Rocks, minerals, fossils, and a meteorite…

“I’m taking the afternoon off,” I announced to my department colleagues.

“Ok,” they said.

“You are supposed to ask me why,” I growled at them.

“Er… you are the boss here,” they murmured. “You don’t really need to tell us. Maybe, you need to tell that to your boss.”

I glared at them.

“Ok, why are you taking the afternoon off?”‘, they asked resignedly. “You look very pleased with yourself,” they added for good measure.

“I’m going to see an exhibition on ‘Rocks, Minerals and Fossils’ at Mumbai University’s Convocation Hall today afternoon,” I announced grandly.

Silence. “An exhibition on rocks?” they asked with collective skepticism and disbelief. “What is so interesting about an exhibition on rocks and minerals?”

I looked down my nose at them (which was actually difficult as I was sitting and they were all standing) and announced haughtily, “I am not even going to bother to explain. When I show you the photographs, you will know.” And, indeed, when I showed them the photographs taken at the exhibition , they knew how interesting the exhibition was and what they had missed !

Presenting some of the highlights of the exhibition on “Rocks, Minerals and Fossils” organised by the Centre for Extramural Studies, University of Mumbai, in collaboration with Deccan College, Pune, Institute of Science, Mumbai, Mr. Muhammad Makki, Pune and INSTUCEN, and held at the gorgeous Convocation Hall in the Fort Campus of the University of Mumbai, from 4–7 January, 2012.  

The exhibition at the Convocation Hall, Fort Campus, University of Mumbai

Polished rock specimens

Amethysts from Brazil !

Barytes in their characteristic rosette formation

The pinkish red "blobs"are ruby crystals

The radiating, needle-like crystals of Scolecite

The iridescent Bornite

The bright blue crystals of Cavensite makes for a lovely contrast against the dull grey silica crystals

Rhodonite. Isn't this a lovely pink?

Malachite (green) and Azurite (deep blue) are ores of copper and used as semi-precious stones

Coral (red) and Lapis Lazuli (Blue)

Pearls growing inside a clam

Trilobites are ancestors of cockroaches and gave me a lot of grief during examinations !

A fossilised impression of a fish

Iron-Nickel meteorite from Eastern Siberia and discovered in 1948

Now, most of you may not know this, but I have a Masters in Geology and the exhibition was a “going back to school” thing for me. When I entered the Convocation Hall, it was like all the years between my Masters and the present had just melted away and I was back at the college/university. Seeing the familiar rocks, minerals and fossils made me feel so happy. I almost looked around for my classmates in the room! I spent about 2 hours wandering among familiar friends, remembering practicals and assignments and classes and yes, even examinations

And to think that I would have not known about this exhibition if not for an email from a travel acquaintance, who I had not heard from in quite a while. This person surely has some memory — he actually remembered my geology background (and I don’t even remember when I shared this information) and forwarded information about this exhibition to me.

Thanks to you, Arvind, 2012 has got off to a rocking start. Literally

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