Know Your City: The hobby museum tucked away in the streets of Banashankari
To anyone walking down the road intersecting 29th cross in Banashankari Stage 2, a museum might not be the first thing on their minds. But behind a gate and a shutter lies one of the more unique private museums of the city: the Kalaspoorthi Hobby Museum, run by PD Ravindra (85), an engineer who was the head of HAL’s maintenance division.
Spread out over three floors of the building where Ravindra also maintains his office, the museum, largely populated by various hand-built inventions, has been a passion project for him since 1991. One of his objectives, he says, is to impress upon children the practical side of science. “In this country, we learn a lot of theory. But we cannot pick up a spanner and work,” he says.
Even during his HAL days, Ravindra always had an eye for reusing materials that might have otherwise gone for scrap. One of these, for instance, was a refuelling machine for a helicopter made from disposable fuel tanks (often used on fighter jets in long-range missions). His company continued to work on equipment for HAL and BHEL, such as a loader for bombs on the SEPECAT Jaguar jet. (Read more)
