Honey Bee INDIA January June 2011 Latest

Once upon a time in the country of Japan there lived two frogs, one of whommade his home in a ditch near the town of Osaka, on the sea coast, while theother dwelt in a clear little stream, which ran through the city of Kyoto. Atsuch a great distance apart, they had never even heard of each other; but,funnily enough, the idea came into both their heads at once that they shouldlike to see a little of the world, and the frog who lived at Kyoto wanted to visitOsaka, and the frog who lived at Osaka wished to go to Kyoto, where the

great Mikado had his palace.

So one fine morning in the spring they both set out along the road that led from Kyoto toOsaka, one from one end and the other from the other. The journey was more tiring thanthey expected, for they did not know much about traveling, and halfway between thetwo towns there arose a mountain, which had to be climbed. It took them a long time anda great many hops to reach the top, but there they were at last, and what was thesurprise of each to see another frog before him!

They looked at each other for a moment without speaking, and then fell into conversation,explaining the cause of their meeting so far from their homes. It was delightful to find thatthey both felt the same wish—to learn a little more of their native country—and as therewas no sort of hurry they stretched themselves out in a cool, damp place, and agreedthat they would have a good rest before they parted to go their ways.

“What a pity we are not bigger,” said the Osaka frog; “for then we could see both townsfrom here, and tell if it is worth our while going on.”

“Oh, that is easily managed,” returned the Kyoto frog. “We have only got to stand up onour hind legs, and hold onto each other, and then we can each look at the town he istraveling to.”

This idea pleased the Osaka frog so much that he at once jumped up and put his frontpaws on the shoulder of his friend, who had risen also. There they both stood, stretchingthemselves as high as they could, and holding each other tightly, so that they might not falldown. The Kyoto frog turned his nose towards Osaka, and the Osaka frog turned hisnose towards Kyoto; but the foolish things forgot that when they stood up their greateyes lay in the backs of their heads, and that though their noses might point to the placesto which they wanted to go, their eyes beheld the places from which they had come.

“Dear me!” cried the Osaka frog, “Kyoto is exactly like Osaka. It is certainly not worthsuch a long journey. I shall go home!”

“If I had had any idea that Osaka was only a copy of Kyoto I should never have traveledall this way,” exclaimed the frog from Kyoto, and as he spoke he took his hands from hisfriend’s shoulders, and they both fell down on the grass. Then they took a polite farewellof each other, and set off for home again, and to the end of their lives they believed thatOsaka and Kyoto, which are as different to look at as two towns can be, were as alikeas two peas.

Sometimes we go far to realize how close we have been to our own vision and impressions in life.Close not just in terms of distance but also in terms of openness. Our minds are closed, ourvision is myopic, we are unable to chart out new paths because we are too comfortable in seeingthe world forever with the frog’s eyes. By remaining in a comfortable zone of consciousness howwill innovations occur or if occur, be noticed? If we don’t court uncertainty, strange places, people,cultures and courses of actions, will we ever walk on new paths? Frogs say, no :Ed.

Contents

EditorAnil K Gupta

Editorial AdvisorsRiya Sinha Chokkakula, Vijaya Sherry Chand

Associate EditorsSomya Tyagi, Anamika Dey

Science Advisor: Sumati Sampemane

Editorial Support TeamKirit K Patel, Sadhana Gupta, Nitin Maurya, VivekKumar, Rakesh Kumar Maheshwari, Deepa Tripathi,Chetan Patel, Purshottam Patel, Ramesh Patel,Jyoti Capoor, Mahesh Patel, Vipin Kumar, NirmalSahay, Ravi Kumar, Hema Patel, Mukesh Chauhan

Graphics and Design: Unnikrishnan

Illustrations: Manoj Bhingare, PalashGraphics

Administrative TeamR P S Yadav, R Baskaran, Bhoomi Shah,Sumitra Patel, Devshi Desai, Sonali Barma

Editorial AddressHoney Bee, C/o Prof Anil K GuptaIndian Institute of ManagementVastrapur, Ahmedabad-380015, Gujarat, IndiaPhone: 91-79-66324921; Fax: 91-79-26307341

Email: [email protected], [email protected](http://www.sristi.org)

Published by Riya Sinha Chokkakula on behalf of SRISTI Innovations, AES Boys Hostel Campus,Near University Library, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380015

Printed at M/s Bansidhar Offset, Ahmedabad

Honey Bee Regional Newsletters

Aama Akha Pakha (Odia)Dr Balaram SahuKeshari Enclave, B- Block, Flat No-401Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar-12 Odisha,[email protected]

Hittalagida (Kannada)Dr T N PrakashDepartment of Agricultural Economics Universityof Agricultural Science, GKVK, Bangalore -560065 Karnataka. [email protected]

Ini Karshakan Samsarikkatte (Malayalam)Fr Hubby Mathew & Mr T J JamesPeermade Development Society, Peermade, Idukki -685531, Kerala [email protected]

Loksarvani (Gujarati) andSujh-Bujh Aas Paas ki (Hindi)SRISTI, P O Box No.15050 AmbawadiAhmedabad - 380015 [email protected]

Num Vali Velanmai (Tamil)Mr P Vivekanandan45, T P M Nagar,Virattipathu, Madurai - 625010Tamil Nadu [email protected]

Palle Srujana (Telugu)Brig Pogula Ganesham VSM (Retd)C/o Ms. Aruna Ganesham, 102, Vayupuri,Sainikpuri Post Secunderabad-500 094 AndhraPradesh [email protected]

Habit of Seeing the Obvious

Aesthetics of Anger and Alienation:Bastar Shodhyatra - Part II ............................ 4Bringing Home to Them: Story of aBird Nest Distributor ..................................... 13Small Towns, Big Minds ................................ 16Lest We Forget: Practices from OldHoney Bee .................................................... 24China Innovates: CHIN - X ........................... 26Work Hard, Live Longer! .............................. 30Handlooms: Innovations LOOMing Large! .... 31

Honey Bee HummsGujarat .......................................................... 32Odisha .......................................................... 34Tamil Nadu ..................................................... 36

News and Views ......................................... 40Dialogue ........................................................ 43

When Lack of Knowledgeis Not a Constraint:Nathubhai ............................... 10

Walking in the Land ofParadoxes:26th Shodh Yatra - Part I ....... 18

Malaysia Innovates ............ 14

Uncle Bugs Tan! ................... 15

The Unmet Expectations

EDITORIAL

Honey Bee Vol 22(1 & 2) January - March & April - June 2011

3When did you think of a new idea last?

When a social movement to support grassroots innovatorsgets institutional support, expectations rise, but they alsoacquire more assertive forms. That is the way it shouldbe. When many of these expectations are not met, onehas to ask whether social movement has started missingits moorings, or the institutions are losing touch with theverve which raised these expectations in the first place.Or, may be, in some cases, even if very few, the innovatorsare expecting too much, even beyond what the marketsmay bear or permit. But nothing that innovators may say,demand or expect, will ever reduce the burden of deliveryon their shoulders of those who have raised theseexpectations of providing support to innovators at theirdoor step.

I remember that way back in 1997, when GIAN (GrassrootsInnovation Augmentation Network) was set up, one of thefirst principles we devised was that no innovator will beever asked to come to office. Our support should bedelivered at their door step. They have done their job, bysharing their innovation with society, almost alwaysunhesitatingly. It was the turn of society now to reciprocate.But then sufficient material resources have eluded theNetwork and the institutions spawned by it to do justiceto all the expectations. But could not we have done more,better, and faster?

Let us reflect on this issue candidly. It is true thatmany a times innovators have expectations beyond whatcurrent trends in market may sustain, at least in the presentform of the product. But the barriers to transition of aconcept, idea or prototype to market friendly utility are notalways insurmountable. Why have resource constraintsplagued this movement for so long? But is that the only reasonwhy transition has been slower. Is it not because wecould not forge sufficiently strong partnershipbetween ideators and those who could design these intofinal market friendly shape? When institutional relationshipsare mediated by social expectations, there are possibilitiesof undue expectation arising on either side. Institutionsexpect that innovator should have a lot of patience even if therate of value addition in the innovation is very slow. Theinnovator expects that this is the duty of the institution topursue all the steps required to test the market, redesign theproduct or take it to market and get him the benefit.Both expectations are misplaced, but moderation may nottake place easily. Expectation that after filing patent or gettingto the next stage of innovation maturation, there will be aqueue of interested entrepreneurs wanting to license thetechnology after paying a huge amount may be unfair. But ifwe have not made sufficient effort by writing, meeting andpursuing with potential licensees, then it is certainly ourinadequacy.

Heightened expectations on the part of innovators also arisefrom their belief that their innovation is most unique anddeserve wider recognition. In some cases, it is. But in manycases, it is not. When prior art search is done, a feedbackneeds to be sent in local language to an innovatorsummarizing the context in which her innovation has to beseen. For want of resources, such an accountability has notbeen strictly enforced. And yet, it is due to the innovatorsso that they can moderate their expectations. Barring a fewcases, in which innovators may not agree to disclose thetechnical details completely and thus go through formaltesting, in most cases, it is possible to understand the needfor disclosure as well as scientific tests. The problemarises when scientific institutions may not be able to givesufficient priority and thus validation may get delayed.However, this is a problem which has to be solved by themovement and the institution. In this age of accountability,heightened expectations of transparency and empowermentof grassroots voices, it is very difficult to continue to scoutwhen thousands of scouted ideas, innovations and traditionalknowledge practices remain to be validated. It is strangebut true that we have not been able to mobilize resourcesfor even 2000 practices to be validated and valorized everyyear so that at least 200 may go to the next stage andperhaps 20 may make a mark through commercial or socialdiffusion. At the current rate of validation, it will takecenturies before justice can be done to those whoseknowledge has already been documented.

A crisis of expectations is inevitable. The mismatch isinstitutionalized in the nature of resources available. Nomatter how creative and hard working a team may be, thereis a limit to which they can stretch the boundaries of otherinstitutions involved in value chain development. Thecorporate sector has not found the ideas of the grassrootspeople attractive enough to be taken forward through theirown resources, infrastructure or network. The State canalways have an excuse to justify stinginess in supportinga very large, empirical and verifiable set of expectationsclaiming limitation of resource. If such a chasm betweenthe expectation of creative people and the supply sideinstitutions continues, it won’t be long before we findwidespread dissatisfaction and protest. At that moment, onecan be sure that I will be standing with them rather thanwith the institutions, which might appear helpless. I hopethat readers would reflect on the dilemma and challengefaced by the Honey Bee Network in this critical historicalmovement.

anil k gupta

Honey Bee Vol 22 (1 & 2) January - March & April - June 2011

4 A Dialogue on People’s Creativity, Experimentation & Innovation

25th

SHODHYATRA

Aesthetics of Anger and Alienation: Bastar Shodhyatra-Part II

In the second part of the learnings during Bastar Shodhyatra (May 14-21, 2010), we look into the way, tribal societyin villages around Narayanpur celebrates local excellence, creates role models and deals with the social strife,sandwiched as it is between state and extremist forces. Agonizing as it may appear, but using this region as aplace of punishment posting in school, does not do any justice to the rising aspiration of local children and youth.The inability of police administration to understand and appreciate the need for self confident and assertive localyouthful leadership as a necessary part of just society leads to tremendous alienation. To them, every assertive youthis a part of naxalite movement which gives far more credit to the left movement then they may deserve. But wecould still find signs of hope and that is what makes us optimistic. Even if police administration, guided as it isby home ministry’s myopic polices for the region, makes the task of civil administration more difficult, the solutionlies in an authentic and honest effort to deliver basic needs at the terms local people articulate. If these culturescould resist the forces of dominance for such a long time, don’t they deserve a chance yet again? Let us ask ourselves...

We walked through a grove of very oldtrees, with creepers intertwining, as ifto remind us about how strengthwithout tender scaffolding may bebetrayed, actually give way.

In the morning at Benur, we learnedfrom two herbal healers, Buddhuramand Sukhaluram Kachlam about theway they dealt with snake bites andother ailments. They used Aritha fruit(Sapindus trifoliatus L.) to heal awound, and the bark of Beeja trees(Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb) for

stomach ache. After facilitating themthe Shodhyatris went to SingluramKachlam’s house having a herbalgarden. He offered yatris a herbal bidiwhich reportedly cures sinus andmigraine. The cleanliness in andaround his house once againreminded the Yatris how particular thetribals here were about hygiene andsanitation.

He had grown a tall variety of brinjal,not found commonly in the region. Healso showed an abnormally big pod of


5

a tree, similar to Amaltas (Cassia fistulaLinn.). On the way to Kulhargaon, Yatrissaw an unusual sight.

There were tombs, which weredecorated with clay sculpturesdepicting the occupation of the personburied there. Yatris were intrigued asto why local communities wouldcommemorate the memories of certainindividuals in this manner? We weretold that when an outstanding personpasses away, his decorated tomb alsohas his sculpture to inspire youngergeneration. A herbalist, a teacher andsuch other people were rememberedin this manner. Bhaluram, adept inmaking such tombs told that this wasa special institution in this region.

Lessons in management of commonproperty resources

Shodhyatris were welcomed atKulhargaon by mitanin associates(National ASHA health worker schemewas modeled after mitanin scheme ofChhatisgarh, a public service whichwas among a very few things whichworked here). The women wereadorned with a variety of traditionaljewellery and appeared moreforthcoming and knowledgeable thanthe men folk. Sampath Sahu, a tenyear old boy, had collected 115 varietiesof plants and herbs and hadknowledge about almost each variety.Shodhyatris learnt a lot from thevillagers and they shared a lot of newpractices with us. We finished ourmeeting here and walked towardsNayanar village. On the way we saw

more tombs like that of a herbal healer,hunter, dancer and carpenter. Eachcelebrating the skills, outstandingachievers, creating role models foryounger generation.

We reached Nayanar in the afternoonand had lunch there. This was onevillage where we saw togethernessand unity amongst all the villagers;they helped and supported each other.The shodhyatris came to know abouta unique practice at this village whereall the villagers would throw fish in a

Is marriage between traditional knowledge and modern science possible?

Dedication through tombs!

lake and on one particular day in theyear, they would all fish together. Also,“Gotul” was a place in the villagewhere the villagers would store grainstogether and they would also use thisplace for any social or cultural function.This was indeed a lesson in themanagement of common propertyresources by mutual understandingand respect.

Kakshar is the traditional dance of thisvillage which has been passed downfrom generations. A dance troupe attired

Celebrating excellence



in their traditional costumes presentedtheir dance to the delight of theshodhyatris. Such was the energy intheir dance that some of theshodhyatris also joined them andenthralled the villagers.

The villagers shared a unique storywith us about a bird called Vijapethe,which alerts them by chirping “boskevitke” (sow the seeds). The farmerssow the seeds then and, they believe,within a few days the rains comes too.

We then walked towards Punghaarpalvillage. On the way we saw a kind oftree that most of us had not seenearlier. It was completely white in colourand devoid of leaves and bark. Addingto its beauty was the white light ofsetting sun falling on it.

