Darwin – the one man who came to symbolise the new biology of evolution. He was the naturalist who gave the world a new and startling theory to the process of evolution. The British Council brought Charles Darwin to Chennai through the exhibition ‘Darwin Now' held in its premises.
Being held till the end of the month, the exhibition is an attempt to sensitise the public to Darwin's achievements on his 200th birth anniversary. However, personally, the exhibition turned out to be a disappointment. With a prestigious campus and an important subject, I expected a lot more than what was available.
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As I walked into the pink building at around 6:30 p.m., I was actually worried if I would have enough time to do justice to the affair before they closed by 7:00. By 6:45 p.m., I was loitering around, desperately searching for something new to look at. With some information put up and a sale of books by and about Darwin, the place wore a slightly deserted look. In all fairness, it could probably be excused and blamed on heavy traffic and the middle of the week.
The picture wasn't all grey though. The exhibits that were put up were artistic. The books gave surprising insights into how much this man did and how ahead of his times he really was. One particularly interesting book that caught my eye was ‘Darwin's Luck' that spoke of the role of luck and coincidence in Darwin's life. The other books included the normal array of his own works, biographies and related research. The Darwin Now exhibition in the British Council did not provide in-depth information on the subject but is definitely enough to kindle the curiosity of those interested.
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