Volunteership at KHOJ has helped to explore the world and myself at the same time. I worked in the marketing section of the KHOJ Museum which included making posters and reels and creating content for the website. Through this opportunity, I was able to bring out many of my capabilities. Website Content writing required immense structuring capabilities as I was required to write content keeping in mind the vision of Kathan Sir and the KHOJ Museum as an organisation. This work had to be done in a short span of time as there was a deadline from the side of website designer. I learnt, through this work, that making a habit of structuring everything and taking notes of every minute detail helps to produce high quality work in a tight schedule. Completing the work in given deadline without compromising the quality was the most rewarding part of my volunteer time. It made me feel like I contributed to the organization which was helping me so much to groom in various aspects (like social skills, marketing, writing, etc.)
While working on marketing, I got a better understanding of the concept on which KHOJ Museum is based on. I personally experienced how art and innovation is infused in science to make it interesting and fun. I gathered knowledge from both the branches of KHOJ, Riverfront and Naranpura, while writing the website content. The three floors of KHOJ Naranpura (climate change, soil and plastic) and the three sections of KHOJ Riverfront (water, moving images and bubble) improved my basic science knowledge.
“How dare you?” Everyone is familiar with this iconic line by the Swedish Teenage activist Greta Thunberg. Climate change has been an issue that all of us are familiar with. I remember being in 11th grade when Greta Thunberg’s iconic “How Dare You” speech on climate change went viral on the internet. At that time, I didn’t understand the true meaning behind her whole speech. I felt that she was overreacting. Unpredictable climate change is an issue that should be addressed but you don’t need to be this serious about it. However, today after gaining a lot of knowledge on climate change and other environmental issues in the exhibits of KHOJ Naranpura, I understood what she was trying to say. KHOJ museum, through their facts with their innovative and interactive museums, helped me form a logic behind why climate change is such a heavenly discussed issue across the globe and why it is important to think about environmental issues on a global scale.
National Geographic states that, “ World plastic production has increased exponentially from 2.1 million tonnes in 1950 to 147 million in 1993 to 406 million by 2015.” According to Plastic Soup Foundation, “One million plastic bottles are sold every minute.” All these statements aroused a question in my mind, Even though we know that plastic is bad for environment why are we so dependable on plastic? I got answered to this question in the plastic floor of KHOJ Naranpura. The museum extinguished many of my curiosities that I had regarding sustainable living and eco – friendly living requirements. The passion of the staff towards sustainability transferred to me which made me give more importance to such social issues.
In my volunteering experience, I made many posters on municipal school visits and slum community visits of KHOJ members under the KHOJ Social initiative. While lunch break, I frequently had discussions about the KHOJ Social experiences of various staffs in the office. This made me notice the certain privileges and advantages that I have because of my background compared to other people of the society. As a person who has born in an upper middle-class family, I don’t need to worry about education which is such a basic need of the society. Education is a basic right provided by constitution to all strata of the society but there are still people out there in the country who are deprived of this right. As they fail to gain education, these children become unqualified for various jobs which they have capability for and jobs that can change their lives for the betterment. After many discussions, I derived this conclusion that the high-quality education that I have been receiving is actually a privilege which I gained because of the family in which I have born. There are hundreds and millions of children out there that are less privileged than me. Learning about Science, sanitation and health care are basic needs which KHOJ is providing through its KHOJ Social initiative.
Overall, volunteering at KHOJ Museum was a great experience for me professionally and personally. I will keep in mind all the lessons and skills I have learnt in KHOJ Museum and use them to be successful in all my future endeavours.