When we reached Punghaarpal, MohunDugge prepared herbal tea for all ofus. His wife made traditional food andserved us all. It was amazing to seethe herbarium made by his son whohad collected a variety of plants foundin the region. After thanking them, thewalk resumed towards Edka village. Arequest was made on behalf of thevillagers to get him transferred. Thiswas the only wish of the villagers.

Nothing else was demanded orsuggested at all, through entire walk.

A life dedicated to art and craft:Devnath Singh Chakradhari

First thing in the morning at Edka,around 30-35 women from the villagebrought traditional food for us. Thegroup was headed by the womansarpanch. After breakfast, shodhyatrisproceeded to meet Devnath Singh

Chakradhari who enjoys tremendousrespect among the villagers as agood artisan, and more so, as a greatteacher in Bastar. He is more than 90years old. He had taught his skills tomany others in and around his village.

The shodhyatris could see the artwork by one of his students too. Whenasked to share his experience, hesaid, all his life he has not doneanything other than practising andteaching art. He lives in one of themost inaccessible parts of the globeand has no sizeable market for his artwork. What makes it even remarkableis his desire to teach others and nothaving even an iota of grudge for notbeing commercially successful. Hewishes to have a training schoolwherein he would teach fellowartisans about the nuances of the art.Most of the shodhyatris thoughtthat this craft could be furtherdeveloped with present daytechnologies and marketed ininternational markets.

An encounter

While walking to the next village,suddenly a plain clothed man rushedtowards us and before we could fathomthe reason his action, the entireshodhyatra team was surrounded byarmed commandos. Two morepersons served us a notice on behalf

of the Superintendent of Police, askingus to appear before him,in hisoffice. The SP claimed that the yatrawas unauthorized. He ignored the factthat he himself had given the letter ofintroduction to our staff several monthsin advance while preparing for theShodhyatra. A few of the yatris went tothe SP’s office, the rest stayed back inthe school to spend the nightthere. Everybody wondered whether theyatra would continue and could this bea backdrop for more ominous things tohappen. Later in the night when the

Three generations of craftmanship at Edka: Devnath Singh Chakradhariand his family


7When did you meet an innovator last?

yatris came back from the SP’s office,it was learned that SP had decided tofile a case claiming yatra to be illegal.He also called the media and a falsenews was flashed about the so calledviolation of the law withoutincorporating Yatris’ views. Next day,the yatris were asked to distribute thesummons to everybody they hadmet. As per their version, everybodywho hosted yatra in different villageswas an extremist leader or asympathizer. Nothing could be moreridiculous. We did not need more

evidence to understand why theconditions were so unfair for the localcommunities. We also did notunderstand why police behaved withso much insensitivity towardsthem. Eventually, the Chief Secretaryvery kindly intervened, the summonswere cancelled and yatra continued. While the events were unfolding atBinjli, yatris interacted with a locallywell known herbal healer, RatandharVaidraj. He regretted that outsiderswere stealing their knowledge and thevillagers were not getting benefitted.

He said, “People have come here andtaken unique herbs like rashnajhari,netraharra, ishwarimul, bhuiaawla,chiraita etc. There is no method toprevent this kind of poaching.” Wefelicitated Ratandhar and discussedthe tremendous scope that existed forvalue addition in traditional medicinein Bastar. One of the problems heshared was that a pharmacy which hehad set up with the help of forestdepartment had to be suspendedbecause some bigger companies hadfiled a case that it was not GoodManufacturing Practice (GMP)compliant. Issue remains whether forpromoting in situ value addition inforest areas, GMP guidelines shouldnot be modified without compromisingthe quality norms.

Trees with brain!

At Keralapal village we had a villagemeeting organised through mitaninassociates. The mitanins in this villagewere very well aware of first aidmethods. They also mobilisedtransport to the nearest hospital. Themitanin scheme is one of the wellfunctioning grassroots public programin Bastar.

When the issues about deforestationand loss of bio-diversity were beingdiscussed, a villager, Modaram Pottai,shared an insight about how theyconserve trees. He said “while humanbeings have their head on the top, thetrees have their head on the bottom!”Just as humans would die if we removethe head, would not a tree die too ifits roost were damaged, he asked? In



order to utilize the wood and not harmthe tree we should prune branchesfrom one side only at a time. This willensure that we get the wood withoutharming the tree. Also, if branchesneed to be cut for fuel wood aftersome time, then the ones on theopposite side should be cut so as notto harm the tree. This seemed a verysustainable practice. After the meeting

we had lunch and started the walktowards Subhgaon.

At Subhgaon, shodhyatris visitedChanci’s house. He had preserved 25quintals of kodo millets for twenty years.Although, he was hesitant to let us seethe same, he told us about his uniqueeffort. The fact was corroborated by hisneighbours too. He said that there is novalue for this product in the market andthat is why he has not sold it. Whateverbe the reason, the fact that he hadpreserved it for 20 years iscommendable itself. The discussion ontraditional methods of storage andconservation with him could not last longas the shodhyatris had to reach Palkivillage before it was dark.

In the meeting at Palki, RatandharVaidraj, who had met us earlier at Binjlicame for further discussions with theshodhyatris. The main concern,according to him, was the pilferage ofvaluable medicinal plants from the

jungles of Abujhmar. Also, he wasworried about the practice of imitationby local herbal drug manufacturingcompanies. To quote him, “Thesecompanies are always on the lookoutfor unique knowledge so that they couldmake new products and profit out of it.Also, once the knowledge is acquired,the local healers who provide inputs aresidelined from the profits that thecompany makes in due course.”

The matter being discussed wasforemost on the mind of everyshodhyatri. All along the journey, onecould observe bio-diversity andcomprehensive medicinal knowledgeamong the practitioners of traditionalmedicine.

In the end...

On the last day of our Shodhyatra, yatrisdiscussed the paradox of rich biodiversityand still so much poverty with local tribalcommunities at Mahaka village.Modaram Pottai


9 When did you consume organic food last?

We concluded our Shodhyatra byfelicitating Mehruram, a herbal healer,and a centenarian, Chanduram of thesame village. Before dispersing, yatrisreflected on the lessons learnt. Itbecame clear that unless it wasdecided not to let any raw material goout of forest without in situ valueaddition, people would actually remainpoor. Similarly, the methods and toolsof sustainable extraction were neededif productivity had to be improved. Waterconservation was grossly neglectedand initiatives by the extremist in thisregard (they had built a few tanks) wonthem some natural support. If thepeace had to prevail, then justice hadto be ensured. So much extraction ofnatural resource from the region for solong without any benefit sharing withlocal communities could not be allowedto continue any more. This regionshould not be used as a place ofpunishment posting. In such cases,the real punishment was given topeople and not the staff posted on thatbasis. The knowledge, institutions,culture and technologies need to be

Speaking walls...

revisited if a purposeful partnershiphad to be forged. But if the Statewishes to spend more money onfighting with its own people, rather

...Quiet lanes

than bringing about genuineparticipatory development, then onehas to realize how long the strugglefor social justice ahead is.



PROFILE

Youngest of the six children, NathubhaiRatubhai Vader was pampered a lotby his parents and siblings. As a childhe was very curious to know howdifferent machines worked and in theprocess had spoiled many of them. Itwas this fascination withunderstanding the innerworking of machines, hesays, that made himinvent the cotton bollpicking machine.

Early Marriage

Nathubhai wasmarried to Puspabenwhen he was in his earlyteens. A year afterhis marriageNathubhai (14)was sent to ab o a r d i n gschool atK a d i ,M e h s a n aD i s t t . ,where hiss o n ,Dharmendras t u d i e sn o w .Meanwhile,his elderb r o t h e r sgot jobsa n ds h i f t e dout fromt h e

village. One of his brothers is a primaryschool teacher in Dasada, while theother one is a contractor and runs abusiness in Ahmedabad. After theymoved out, it became difficult for hisfather to manage the entire farmingactivities on his own. He thus asked

Nathubhai to join him andaccordingly Nathubhai

discontinued education midway.

Problem perceived

Nathubhai’s father was arespected man in thevillage and owned about150 acres, which was

divided among his threesons after his

demise. Despitehaving a

r e s i d e n tcommit ted

team oflabourers,he facedl a b o u rshortaged u r i n g

t h ep i c k i n g

season.

The shortage increasedover time. Often farmersand their families wouldjoin the laborers to pluckcotton in the fields.Nathubhai would go alongwith other labourers to pluck

cotton in the fields. While he wasdoing this work, the idea of making amachine to do the job came to hismind. Nathubhai says, “I could notbear to see the problems of my fatherand other villagers. A lot of cotton useto get wasted. If a machine is there,it will make the job easy.”

An industrial cluster located nearbyoffers better wages and so thelabourers preferred to work there. Inthe absence of workers the farmerfamilies have to pluck the bolls. Dueto unseasonal rains, thousands ofbales worth of cotton gets spoiledmany times because of delay inharvesting (and also stripping).

An inspiration

Once the farming season was over,majority of the villagers sit in the RamjiMandir and chat over various matters.Often they discussed about the cropand the yield. Nathubhai recalls hisassociation with Radhaswami Satsangreligious group that organizesswadhyay (religious gathering). Headmits the influence of his guru PujyaDadaji Pandurang Shastri who usedto say “Yuvan jo dharai to paththar nanichori na Pani kadhe” (if the youthmake up their mind, they can extractwater by wringing a rock). This thoughthad a tremendous impact on him andsoon he began reading on the subject.Around 2001-2002 he was able todesign an automatic seed drill, amachine to fill the gaps in the field,

When Lack of Knowledge is not a Constraint...Nathubhai, the Maker of Cotton Picker

Dryland cotton is quite well adapted in certain parts of Gujarat. In these varieties of cotton such as number V 797(kalian Kapas), bolls do not open unlike hybrid cotton and thus cotton cannot be directly picked up. One has topick the bolls and then strip them to take seed cotton out, later ginning is done to separate seeds from lint. Dueto difficulty in labour supply, even the picking of bolls is becoming difficult. Nathubhai, a forty year old, passionatefarmer has been pursuing his dream of developing a tractor drawn mobile cotton boll picking and if possible, strippingmachine over a decade. It has been a very arduous struggle. The work is still in progress. He made a model earlier,which did work in the field but somehow left a few bolls unplucked. Being unhappy with that model, he dismantledit and started working on new designs. Read the story of how has he pursued his journey, what role has his familyplayed in it and to what extent grassroots innovation ecosystem is able to support such maverick persistent innovators.

Erwada village (Dasada taluka, Surendranagar Distt.) suffers from sparse rainfall has a very deep water table andfew resources for irrigation making dryland Cotton an obvious choice here. ‘V797’, a cross between (Kalyan x Vijayand backcrossed with Kalyan) is preferred over Bt cotton in this region as the latter requires more water and fertilizerto grow. The characteristic closed bolls of V797 also make it tolerant to wilting and strong wind.


11

and a sprayer attached to a bike.Despite designing these machines,he still dreamed about making thecotton picker.

Personal Setbacks

While Nathubhai was conceptualizinghis design, he lost his wife in anaccident. This was a huge loss andcaused him tremendous agony. Later,his family got him married to Nabuben,a widow from their community.

Nabuben took care of Nathubhai andyoung Dharmendra. After a few years,Ravina was born to the couple.Meanwhile, Nathubhai had heard thenews of Chetak - the automated cottonstripping machine made by MansukhPatel, an innovator (supported earlierby Honey Bee Network through GIAN)from a nearby village which hadrevolutionalized the cotton industry inthe region. His success madeNathubhai’s conviction stronger thathis machine will pick the pods oneday. He recalls, “mara biswas dradthai gayo ki mhari machine kaalabinse” (This made my convictionstronger that my machine could pickcotton bolls).

Even after he invested his savingsyear after year on designing thismachine, success eluded him. Hiswife started complaining as well.Nathubhai spent as much as 10-12lakh of Rupees in research and whiledoing so, could not pay any attention

to his family’s needs. When the firstmodel failed to perform, his wifeobjected and advised him not to investfurther.

She wanted him to think abouteducation of his children Dharmendraand Ravina and their future. Nathubhairecalls, “Sometimes, I would start fromthe house saying that I am going outto grocery shop for purchasing oilhowever, I would return bringing someiron parts for the machine.” But thiscould not last for long. He had alreadyinvested much and there was noguarantee that he wouldsucceed. Tiredof family’scriticism, hestopped wor-king on thismachine.

At this stage,SRISTI whichhad scoutedhim originally,r e c o n n e c t e dwith him andthrough GIANand NIF. Around2004, SRISTIdecided to fundhis endeavourwhich refuelledhis ambition tomake the ma-c h i n e .Subsequent ly,

GIAN and NIF increased the grant toRs.1,50,000/-. After the grant wasapproved, he upgraded his machine.

Getting Started with the Design

Nathubhai did not have the technicalknowledge to design a machine.However, he was very determined andbelieved in learning by doing. He said,“I believed in the fact that if one wishesto do something sincerely, then hesurely finds the ways to learn it. Forhours together, I would sit in the fieldand think about what kind of force cansegregate cotton boll from its stalk.Later, when the idea became clear inmy mind, I prepared the drawings.Brought some cutting and drilling toolsand started working on the machinedesign.” Nathubhai has converted aplot near his house into a workshop.He visits the farm in the morning andcarries out the machine work duringthe afternoon.

While working on the field, he realizedthat a vibration action would be neededto make the bolls drop of thestalk. To test his hypothesis he triedvarious ways of hitting the plantand finally concluded that a set ofvibrating sticks would perhapsserve the purpose. Gradually, hestarted getting the machines andequipments that he needed to makethe machine and opened a privateworkshop.

Do you ever think whether your grandchildren will ever be able to see the species that are getting extinct?



Solving the Problem

He soon began looking for resourcesto fund his work. When he could notget help from anywhere he againstarted investing his own money andcontinued experimenting. In 2004-05,the machine was ready to be testedin the field.

The machine comprised four parts -the vibrator, conveyer tray, suctionpump and storage cabin. This machinecould easily be attached to a tractorand taken to the field. Every time thatthe vibrator discs revolved, it gave astrong jolt to the plant and the cottonbolls dropped on the conveyer whichcollected them and drew it to the backof machine from where the suctionpump sucked these for storage in thestorage box. To further improve themachine, he add one more blower tothe machine in such a way that boththe blowers were arranged at bothends, the two conveyor belts take thebolls to the two suction pump inlets.In addition to the vibrating rods, hehas put rods at inclined angles at thebase of the conveyor trays which helpto gathers cotton bolls. He had changedthe gear.

Nathubhai shares his eureka momentby saying, “While testing with the sticks,I got the idea of the vibrating disc and

placing the rods in an alternate patternso that the stalks passing through thespace between them would get a jerk.I struck upon the idea of using aconveyor belt to carry the bolls to theinlet of the suction pump from theconveyor belt as seen in the GIDC(Gujarat Industrial DevelopmentCorporation) cluster located nearby”.

