The British Museum is a must see in London and was here on 29th May, 2019. Set up in 1753 A. D. this is the first public Museum that was ever established. Even today after 266 years of its establishment, the only thought that comes to my mind is, My God how much stuff did these people bring about from around the world to their country. This museum has, a, collection of about eight million artifacts from around the world. I have Studies ancient world civilisations as a student of Ancient history and I have been teaching Medieval European and Medieval World civilisations for more than three decades but they remain only as words on paper with rough sketches in my mind. It is here, in the British Museum that I can put a face to those civilisations and see things as they were at that time. I could see silver vessels from Medieval Civilisations, clothes from Iranian civilisation, the tiles from Mesopotamia civilisation, Egyptian mummies, Egyptian coffins and even Tipu's sword, Vishnu sculpture.I was very much attracted by the ladies gowns from 18th cen and many of these styles can be seen around the world even today. The beauty of the Museum is that they have trained volunteers who explain some of the artifacts, let you touch them and feel them. I do not remember this being done earlier. However, I still remember that I had tears in my eyes as I saw Indian historical objects which rightly belong to us and which many Indians will never be able to see though they are very much a part of our heritage and culture. But today, may be I am mature and getting old and I could marvel and agree with an old friend Kameshwari who was in charge of the Salarjung Museum many decades earlier and when in the 1990's I told her how upset I was when I saw the British Museum and the Indian objects, she remarked, Rekha you should feel happy that at least these objects are saved for posterity. Do you think we have the means and resources to save them the way it has been done in London. At that time, I could not agree with her but today I felt happy that they are preserved with the required cooling, temperatures, maintenance and preservation and the huge amount that has been spent on it. However, the question that remains upper most in my mind is, how did these people manage to bring in so many artifacts from across the world in that period. They felt it was their right to bring back to the mother country the history of the countries that they had occupied.
