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Honey bee publish details |
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GOING TO MARKET |
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| Title |
Going to market: thinking, knowing, feeling and acting |
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| Abstract |
Recently, the Future Group, owner of India’s largest retail space took initiative to spend a day with several innovators to explore how they could take their innovations to market. But they realized what we are all aware acutely in Honey Bee Network that most of these need tremendous design and fabrication inputs. What impressed them were the frugality, simplicity and robustness of approach. So what if some of the ideas they liked belonged to children. Here we present brief encounter with some of the innovators who have narrated how they spent their own childhood, how did they interact with their children, and rest of the family and society. Let us read and reflect, there is something special about the way they think, know, feel and act, is it not?
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Families can mean a lot for most people who are at odds with their surroundings. Even the neglect and reprimand for one’s idiosyncratic behaviour may trigger some unexpected reactions. Struggle for recognition even from those one loves, likes and knows intimately can be very trying at times. But not always, let us listen to them.
Udhab K Bharali, Assam, has faced many struggles in his life because he had a dream to be an inventor one day. Elders in his village called him ‘faltu’ (worthless) but after he received the National Award in November’ 09 everyone now calls him Sir! Bharali has one son. His only wish for him is to be a good human being and to help the poor. He does not want to force his son to become an inventor and he has left the choice about his future path up to him. But he confesses that he felt extremely proud when at the age of six, his son made a glitter pen by himself. He has influenced the lives of many people from his village. He does not charge rural institutions for lectures and provides new opportunities for the kids of his village. He says,” Parents should not be biased and they should not have too many expectations, instead they should help their kids to see practical reality.” He also believes that kids should face some hardships in life as without struggle life is meaningless.
Dharamveer, Rajasthan, was labelled ‘pagal’ (mad) by his family and the community. He says that he looked unkempt too as he was so engrossed with his work. But after his invention his father said that he was ‘mehenati’ (hard working) and he gained respect from everyone. They realized they were wrong about him. His brother-in-law used to taunt him by saying, “Who did we get our sister married to?” Today when they have seen his pictures with respected people and head of the state, they have started respecting him. Dharamveer has provided employment to the women of his village and has helped generate revenue for his village. He says, “Today people use me as an example and say see how Dharamveer has grown and changed, everyone should take inspiration from him”. Now that he has started earning more money, Dharamveer’s outlook towards his children’s education has changed. Now he wants both his son and daughter to study further and do their MBA. Now that his quality of life has improved, he wants to provide similar opportunities to others around him. Having begun as a rickshaw puller, he has come a long way.
Mathews K. Mathew, from a farming family, did not get any encouragement in early years when he used to make innovative things. But when a newspaper published one of his innovations, the outlook of the family changed. They became more positive. He confesses that he used to feel depressed because he could not finish his education and he had very low level of self confidence. He lacked an individual identity. Search for an identity triggered his obsession for innovation. That was his way of making a name for himself. Initially his parents discouraged him and forced him to concentrate on his studies; they even sent him to an English medium school. But Mathew was not interested. He used to create toys as a child, and when he would do the same in high school his parents would taunt him by asking him if he was still a kid? After receiving the award by NIF, they were finally convinced that he was doing something worthwhile. He learnt a great deal from his grandfather who inspired him very much. He picked up the habit of collecting things, just like his grandfather would. He has made all his inventions from the objects, which he has collected over the years. He doesn’t get much time to help children these days, but once he had donated a crude model of his invention to some school kids for their school exhibition.
Utkalika Pattanaik was in class four when she realized that she wanted to invent. She used to discuss her ideas with teachers to get their feedback on the feasibility of the project. She made her first invention in class seven. Both her parents are teachers and they too encouraged her a lot. She used to experiment on everyday items and would recycle them to create something new. Her talent was discovered by Dr. Balaram Sahu who visited an exhibition and sent a video of Utkalika’s entry to NIF. After three years she got to know that her innovation had been selected for an award. She says that the people in her village would laugh at her idea and could not understand how such a simple invention could win a National Award. Her rural school also got recognition due to her achievement. She has two younger sisters and one of them is inspired by her creativity and achievements and is following in her footsteps. Other students from her school have also started taking keen interest in innovations and have been sending their ideas to HBN. A batch mate of Utkalika was so surprised and inspired to see a picture of her with Dr. Kalam that she also sent her entries for the competition. She encourages everyone she meets to think more creatively.
Agastya Narayan Shukla admits that he got his knack for innovation from his father whom he used to observe in their power loom unit in Anand Parbat, Delhi. As a four-five year old kid it was fascinating for him to see the automated machines. He says “machine ek dusre ko chalati thi, kuch jadu sa lagta tha (the machines were running each other, it appeared magical). His father used to work with great concentration and did not like to be disturbed. He feels that his children have inherited the aptitude for innovation. But apprehensively, at times he thinks that he should not invest their time in innovations as the path is difficult and full of struggles with uncertain returns. He believes in destiny and feels that they will be able to find their own interest and choose their career accordingly. He complains that when his son first went to school, he came back reciting
“hum nanhe munne bachche hain, daat humare kachche hain,
hum bhi sarhad jayenge, seene pe goli khayenge,
mar jaayenge, mit jaayenge, desh ki shaan badhayenge, desh ki shaan badhayenge”
(We are small kids, our milk-teeth have not broken till now, we will also go to the borders and lay down our lives in honour of our country). He strongly feels that such poems should not be included in the curriculum of young kids as they might be too naïve to know the difference between good and bad and may get inspired to pick up weapons and indulge in anti-social behaviour. He feels that as he had enjoyed a carefree childhood, he could think freely, independently but now-a-days, children either do not share their perspective or fail to develop an independent perspective because of the protective environment at home.
Mushtaq Ahmad Dar says that his father encouraged him to carry on with his innovations. He misses his presence now but he continues to innovate. Other members of the family are supportive of his endeavours. When the students from the neighbouring villages see his innovations, they are inspired to try out new things. He strongly advocates that students should be taken around so that they can see the problems faced by the common people; because only when they will see the problems and empathise; they will be moved to search for solutions. He says “Dikkat ushtheichhu idea yuan” (when you face problem, ideas emerge). The kids in his family (five and three years old) are very inquisitive and at times ask the same question for an hour or two, this at times irritates him so much that he scolds them. He says that he does not do that often but only when they nag him for a couple of hours; sometimes they even mess up in order to try out new things!
Roshanlal Vishwakarma recalls that previously elders in the villager used to tell him that he should not waste his time trying to innovate as so many scientists were working worldwide why would anybody care for his innovation? His father was also a bit apprehensive but his mother used to defend him saying that at least he was not loitering around uselessly like many others in the village. After he was appreciated and awarded in the 5th Biennial National Award last year, people’s reaction towards him has changed. The villagers come to ask for his views and have started respecting him. He says that his children come and observe him working in his workshop. He was a little apprehensive previously, thinking that as he was unsuccessful and faced problems, his children should not ’waste’ their time like him. At times he used to scold them due to his insecurities as a parent; but now he lets them sit and even work with him. Joyfully, the proud father says that his children are such keen observers that they rectify his errors many times when he forgets something, or does something wrong. Recalling a recent incident, he said that he was away from home. His kids thought as the electricity supply in the village was erratic, why not charge the battery of the cell phone with the help of the tractor and for this they took out the pins of the charger, spoiling it completely. When he was scolding them for their mischief, his father said that had he reacted the same way every time Roshanlal experimented with the things at home, he would not have become an innovator today. Roshanlal understood his father’s message. His children are so elated with his award that they also aspire to make something new and get awards too!
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 15 to 17, 2010 |
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