The Phase of Trial and Error: fromconcrete to abstract

Nathubhai used to devote a lot of timeon ideating. He said “Every time thatI got an idea, my mind used to sketcha very vague design, which was notconcrete enough to be put on a paper.Therefore I started making machinewhile experimenting and slowly thingsstarted rolling and getting a shape”.Thus he often made a machine,dismantled and started all over again.

Initially, for the chopper portion of themachine, he thought of using a reapinghook. However, soon he realized thatmature cotton boll requires very littleforce to fall hence separating cottonbolls from the plant is not very difficult.He tried using the system of vibratingrods. But soon he realized that it wasnot very effective as about twentypercent of the cotton gets wasted whiledropping down from the machine.Recently, he designed a set of circular

discs which would revolve along aniron rod. The friction created by therotation of the discs, cut the cotton bollfrom the branches. He is yet to test itin the field; but he is positive that thedisc arrangement might work betterthan the vibrating rods. He is currentlyusing the discs of various materials;rubber, plastic, iron etc. Based on thefinal results in the field, he will finalizethe material for the discs.

Nathubhai has been trying to upgradethe machine. He is replacing the singlegear system with two gears. Whiletesting the machine in the field, hefound that the capacity of the blowerwas less due to which it was not ableto pull more cotton. He is increasingthe diameter of the suction pipe andalso working on increasing theblower’s capacity. The machine isattached to diesel tractor. The fuelrequirement for 0.40 ha is one liter. Hehas created most of the machine partsin his workshop. He adds, “Since I donot have all the equipments in myworkshop, certain parts I get fabricatedin GIDC cluster. I sit with the workmenthere and give them my requirements.”Nathubhai has contracted anotherperson to help him. He calls him onneed basis. He says, “It is good tohave someone with you as it keepsone going. Whenever, I get stuck upI can discuss the problem with him.”

A friend’s help

It took him two years to improvise themachine substantially. He was evenhelped by his friend Yashinbhai. Herecalls, “When I was working on thefinal design and had already put thebars at the edge of the conveyer tray;he advised me to put a rubber sheetat the edge so that the bolls wouldn’tbreak.” The change was incorporatedin the machine.

In May 2010 GIAN helped him to filea patent (application number 1576/MUM/2010). The patent would soon beupgraded as he has incorporated morechanges in the machine.

Help from Community

Nathubhai belongs to the NarodaRajput community. People in his

Contd... on page 38


13

Sparrows are the most common sightedbirds in cities but their number is everdwindling. Scriptures refer to them in verybenign terms, Farmers will scare thebird in hot summer sitting on a perch tonot let them feed on mature crops butwould not kill them. It is easy. But theywould let them live. A Danish folk songadvises that when one rakes harvestedcrop in the yard, one does it lightly,leaving some grains for the birds andthe poor1. Sighting or nesting ofsparrows in a new house is considereda good omen in many parts of India. Andyet, where are sparrows to be seen inmany urban places nowadays?

Dr. Paresh A. Raval, principal of anengineering polytechnic, earlier inKutchh and now in Ahmedabad is a manwith a noble mission to provide thesevulnerable birds a home to nest in. In2010, when he was posted in Bhuj, apersonal setback turned his life around.His younger brother’s wife passed awayleaving behind two young children. Hewas distressed seeing the plight of theyoung ones who had lost their motherat such an young age. One day as hewas sitting in his courtyard he observedsomething unusual. He noticed twosparrow eggs inside an old pair ofshoes lying nearby. He was appalled bythe sight and felt pity for the plight ofthese birds that do not have even aplace to lay their eggs in. Suddenly hecorrelated this incident thinking just ashumans would suffer when someoneclose is lost, how would a bird feel whenit cannot even bring her young ones tothis world, safely? He thought of this asa divine calling and found a way to fillthe sad void that his family was

experiencing at that time. Life was neverthe same again. Dr Rawal decided fromthat moment that he will provide a ‘home’to these birds.

Soon after, he was transferred toAhmedabad, where he immediatelymade a design for clay pot nests. A potternear his college helped him get about5000 such clay nests made from anearby village. This passion has takenover him completely and he carries aclay pot nest wherever he goes and giftsone to anyone who needs it (includingHoney Bee team). All this has beendone out of his own pocket. He says thathe gets tremendous satisfaction and asense of peace when he provideshomes to these birds.

He says this is his “return gift” to nature!Dr Rawal even carries special sturdyiron nails and wire along with the claynests (so as to immediately help inhanging the pot when he gifts that tosomeone). The SRISTI team recalls asimilar incident about ten years backwhen someone spotted the sparroweggs inside a urinal, which was unusedfor many days. The sight was pitiful!

Dr Paresh Rawal recalls meeting MrKabra, a keen bird enthusiast; who feedshundreds of crows daily! He adds that itwould be wonderful to have more suchpersons in our society. Till date, he hasdistributed over a lakh such clay nests.He says modern houses do not have aplace for our feathered friends. Thereasons for the dwindling number ofsparrows are heavy cutting of greenery,radiation from cellphone tower,pollutants like lead as emission in exaustof vehicles and heat wave due to global

warming. He says all the odds are there,but there are so many old shops andhouses having roof of Iron sheet or claytile on wooden trusses underneathwhich, these birds make their nest.Since, sparrows are not good at makingtheir own nest, they lay their egg on smallholes or behind small support or at anyodd places when it cannot bear itanymore. How can we extend them ourhelp? Dr Rawal suggests simple stepsfor urbanites. He says provide greeneryand little space in any odd corner at ourhouse. Provide shelter of card box,bamboos inside covered places, whereit is safe in heavy winds and rain; elseuse stronger clay pots to act as goodshelter against rain and wind. Growtrees, plants and shrubs because, oneof the feed for sparrow other than foodgrain is insects, which need greenery. Wecan rationalize use of cell phone but thenwhy not green bushes or sheltersfor themagainst heat waves.

It is the zeal, loveand compassion ofpeople like him thatwe stil l havefeathered friendsfor our company.We remember howthe greatornithologist Dr

Salim Ali was inspired for life, after hewitnessed the “The Fall of a Sparrow”.We hope that more readers will getfeather in their caps, sorry nests!!!

Dr Paresh Raval can be contacted at -67, Alok Bunglow, (Near Nirant Park), Opp.Sun N Step club, Thaltej, Ahmedabad-60(M) 9426395128

CONSERVATION

Bringing Home to Them

Where shall we go ?

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When did you confess to your children last that you did not know the answer to their question?

1 No value judgment is intended in this reference to poor. Of course this is not the way a civilized society should plan to feed the poor,but this saying dates to an ancient feudal period in European history (Ed.).



Honey Bee Network Takes Roots in Malaysia:The Innovation Walk

Honey Bee Network has been engaging with grassroots innovation movement of Malaysia for thelast six years in one way or the other. A visit was also made to MOSTI (Malaysian Ministry ofScience and Technology) to develop methodologies for scouting and documenting unaided grassrootsinnovations by common people and school children. A workshop in one of the schools led to anarticle in Honey bee in 2008. However, the visit of the Malaysian Minister of Science, Technologyand Innovation, Dr Maximus Ongkili, along with a delegation comprising head of the MalaysianInnovation Foundation, Dr Raslan and other colleagues to Ahmedabad to visit NIF, SRISTI and GIAN has eventually led to a formalMOU between YIM and NIF. It was signed in the presence of respective secretaries of Science and Technology ministries viz.Dr T Ramasami, from India and Ms. Madinah Mohamad from Malaysia. One of the most remarkable follow up action after signingMOU was organizing learning walks (shodhyatra) in Malaysia. We will carry a regular column about learning from Malaysiangrassroots henceforth.

Jejak Inovasi (Innovation Walk) is an initiative by Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia (YIM) and the Ministryof Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). During the three days “walk”, a group of InnovationScouts consisting of researches, scientists, patent experts, MOSTI officials and YIM visited somegrassroot communities, providing advice on the objectives, approach and the desired end-resultsof innovations. A total of 16 inventors were identified during this Melaka ”Innovation Walk”. Nextwalk is due in mid September, 2011.

.Storm Bullet SystemEn. Affendi

Produc t ”Bu l le t Sto rm Sys tem” i san air suction device suitable for usein all types of cars. It channelizes airinto an engine in a more systematicmanner. The natural air suction device adjusts air mixture with fuel accordingt o v e h i c l e s p e e d , s m o o t h e n i n g fluctuations without the needfor piston to use too muchoil. This system operates like the“super charger” where the speed is notconstrained.

Bendang Studio (Hasil RekaanSeramik)Pn. Rozana Musa

The innovator creates ceramicproducts/ ‘cenderahati seramik’ byusing various elements and concepts of

MALAYSIAINNOVATES

contemporary preferences. This bringsout a variety of interesting shapes andsizes in these products like ear rings,boxes, pen stands, paper weights etc.

New Era ShoeJairah Majinkin (Guru Petugas) along withJiran Daud, Fikerry Daud & SabastanusKait

This shoe can be used as arecreational shoe, sandals and to bootthe ball. This is just like any ordinaryshoe having specific size and you canmodify it into sandals with only thefront part of shoes and shoe soles

Jack hang doorPn. Nora Ismail

The installation of this door savesdifferent types of injuries to constructionworkers. It also saves labour costs.

Autonomous Muruku & the TarikThien Lee Yin, Thien Lee Yin, BenjaminPhang Shin Yoong, John Leong Jia JunNatasha Wong, Melaka

Muruku and the tarik are Malaysia’snational food and beverage. Automaticrobots are designed to prepare, cookand serve food (muruku) and drink(the tarik).


15

INVENTOR

Will you stand by the IPR’s of the peasants?

On July 2, 2011, National Innovation Foundation of India (NIF)signed a MoU with the Malaysian Foundation for Innovation orYayasan Inovasi Malayasia (YIM) to collaborate on developing longterm strategies to promote the culture of creativity and innovationat the grassroots in both the countries. Under the MoU NIF wouldshare its experience of scouting, documenting, validating andcommercialising of grassroots technologies with YIM. Bothorganisations would also share their expertise and learnings todevelop plans for reaching out to the creative people at thegrassroots and taking their innovations further.

NIF signs MoU with YIM, Malaysia

One of the oft asked questions that Bugshas to answer is, how did he becomean inventor? Prior to his involvement inthe field of innovation, Bugs was abusinessman dealing in agriculturalequipment. Business as a dealer wastough for him as he had to compete forprice in market place. This pressure offierce competition from businesspushed him to the wall. Bugs thoughthard about it and felt, would not it benice if he invented his own equipment?By having his own products, he couldget it specified by the engineers at thecustomer’s end. So, whoever wins thetender would eventually have to buy themachine from him.

His first project was to create and builda Brush Cutter, which is a kind ofknapsack grass cutting machine. Bugswas the first to design and manufacturethis kind of back-pack Brush Cutter in

“Bugs Tan” or Tan Yeow Kiang is a maverick innovator fromMalaysia. ‘Bugs’ is an author, children educator and anoutstanding inventor and innovator, all in one! He self-taughtmost of the things in his life. Even today he reads about 50books an year. His two talented daughters are no lesscreative. The older Amanda Tan (b 1994) has won Bronze medal at ITEX 2003 forinventing a ‘Vibrating Ear Ring’, a Gold medal at the International Student InventionExhibition at Korea among others. The younger daughter Amelia (b 1996) who Bugsdescribes as logical, diligent and confident is listed in the Malaysia Book of Recordsas the youngest inventor in the country! She has won a gold medal at the ITEX 2006KL for the invention of the Combo Spoon. Bugs Tan was born into a middle classMalaysian family of Chinese descent in 1961. His father, Late Mr. Tan Yong Seng wasa second generation Malaysian Chinese. His family’s roots trace back to Guanzhou,a province in the southern state of China. Bugs Tan’s father used to run a small businessin Malaysia (hardware and fishing equipment) in a sleepy fishing island of Pulau Ketam.Bugs managed to finish secondary school and started working at the age of 17. Whatfollowed next is a tale of numerous recognitions, awards but more than that, a passionfor making kids in Malaysia, creative and innovative.

Uncle Bugs Tan: Crackling ofVessels, Mew of Cat and a Name!

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"My parent named me Tan Yeow Kiang whichis hard for most people to remember. Onecreative method I used to tell children andfriends on how best to remember my namewas a story I created.

My father was extremely happy at the timeof my birth. My mum went into labour andas I was about to be born, the mid- wifeasked for some hot water. As my fatherrushed to the kitchen to fetch the hot water,he knocked his head against the frying pansand caused the sound TAN. He thenaccidently stepped on a cat’s tail which letout a loud yell YEOW..!!!. My father wasshocked and in his clumsiness he went offbalance and hit the utensils. KLING KLONGKLING KIANG, the sound of the pots andpans dropped onto the floor.

That’s how my father gave me the nameTAN YEOW KIANG. With this, I believe bynow you can remember my Chinese namebetter."

- Bugs TanContinued on page 29



Small Towns, Big Minds

The mechanical engineering diplomastudents of LSIT, Jetalpur, Ahmedabad- Viren Kumar, Chintan, Dileepbhaiand Mayank Eashwarlal havedeveloped a refrigerator of 125 litrerunning on LPG gas. It was portableand can be used for pharma, dairy,and other industries, costs hardlyRs.1300. Prof. A.B.Patel and Y.L.Raoguided this project as also severalother projects on exhaust gasrecirculation improving the combustion

efficiency of the engine. Most ownersof four wheel vehicles have faced theproblem of opening the four nuts of awheel one at a time. Hamil, Nisargkumar, Daval, and Sandeep developeda device costing Rs.9000 which canopen all the four nuts simultaneouslyin one fourth of the time under theguidance of Profs. Modh and Pandya.

Piyush, Chetan, Ketan and Vijay havedeveloped a turbo charger for twowheelers which improves the efficiency

of the engine and saves the cost.Recently, as a part of technology,energy, waste and processbenchmarking of MSME units indifferent clusters facilitated by SRISTI’stechpedia.in team and GTU, studentshave achieved remarkable results. Inthe last week of June, Milap, Nishank,Rahul and Hiren from VVP EngineeringCollege,Rajkot did the energy audit ofKadvani Forges Pvt. Ltd., during theirindustrial shodhyatra. This is veryreputed company having developed190 different types of functional andnon-functional components during thelast four years. What the students didwas to look at the dimensions ofcompressed air receiver, gauge

pressure leakages, pipeline anddimensions, wear and tear of variousmotor belts, speed of motors and thenplaced a recording meter to monitorthe current, voltage, power factor, etc.,every five minutes. Then theydeveloped a project for designingautomatic power sector control as theirfinal year project. Under the newscheme of GTU, they get about threecredit for defining and parameterisingthe problem and they will also getfifteen credits for attempting to solveit in the final year. Their initial workshowed considerable potential forsaving energy. If such savings aremultiplied in large number of units,one can imagine the impact on theeconomy, environment, efficiency andeducational quality.

