoy the Devbagh Backwaters, Bhogwe Beach, Dolphin view and other small islands by paying Rs 600, which is worth watching.

On Sunday i.e. on 4th May I again tried my luck to check the availability of the Dolphins, but could not. But I was happy to see the localites setting up the weekly Sunday bazaar to sell the mangoes, Fish, vegetables etc. The people in Konkan are very kind at heart and very very cooperative. At around 9:00am I left Tarkarli and headed to Kankavli and then Kolhapur via Phonda Ghat route, which is again a beautiful place. Planning to visit Phonda Ghat during monsoon.

You can check the beautiful images at http://picasaweb.google.com/vu2sfh/Tarkarli

For Water Sports and Beach facing resort at Tarkarli, you can contact Mr. Gajanan Kubal at 99605-04491

For detailed information regarding Snorkeling, you contact Mr. Sunil Sarang at 94207-38425

Travel Expenses

Kudal Station to Kudal Bus Stand:- Rs 10 (Share Rickshaw)
Kudal to Kasaal (ST Bus):- Rs 15 (I had to take this bus, as i missed the direct bus to Malvan)
Kasaal to Malvan (ST Bus):- Rs 23
Malvan to Tarkarli (Auto Rickshaw):- Rs 80 (They don't charge much during daytime)
Tarkarli to Malvan:- Rs 20 (Share Rickshaw)
Malvan Jetty to Sindhudurg Fort:- Rs 27 (Return Fare)
Malvan to Tarkarli:- Rs 10 (Share Fare by Mahindra Jeep)
Kankavli to Kolhapur:- Rs 90 (By good 2x2 Asiad Bus)




Thanks and Regards.