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Creativity on the Margins: GIAN's Exhibition of Grassroots Innovations in Assam |
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The first GIAN (Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network) was set up in Gujarat with the help of the Gujarat government, SRISTI, and IIMA, in 1997. The purpose was to convert innovations into enterprise and expand employment opportunities in the region by linking grassroots innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge with excellence in modern science and technology. Following up on this, National Innovation Foundation (NIF) decided to set up GIANs in different regions.
As part of GIAN North-East’s1 activities to create awareness about the role that grassroots innovations can play in local development, an exhibition was organised of various innovations and TK scouted locally. The exhibition was organised by the students of IIT Guwahati. Dr R A Mashelkar, Chairperson NIF and Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, inaugurated the exhibition. Dr Buragohain, Director IIT-G, was elated at this development and felt that the activities of GIAN had provided IIT-G an opportunity to link up with the aspirations of the common people in the region.
The diversity of innovations and Traditional Knowledge exhibited on the occasion was extremely rich. It provided a glimpse of the extraordinary potential that exists in building bridges between the centres of excellence on the periphery and mainstream science and technology.
The Bumpy Roadster
The story of Kanak Das, a young inventor living about 70 km away from Guwahati in the Mori Gaon district of Assam, symbolises the spirit of creativity that exists in millions of villages, often unrecognised and uncelebrated. What is so special about Kanak Das?
Imagine you are cycling on a bumpy rural road. Due to the uneven nature of the road, a good deal of energy is spent in riding the cycle. Kanak Das’s improved version of the bicycle does not slow down from bumps. Instead, it accelerates after every bump, owing to its ability to convert the bumpy vertical movement into horizontal propulsion. A crazy idea coming from all the way from the North-East! A more detailed profile of Kanak Das will follow in the next issue.
UV-Proof Umbrella
Dulal Chaudhary was really depressed until a few months ago. He was working in a state department where he had a clash with his superiors on how people ought to be served. He resigned and subsequently suffered from problems of self-esteem as he remained jobless for a time. Until he began to work on his family’s traditional industry of weaving mooga silk and gianed recognition. There were several problems on the way. Mooga silk is hard, starched and the cloth is not used conventionally for making too many different kinds of dresses. Further, it was suitable only to be hand-woven and could not be woven on power looms. He made improvements in the techniques of making the yarn as well as in the design of looms and made soft mooga silk weaving possible on machines. With the softness achieved, all kinds of dresses could be made ranging from ties and shirts to saris. What is more, when GIAN got into the picture, new possibilities were explored. GIAN did research on the properties of the cloth and got some tests done in the Physics department of Tejpur University. They discovered that the cloth had the ability to trap ultra-violet rays up to 85 per cent, which could be further increased with improvements in weaving style. Dulal made umbrellas out of them and these became an instant hit. Given the golden colour of the cloth, the light penetrating it additionally provided an ethereal glow to the face of the users. The umbrella was a great hit at the exhibition.
Creativity in Chains
Vijaya Vittala, Coordinator of GIAN-NE, had gone on a visit to Jorhat where he met the local jailor, Shri Nirupendra Bora, through a common friend. The idea of scouting innovations impressed the jailor and he invited Vijaya to come and talk to the inmates of the jail about what GIAN was doing. The idea was to channelise the energy of the inmates in positive ways. When the inmates were informed about what GIAN did, some of them immediately pointed to one person, Manik Saikia, who was known to be a tinkerer before he landed in jail. He offered to make a bamboo and wooden cycle with good design and efficiency if he were given the tools and material. Generally, rules don’t allow any type of tools to be taken inside the jail. But the jailor made an exception and got a separate place earmarked for this project. GIAN provided the materials and tools and a new bicycle was made. Because of its aesthetic but slightly unusual design, the cycle is more easily ridden by kids than by adults. Though a design change might alter this. The cycle attracted so much media attention that the next day every paper carried the story on the cover page. The Inspector General of prisons came to see the exhibition and offered to arrange interactions for GIAN with inmates of all the jails in the state. The prison term of Manik Saikia, by the way, has been reduced by two years. Hopefully he will be riding his bicycle soon.
There were many other innovations and TK on display. Pushpalata Saikia has developed a herbal technology for healing fractures, besides a water-lifting pump. Two young brothers, scouted by one of the IIT staff, have developed very interesting electronic innovations. Since childhood Champak Bora, a first year student of law, had observed his elder brother, Trilokya, tinker with electronic parts. He too developed an interest in trying out new things. One of their innovations makes it possible for a person to listen to music anywhere in the house by plugging the output of a music system in one room to an electrical plug point. With the necessary modifications in place, the music can be heard clearly and without any new wired connection. The second innovation relates to converting a hand calculator into a mechanical counter for factories at a low cost.There were 27 exhibitors in all, some of the most interesting exhibits being a night shuttle cock (Mr Koj Taki), a bamboo torch (Mr Jawahar Rai) and a method for teaching hearing impaired children in Assamese (Mr M N Kalita).
Imagine, this is a haul of only about six months work by just two people who ran GIAN. They have filed three patents already and have created so much institutional space within and outside IIT-G. Prof Buragohain, Director IIT-G, has offered any workshop in the campus to the innovators to tinker in. A healthy beginning. |
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 13(3): 20- 21, 2002 |
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