When written in Chinese, the word‘crisis’ is composed of two characters— one represents danger, and theother represents opportunity. - John F.Kennedy

Students of Canara EngineeringCollege have proved this right bymaking innovative projects to addressissues faced by local areca nutgrowers. Mr. Manchi Srinivas Achar,President of Areca Nut Growers’Association had visited the college inAugust, 2010 to have an activediscussion with students to motivatethem to solve problems of areca nutindustry through technical methods.During his recent visit to the collegehe appreciated the successful projects– Battery operated hand cart, Areca nuthusker, Areca nut Drier and Areca nuttree climber & pesticide sprayer,Solar– Thermal energy conversion &storage, Hydraulic actuation of valves,Portable JIB crane by MechanicalEngineering Department.The studentsB. Shankar Rao , Sandeep Hegde,

One of the most important characteristic features of innovation eco system emerging in India is that lot of goodideas are found in small institutions in small towns. The connect between the real life problem and the pursuit oftheir solution seems quite high in such places. In Gujarat, the cooperation between SRISTI’s techpedia.in and GujaratTechnical University has unearthed lot of interesting projects done by engineering diploma students which are worthyof recognition and support. Somehow, the attention of public policy makers towards polytechnic has not been verystrong.

SRISTI’sTechpedia.in


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Tonse Supreet Kini Under the guidanceof Mr. Ananth Pai of MechanicalEngineering Department of CanaraEngineering College solved theproblem of arecanut farmers. ArecaNut husker machine, reduces the costsof dehusking by reducing need forskilled laborers and also reducesdamage caused to the areca nuts intraditional huskers (during the testing,85% of the areca nuts emerged withoutany damage). The advantages of thismachine is that an adjuster is providedto husk areca nuts of any size, nointernal cleaning is required as thenuts do not get stuck during theprocess. The total project cost wasjust 18,287 Rupees.

Yask Kulshreshtha from the Departmentof Civil Engineering, Birla VishvakarmaMahavidyalaya (Engineering College)Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat hasdesigned an automatic mechanical wayto purify water using chemical (chlorinetablet solution and Moringa oleiferasolution),useful for domestic tanks,providing better quality of potabledrinking water to common man at anaffordable price. All the devices availablein market for cleaning of water are verycostly, example-reverse osmosis costaround Rs 15,000 and it consumeselectricity. These devices are notaffordable by common or poor people.His setup is totally mechanical and verycheap (cost around 100-200 Rs). It canbe manufactured from waste materialmaking it almost cost free. A person hasto just change chemical storage can,once in every eight days. Yash says

that this project is also a solution tovarious diseases persisting in Indianvillages.

Six students from LE College, Morbifelt that there was a need for low costinjection moulding machine. Kavit,Ashish, Hiren, Sharad, Shailesh, andMayur under the guidance ofProfessors Chavda and Akhariyadesigned a fully functional injectionmoulding machine in just about Rs.45,000. It can work at par if not betterwith costlier machines in terms ofwax moulding for investment casting.

Five civil Engineering students of DrS & S S Gandhi College Of Engg &Tech Surat, viz., Nekzad, Hemant,Divyen, Jaymin, and Ismail designedtraffic junction in Surat at Althan withfollowing features: (i) speed breakerswith rollers embedded underneath togenerate energy when vehicles passover them (an idea which has beenreceived by NIF earlier), (ii) having‘sensors to detect vehicular traffic forsafe pedestrian flow over the zebracrossing’, (iii) drain of junction to takewater to a garden and iv) plantingtrees that can absorb sound andreduce noise pollution etc.

Chetna, Priti and Sadhana, studentsof Sarvoday polytechnic institute,Limbdi have developed a system bywhich at every bus stop, a sensor willdetect the bus identity or number from

When did you think of a new idea last?

hundred meters away and display it ondot-matrix display for the convenienceof passengers.

What do all these innovations scoutedthrough SRISTI’s Techpedia.in-GTUcooperation show? That a state which isindustrially so advanced still has a longway to go to make the life of the commonpeople even better and at low cost. If thingsare not improving fast enough, it is notbecause we don’t have enough creativeyouth, or the GTU is not encouraging thestudents enough, but just because policymakers lack the hunger for leveraginginnovations for inclusive, green andsustainable development.



Venturing the Southern Slopes:

Unless we interact and learn from thecommunities inhabiting perceivedmargins of our society, it is unlikely thatthe development process will becomeinclusive. More than a hundred peoplefrom different parts of the country andabroad decided to learn from the richknowledge system in an otherwisedisadvantaged region of Cherrapunji,Meghalaya state in January this year.Having walked through conflict proneareas of Narayanpur, Bastar last

26th

SHODHYATRA

Walking in the Land of Paradoxes - Part I26th Shodh Yatra, January 3 - 9, 2011, East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya

Witnessing the queues of empty vessels near a public water tap in the land of maximum rainfall in the world can be disquieting foranyone. For us too. Why should water be supplied only for two hours in a day in a place where it rains so much? Shodhyatris couldnot make sense of such paradox, caused apparently by excessive deforestation, lack of water conservation, storage, and supplysystems. But then walking amidst the clouds was very insightful about the daily struggle, stoic culture and rich knowledge systems.Climbing down to 1500 meters and climbing up to the same height within a day to meet a few communities living on the way andin the valley was an altogether new experience for most of the plain dwelling shodhyatris. This got most of us thinking about the dailystress in which smiles are cultivated, somehow, anyhow. It was very instructive to see writings on the stones, expressing popular protestthat ‘money was for development and not for pocket’. Whether anybody is reading these words, much less reflecting, remains to beseen. How else can one explain that in Cherrapunji, there would be situations where children have to walk 25 kilometers for studyingbeyond 8th class? This report carries perceptions from multiple lenses. Encountering rich traditional knowledge, small and biginnovations such as double decker living Root Bridge, history of self-governance, sacred groves, creative children and old people lefta deep impression on all the inquisitive shodhyatris. Clouds of creativity and peaks of paradoxes in eastern margins of the countryare still churning the reflections. The pain of daily life observed, and experienced by some of the yatris at least, is quite unlike thebeautiful scenic images that casual tourists may often conjure in their minds. Read on....

summer, yatris were keen to see if theregion receiving highest rainfall in theworld was a well fed, well managed andwell looked after region or not. Imagesof beautiful mountains and water fallsseldom reveal the pain that people mayexperience living there. May be time hascome when one should also promotereality-tourism so that more and morepeople of the country realize what painand stress people in other picturesqueregions go through. We had felt likewiseduring our shodhyatra in Arku valley inAndhra Pradesh, another tourist

destination. Of course, our missionalways was to discover knowledgeabundance in biodiversity rich buteconomically disadvantaged regions.

The Cherrapunji (Sohra sub division),in the East Khasi hill region in the NorthEast part of our country was explored inthe cold month of January this year. Theshodh yatris walked enthusiastically fora week braving cold and long distances,to explore the Meghalaya (‘alaya’, homeof Megh, the clouds). Bethany Society1,an NGO based in Shillong coordinated


19

and helped SRISTI in arranging thisShodh Yatra.

Mr. Carmo, leader of Bethany Society atLaitumkhra explained variouseducational, vocational and otheractivities of the society. His own journeyin the service of local communities wasa quiet reflection on often forgottenfusion of diverse social currents of thecountry that ought to take place moreand more. Mr. Pabok Diengdoh2, tookgreat pains along with other Honey BeeNetwork volunteers in advance toprepare for the journey. His youthfulenergy was infectious for any yatri whowas about to give up due to tough terrain.Yatris began interaction with localcommunities, herbalists, and others inLaitkynsew village, the starting point ofthe yatra.

Located approximately 50 km far fromthe state capital Shillong, this village hasa wetland named as Riat Clif located inthe north. It lies under the jurisdiction ofsyiemship of Nongkhlaw headed by atraditionally reverred leader, Sri. P. M.Syiem. Most of the Khasis still followthe traditional customs, imbued as theyare with rich cultural and ecologicalethics. They have a traditional village

council locally known as dorbar. MasterModi Basaiamoit is the village headlocally called as sardar. The sardar isassisted by six executives who arecalled as matbar and a secretary of thecouncil. With 250 households, mainoccupation here is cultivation ofvegetables (potato, tomato, beet,spinach, cabbage, mustard seeds,carrot etc.), rearing cattle and poultry andwage labour. It starts raining from themonth of March and continues ti l lOctober.

Being near a tiger reserve, they don’thunt tigers believing them to take careof indigenous deity (Ryngkew Basa), thesupremo of the nature. If they kill the tiger,they fear that the deity will curse themwith natural disasters. Besides they donot allow extraction of any resourcefrom the nearby forest, treated as sacredgroves. The village and its hamlets havefour primaries, two upper primaries anda secondary school in the village.

Children and women participants ofbiodiversity and recipe competitionrespectively brought a variety of sampleswith them. Many children displayedsamples of plants on charts along withtheir uses and others brought in hand.

Ribakor Sohtum (class VI) won the firstprize followed by Denilson Deingdoh(III), Indalumin Sohtum (II),Ibashongkun Sohtum (II) jointly secondprize and Darikupar Malagiang (VII),Melarishisha Khongwir (VII) jointly wonthe third prize. As many as 71 plantspecimens along with their local useswere documented in the process. Theherbal healers Ajnalin, Rishot Synrem,Jrishon Lyndgos, Jerland Matngian,Lilaiar Landroy, Sklida Diengdoh andBirot Sawian were facilitated in themeeting. Many of them had broughtsamples of medicines in addition to theplants used therein. Three ladiesnamely Mrs. Fullmerry Rajee, Mrs.Lumlang Warjri and Mrs. Laiar Lyndohwere felicitated for presenting theirtasteful recipes. Later in the night, manyyatris sat around the fire and talked withlocal community members about localculture, diversity and institutions.

We honoured a centenarian lady KwirWarjiri (105) next morning and took herblessings for the movement. Her housereceived water through overheadbamboo channel. Many letterboxesoutside the houses carried beautifuldesigns. As we walked further, atraditional water conservation structurewas spotted. First stopover was invillage Terna where large quantities of‘Tej patta’ (bay leaves) sacks were seen

Is marriage between traditional knowledge and modern science possible?

1The Society helps young people with disabilities in formal and non-formal educational and livelihood programmes, in Shillong andTURA. (bethanysociety.in)2Pabok teaches in a local college and also collaborates with Honey Bee Network and NIF in the scouting and documentation oflocal innovations and traditional knowledge.

Pabok Diengdoh



lying by the roadside to be collected bythe traders to sell in the market.

A stepped pathway of about 2000 stepspreceded Terna letting yatris see theview of the plains of Bangladesh. On theway to living root bridge, we saw the onlysmall check dam being built to conservewater. There were no other such damsto be seen all along the way. Somefamilies were having an outing on theriver bank and cooking in the field.Before reaching ‘root bridges’, there wasa ‘community tax collection point’ wherea lady charged all yatris a small

contribution used for maintenance ofthe bridge and habitat nearby! This ideais worth emulating at other such eco-fragile places as well. The ‘tax’ is entirelymanaged by the local community.

Some of the yatris tasted local variety oflemon fruits near the sacred tower inthe village having board requestingdonations. Crossing the world famous‘double storied or double decker livingroot bridges’ was a unique experiencefor the yatris.

It is amazing to know that these bridgesare not ‘built’ but are “grown”! Theseliving root bridges are made from theroots of the Ficus elastica tree.Secondary roots grow out of this treeand these can extend themselves alongthe river banks uptill the middle of theriver. Long time back, this uniquefeature was noticed by the war-Khasis(Meghalayan tribe). This was awonderful way to be able to cross rivers.They simply grow their bridgeswhenever the need arises. The livingroot bridges take ten to fifteen years tobecome fully functional. These are more

than a hundred feet long and are strongenough to support more than fiftypeople. It is believed that some of theseare few hundred years old. The bridgesbecome stronger as the time goes by.“Umshiang Double-Decker RootBridge”, is a unique and one of its kindbridge in the world. This living root bridgeis actually two bridges stacked over oneanother! We also learnt that the villagersworship these root bridges.

Honeybee rearing is common here.Villagers had made a unique beekeeping box which was simple and costeffective. Many houses were colourfullydesigned. Nearly each house has ahen-house and a garden with flowersand evenly cultivated vegetables andfruits.

On reaching Nongriat by noon, a simpleyet efficient instrument named “Pomelo”for plucking oranges from the trees wasseen. The yatris moved ahead aftertaking lunch here. Crossing the riverwas no less strenuous than the climbingupto 3200 ft through the jungles to reachNohkalikai Falls falls and then to Sohra

Kwir Warjiri


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(Cherrapunji). It was already dark;stones in the river bed were very slipperyand difficult to balance on. Some had afall in the shallow waters.

An anxious climb

Nohkalikai Falls is a clear bubblingstream emerging from a steep mountainbed to hurl down a rocky precipice, intoa deep gorge, creating a captivating viewof breathtaking beauty! But the climbthrough this stretch was very stressful,it was dark already and several peoplewere so tired that they could not havecome up without help. We had to arrangethe doctors and emergency medicinesfor those who might need such helpbelow, this was a tense night for allthose who had already made it to thetop. Local administration was to beinformed in case we needed anyemergency help. But some of thestronger yatris went down and extendedhelp to each tired yatri (some quite heavybuilt and thus not easy to be pulled up)to climb back one by one without anymishap. Everybody heaved a sigh ofrelief at the end when all yatris reachedthe top safe! Who learned what duringthis stressful climb is difficult to say butsurely the collegiality among yatris waswitnessed in abundance. If only wekeep the lesson of surving together inour hearts for long, will there be so muchalienation and strife in our society.

Ram Krishna Ashram: serving throughEducation & Health

Late in the evening the tired yet stillenthusiastic group reached RamKrishna Mission Ashram. We were latefor the ashram and the number of yatrishad exceeded what we had informedinitially, causing some stress at theAshram. Pabok who had studied in thisschool had to bear the brunt of angera bit more, but later was forgiven forbeing still a humble learner. At the endswamijis were very kind and copedwith every situation with great affectionand generosity. The next morning,Swami Someshanand ji told us aboutthe philanthropic work in the field ofeducation and health being undertakenby the Ashram volunteers in theseremote locales. The Ram KrishnaAshram is 150 years old. Thesecondary school has a boardingfacility for students coming from as far

away as 25 kilometers. This school hadvery good classrooms and laboratories.We were told that the demand foradmitting more students is everpresent but lack of good teaching staffremains a problem. The Ashram has amuseum which showcases thetraditional artifacts, local products,models of traditional houses, looms,bow-arrows and depicts the localculture and biodiversity in full glory. Thisis the best collection of Khasi culturethat we came across all at one place!We came to know that it was SwamiVivekananda who gave Khasi language‘an English Script’ around 150 yearsback. Prior to that, this language did nothave any written script at all. Yatristhanked the Swamiji for his valuabletime and for being such a kind host and

started walking towards Laitmawsiangvillage. It was very instructive to notethat forest on one side of the ashram,being a part of the sacred forest waslush green while the entire stretchbeyond remained deserted. On comingacross a desert in Cherrapunji, nothingmore remained to be said aboutshortsighted vision of the planners andadministrators who did not providealternatives means of livelihood to localcommunities for so long. The adverseenvironmental effects transcendobviously far beyond the boundaries ofthe region of even the state.

