After my retirement from
service as the Director of Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai after a brief stint in
Delhi and a break, I joined the CSMVS, Mumbai, as an Advisor. Contrasting
experience of working with the science museums for 35 years and now - for
nearly three years - with the CSMVS has been quite enriching and educative. It
is this tango of science and art that has come my way and motivated me to pen
this article, differently!
One of the many new
exhibitions that the CSMVS has completed and thrown open to the public is the
Mumbai Gallery, which was opened on 14 October 2024. This gallery is dedicated
to the city of Mumbai. It features historical artefacts that narrate the story
of the people of Mumbai who have made this city the economic capital of India and
a cosmopolitan city, which is also a dream city and a city of opportunity, for
those who wish to dream. One of the significant artefacts in the Mumbai gallery
is the “Virar Fast” art installation created by Valay Shende, which is
prominently displayed at the entrance to the Mumbai gallery.
Mumbai, a cosmopolitan
city of hope and aspiration for millions is majorly dependent on the suburban
electric local rail transport for commute. The Mumbai Suburban Rail (Central, Western,
and Harbour line) on an average commute 7.24 million commuters daily and is
inextricably linked to most Mumbaikars, for whom Rail is their lifeline. The
crowded suburban trains in Mumbai are sites that Mumbaikars experience daily. Virar
Fast local during peak hours, quintessentially represents this scene. This
daily phenomenon, experienced by Mumbaikars has motivated artist Valay Shende
to craft his beautiful art installation “Virar Fast” which now finds a pride of
place in the Mumbai gallery at the CSMSV Museum. This installation, no wonder
made it prominently to the headlines in the Times of India, which covered the
Mumbai gallery. The concept note provided by the artist for his work “Virar Fast’
describes his work of art as a representation of the “essence of relentless
battle faced by the working class in their daily grind (travel)”.
The EMU (Electric
Multiple Unit) that is used to run the Mumbai suburban trains is a household
name in Mumbai. Mumbai electric rail transport began almost a century ago, on
February 3, 1925, when the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) introduced
the first electric run trains that ran between Bombay VT (now CSMT) and Kurla
Harbour. Incidentally one of these earliest electric engines that ran the
trains in Mumbai (Bombay then) is in the collections of the Nehru Science
Centre, Mumbai, and this pride collection was restored to its pristine beauty
during the COVID pandemic period.
The heading for this
article - “The Tango of Science and Art” - comes from my experience from one of
those typically crowded peak time travel days in the Virar Fast local (Western
Railways) that I used for commuting to Church Gate from Andheri. Most rail
commuters by the Virar Fast local, during the peak hours, are confronted with the
challenge of searching for foot space in a train that does not even have an
additional square inch of space left. Although it is a usual occurrence for
daily commuters, however, for me who uses the Virar Fast rarely, something
profound struck me while travelling in this crowded local. As I stood, barely
able to move amidst the sea of passengers on the Virar Fast local - which I had
boarded at Andheri for travelling to Church Gate - the familiar jostling,
swaying, and chaotic shuffle of bodies, its indescribable odour, the sound, and
noise, which I was experiencing, reminded me of something unexpectedly
scientific: the Brownian motion.
For over 35 years, I worked
with science museums, dedicated to science communication, immersed in the
language of molecules, atoms, and scientific phenomena through my work with
science museums across India. Creating exhibits to explain the microscopic
world of science to the uninitiated visitor in science, almost always, makes a
science museum curator rely on analogies. Brownian motion is one such
scientific phenomenon, which was one of the first exhibits that I had developed
as a young curator way back in 1988. I vividly remember having used a
mechanical analogy to explain the complicated motions of molecules that
constitute the Brownian motion. Post my retirement, I found myself stepping
into a different realm - an art museum, the CSMVS Museum in Mumbai. At first,
this transition was like moving to an entirely different universe. CP Snow’s
essay on “The Two Cultures”—the stark divide between the world of sciences and
that of the arts—suddenly made perfect sense to me. I felt the chasm between
the analytical, data-driven logic of science and the subjective, emotional
world of arts and literature. Yet, as the months passed, I began to realize
that perhaps these two worlds weren't as distinct as they first appeared.
Slowly, I started seeing how creativity was the common thread weaving them
together, regardless of their different forms of expression or understanding.
But it wasn’t until that epiphanic
moment in the Virar Fast Local train—a crowded, bustling, Mumbai local—that
everything truly crystallized for me. The human movement in that compartment
was not unlike the random motion of particles in Brownian motion, which
Einstein predicted. In this seemingly chaotic environment, every jolt, every
push, every nudge appeared to be dictated by some kind of an invisible force:
the crowdedness of the train, the positioning of passengers, and their
collective aim to reach their workplace – destination, in time. That instant of
epiphany helped me see some kind of a parallel between the everyday scene of
Mumbai peak time local travels and the microscopic world of science, Brownian
motion.
