One of her prized possessions is a pop-up Christmas card from the Obamas, personally signed by every member of the First Family. "Well, including Sunny and Bo!" chuckled Paula Gangopadhyay, showing the one card she would probably never tuck away in the attic.
The 52-year-old, handpicked by President Barack Obama three years ago to serve on the National Museum and Library Services Board, was in town for a week as a guest speaker at the headquarters of the National Council of Science Museums.
The journey from snowy Detroit to sultry Calcutta might not have called for a steaming cup of tea but Paula is steadfast in her habits. She prefers her tea in a "big big" cup, never mind the temperature.
"If it's the tiny dainty ones, I would need four cups of tea," smiled Paula, chief learning officer at The Henry Ford, one of America's largest indoor-outdoor museums.
Dressed elegantly in white trousers and a navy blue shirt on a hot April afternoon, she settled down for a chat with a bright smile that mirrored her jovial personality.
A father's dream
"Let me tell you a little story first," she began. "My father was visiting me in the US almost 18 years ago when I was on my first job in a small museum. He was ecstatic to see what I was doing with education and museums. He was so fascinated by the programmes we were trying out to engage students and visitors that he told me he was going to go back and talk to the museums in Calcutta. He made me compile five or six packets of information with a cover letter so that they could contact me."
On his return to Calcutta, Paula's father sought appointments with all the museums and met officials to show how what his daughter was doing in the US could be replicated. He didn't hear from them again.
When Paula received an invitation to speak at the National Council of Science Museums, her mind travelled back almost two decades. "I thought to myself that my Baba would have been very happy. It took 18 years for them to express interest but I am glad that they are realising it," she said.
Paula, credited with making museums in the US "fun" and putting them on every educator's wishlist, conducted a workshop for 40 curators and co-ordinators of science museums in India during her weeklong visit.
"I trained them on how to teach innovation. They were very excited and felt empowered to take the lessons back to their museums," she said. "I am happy to see that there is now a concerted effort, led by the National Council of Science Museums and the ministry of culture, to make science centres in India more dynamic and visitor-friendly. That's the first step. There can be significant improvements in visitor engagement strategies in the Calcutta museums because the definition of museums and visitor expectations has changed dramatically in the 21st century. It is also a key driver for attendance, fund development and local economic impact."
Paula used to be Surabhi Banerjee. "But I like Paula. It's Bengali for coral," she said, showing the coral ring she wears all the time. "It helps me explain my name to my friends back in the US."
Paula was born and brought up in Indore, where her father, whose roots are in Dakshineswar, had shifted along with her mother more than five decades ago. She got married while still doing her master's in European history, had a daughter and lived in Coimbatore till the family decided to move to the US in 1989.
For seven years, Paula played the dutiful wife and mother, choosing not to work so that she could devote most of her time to home and family. Her sabbatical ended when she joined a small museum in Michigan as its executive director, armed with an MPhil in archival museum and editing studies that she had earned by balancing home and evening classes.
Out of the box
Her flair for innovation began to show soon after. "The museum was like the best-kept secret in town and the people running it were protective about it, afraid that if more people came to see it, the historic building would start deteriorating. I introduced new programmes for adults and summer camps for children to transport them back in time and there was an exponential increase in footfall," recalled Paula, whose initiative led to her being picked by the mayor to lead an educational reform initiative tied to General Motors.
The position at Henry Ford came to Paula after she moved with her family to Detroit in 2008. "They were looking for a visionary who would change the paradigm for education, not just at The Henry Ford but the entire United States. There was a lot of criticism against public schools for not preparing students for jobs," said Paula, who thinks this continues to be "a universal problem".
As chief learning officer, Paula's brief was to come out with new ideas on "how people can appreciate innovation, find the innovator in themselves and inspire them to think differently and inspire society in new and engaging ways".
She led a team to interview modern-day innovators like Bill Gates, Dean Kamen and Steve Wozniak that prompted her to design a pathbreaking five-day curriculum on a digital module called Innovation 101 that encourages reflective thinking and collaboration. "The curriculum juxtaposes stories of past innovators like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford with present-day innovators and, in a phase by phase manner, teaches you what innovation is, the traits of innovators and the process of innovation," Paula explained.
Innovation 101 quickly grew as a concept and was endorsed by the Clinton Global Initiative in 2012. It is currently being adopted and implemented by educators across the US.