But when margins are too farthe voices feeble,

is not strife waiting to happen,why do we hear

only the loud noises

why have the subtle stirringsof soul of silent valleys

and peaks with palpable presciencebeen missed for so long,

why have the yellow deserts beenwelcomed

when green clouds were knocking atthe door

endlessly …

Along the way lots of rat coal mineswere seen. The local people dig coalout of the mines and sell it to the localagents. They have to slide inside themines in sitting or crawling posture.Many accidents take place but no officialrecord is often kept. As we wereproceeding, we also saw queues ofvessels at water points; once again,the irony of water shortage in the region

receiving the maximum rainfall becameapparent.

Does one need to be an outsiderto see beyond what is visiblewhy are the sights of so many

cursed with myopiawhy have we all learnedto live with such sights

indefinitelywhy has the sleep not been pierced

with the arrows of angstwhy do smiles still hang on rootless

branches of treessupported by stoic indifferent

structures

We also saw young men enjoying agame of football, a very popular sport.Some of the yatris remembered the daywhen we had passed though the villageof Baichung Bhutia in Sikkim. An old

When did you meet an innovator last?



British time jail is now being conservedas a sacred grove here as well. PabokDiengdoh told us that the sacred grovesare worshipped on a particular dayevery year in different localities.

Just before reaching Laitmawsiang inthe evening, we were greeted by animpromptu show of trolley race by kidswho were very keen to show variousmaneuvers. The way they navigatedturns, applied breaks or overtook otherswas very impressive. Yatris gathered atRam Krishna Mission primary schoolbut due to some tragedy in the village,formal meeting was deferred for thenight. We felicitated two centenariansisters Berison Naogaram and YailangNogaram (both 105). We were deeplystruck by their vivaciousness when the

older of the two sisters,grandmother Berisonsang for us a local folksong on Pabok’sinsistence! Later, shenarrated her life historyand shared with us thehardships that she hadfaced. Only one of the sixchildren that she gavebirth to, could survive,owing to the poor medicalfacilities during earliertimes. Things are not very

different today though not as bad.People still have many children becausechances of survival are low and in somecases, a few preachersalso propagate lack of family planning.The most interesting observation wasa four tier energy system ‘chulha’(cooking stove) in the kitchen of youngersister.

In Arku valley, Vishkapatnam, AndhraPradesh too, we had seen a similarthree storey system.

And we called them backwardeven when they cared for clouds

far better, longer and deeperthey knew

what warming could doto the world

before it ever started doing,

but are not they still backward!Are they….

At night all the villagers gathered for ameeting with the shodhyatris and sharedtheir experience with Jhum cultivation.They explained how the patches wereselected for cultivation and how cycleswere shortening. They also mentionedabout the use of alder trees.

On the cold and icy morning of sixthJanuary, the group went down manyhundred feet from a difficult terraintowards Rymmai village.

Many patches of Jhum cultivationwere seen on the way. At Rammaivillage we interacted with a local ladynamed Shrikmon dkhar/Phanboh who

Can you tell us, why would they make these shelves above cooking stove? What arethey trying to do? Is there an implication for our own kitchens? Best answers will getfree subscription of HoneyBee for an year. Write back: Ed.

Yailang Nogaram

Arku Valley,Andhra Pradesh

Continued on page 39

Berison Naogaram

East Khasi Hills,Meghalaya


23 When did you consume organic food last?

National Innovation Foundation - IndiaDepartment of Science and Technology, Government of IndiaN I F D S T

The National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF), an autonomous institute of Department ofScience and Technology, GoI, based on Honey Bee philosophy, seeks entries of unaided technologicalinnovations and traditional knowledge developed at grassroots by an individual or group comprisingfarmers, artisans, fishermen and women, slum dwellers, workshop mechanics, students, localcommunities etc. The innovations can be in agriculture, machines, processes or products for farm/non-farm operations, household utility, transportation, energy conservation or generation, reductionin drudgery, development of plant varieties, development of herbal remedies for human/ animalproblems, or any other low cost sustainable green technologies. These should be unaided/unsupervisedand an outcome of one’s own creativity, without any technical support from external agencies. Specialawards will be given for innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge of/for women. Therewill be prizes to recognize outstanding innovations by/for people with physical disabilities as well.Creative ideas for innovative technologies, which may not have been developed into prototypes arealso welcome. Children in or out of school are also encouraged to send their original ideas for thecompetition.

The awards range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 7,50,000 each in different categories. Thirty five to fifty twoper cent of the total prize money will be given in the form of monthly fellowship to the awardees ofLifetime achievement, National first, second and third. Fifteen per cent of the total prize money inthese cases would be given to the innovator(s) for their voluntary contribution towards communitywelfare and nature. The award winner may undertake any activity (s)he chooses for her/hiscommunity and nature.

In addition, individuals and/or organizations that make extraordinary contributions in scoutinggrassroots innovations and traditional knowledge may also get recognition. Technologists addingsignificant value to the people’s knowledge and creativity, and electronic/print journalists promotinggrassroots innovations will also be recognized. Entries may be submitted along with copy of thereports. Individuals or groups may send as many entries to NIF till March 31, 2013.

The entries may be sent to the following address

National Innovation Foundation-India, Satellite Complex, Premchand Nagar Road,Ahmedabad -380 015, Gujarat

Phone: (079) 26732456, 2095, Fax: (079) 26731903, Email: [email protected], Website: www.nifindia.org

Note: People with professional background/experience and students enrolled in professional courses are not eligible for anysupport/recognition from NIF though they are welcome to add value to the grassroots innovations. For detailed eligibilitycriteria and guidelines please refer to webpage: http://www.nif.org.in/announcement.

for Green Grassroots Unaided Technological Innovations and Traditional Knowledge

Eighth National Biennial Competition



LEST WEFORGET...

Selvanayagam fromKovilpatti shares theecological insightsfrom five villages inthe NellaiKattabomman district:

The flowers of Coriander fall down to theground during misty weather in the winter.

If “Thumbi” (an insect) flies low, there isa probability of rain.

Wind from East indicates rain and from theWest a dry weather.

After the festival of “Karthigai Deepam”,there may not be any rain.

If there is severe mist in the early morning,no likelihood of rains.

Chabutara (a platform) is an institution that focuses onfeeding birds particularly in seasons when food becomesscarce. Such an institution perhaps underlines thesensitivity we need to have for the rights of other non-human sentient living beings to co-exist with us, even ina drought year. This case has been documented byShailesh Shukla and Dilip K Koradia, SRISTI, with thehelp of other team members. This practice is managedin some villages by nature loving individuals while inothers; it may be managed by communities collectively.The tradition of feeding birds perhaps is very old andfound among most cultures around the world. However,it has continued as a living tradition only in some regions.Except the urban pockets where pigeons are generallyfed grains, in rural areas, such a practice is often foundmore abundantly in dry regions. Gujarat is no exception.Most of the bird feeding platforms and indigenousinstitutions are found in North Gujarat and other similarregion. Different norms have evolved among localcommunities for pooling grain and feeding the birds.People collect grains form each household and then feedbirds daily from this common pool stock.

Ants carrying eggs in their mouthfrom one place to another(generally higher) is a sureindication of rains in a few hours.

A hazy circle around the moon isan indication of rain.

If “Manjanathi” weed appears, thenit indicates high moisture contentin the soil.

Source:HB10(3)July-September 1999

Source:HB2(1)May 1991

If crows maketheir nest high ofin the trees it willsoon rain veryheavily. If on thecontrary theyconstruct theirnests on the lowerbranches it isconsidered as abad sign.

In the Banni area, Kutchh, Gujarat, ifsnake is seen stretching itself out onthe highest branches of the trees andstaying therefor a while, it isbelieved rainswill come soonto the area.The vil lagersof Banni alsobelieve that if,during them o n s o o nperiod, nobodyreports having seen a snake high up ina tree, then there might be no rain at all.

Lyes Ferroukhi, Uppsala and JitendraSudhar, SRISTI

Eco-indicators: Predicting the Mood of Monsoons

Source:HB5(1)Jan-March 1994


25

Better Germination of Cotton

Water soaked seeds are treated by the soil collected fromthe termite burrow, for better germination of cottonseeds. Some cotton growing farmers of the aridBanaskantha district immerse the seeds in kerosene oilbefore sowing.

(Honey Bee, 2(1):17, 1991.).(Vill:Kalasar, Tal:Surendranagar,Dist:Surendranagar comm: Narsinhbhai S. Sakaria)

Cultural Method

Farmers grow few rows of okra (Ablemoschus esculentusMoench) around the cotton field. Cotton is more susceptibleto insect pest like spotted ball worms (Farlas Vitella F.),Spodoptera litura, Hellothis armigera, pink ball worm(Platyedra gossypiella Saund), etc. Farmers believe thatthese pests prefer okra plant over cotton and attack themfirst. Pest is controlled by simply eradicating/destroying theokra plants attacked by insects and pests.

(Honey Bee, 2(1):15, 1991). (Lagharabhai Rathod, Kudhda,Tal-Chotila, Surendranagar: comm: Narsinbhai S. Sakariya)

This practice has widely diffused in certain parts of the countrysuch as Jalgaon in Maharashtra but ironically in Vidharbharegion, where farmers’ suicides continue to take place, practiceslike these have still not diffused, thanks to the indifferenceof the state towards the affordable, low cost or no cost solutionto the pest problem -Ed.

Caterpillars in Cotton

The latex of ‘Akada’ (Calotropis gigantea L.) when dilutedwith 15 parts water and sprayed on the crop, effectivelycontrols the caterpillars within three days. Caterpillarinfestation can severely damage a cotton crop. The newgrowth after treatment is also free from infestation.

(Honey Bee, 3(3&4):17, 1992.).(Bhanjibhai Jani, Vill:Khagiyali,Tal:Sihor, Dist:Bhavnagar, Bhavnagar: comm: DhandhalyaBhargav K.)

Whitefly control in cotton

‘Arali’ (Nerium oleander L.) seeds are pulverized, andthen soaked in water overnight and filtered. This filtrate isdiluted in water and sprayed in cotton fields. Thispractice provides 70 percent control over whiteflies.Approximately ten kg of ‘arali’ seeds are required per acreof cotton.

(Honey Bee, 5(1):15, 1994). (P. Murigesan, PO:Melakkal, Via:Thiruvadagam, Tal:Vadipatti, Madurai: comm: P.Vivekanandan(NamVazhi velanmai,Ed.P.Vivekanandan)


Cotton Need Not Kill: Selected Sustainable Practicesfrom Back Issues

HONEY BEE OLDBUZZ ...

Talkidi in cotton ‘Talkidi’ a soil pest, attacks the cotton plant when plant isfully grown. It causes the plant to wither in a short time, tocontrol ‘talkidi’ farmers take 20 to 25 kg onions in a jutebag, crush them and this bag is kept in water channelsduring irrigation.

(Honey Bee, 5(1):18, 1994). (Mansukhbhai Nagarbhai Mathodiya,Bhavnagar: comm: Jitendra H.Suthar, Kirit K. Patel)

Cotton stalk as cattle feed

Rainfed cotton is grown in some parts of Saurashtra.Normally cotton stalks are used as fuel. But Bhikhabhaiuses it as cattle feed. How he came to do this is aninteresting story. Once during a drought year, he fed smallpieces of cotton stalks to one animal on an experimentalbasis and gave normal feeds to other animals. Much to hissurprise he did not find any ill effects and animal was ashealthy as normal one. Since then he started feeding cottonstalk regularly to all animals once a day. Bhikhalal believesthat an inexpensive and high quality feed can be preparedby mixing molasses and salt with pieces of cotton stalk. Ithas good scope of being utlized as stress feed duringdrought years in Saurashtra region. According to chopra etal (1956), and Nadkarni (1976), cotton has galactogogueproperty which improves milk yield as well as fat content ofmilk.

(Honey Bee, 7(3):17, 1996). (Bhikhalal Prabhudas Masrani, Dist:Amreli: comm: Dilip D Koradia)

Cactus milk controls cotton aphids

Voracious reader and an enthusiastic experimenter,Kalyanbhai has always been interested in inexpensivefarming. He uses 100 g milky latex of cactus (Euphorbiasp.) mixed with 15 liters water and sprays it twice a monthto control aphids in cotton.

(Honey bee 21(2), 9, 2010). (Kalyanbhai Jeevrajbhai Jasani,Bhavnagar)

SC: Insecticidal property of Euphorbia antiquorum reported in DeSilva et. al.(2008); J.Natn.Sci.Foundation Sri Lanka;36 (1): 15-23.Also see Honey Bee, 4(2&3):21, 1993.

Cotton shells for soil reclamation

Empty shells of the cotton are incorporated in the salt affectedsoil. Farmers believe that these shells absorb the salt fromthe soil.

(Honey Bee, 2(1):13, 1991). (Ambhavibhai Gokalbhai Dubariya,Sai, Tal- Rapar, Kutch: comm: Nanjibhai R. Makvana)

CLUSTER

For more information see http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/sristi_library.php



CHINA INNOVATES

CHIN-X: The Citrus Wizard & QQ Food

Fatty Liver Therapeutic Apparatus & Z-shaped colonoscopeZhang Wengui (Dongcheng, Beijing)

Zhang Wengui, born in 1950, is anengineer with college education. Hebegan his research on medical devicein 1983. Once in 1997, Zhang read areport entitled, “White-collar workers,pay attention to your health” which saidthat the incidence of fatty liver amongwhite-collar workers had reached a highlevel. He read this report again andagain for several days and then took thenewspaper to The First People’sHospital of Yancheng to consult Li

Guohua (a chief physician) about thetendency, therapeutic drug andtreatment of fatty liver. According to Li,there was no effective medicine ormedical apparatus to treat this disease.Later, Zhang went to Shanghai FirstPeople’s Hospital to ask Fan Jiangao(a chief physician of digestivedepartment) for more information. Withthe help of these two experts, Zhangbegan to develop fatty liver therapeutic

equipment. He read medical books like“Practical Internal Medicine”,“Compendium of Materia Medica”,“Bioinformatics”, etc. in his free time.After three years of study, he finallymastered the principle of the clinicalapplication of magnet therapy. Besides,he also consulted Zhou Wansong,authoritative expert on magnetics inChina. In 1998, Zhang made threemodel equipments. At that time, his twocolleagues happened to be diagnosedwith mild fatty liver. They tried to usethese equipments under the guidanceof Zhang. One month later, theirconditions improved significantly. Eventhe doctor doubted that they had takensome special effective medicine. Thecurative effect of Zhang’s fatty livertherapeutic equipment was proved. Buthe was not anxious to publicize hisinvention. Instead, he went on to findmaterials to improve the qualification ofhis invention. He did not make samplesuntil August 2004. His invention wasproved clinically by Jiangsu ProvinceHospital and General Hospital ofNanjing Military Command. In April,2006, it was approved by relativeprovincial departments to register and

come into the market. Besides, thisinvention also obtained the specialprize of National S&T Invention Awardand the first prize of National Scienceand Technology ProgressAchievements Award.