Just
like molecules in a substance, the crowd in the Virar Fast Local was densely
packed, with passengers barely moving, constrained by those around them,
pushing and shoving each other. This reminded me of how molecules in a solid
vibrate but are confined to fixed positions, unable to move freely. As the
density of the crowd decreased slightly at each station – with people
alighting, it felt akin to the molecular behaviour in a liquid state—where the
passengers (like molecules) could now flow past each other, with more freedom
of movement, though still closely bound by the space limitations. Finally, as
the train neared Churchgate, passing through intermittent stations at Bandra,
Dadar, Mumbai Central, Grant Road, Churni Road, and Marine Line where more and
more people alighted, few boarded, the compartment felt almost gaseous as it
passed Charni Road, with passengers dispersed, with an ability to move freely
and randomly in any direction, unlike what they could do earlier at Andheri, or
Bandra and to some extent at Dadar. This experience helped me understand the Brownian
motion as a fascinating and relatable way to conceptualize the movement of
particles in different states of matter, described below
Solids
and Packed Crowds: In peak hours, when the train is densely packed, people have
minimal space to move, much like particles in a solid. Here, movement is
constrained, and individuals can only shift slightly, often bouncing off each
other within the confined space—analogous to the restricted vibrational motion
of particles in a solid.
Liquids and Moderate
Crowding: As more passengers alight at Bandra, Dadar, and Mumbai Central, and few
board, there’s a slight increase in movement of people. The density of
commuters is lower than in the packed train, providing a bit more freedom for
the commuters to navigate within the coach. This state is comparable to the behaviour
of particles in a liquid, where movement is still random but particles can flow
past each other within a confined space.
Gases and Spacious Trains:
As the train nears the destination (Church Gate) the number of passengers in
the coach decreases, and people have ample space to move freely. This situation
mirrors the random, high-energy movement of particles in a gas, where they
occupy more space and move independently without frequent interactions.
The Virar Fast train ride
became a living analogy for me—a vivid, real-life comparison to the randomized
movement of particles in different states of matter. The random movements of
people mirrored the Brownian motion described by Einstein in the Annus
Mirabilis year, 1905, in one of his five acclaimed papers, which were published
in that year. Although Brownian motion, had been observed before Albert
Einstein’s time, what made Einstein’s 1905 paper "On the Movement of Small
Particles Suspended in Stationary Liquids Required by the Molecular-Kinetic
Theory of Heat," the third of his five papers written in May 1905, remarkable
was that the paper provided a theoretical explanation and a mathematical
framework for understanding the motion of the particles in the fluid. His
paper was one of the five revolutionary papers in Einstein's annus mirabilis
(1905). The Brownian Motion - the random movement of particles in fluids - was
already identified by physicists before Einstein. However, Einstein used
the knowledge of this phenomenon to prove the existence of atoms, through his
paper.
My personal experience of
the movement of passengers in the Virar Fast Local and the clarity it provided
for the Brownian motion, wasn’t just about physics or the scientific
explanation of the movement of molecules in fluid. It made me realize how
science and art—two seemingly separate worlds—intersect in ways I hadn’t
previously considered. The Virar Fast Local art installation of Valay Shinde,
displayed in the Mumbai Gallery, perhaps, helped me look at the experience of
Mumbai local travel differently. Art, with its focus on the human experience
and creativity, can be found in the very randomness of the movement in that
train. Science, with its focus on understanding phenomena, finds itself
expressed in the chaotic yet measurable motions of people.
As someone who has spent
years working in a science museum including a few years heading an art
institution – NGMA Mumbai, and now working at the CSMVS, I now fully appreciate
the delicate balance between the world of science and arts, two worlds. They
are intertwined more intricately than CP Snow’s "Two Cultures" would
suggest. Art and science, both expressions of human creativity, aren’t just
complementary—they are essential to one another. My experience in science
helped me understand the structure and patterns of the physical world, while my
exposure to art at the CSMVS Museum opened my eyes to the beauty and meaning
that lie within those structures.
Today, as I stand at the
crossroads of science and arts, I see the power of interdisciplinary
understanding. My epiphany on the crowded Mumbai local has given me a profound
appreciation for how science and art come together, just as the motion of
particles can be beautifully reflected in the movement of people in the
everyday chaos of life. Through this lens, I can see how the randomness of
life—whether in a crowded train or a scientific phenomenon—holds both
scientific explanation and artistic beauty, as articulated by Valay Shinde in
his art installation. And in that realization, I feel more connected to both
fields than ever before.
Long live Sciences and
Arts and their practitioners and may they come closer than ever before.
