I am still not sure what made me choose the Nehru Science Center as the place to spend 4-5 hours at on an overcast Sunday morning with my family but that’s what I did 2-3 weeks back. It had started to drizzle by the time we made our way past the ticket counter – where we purchased the tickets for the show at the newly constructed dome (Rs. 40 per person), for the science center (Rs. 20 per person) and for the car (Rs. 10).

The place wore a deserted look save for the 2 Mumbai Darshan buses parked outside. The next show at the Dome was for groups so I had clear 2 hours at my disposal before the show for the non-group people would begin. I was done reading through the information on Chandrayaan when I caught sight of the sign for the Cafeteria. A little bit ahead was the sign for the toilets and that made me debate whether to chance a bite or not. But I was in a daring mood that day so we decided to venture inside the eatery.

Despite the chairs that looked as if the dust had got glued to them, the place looked pretty clean. There were no flies around even though it was raining outside and the windows were open. I went to the counter to take a look at the menu. The normal suspects – Idli, Batatawada and Upma – featured in all their glory. What came as a pleasant surprise was that the food was neatly kept covered in big containers. I asked for a plate of Upma and Idli each as well as a cuppa tea. Surprised again! The delicious Upma came along with an equally delicious chutney. The idlis were soft, white and fluffy. The sambar had a pleasant sour note to it. As I bit into the first mouthful, there was a loud thunder outside and I munched my way through the food on that happy note as I watched a fearless sparrow darting in and out of the chairs.

Breakfast taken care of, we turned to the various exhibits. It was fun to watch the dancing rings but difficult to believe that they were joined to each other at only one point. There was a display that gave very useful information about the food that we eat and what good it does to our body.

I had a blast as I tried to match animals with the picture of their ears – till I achieved the full score of 80! Then there was a display on colors where you had to move the basic RGB palette to match the colors in the 2 boxes displayed.

If you are ever there, make it a point to find out the booth where there are 2 boxes – one big and one small. The smaller one is actually heavier but because of the size you feel that the larger one is heavier. Another display features a giant replica of human tongue and the lights on it tell us the points at which different tastes like sweet, sour and bitter are perceived by us.

There is a new section for our body’s immune system – I couldn’t check it fully because I was running out of time and wanted to visit my most favorite area – the prehistoric one. This room features replicas of various dinosaurs and other biggies that (fortunately!) disappeared before we came into this world. Their sheer size is mind-boggling. A visit to this floor is a must!

I got out of there to be in time for the show at the Dome theatre on Serengiti. This Dome is smaller than the one at IMAX, Wadala. But the show – about the annual migration of the animals at Africa’s Serengiti National Park – was very nice.

All in all, a Sunday well spent!