Aiming to foster change at the grassroots, Paula had made a "national commitment" to train 5000 teachers in five years for them to be able to teach innovation at public schools in the US. "Many told me that it was an audacious goal, but for me it's about embedding the seeds of innovative thinking that is starkingly missing in the global curriculum."
President calls
Paula's "audacious" attempt to ''talk the talk and walk the walk" didn't go unnoticed. A sudden call from the White House propelled her to President Barack Obama's team as a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board, comprising "those who have demonstrated expertise in, and a commitment to, library or museum services".
"The board advises the Institute of Museum and Library Services on general policy and practices, research and on selections for the national medals for museum and library service. There are 123,000 libraries and over 35,000 museums in the US and education is as important to President Obama as innovation. So this was an honour beyond comprehension," said Paula.
But can innovation be taught? "Yes, we can!" she exclaimed, borrowing President Obama's favourite phrase. "It is about helping people develop an innovative mindset, which is divergent thinking. Current-day education is about everything being taught. Since everything is rote, creativity gets killed."
A change in teaching methodologies is all that Paula prescribes. "I have dialogued with thousands of stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, museum and corporate professionals and others in our nation's educational circles. Everyone agrees that there seems to be little room in today's K-12 curriculum for creativity. Everything is taught to you, structured for you and teachers often feel pressured to teach to the test. Students aren't encouraged enough to ask the 'whys' and 'hows'. Even at the collegiate level students are not entering with an entrepreneurial mindset."
And what about tests and scores that continue to be the determining factor for assessment? "That's a great point. It's something everybody is struggling with, an issue that hasn't been solved. But making room for creativity is necessary. There are many kids who will never do well in tests but can be among the greatest innovators," Paula said.
She envisions the future classroom as one that has more than one teacher and the children learn in groups. "Kids today are knowledge creators; so don't make them just recipients. If you empower them, they will learn faster."
Innovation 101, which Paula had devised for schoolchildren, has elicited unexpected interest from colleges, universities and organisation leaderships. "It shows that innovation or a problem-solving mindset is the common denominator and I am glad that it has gained that flexibility and adaptability."
What about India? "I think there's tremendous potential for Innovation 101 to work in India but it will have to be scaled up," Paula said.
Doing things differently, of course, comes naturally to her. "My daughter asks me why I have to be innovative about everything," laughed Paula, who can't help but let her flair for innovation creep into her daily life.
When she was president of the Detroit Bengali Association, Paula decided to give out awards printed on " kola pata (banana leaf)". Every party at home has to be different as well, spurring her to make specialities like "Chhanar Jilipi with Italian Ricotta cheese and Malai Curry with broiled Salmon!"
Paula derives some of this confidence from her family, mainly her engineer husband of 30 years and their daughter. "Utpal and I both sing. Utpal sings Rabindrasangeet while I like singing Lata (Mangeshkar), Asha, adhunik Bangla gaan and ghazals. In fact, once upon a time we used to do professional shows in and around the US," she recounted.
The daughter's path
While Paula maintains a low profile, her daughter's name might ring a bell. Richa Gangopadhyay was Miss India USA 2007 and returned to home turf a few years ago to make a dream debut in Telugu films opposite Dhanush and Rana Daggubatti. A short stint in Tollywood followed with Bikram Singha, featuring Prosenjit.
"We were shocked!" Paula said of her daughter's foray into films. "We were scared about how she would manage alone in India while pursuing films, a completely unknown territory. At the same time I didn't want her to have any regrets. I remember sitting quietly in the back row on the day of her premiere and we came out surprised and amazed," recalled Paula, who lives in a medieval-style house in Detroit that she has converted into a beautiful home.
When in Calcutta, Bedwin rolls and meals at Barbecue are a must, just as slipping into a sari and visiting relatives and friends. "I love saris.... I have 400 of them," Paula said.
In Calcutta after four years, Paula was impressed with some of the changes. "The upcoming Rajarhat area blew me away. Wow! It's exciting to see this. I told my husband for the first time in 25 years: 'let's explore buying a property in Calcutta'."
Her larger goal is Innovation 102, which she hopes would "include kids and everyday people to further the impact and guide the current towards the future."
As always, she has her seatbelt fastened.
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