Images: Courtesy CSMVS, Mumbai and After my retirement from
service as the Director of Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai after a brief stint in
Delhi and a break, I joined the CSMVS, Mumbai, as an Advisor. Contrasting
experience of working with the science museums for 35 years and now - for
nearly three years - with the CSMVS has been quite enriching and educative. It
is this tango of science and art that has come my way and motivated me to pen
this article, differently!
One of the many new
exhibitions that the CSMVS has completed and thrown open to the public is the
Mumbai Gallery, which was opened on 14 October 2024. This gallery is dedicated
to the city of Mumbai. It features historical artefacts that narrate the story
of the people of Mumbai who have made this city the economic capital of India and
a cosmopolitan city, which is also a dream city and a city of opportunity, for
those who wish to dream. One of the significant artefacts in the Mumbai gallery
is the “Virar Fast” art installation created by Valay Shende, which is
prominently displayed at the entrance to the Mumbai gallery.
Mumbai, a cosmopolitan
city of hope and aspiration for millions is majorly dependent on the suburban
electric local rail transport for commute. The Mumbai Suburban Rail (Central, Western,
and Harbour line) on an average commute 7.24 million commuters daily and is
inextricably linked to most Mumbaikars, for whom Rail is their lifeline. The
crowded suburban trains in Mumbai are sites that Mumbaikars experience daily. Virar
Fast local during peak hours, quintessentially represents this scene. This
daily phenomenon, experienced by Mumbaikars has motivated artist Valay Shende
to craft his beautiful art installation “Virar Fast” which now finds a pride of
place in the Mumbai gallery at the CSMSV Museum. This installation, no wonder
made it prominently to the headlines in the Times of India, which covered the
Mumbai gallery. The concept note provided by the artist for his work “Virar Fast’
describes his work of art as a representation of the “essence of relentless
battle faced by the working class in their daily grind (travel)”.
The EMU (Electric
Multiple Unit) that is used to run the Mumbai suburban trains is a household
name in Mumbai. Mumbai electric rail transport began almost a century ago, on
February 3, 1925, when the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) introduced
the first electric run trains that ran between Bombay VT (now CSMT) and Kurla
Harbour. Incidentally one of these earliest electric engines that ran the
trains in Mumbai (Bombay then) is in the collections of the Nehru Science
Centre, Mumbai, and this pride collection was restored to its pristine beauty
during the COVID pandemic period.
The heading for this
article - “The Tango of Science and Art” - comes from my experience from one of
those typically crowded peak time travel days in the Virar Fast local (Western
Railways) that I used for commuting to Church Gate from Andheri. Most rail
commuters by the Virar Fast local, during the peak hours, are confronted with the
challenge of searching for foot space in a train that does not even have an
additional square inch of space left. Although it is a usual occurrence for
daily commuters, however, for me who uses the Virar Fast rarely, something
profound struck me while travelling in this crowded local. As I stood, barely
able to move amidst the sea of passengers on the Virar Fast local - which I had
boarded at Andheri for travelling to Church Gate - the familiar jostling,
swaying, and chaotic shuffle of bodies, its indescribable odour, the sound, and
noise, which I was experiencing, reminded me of something unexpectedly
scientific: the Brownian motion.
For over 35 years, I worked
with science museums, dedicated to science communication, immersed in the
language of molecules, atoms, and scientific phenomena through my work with
science museums across India. Creating exhibits to explain the microscopic
world of science to the uninitiated visitor in science, almost always, makes a
science museum curator rely on analogies. Brownian motion is one such
scientific phenomenon, which was one of the first exhibits that I had developed
as a young curator way back in 1988. I vividly remember having used a
mechanical analogy to explain the complicated motions of molecules that
constitute the Brownian motion. Post my retirement, I found myself stepping
into a different realm - an art museum, the CSMVS Museum in Mumbai. At first,
this transition was like moving to an entirely different universe. CP Snow’s
essay on “The Two Cultures”—the stark divide between the world of sciences and
that of the arts—suddenly made perfect sense to me. I felt the chasm between
the analytical, data-driven logic of science and the subjective, emotional
world of arts and literature. Yet, as the months passed, I began to realize
that perhaps these two worlds weren't as distinct as they first appeared.
Slowly, I started seeing how creativity was the common thread weaving them
together, regardless of their different forms of expression or understanding.
But it wasn’t until that epiphanic
moment in the Virar Fast Local train—a crowded, bustling, Mumbai local—that
everything truly crystallized for me. The human movement in that compartment
was not unlike the random motion of particles in Brownian motion, which
Einstein predicted. In this seemingly chaotic environment, every jolt, every
push, every nudge appeared to be dictated by some kind of an invisible force:
the crowdedness of the train, the positioning of passengers, and their
collective aim to reach their workplace – destination, in time. That instant of
epiphany helped me see some kind of a parallel between the everyday scene of
Mumbai peak time local travels and the microscopic world of science, Brownian
motion.
