Today (Tuesday, 20th Feb ’18), I took the children of Pramiti School, aged between 8 and 12 years, to the Government Museum on Kasturba Road.

It took us nearly an hour in the traffic to get to the Museum from J P Nagar. So when we reached the Museum, we had to take the children to the toilets before the visit.

I was told that the Museum building does not have toilets and was asked to go to the Venkatappa Art Gallery next door, so we took the children there. The staff kept on giving us instructions to “put a lot of water” and rather reluctantly let us in.

After this, we spent about two hours in Museum, where the children were quite interested in the exhibits. Since we had a long bus journey going back, in the city traffic, with no ability to stop anywhere, we decided to take the children to the restrooms again.

Imagine our surprise when the staff, especially one rude lady who was in charge, refused to give us access to the toilets. They told us that we had already used the toilets once. It was very clear that they were too lazy to clean the toilets and were restricting access.

How can the staff prevent access or restrict it in this fashion, especially when children are concerned? Do they really want the children and other visitors to use the bushes in Cubbon Park? Why cannot the Museum authorities ensure that the toilets are open during the working hours of the Museum? Surely, in this day and age, each public buiding should have its own toilets, with several stalls, to accommodate visitors?

I also found that apart from writing a review, there was no feedback format for me to give my inputs to the Museum authorities. I have done so, but between the apathetic way the Museum is run, and the lack of accountabilty of the staff, there is no guarantee that things will improve.