The fatty liver therapeutic equipmentinvented by Zhang Wengui, mainlycomprised a casing, an electricmachine, a rotary table, a magneticcolumn, and a movable brush. It isimportant to mention that the casing isprovided with a massaging head madeof natural jade material. The magneticcolumn, movable brush, the rotary table

and the center of rotation of the rotarytable are eccentrically arranged, so thatthe massaging head can generate thefunction of vibration massage when therotary table rotates. It has the advantagethat under the double action ofmicroelement and magnetic therapy, thevarious microelements of zinc, copper,germanium, cobalt, nickel, manganese,selenium, etc. contained in the naturaljade are utilized, and get into the human

Cooperation between SRISTI and TUFE, that had started more than six years ago hasbeen gathering a lot of strength lately. Many more innovations of self designedinstitutions created by local communities, innovations by individual farmers, artisansand in some cases professionals have been mobilized into a Honey Bee-CHINdatabase of grassroots innovations. Shortly it wil l be shared globally onthe sristi.org site. Prof Liyan and her team comprising many faculty colleagues andyoung staff such as Liu Ruihan, Xie Weiwei, Liu Tao, Ning Shuyu and Han Xue havebeen visiting villages in far off places to discover grassroots genius. Credit alsogoes to Bian Cuilan, Li Shumao, Huo Yingyi and Ning Peizhong. They are alsotracking the available leads on the internet and printed media. In this tenth issue ofCHIN, there are fascinating stories of farmers who have developed a lightening protector, multipurpose farming implement,processed food without preservatives (something having a global market) and of course many other initiatives. A Chineseimmigrant has memorial built to him in Florida for having developed a citrus variety which has brought enormous profits tothat country and the region. An engineer has developed a medical device on his own, and another farmer has designed amassaging machine for people with back problems. GRIID project is showing results, which can help many other third worldcountries, the next frontier to assail…


27

body under the action of the magneticfield, having unforeseen special efficacyfor the treatment and prevention of fattyliver by reducing fat and decomposingfat in the fatty l iver. The fattyliver therapeutic equipment hassmall volume, light weight, simplestructure, convenient production, andlow cost.

Health Care Massage Machine: a user-centric led innovationWangFanlin (Nanping, Fujian)

Wang Fanlin, a farmer of Xiji Village(Fangdao Town, Jianou City) hadsuffered lumbar disc hernia for severalyears, causing much inconvenience tohim. He could not even work in the field.So he was eager to invent a simplemassage machine to treat his disease.Although with simple materials, heinvented a massage machine in abouttwo months. The treatment effect was

good. So he lent his invented machineto other vil lagers. They proposedmodification to Wang who thenimproved his invention on and on. Andits effectiveness improved over time. InJune, 2006, Wang applied for a patentand began to look for a partner to massproduce his invention. ZhangMingsheng, the manager of a bambooprocessing company, knew Wang’sinvention through one of his friend. Hebrought this invention to the investmentsymposium held in Xiamen in 1998. Itwas favored by a lot of merchants. Onrealizing that this was a good businessopportunity, Zhang signed a contractwith Wang on the spot and invited Wangto work in his company as a R & Dproduct engineer. In order to cater to themarket demand, Wang made furtherimprovement in his massage machineagain. After half a year’s research anddevelopment, Wang’s invention beganto be mass produced. And this common

farmer transformed his life through hisown invention.

This comfortable health-caremassaging bed includes a bed bodyand a channel arranged inside the bedbody. The bed has a reciprocating-massage roller mechanism positioned

in the channel; a grid cover plate isarranged above the channel and in levelwith the surface of the bed; and rollersof the reciprocating-massage rollermechanism protrude from the emptyspaces of the grid-shaped cover plate.It has the advantages of simplestructure, low manufacturing cost,comfortable and convenient use, and isquite popular.

This innovation could massage humanbody parts, like lumbar vertebra andcervical vertebra, by imitating manualmassage. It could adjust force-bearingpoints automatically to do roll ingmassage on fixed points or within long,middle and short distance according tothe curve of human lumbar backbone. Ithas a wide variation range of massagestrength. Being different from othermassage beds, the bed surface of thisinnovation would not get sunken whena person lies on it.

Electronic lightening protectorChen Dahui (Zhangzhou, Fujian)

Chen Dahui, a young farmer from Meixivillage (Shiliu Town, Fujian) was veryfond of electronic technology since hischildhood. Seeing that householdelectrical equipments of his villagerswere often struck by lightning causingconsiderable loss of property, Chendecided to invent a practical automaticelectronic lightening arrester or insulatorto protect their household appliances.After five years of research anddevelopment, he finally invented his firstelectronic protector in 2006.

This innovation comprises of anarrester/protector body, a voltmeter, anindicating lamp, a power supply on-and-off switch, a vibroswitch, a power supply

input joint, a power supply output joint,an antenna input joint, an antennaoutput joint, and an electronic circuitarranged in the protector’s body. After apower supply enters a safety fuse, theutility model has three synchronoussteps so as to have the functions ofthree protections. Firstly, the powersupply enters a rectifier tube, lightningstaves the rectifier tube, the safety fuseis disconnected and the switchesautomatically trip. Secondly, after thepower supply enters in the safety fuse,and synchronously enters a vibrator,using vibration and the switchesautomatically trip. Thirdly, the powersupply synchronously enters powersupply of a winding coil, the lightningprompts the winding coil to forwardlystrike fire, the safety fuse isdisconnected and the switchesautomatically trip. Then, after the powersupply enters a trip switch, it enters atransformer again so as to automaticallytrip by an electronic element switch. Afterlightening enters through antenna inputinto an apolar capacitor, it enters the tripswitch. Thus when lightning strike, theapolar capacitor can stop the powersupply to pass through, so that theoutput antenna can obtain protection.

Flick-drip Planter, Weeding Machinewith Gears, Long Distance and Multi-function Pesticide SprayerZhao Yunlong (Dongcheng, Beijing)

Zhao Yunlong, a farmer from DongchengDistrict, has transformed the traditionalrotary type peanut planter into a flick-driptype. The rotary peanut planter availablein the market at times crushes anddamages the seeds rendering themuseless. He invented a kind of flick-drippeanut planter, which would first flick outthe seed before falling into the soil.Hence, the seeds are not squashed ordamaged. Besides, this planter can sowten Mu field in a day, which is eight Mumore than sown by the rotary peanutplanter.

Zhao has also made a weedingmachine with gears and a multifunctionpesticide sprayer. Weeding machinesavailable in the market could not dig uproots. However, Zhao’s machine isinstalled with gears, enabling theweeding machine to penetrate into thesoil upto three to five centimeters depthand pull out weeds from the roots. The




pesticide sprayer developed by him hasa long pipe connecting the spout andthe pesticide chest, thus, it can be usedto spray in 200 m area without movingthe main body of the sprayer. By usingthis machine, one person could sprayfifty Mu fruit trees in two days.

Zhao, born in 1966, has studied up tomiddle school. He maintains about 70pigs, has over 50 Mu woodlands havingmore than 2,000 walnut trees and over200 peach trees. When the farmers ofthe nearby villages came to know abouthis inventions, they asked him to lendthe machines for use in their fields.Meanwhile, the inventor could also findpartners to mass produce hisinventions.

Small Agricultural multi-purposeMachineryGeng Xiaolin (Shunyi, Beijing)

Geng Xiaolin, Shunyi, Beijing, has addeda sowing basket to a sweet potato ridgerto transform it into a sowing / seedingmachine. This machine can also act asa plastic film mulcher (kind of laminator)and a grass separator. After sowing theseeds, the film laminator put plastic oversoil nearby to keep it sufficiently warmand facilitate early germination. Thegrass-separating machine is used topull the wheat root stubble out after theharvesting the crop.

Several years ago, Geng bought a sweetpotato ridger for 3000 yuan, to earnmoney by custom hiring or ridging sweetpotato fields for other farmers. However,over the years, farmers have been losinginterest in cultivation of sweet potato.

In 2008, Geng thought of putting hisoutdated machine into some au courantor up-to-date farming practices.Therefore, he disassembled the originalmachine and installed sowing bucket,plastic fi lm laminator/mulcher andgrass-separating instrument on themachine, which turned it into a veryuseful, portable multi-purpose machineto be used for small scale farmingactivities, where the traditionalmachines could not be used. By usinghis invention, Geng could sow over 500Mu fields in a season and earned over30,000 Yuan.

He regretted that lately the farmers usethe facilit ies of Agriculture Device

Station; hence, there was little marketfor his original ridger. And he neededmore money to improve his devices.L ink :h t t p : / / nc .mo fcom.gov.cn /news /8156271.html

“Happy QQ” Food & sucking smokeHuang Jinkun (Zhangzhou, Fujian)

Huang Jinkun, a farmer from Zhaoshanvillage( Xiandu Town, Huaan County)has invented “Happy QQ food” on thelines of instant noodles, though theyclaim to be different in the nutrientcontent. The inspiration for “Happy QQ”food came from instant noodles. In2007, he went to a shop to buy instantnoodles. When he was waiting in queueto paymoney, the advertisement “NoPreservative Added” attracted him. Thequality guarantee period was one year.He thought that if Instant noodles withoutpreservative taste better than others andare healthier; why not use thistechnology to make other foods healthiertoo. Two years later, after dozens ofexperiments, he finally developed

“Happy QQ”food basedon wheat,c o r n ,peanuts. Itnot onlytastes wellbut looks

appetizing and is rich in nutrients. It doesnot contain any preservatives and canbe kept for more than one year. Hedeveloped it but could not pursue hisentrepreneurial dreams in the absenceof requisite investors.

Huang has also made an exhaust fanwhich sucks smoke from a distance ofupto three meters and is suitable forusing in public transport vehicles.Moreover, it can treat smokeinnocuously based on principles ofchemistry. Regular water cleaning isenough for this low cost, portable device.A passenger bus would need four suchdevices. He was inspired to make thisinvention in January 2008, when he wentto Hangzhou with his brother-in-law by

Lui Gim Gong: Chinese “Citrus Wizard” in USA

Lui Gim Gong, a famous horticulturist developed varieties of oranges andother citrus fruits suited to Florida’s climate. He was born in a village nearCanton, China in the year 1859. At the age of 12, he accompanied his uncleto San Francisco. After a short stay there, he moved to North Adams,Massachusetts where he worked in a shoe factory. He fell ill there and wasnursed back to health by Fanny Burlingame, daughter of a local farmer. Soonafter, he accepted Christianity and American citizenship. He went back toChina in 1884 to meet his mother. On his return to the States he movedto Florida along with Fanny as the winter of Massachusetts was too severefor him to cope after his illness. Fanny and her sister owned a farm in Floridawhere Lui began to experiment with citrus fruits assisted by William Dumville,Fanny’s brother in law. But most of the trees succumbed to the frost in thefirst year. But Lui continued with his experiments. He had some knowledgeof pollination techniques which he had learnt from his family in China. InFlorida he also learnt the technique of cross pollination in Citrus sp. byobserving bees. By 1888, Lui had produced a new orange variety by crossing“Harts late” Valencia and “Mediterranean Sweet” orange varieties, which wassweet, frost-tolerant and the ripened early too. Four years later, he developeda variety of grapefruit that grew singly on a branch rather than in a clumpand also another which had a rich aroma but did not have much juice. “WhenFanny died in 1903, she left her property in Florida to Lui.” He was awardedthe Silver Wilder Medal from the USDA for his orange (which is still grownin Florida). Though he was a dexterous plant breeder, he lacked businesssense and his friends had to help him always to pay his taxes. He diedin 1925 and is buried in Oakdale Cemetery. People erected a bust in hismemory in 2000. This bust is now in a gazebo in the DeLand House garden.There is also a mural painted in the town to commemorate his memory.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8461255http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/orange.htmlhttp://www.volusia.org/history/luegimgong.htm


29

bus. He saw distressed smokers who were not allowed tosmoke in the bus. “How to solve this problem?” he thought.One day, at a fast food restaurant, he observed that the cookingoil fumes were sucked by an exhaust fan, which got him thinkingand acted as a trigger for this invention!

Besides, he has also made a teacup sterilizer and a tea set forwhich he has applied for a patent. Interestingly, Huang alsowants to make a plane. In the recent years, he considered


Malaysia. Thereafter, he went on to create a few more innovations.

In 2000, Bugs won the National Inventor Award for the invention of anAluminium Multi-locking Pulley. There were ten short listed innovators forthe final round from the thousand of entries received nation-wide. He says,“My Engineer, Norhaidi Tukiman and I were the only two people with asimple designation of Encik (Mister) amongst the crowd of Professors andDoctors (PhD) in the finals. We were the underdogs, but we turned-out tobe the winner of this prestigious award.”

Moving on, he came-out with a few more inventions and each time he entered any competition, he would win something.This inventor has made his country proud by winning the National Innovation Award from the Malaysian Prime Minister in2007. Bugs Tan has won several awards including the Jury’s award from the Intellectual Property office, a gold medal at theCyber International Genius Inventor’s fair in Korea and a special award at the ASIAN Invention Association. He has also wona silver Medal in Geneva, Switzerland in 2001 where he competed with the best inventors from around the world.

Recently for his award winning invention ‘Litewalk grating’ (a new galvanized steel flooring can be used on oil platforms,refinery and other heavy industrial sites), he entered into a licensing agreement with Wangco Engineering industries whichwill allow them to manufacture and market this light weight grating in 10 Asian countries and India for the next ten years.

Everybody is curious to know why is he called “Bugs Tan”?! He playfully answers that he is a ‘love’ bug and wants to spreadlove across humanity. Bugs has authored many creative workbooks for children and has even brought out a televisioncartoon series on inventions. He is constantly working towards keeping the creativity alive in his country through his untiringefforts.

We hope he continues to inspire creativity and colour in the lives of many!

transferring or licensing his inventions to others who maywant to make business out of them. He said he preferred tobe an inventor rather than a businessman. He looks forwardto the investments and investors who are interested in hisinventions.

(This is very typical situation in India too where most innovatorseither do not want to be an entrepreneur or are not always a verygood one at that: Ed).

Some of Bugs Inventions

Home Appliance- FanfiltaA Velcro is used as a base that sticks onto the fan blades. A filter strip is then placed on top of the Velcro.When the fan is switched on, it sweeps the air and traps the airborne particles. When filter is dirty, you justneed to change it.

Out Door Air Cooler (ODA)He has used the principle of evaporation in ODA. It has paper pad to exchange the warm air into cooled freshair. It’s good for outdoors where an air-conditioner cannot be used. It does not produce mist.

Hydrogen GeneratorThis is a gadget created to save fuel in a car. It uses the electrolysis principle to break the water molecule intohydrogen and oxygen. The gas helps to boost the engine combustion and hence could save fuel consumptionby 15%.

