This year, in the first week of June, when I visited Stockholm the first thing in my mind was to visit the Nobel Museum. It was a pilgrimage for me.
Two words that bring respect, wonder, admiration and astonishment with it, is "Nobel Prize". In my childhood, every year, after the announcement of Nobel Prize winners, for physics, chemistry, medicine, economics, literature and peace, I used to wait eagerly for the next day newspaper (obviously there was no internet) to read about the inventions and achievements of the laureates.
After entering into the museum, and completing the formalities the first thing that I saw was an emblem of the Nobel prize on the ground encircled with six electronics pillars.
The pillars represent six streams in which the prize is given.
Three electronics pillars of Physics, Chemistry and Medicine.
Three electronics pillars of Literature, Peace and Economics.
I reflected on one of the quotes among many, inscribed all over the museum. It says
"Happiness hates the timid! So does science!" by Eugene O'Neill.
It was wonderful to witness an intelligent usage of information technology along with different media to describe the works and life of the nobel laureates over the decades.
1911-1920 Europe at war
1921-1930 The Roaring Twenties
1931-1940 Fascism And Nazism
Win Ground
1941-1950 The Darkness Of War
1951-1960 The Cold war
1961-1970 Radicalism
1971-1980 Radicalism lives on
1981- 1990 The Fall Of The Wall
1991-2000 After The Fall Of The
Regimes
2001-2010 Globalization And
Terror Threats
Inside the museum there are two small halls which show short documentaries on some of the Nobel laureates.
I chose to see a documentary on the life of Rabindranath Tagore (Poet & Philosopher) - the first Asian Nobel laureate from India in 1913. His works and thoughts has a profound influence on me and continues to guide me in my quest for a meaningful life.
One of my favorite quotes by Rabindranath Tagore,
"Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it".
I believe any creation, be it in science or arts, goes beyond the narrow and fragmented walls of countries and cultures. Certainly the quote by Nobel Laureate Marie Curie (twice in 1903 & 1911) near the entrance is liberating. "After all, science is essentially international, and it is only through lack of a historical sense that national qualities have been attributed to it".
My visit to the nobel museum is a fulfillment of my childhood's desire nurtured carefully for so many years.
I would like to end with the quote
"Contentment is the only real wealth" by Alfred Bernhard Nobel.