Just
like molecules in a substance, the crowd in the Virar Fast Local was densely
packed, with passengers barely moving, constrained by those around them,
pushing and shoving each other. This reminded me of how molecules in a solid
vibrate but are confined to fixed positions, unable to move freely. As the
density of the crowd decreased slightly at each station – with people
alighting, it felt akin to the molecular behaviour in a liquid state—where the
passengers (like molecules) could now flow past each other, with more freedom
of movement, though still closely bound by the space limitations. Finally, as
the train neared Churchgate, passing through intermittent stations at Bandra,
Dadar, Mumbai Central, Grant Road, Churni Road, and Marine Line where more and
more people alighted, few boarded, the compartment felt almost gaseous as it
passed Charni Road, with passengers dispersed, with an ability to move freely
and randomly in any direction, unlike what they could do earlier at Andheri, or
Bandra and to some extent at Dadar. This experience helped me understand the Brownian
motion as a fascinating and relatable way to conceptualize the movement of
particles in different states of matter, described below
Solids
and Packed Crowds: In peak hours, when the train is densely packed, people have
minimal space to move, much like particles in a solid. Here, movement is
constrained, and individuals can only shift slightly, often bouncing off each
other within the confined space—analogous to the restricted vibrational motion
of particles in a solid.
Liquids and Moderate
Crowding: As more passengers alight at Bandra, Dadar, and Mumbai Central, and few
board, there’s a slight increase in movement of people. The density of
commuters is lower than in the packed train, providing a bit more freedom for
the commuters to navigate within the coach. This state is comparable to the behaviour
of particles in a liquid, where movement is still random but particles can flow
past each other within a confined space.
Gases and Spacious Trains:
As the train nears the destination (Church Gate) the number of passengers in
the coach decreases, and people have ample space to move freely. This situation
mirrors the random, high-energy movement of particles in a gas, where they
occupy more space and move independently without frequent interactions.
The Virar Fast train ride
became a living analogy for me—a vivid, real-life comparison to the randomized
movement of particles in different states of matter. The random movements of
people mirrored the Brownian motion described by Einstein in the Annus
Mirabilis year, 1905, in one of his five acclaimed papers, which were published
in that year. Although Brownian motion, had been observed before Albert
Einstein’s time, what made Einstein’s 1905 paper "On the Movement of Small
Particles Suspended in Stationary Liquids Required by the Molecular-Kinetic
Theory of Heat," the third of his five papers written in May 1905, remarkable
was that the paper provided a theoretical explanation and a mathematical
framework for understanding the motion of the particles in the fluid. His
paper was one of the five revolutionary papers in Einstein's annus mirabilis
(1905). The Brownian Motion - the random movement of particles in fluids - was
already identified by physicists before Einstein. However, Einstein used
the knowledge of this phenomenon to prove the existence of atoms, through his
paper.
My personal experience of
the movement of passengers in the Virar Fast Local and the clarity it provided
for the Brownian motion, wasn’t just about physics or the scientific
explanation of the movement of molecules in fluid. It made me realize how
science and art—two seemingly separate worlds—intersect in ways I hadn’t
previously considered. The Virar Fast Local art installation of Valay Shinde,
displayed in the Mumbai Gallery, perhaps, helped me look at the experience of
Mumbai local travel differently. Art, with its focus on the human experience
and creativity, can be found in the very randomness of the movement in that
train. Science, with its focus on understanding phenomena, finds itself
expressed in the chaotic yet measurable motions of people.
As someone who has spent
years working in a science museum including a few years heading an art
institution – NGMA Mumbai, and now working at the CSMVS, I now fully appreciate
the delicate balance between the world of science and arts, two worlds. They
are intertwined more intricately than CP Snow’s "Two Cultures" would
suggest. Art and science, both expressions of human creativity, aren’t just
complementary—they are essential to one another. My experience in science
helped me understand the structure and patterns of the physical world, while my
exposure to art at the CSMVS Museum opened my eyes to the beauty and meaning
that lie within those structures.
Today, as I stand at the
crossroads of science and arts, I see the power of interdisciplinary
understanding. My epiphany on the crowded Mumbai local has given me a profound
appreciation for how science and art come together, just as the motion of
particles can be beautifully reflected in the movement of people in the
everyday chaos of life. Through this lens, I can see how the randomness of
life—whether in a crowded train or a scientific phenomenon—holds both
scientific explanation and artistic beauty, as articulated by Valay Shinde in
his art installation. And in that realization, I feel more connected to both
fields than ever before.
Long live Sciences and
Arts and their practitioners and may they come closer than ever before.edia
