(Daily News Scan - DNS English) What is Time Capsule?
Ahead of the laying of the foundation stone for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, claims and denials have emerged about plans by the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to put in a time capsule, or ‘kaal patra’. The foundation stone laying ceremony of the Temple is to be held on 5th of August. For now The trust’s secretary has denied the reports of time capsule installation on August 5.
Today’s DNS will revolve around the topic Time capsule and if any of them are previously installed in India.
You might have previously heard about or seen time capsule in movies or may in news as well.
Time capsule is a container of any size or shape, which
accommodates documents, photos and artefacts typical of the current era and is
buried underground, for future generations to unearth. The time capsule requires
special engineering so that the contents don’t decay, even if pulled out after a
century. Material such as aluminium and stainless steel are used for the
encasing, and documents are often reproduced on acid-free paper.
The term “time capsule” was coined in the 20th century. Among the earliest
examples of TIME CAPSULE dates back to 1777 which was found by historians inside
the statue of Jesus Christ in a church in Spain during restoration work in
December 2017.
In the US, There is a Society for the time capsule formed in 1990. The International Time Capsule Society (ITCS), based in the US is now defunct but continues estimating the number of time capsules in the world. As per its database, there are “10,000-15,000 times capsules worldwide”.
By now you must be curious to know if any time capsule is there in India or not. There are a number of prominent examples for this. One time capsule is outside the Red Fort and placed underground in 1972 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was dug out by the subsequent government. Other time capsules are at a school in Mumbai, IIT-Kanpur, Lovely Public University in Jalandhar, and Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.
The Red Fort time capsule was supposed to be dug out after 1,000 years. Professor Salil Misra, a historian who currently teaches at Delhi’s Ambedkar University, said, “In 1972, Mrs Gandhi decided to create a repository. These were huge, cylindrical shaped cases made of metal which could endure the test of time. Inside, there were written records, data and artefacts. In 1977, when the Janata Party came in to power, they dug out the time capsule.”
The other time capsule like the one at IIT Kanpur campus comprises of an aerial map of the institute, annual reports of 1961, 1984 and 2008, menu of the hostel mess, the blazer crest, a DVD of a film on IIT Kanpur, some photographs, and oral records of the interviews conducted by Sunil Shanbag. This time capsule was buried on March 6, 2010, by the then President Pratibha Patil.
All the documents were printed on acid-free paper. Quite a lot of information was put on pen-drives and external hard-drives, placed in the capsule, and then oxygen was taken out so that no decay happens. The capsule is made of brass and the encasing is an inch thick, so no oxygen goes in.
Another time capsule was installed in Mumbai in the year 2014 on March 31. It is of stainless steel and was installed at The Alexandra Girls’ English Institution in Mumbai, which was set up in the 19th century. Apart from the school uniform, first annual report, USBs containing photos and videos of events at the school, the time capsule also has precious letters written by students and principal Freny Mehta — addressed to future students, and principals, and emphasising the importance of a library in the life of students. This time capsule is to be unearthed on September 1, 2062.
In January 2019, a square time capsule, containing 100 items that represent modern-day technology in India, was installed at Jalandhar’s Lovely Public University. Buried 10 feet by Nobel laureates Avram Hershko (biochemist), F Duncan M Haldane (physicist) and Thomas Christian Sudhov (biochemist). This time capsule is supposed to be unearthed after 100 years. Items such as landline telephone, a smartphone, weighing machine, water pump, stop-watch, headphones, a handy cam, and pen drive are inside the capsule.
Time capsule is a very nice idea to portray the history and the materials used in the present times to the future generations. But the historians often criticize this idea. It is because the historians look at the time capsule idea with suspicion. The historians feel that using a time capsule and adding the documents is very subjective which might be related to just the glorification of one particular time or a particular person or event and not constructing the actual or real image.
As per the historians it is not a valid historical method — who decides what matter, what artefacts, written documents are going in to it?
In the perspective of Ram Mandir construction and the placement of time capsule, the future generation of the historians can find data and information from newspapers and other written record which will be more than enough n more factual. Rather than requiring artificially created or preserved records.
And if it all time capsule is important or needed, a committee should be formed for the same comprising of or people with different opinions to make the time capsule.
