Museums are reservoirs of knowledge and play a key role in educating the society. Be it history or science about people or culture, museums help us build our identity. “To be an effective change agent in today’s society, I believe museums need to take on a greater role in education. Museums should find innovative ways to inspire the joy of learning through science shows, history stories or other channels/mediums,” says Niranjan.
FROM IDEA TO GERMINATION
The idea for the museum stemmed from the fact that the education system in India is largely focused on technical training rather than as interactive educational environments. “One Sunday evening as I was putting Sid, my son, to sleep, he got his usual dialogue - “I don’t want to go to school.” Hoping to find a solution I questioned, “So what do you want to become when you grow up.” “Iron Man” he replied. Working with what he had just given me I said to him, “Do you want to know how Tony Stark’s dad taught him how to fly.” I then quickly made a paper plane and tossed in the air. He observed the plane take off and said -- “But it does not have boosters.” I was momentarily proud and replied -- “See that is why you should go to school.” What he told me next changed the way I looked at schools or learning in general. It laid the foundation for me to start to find a way that compliments current schooling. This five-and-half year old boy looked back at me and with curious eyes he said -- “They don’t teach that at school!”,” says Niranjan Vasireddy.
It was that day that he realised that he needs to teach not the way we were taught to learn but in a way that kids want to learn. “That’s when we decided to start something bigger - a children’s museum, where kids can get to experiences that are missing in our current education system,” he adds.
Niranjan and Sreeram Tiriveedula, director marketing, both left their high-profile jobs in the US and moved back to India to give something back to their country. Sreeram had found his calling. His dream to make a substantial impact became a reality as the two agreed to join hands and take KiDiHOU to a new level. “What started as a brief phone call between me and Niranjan lasted for a few hours and we got to meet up in the next few days,” says the marketing director. Sreeram’s relentless desire to push the KiDiHOU dream, led to the creation of Project IgLitED and its goal of inspiring 10 million kids by November 2017. Just in the last three months KiDiHOU has already inspired the joy of learning in close to 6,172 children and 26 schools visited them till date.
“We are very honoured to be doing events like the current NCC events with Indian Army where we inspired 700 odd children,” says Niranjan.
KiDiHou A TREASURE OF TELANGANA
Children like Sid are looking for creative places that can inspire them to be more creative. However Kids say that in words like -- “They don’t teach that in school.” Parents are looking for more creative ways that help their children learn. w“Hyderabad is a city where both Sreeram and I call home. Giving back to the same communities from where we grew up and learned gives both of us immense satisfaction. When we get calls from people planning their visit to KiDiHOU Children’s Museum from far off places like Delhi, Nagpur, Pune or even Vijayawada, it make us feel proud that KiDiHOU is becoming a new shining addition to this old Nizam city already filled with great culture and people,” says Niranjan.
MEANINGFUL & EDUCATIONAL
Observe - Question - Reason. These three words have been their mantra for growing up. “Children are great self learners and we observe this when we give them our smart phones. They download a new app and start trying to figure it out immediately. Parents are sometimes correct in expecting their kids to learn more when someone shows them new tricks or gives them more information. My suggestion to fellow parents is to trust your children and ask them a lot of probing questions, that incite critical thinking problem solving. Try to reply to their questions with a probing question, that incites thought rather than giving them the answers,” says Niranjan.
KINESTHETIC APPROACH
Normally when children enter museums in India they are often sent away so that they do not touch or break anything. Touching and playing is how children make sense of their world. “Unlike the traditional museums that have a “Do not Touch” approach, we have a very unique “Please Touch” approach. Unlike adults in addition to seeing and listening they taste as in lick, bite, they touch to feel things, they smell as they put it near their mouth. As parents we understand this very well. We want kids to experience this world in its entirety and understand it. Yes, allowing kids to interact with the museum exhibits means a lot of wear and tear. Our exhibits take a lot of beating but we are always there to help replace them with a cheerful smile. Three years since operation, we have never charged any parent for any damage as we regard that part of normal play,” explains Sreeram, the co-founder.
Hearing late Dr. Abdul Kalams advice to “Dream big and act like a country of a billion people” - they have started the project IgLitED. This project ‘s goal is to inspire the joy of learning in 10M kids by November 2017. It is by dreaming big that we look beyond our limitations and explore new creative ways for inspired learning - like the NCC event with the Army. “We are exploring ways to take the KiDiHOU experience, beyond our four walls and into the open and to make our museum mobile. We want to collaborate with entities/individuals to adopt villages and promote new possibilities,” he adds.
The museum’s architectural theme is recycling. One of key features about KiDiHOU is the creative use of recyclable materials for building the exhibits. “I believe that everything is useful - Nothing is waste. We feel we need to let our actions speak for themselves, recycling is not just a topic in school, but you see it in action. Once children see something being used in a certain way.... as never before, that is when a light bulb goes on inside their head and inspiration flows through their veins. We want to educate the youth using every opportunity we get,” says Niranjan.
WHAT’S IN THIS NAME ?
KiDiHOU is Ki Di HOU - and it means Kids Discovery House .