Boot TrayBoot tray is designed to be installed in the car boot. It’s a tray and can be converted into a basket to keeploose item like vegetables and fruits. The basket can be folded back into the shape of a tray and stow awayunder the speakers thus saving space.

Katapila Track MachineKatapila is a machine used in the palm oil estate to collect FFB. It is designed especially for soggy ground. Itworks like a war tank moving on rubber tracks in rough terrain and peat soil

Chiller CanUsing the technology of a thermal electric cooler (TEC), a can of soft drink can be chilled within 20 minutes. Itcan be used in the car, at home or office. We can also reverse the energy to warm up a bottle of milk fortoddlers in the car.

Continued from page 15 ..



Joitiben Bhaktibhai Patel, a 102 yearold centenarian from Lavarpur village(Gandhinagar district, Gujarat) is arenowned midwife and known for herdexterity in handling complex delivery/pregnancy cases.

Early years of struggle

Joitiben lost her mother when shewas very young and hence she andher other siblings shifted to hermaternal uncle’s house which was atAminpur village in the same region.Her father worked as a labour in atextile mill. She had to work hard totake care of her siblings and uncle’sfamily too. The village was dominatedby the Darbars i.e. the Rajputs. Thelabourers had to work in their fieldsfree of cost before tilling their ownland. She laments that those timeswere difficult and they had to toil hardto make the ends meet. Speakingabout the lifestyle then; she says, “Ekdivas ma vis mile jetluchalvu, amaramate ramatvaathati.” (Walking twentymiles a day was normal for us).

Surviving Natural Calamities

When she was quite young, there wasa severe drought. She says that the oil

extracted from Mahua (Madhuca indicaJ. F. Gmel.) fruits was used to cookfood as groundnut was not availableduring droughts. Mahua flowers wereeaten after being roasted and theleaves were fed to the cattle. She says,“Akal ma mahudo amara matekalpvriksha hato; aameane amarapashuma hudo khaine jivigaya.”(During drought, mahua is like ablessing for us, without this ouranimals and we could not havesurvived)

She recalls that once there was anearthquake when she was attending arelative’s marriage. In those days,people believed that nature punishedus for the evil deeds in the form of suchnatural calamities. Joitiben comesacross as a very soft hearted person.She cannot bear people fightingamongst themselves.

Memories of struggles

She got married to Bhakibhai in herearly teens. She says, “Kutumbh motuhatu etle sangharsh pan moto karyo.”(For the well being of my large family, Ihad to struggle a lot). She had tomanage her six children singlehandedly along with the dailyhousehold chores which includedendless work from dawn to dusk. Sherecalls that her day started early, at fourin the morning and the work includedtaking care of the cattle, arrangingfodder and then milking. Other thanthis, she laboured hard all day cookingfood for her six children (whichincluded making about 100 bigchapatis per day!). Even the ghee andbutter were prepared at home. Thehard working Joitiben even used togrind the grains at home by Chakki(grinding stone). Similarly, the paddywas threshed every day at home. Shesays that she struggled hard to raiseher six children but she is thankful tothe almighty that they respect her to

this day. She feels, “aa me jetlu kaamkarta hata enu ardhu kaam panaajkalni bahuvo ne karva nu hatunathi.Tem chhatai bahuvo ne aakaambadhare lage chhe, ane aaj na zamanama to kaam badhu karvana name parbahuo ne divorce leta pan sikhigayichhe.” (The kind of labour andstruggle we did, modern daughters-in-laws cannot do. They prefer leisure andif one asked them to struggle harder,they might even ask for divorce).

Survival kit

When her children used to fall sick, sheused to cure them by home remedies.She used to get the different kinds ofroots from the jungle and mix with tulsi,Neem, giloi, bittergourd. These areeffective in fever and cough. Sheshared that around 35 years ago,people used to laugh if anyone went tothe doctor to get treated for cough andcold. For fever in cattle, she used toapply salt on its body and cover it withjute bag. In case of bloat the animalwas fed oil and hing (Ferula asafoetidaL.). The bullocks were fed guvar, gurand ghee. Apart from this, they werealso fed coconut and sesame mixedwith gur. To increase milk yield inbuffaloes, they were fed cotton seeds.

She has lot more knowledge than whatwe have shared here. Will this survive?May her spirit survive for as long as itcan! The younger generation alsoneeds to respect the struggle thatelders like her have gone through. Wehope she lives longer still.

In our culture, we often give blessings to people to live for hundred years. But when somebody indeed lives thatlong, we generally don’t care. This research effort of SRISTI is to overcome this tendency and fill a major gap inour understanding of how do people live long, what is their worldview, what makes them look at future more optimisticallythan most. Can we learn from their traditional knowledge, climate change perceptions and other insights?

Work Hard, Live Longer!

CENTENARIAN

Why do we have such few womeninnovators? Do women innovate

less or are we unable toscout them?


31When did you think of a new idea last?

Extra Weft Insertion for HandloomDesign using magnet bearing shaftDeepak Bharali, Assam

Conventionally, thetask of the insertion ofweft threads requiredto make a variety ofdesigns is donemanually by tyingknots, which iscumbersome andtime consuming. The

thread is also wasted in connecting onemotif to another. Deepak’s innovativedevice makes designs in one third ofthe time required by the traditional wayof making designs. The device consistsof three components; base frame,magnet bearing shaft and a speciallydesigned bobbin. These componentscan be fitted to any handloom Jacquardmachine. The attachment facilitates theJacquard loom to perform automaticselection and lifting of warp threads fordesign making. It was launched at theexhibition (March, 2011) at PresidentEstate in the presence of HonourablePratibha Patil, President of India earlierthis year. IIT Guwahati has providedinvaluable help in maturing the designthrough NIF grant.

Double Shuttle LoomNgangom Nabakumar Singh, Manipur

The innovative ‘Double Shuttle Loom’works on the same principle as that ofany other standard manual shuttlelooms however, this new machine is

broader in width and has provision fortwo sets of warp rolls. One person canweave two strips of textile on the sameloom at a marginally higher cost of theloom. It was also showcased at thePresidential Exhibition, March 2011

Automatic saree border weft insertionP L Bhanumurti, Tamil Nadu

Traditional Korvai or‘contrast’ weavinginvolves intricate workwhere the design andthe colour of theborders are oftendifferent from those ofthe main body of thesari. Three shuttles

are needed: the weaver operates two,and an assistant operates the third.Bhanumurti’s automated system isderived from the “Catch Cord Techniquedrawing device for looms” so that noassistant is needed and the productivityis increased.

By this improvement machine’s capacityhas increased to weave one sari in twodays against 10-15 days in conventionallooms.

Improved Mechanized LoomBiren Singh, Manipur

This innovative mechanized shuttlelooms simulates the working principlesof traditional Manipuri shuttle loom,except that the new machine runs fullyautomatic with the help of a 0.5 HPmotor.

The output of the machine is 25-50 timesmore than the traditional shuttle loom,and almost any other power loom. Theinnovative machine can weave three tofour fabric per hour whereas thetraditional could hardly make one or twofabric in a day. Except for changing ofbobbin, the machine does not requireany manpower.

Kouna mat making machineMangi Singh, Manipur

Kouna issynonymous with theexotic craft traditionof Manipur. Thismanual machine,which can even beoperated by a lowskilled worker or a

physically challenged person, canweave two mats per day. The quality ofthe mats produced is better than thoseproduced by traditional methods. MangiSingh is a physically challenged personbut it has not prevented him fromdesigning and operating this innovativeloom.

The productivity increases three to fourtimes. A skilled traditional mat weavercan make only one mat in four days,including frill tying.

Improved LoomSalam Rajeshkumar Singh, Manipur

The ordinary handloom has beenmodified to be operated by 0.25 HPmotor in order to enhance theproductivity of the weavers. Surgicaldressing items are being provided tovarious government hospitals andprivate nursing homes in Manipur since2003. These dressing items are madewith the help of six such units of thisloom.

HANDLOOMS

Innovations LOOMing Large!

Handloom provides employment to 12.5 million people in India (next only to agriculture) and yet is considered bymany as sunset industry, as if weaving woes is their only destiny. But we see a great hope in this industry as ourmiddle class becomes conscious of culture, healthy texture and feel of the fabric so produced. Handloom fabricallows breathing of skin and keeps it healthy. Honey Bee Network strongly believes that Gandhian vision about potentialof handloom is yet to be properly unfolded. Innovations in this sector are thus crucial and this cluster will provideonly a small glimpse of variety of them drawn from NIF database. Most of these innovative designs are from NorthEastern region of the country. Those interested in engaging with this mission may write back.



Honey Bee

Seals & Heals: CassiaLoksarvani(Gujarati version of Honey Bee)SRISTI, P O Box No. 15050Ambawadi, Ahmedabad - 380015, GujaratEmail: [email protected]

Practices given here have been scouted by Prem Singh Vasva, volunteer of SRISTIfrom different villages of Dedhiyapada, Narmada district of Gujarat.

Analgesic and anti inflammatory activitiesof Terminalia arjuna leaf are reported(Biswas et al (2011): Journal of Phytology3(1): 33-38. In HB10 (3) and HB 21(3),farmers have reported the use of Calotropisand Arani also for the purpose.

For the same purpose, leaves of“kachka” (Caesalpinia cristata L.),Calotropis (Calotropis procera(Aiton) W.T. Aiton), and castor (Ricinuscommunis L.) are taken in an equalamount and ground by Somabhai JVasava to extract the juice. The juiceis then boiled and allowed to cooldown. It is applied over the affectedpart, when luke warm.

The plant is known in Ayurveda for suchactivity (http://www.ayurveda-seminare.de/site/fileadmin/kursbilder/API-Vol-1.pdf)

221203 Castor cures from foodpoisoning

Anilbhai Maheshbhai extracts juicefrom fresh leaves of castor (Ricinuscommunis L.) and gives to animalsaffected by food poisoning or bitesfrom poisonous insects. The animalshould be made to drink this insufficient amount to have the desiredeffect.

Methanolic extract of the leaves of Ricinuscommunis L. showed antimicrobial propertyagainst eight pathogenic bacteria in rats.The extract was not toxic (Oyewole (2010):

221201 Palash and neem forringworm

To get rid of ringworm infection,Umrabhai Dungariyabhai Vasava usesseeds of Butea monosperma(Lam.) Taub. and the juice of neemleaves. The amount of seeds to bepowdered and mixed with neem juiceto make a paste depends upon theaffected area. The paste is applied onthe affected area to get relief.

Neem and Butea are reported to haveantimicrobial activities (Biswas et al (2002):Current Science, 82 (11):1336–1345 and

Gurav et. al. (2008): Iranian Journal ofPharmacology & Therapeutics, Vol. 7 (1):21-24).

221202 Sadad to reduce swelling

To treat swelling due to sprain orwounds, Madhu Singh Hundiya grindsleaves of “sadad” (Terminalia arjuna(Roxb.) Wight & Arnot) into a finepaste and applied on the affected part.When the paste dries up a bit, then thewound is bandaged with a cleancloth. The dressing is done at aninterval of two days. The animal getscured in about five days.

Journal of Medicinal Plant Research 4:19(2004-2008). HB 3&4 reported Arjanbhai RChauhan to have used ash and jaggery

where as Bhavanbhai Parmar(HB 20(3)used tamarind pith for the same.

221204 Cassia heals wounds

“Kunvadiyo” (Cassia tora L.) is used totreat maggot infested wounds, andalso for intestinal worms in cattle.Gomabhai Gambhi mixes the juice ofthe leaves of “Kunvadiyo” (Cassia toraL.) with an equal amount of buttermilk,about ten g of gandhak (Phosphorus)from matchstick and five g of hing(Ferula asafoetida L.). This mixture isadministered orally to the ailing animalin the morning.

Cassia tora L. is traditionally used inmaggot wound infection (Reddy et al (2010)


33Is marriage between traditional knowledge and modern science possible?

Medicinal plants used by ethnic people ofMedak district, Andhra Pradesh. IndianJournal of Traditional Knowledge. Vol. 9(1) 184-190.

221205 Lotus protects fromsunstroke

To protect from sunstroke, RasikbhaiDalsukhbhai uses the seeds of lotus(Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.). Seeds areground, mixed with water and given tothe animal. It is helpful in the recoveryfrom diarrhoea/dehydration caused dueto sunstroke.

The rhizomes or leaves are used withother herbs to treat sunstroke, fever,diarrhoea, dysentery, hemorrhoids,dizziness and vomiting of blood (http://

gbrexportandimport.blogspot.com). Hb21(3) reported ‘satavari’ (Asparagusracemosus Willd) being used.

221206 Agheda gives relief fromscorpion sting

To treat scorpion sting in animals,Kathuriyabhai Devana uses “agheda”(Achyranthus aspera L.). Roots areground with water and the fine pasteis applied on the affected spot. It isbelieved to give immediate relief.

A crushed root of Achyranthus is used incase of scorpion, snake and insect bitedue to its anti-venom property as pertraditional use of some important weedsfrom Chattishgarh (http://www.docstoc.com/docs/15409450/Table-1).

221207 Recipe of Kubo (Leucascephalotes (Roth) Sprmg.)

About 500 g of freshly plucked flowersof “kubo” (Leucas Cephalotes (Roth)

Spreng.) are properly washed and keptaside. Bavabhai Dungariya heats onetablespoon of oil in a pan; adds apinch of hing (Ferula asafoetida L.)and half teaspoonful of mustard. Theflowers are then added to this alongwith salt, turmeric and black pepper.Well cooked flowers become tenderand are served with bread.

Leucas cephalotes (Roth) Spreng. Syn.Phlomis cephalotes (Labiatae orLamiaceae) plant is considered stimulant,diaphoretic, laxative, anthelmintic,antiseptic and insecticidal. A syrup offlower is used as domestic remedyfor cough and cold. Flower and stemextracts showed antif i larial activity(Qamaruddin et al. (2002): Journal ofEthnopharma-cologyVolume 82, Issue 1,Pages 23-28.

221208 Asadiya to increase milkyield

Kiritbhai Nanjibhai Babariya of thevillage Jhamkandorana, Rajkot districtmixes 100 g of “asadiya” (Lepidium

sativum L.) seeds with the fodder ofthe milch cattle. This increases themilk yield significantly.

Scout- Sojitra Dimple

Seeds of Lepidium sativum L. are bitter,thermogenic, depurative, galactagogue,emmenagogue, tonic, aphrodisiac,ophthalmic and diuretic. It is useful inleprosy, skin diseases, dysentery,diarrhoea, dyspepsia, eye diseases,leucorrhoea, scurvy, asthma, cough, coldand seminal weakness (http://w w w. m o t h e r h e r b s . c o m / l e p i d i u m -sativum.html)

221209 Aval (Cassia auriculata L.)for broken limbs

Harshukbhai Pokya grinds leaves ofaval and tamarind in an equal amountand adds a pinch of soda to the paste.This is then applied on the brokenlimb and bandaged. The bandage isremoved after four days.

Scout- Mona Radadiya

Dried flowers and leaves of Cassiaauriculata L. are used to mend brokenbones. (Vedavathy & Rao (1991) J.Ethnopharmacol. 33 1/2: 193-196 andwww.sristi.org/hb_magazine/pdf/10 (1) HBJAN-MAR 99.pdf. Acacia leucophloea Willd.and Calotropis gigantea (L.) W.T. Aiton wasreported for the same in HB 6(4) and 9(4)respectively.

221210 Fermented extracts forlarval control

Rajnikbhai Sarothiya from Sethaya,Kodinar (district Junagarh) has asolution to treat milibug/sukhadoinsect. Leaves and fruits, bulbs andpods of onion, garlic and neem andchillies are mixed in ten liters of waterand poured into an earthen pot. Themouth of the pot is covered with acloth before burying in soil for 25 days.Thereafter, the pot is taken out and thecontent is boiled. 1.5 ml of this mixtureis sprayed every time the insectsappear.

Scout: Mona Radadiya

The plants (Alium cepa L., Alium sativumL., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Capsicumannum L.) are known for their pesticidalproperty (http://www.vvob.co.zw/fi les/

natural_pest_control.pdf)



Ama Akha Pakha(Odia version of Honey Bee)Dr Balaram Sahu, [email protected]

Taming Termites and Cumin to Zzzzzz …

221211 Garlic paste for healingcracks

During winter, skin of the feet, toesand heel crack due to dry climate.Consequently, bleeding occurs and it

pains while walking. Farmers in districtJagatsinghpur, Odisha crush garlicwithout adding water. These crushedgarlic cloves are heated a bit andapplied on cracked feet. This is donebefore going to bed. After three to foursuch applications the cracks heal.

Community practiceCommn: Prahallad Rout, Talanga, Cuttack,Odisha

Garlic promotes healing through itsreduced nociceptive1 (Kumar et al., 1999:Indian J Exp. Biol., 37(7): 662-666), anti-microbial, immune-stimulating properties(Resch et al. (1995): Fortschr Med.,113(20-21): 311-315). Transient ReceptorPotential (TRP), stress sensor ionchannels are activated by raw garlic(Macpherson et al. (2005): Curr Biol.,15(10): 929-934) that plays major role inCa²+ ion transport (a ubiquitous secondmessenger).

221212 Natural sleep inducingagent

Labourers who work continuously fora long time during the day and forseveral days in a month get fatigued.

They are not able to sleep well sometimes. Farmers in this region combatfatigue by taking cumin and bananas.They roast ‘jeera’ (Cuminum cyminumL.) and grind it into a fine powder. Onespoonful of jeera powder is mixed withone ripened banana and given to thefatigued patient. This acts within acouple of hours and induces goodsleep.

Community practiceCommn.: Baikuntha Pradhan, Barapur,Tigiria, district Cuttack

Cumin is known for its action againstPentylenetetrazole indicating its role inenhancing Gamma Amino butyric acid(GABA) neuroreceptors (Almeida et al.,2011) thereby enhancing somnolence.Fructose, a natural sugar which is directlyabsorbed in intestine for providing energy,

is readily available in Banana. Almeida etal. (2011), Molecules, 16: 2726-2742.

221213 Natural Shampoo

Old men and women in villages ofAngul district use a natural soap forwashing their hair. This natural soapis nothing but the leaves of ‘Bhindi’(Lady’s finger, okra, Abelomoschusesculentus (L.) Moench). They takethese leaves and grind them into pasteon a stone slab. Then they apply thispaste on the scalp and wash it whenit turns dry. This makes hair clean andkeeps the mind cool, says DhaneswarPradhan, an 80 year old farmer from

Kantapada village; who has been usingthis since childhood.

Community practiceCommn: Dhaneswar Pradhan, Kantapada,district Angul

The plant is known for its role in lipidmetabolism and has high vitamin C content(Gacche et al., 2010). These constituentsmight interfere in formation of oleic acidderived from sebum so as to minimizeinflammatory reaction at stratum corneum.Okra shampoos are available in the market.

Gacche et al. (2010), Indian Journal ofNatural Products and Resources. 1 (3):306-313. HB 18(2) reported practice ontreating hair problem.

221214 Taming Termite throughgoat droppings and neem

Farmers of Mendhasala use neemleaves (Azadirachta indica A. Juss)along with dropping of goats toeradicate termites. One kg of neemleaves and an equal quantity of goatexcreta are mixed and crushed. A totalof 50 kg of this mixture is spread over100 decimals of land.

This effectively eradicates termitesfrom the soil, says Sri HariharSamantray, who has been practicingthis for the last 40 years.

Community practiceCommn: Harihar Samantray, Mendhasala,district Khurda

1 Nociception - the neural processes of encoding and processing noxious stimuli


35

Umeth et al (1999: The Journal ofAgricultural Science, 133: 403-407) hasdescribed the well known impact of neemleaves over termite control.

221215 Herbal solution to increasefruit set

To increase the production ofvegetables like pumpkin, brinjal,pointed gourd etc., farmers in Barangaarea of Cuttack use “Juani Pani” - aherbal solution spray. It is prepared bytaking 100 gm of Juani i.e. ajwain(Carum copticum (Linn.) Benth.) in aliter of water. The solution is keptovernight. It is then sprayed over theplants.

“The fruit production almost doublesby this spray,” says Kishore Sahoo. Helearnt this from his father, Late PadanSahoo, who used this method for over30 years. Late Padan Sahoo used toprepare “Juani Pani” or “Phala Pani”and distribute to other farmers in hisarea free of cost.

Community PracticeCommn.: Kishore Sahoo, Dadhapatna,Baranga, district Cuttack

Veterinary

221216 Controlling ticks in cattle.

Tick infestation is a very widespreadproblem in cattle. Ticks suck bloodand cattle become anemic. Farmers of“Kolha” tribal community take the freshroot of a plant locally called as

The antiviral properties of onions are wellestablished with specific reference to ADSand RNA virus (Goren et al., (2003): USpatent Application 20030026859. 221219 Turmeric water bath forcontrolling lice

Lice infestation in poultry birds hindersbody growth. Lice suck blood andcause a drop in egg production andalso stunted growth in birds. To controlthis, tribal farmers use turmeric waterbath. Pabitra Nayak of village Andharuatakes two spoonful of turmeric powderand adds to half bucket of water andmixes well. The infested poultry birdsare then given bath by this turmericwater. “After just one bath, liceinfestation is controlled,” says Nayak.He has been controlling lice infestationin poultry birds by this organic methodfor last six years.

Community practiceCommn.: Pabitra Nayak, Sabar Sahi,BhubaneswarScout: Dr. Balaram Sahu

The plant has efficacy againstectoparasites like scabies (Charles andCharles, (1992): Tropical andGeographical Medicine 44(1-2):178-81).

221220 Mahua flowers relievebullocks from stress

Farmers in Rairakhol area use driedmahua flowers; Madhuca longifolia(Koenig) J. F. Macbr. var. latifolia(Roxb.) Chevalier and horsegram to rejuvenate fatigued bullocks.They take a handful of Mahua flowersalong with half kg of horse gram andsoak in water for few hours. This isthen boiled in water and given to thebullocks. “By eating this, bullockswork wonderfully,” says SadanandaPradhan, a farmer of vil lageBadabahal. He says that the recipe ispopular particularly in the rainyseason.

Community practiceCommn.: Sadananda Pradhan, Badabahal,SambalpurScout: Dr. Balaram Sahu

The analgesic properties of Mahua flowers(Chandra (2001): Indian Journal ofPharmacology 2001; 33: 108-111) is likelyto play role in relieving muscular pain inbullocks.

“Apamaranga” (Achyranthes aspera L.)and tie around the neck of the tickinfested cattle. This is supposed toward off ticks from the cattle.

Community practiceScout: Dr Tapas Ranjan Mohapatra,Routpada, district Balasore

Leaf extracts of Achyranthes aspera L. hadshowed highest larvicidal activity againstcattle ticks like Rhipicephalus (Boophilus)microplus, Anopheles subpictus Grassiand Culex tritaeniorhynchus (Zahir et al.(2009): Parasitology Research, Vol. 105(2), 453-461).

221217 A wild chilli that heals

“Kolha”, a tribalc o m m u n i t yuses a wildvariety of chillilocally calledas “DhanuaL a n k a ”( C a p s i c u mfrutescens L.) toheal animalwounds Theymake a pasteof 25-50 g ofthis wild variety

and apply on the cut wound. Woundgets healed very fast.

Community practiceScout: Dr Tapas Ranjan Mohapatra,Routpada, district Balasore

Capsaicin, an antimicrobial compoundpresent in chilli binds to nociceptors1 andenable lessening of pain by depletingSubstance P (Mason et al. (2004): PrimaryCare, 328 : 991).

221218 Prevention of Ranikhetdisease in poultry.

Ranikhet disease (RD) in poultry is adreaded disease of viral origin. Thisdisease takes a heavy toll if notprevented. Tribal farmers prevent thisdisease by feeding fried onions (Alliumcepa L.) to the birds. “It should begiven every six months,” says RajendraNayak. He has been practicing thistraditional method for the last six yearsand getting good results.

Community practiceCommn.: Rajendra Nayak, Sabar Sahi,Andharua, BhubaneswarScout: Dr. Balaram Sahu

When did you meet an innovator last?



Nam Vali Velanmai(Tamil Version of Honey Bee)P Vivekanandan, 45, T P M NagarVirattipathu - 625010, Tamil [email protected]

Stir Growth Higher; Make Egg Extract, orOrganic Fertilizer

Herbal solutions

Tamilmani (55) from Vanniyampattivillage has studied till 10th Standard. Heused to work as a powerloom superviser(which manufactured surgical cotton forlocal mill owners). When he could saveenough money, he bought two acres ofland. He maintains a herd of six cattlesand an equal number of goats. He hasdeveloped following innovations forpursuing organic crop production:

221221 For quick Fermentation oforganic liquid fertilizer

Usually it takes more than a month todecompose cow dung slurry properly.In order to hasten this process,Tamilmani adds 25 g Kadukkai powder(Terminalia chebula (Gaertner) Retz.)and one gram of Athimathuram powder(Glycrrhiza glabra L.) to make a herbalmixture. He dilutes ten kg of cow dungin a 50 liter container. To this, the herbalmixture is added. The entire solution isstirred well and closed air tight. After afew days the lid has to be openedpartially in order to release carbonmonoxide and methane gases. After aweek or so, when the liquid has noodour, fermentation is supposed to becomplete. One liter of this solution isdiluted ten times and sprayed to getfaster growth. This can also be usedwith Panchagavya and added toirrigation water or used as foliar spray.

The plant powder of Terminalia chebula(Gaertner) Retz. and Glycrrhiza glabra L. isknown to have antimicrobial property (Satoet al, 1997, Irani et al, 2010). The reason forfaster decomposition is that the closedcontainer creates anaerobic condition,which increases the growth of anaerobicbacteria which is normally very slow in anopen system of composting (Heap, shallowditches, etc). This also increases thetemperature than which favours growth ofanaerobic bacteria.

Sato et al., (1997): Biol Pharm Bull.,20(4):401-404.Irani et al., (2010): IranianJournal of Pharmaceutical Research, 9 (4):425-428.

221222 Preparation of Egg Extract

One kg of lemon juice is added to eightbeaten eggs in a jar. After eight days, akg of jaggery is added to the dissolvedeggs. The mixture is allowed to fermentfor three weeks in the closed jar. Afterthree weeks, the contents are filtered.

About 200 ml of the filtrate is taken andmixed with ten liters of water and sprayedon the crops. It acts as a growthpromoter, increases the number offlowers in various crops and enhancesthe crop yield.

Alagesan, et al. (2009) found that “theheight, number and area of leaves, numberand weight of tomatoes and chlorophyllcontent of the plants treated with egg limemix with Panchagavya are positivelycorrelated.” (http://www.eco-web.com/edi/index.htm)

221223 Treatment for Enterotoxe-mia in goats

Enterotoxemia is a condition when largeamount of toxins, produced byincreased population of Clostridiumperfringins Type C and D, are absorbed

through the intestines of the caprinesthat is goats. This disease is oftenassociated with over-eating (freshgrasses in rainy season, heavy grainfeeding or excess milk feeding in caseof lambs and kids). It progresses rapidlycausing death without significantsymptoms. Affected caprines may crycontinuously or appear depressed orhave convulsive twitches with abdominalpain or sudden seizure and throw theirhead back or can have bloody diarrhoea.

Recently, death of 110 goats in a villageKelal near Paramakudi inRamanthapuram district was reported.Rajamanickam, a herbal healeradministered the remaining goats withbrinjal (unripened) after heating directlyover fire. He gave four brinjals to eachgoat. This checked the mortalitycompletely. He has also earlier treatedcows suffering with loose motion /

diarrhoea by administering a kg ofheated brinjal.

The unripe fruit is covered by the calyx,which cures food poisoning. http://w w w. p y r o e n e r g e n . c o m / a r t i c l e s 0 9 /traditional-remedies-vegetables.htm


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Traditional knowledge on goatrearing

Duraisamypuram (Sivakasi taluka,district Virudhunagar) is a dryland villagewith black cotton soil having annualrainfall less than 800 mm. Moreover, theground water is saline at many places.Local people depend upon sheep andgoat rearing as their predominantactivity. The village has a dominantpopulation of konar (yadava) community.Earlier there were three major herds ofanimals (each herd is having around500 – 800 sheep / goats) in the villageand now it is reduced to a single herdonly. The goat population belong to aparticular breed i.e. kanni, which haswhite markings on the head and theears. This breed has good survivalability in the dry region. Traditionallivestock keepers, viz Chinnagurusamyand Jayalakshmi have shared theirpractices here:

221224 Cumin controls diarroheawith thuthi

If the animal suffers from loose motionor diarrhoea due to intake of poisonousgrasses / herbs or due to excess bodyheat, they take one handful of Thuthi

(Abutilon indicum (Link) Sweet) and teng of cumin. These are to be groundtogether and administered orally.

Abutilon and Cumin have anti diarrhoealeffect. (Chandrashekhar et al. (2004),Journal of Natural Remedies 4, 1 and C.P.Khare (Ed.) Indian Medicinal Plants, anIllustrated Dictionary, Springer

h t t p : / / s i o z e n h 4 x 0 r . w e b s . c o m /Indian%20Medicinal%20Plants%20An%20Illustrated%20Dictionary.pdf

221225 Vitex arrests bloat

For controlling bloat in goats, a handfulof nochi (Vitex negundo L.) leaves, tengram cumin and an equal amount ofblack pepper are ground well togetherand administered after diluting in about100 ml of water.

Use of cumin for indigestion, gas andabdominal problem is known (H.D.Wasantha Piyadasa (1994): Rev. sci. tech.Off. int. Epiz., 13 (2), 471-486 (http://www.oie.int/doc/ged/D9434.PDF). Vitexnegundo L. is effective against bloat. (http://www.longwoodherbal.org/vitex/vitex.pdf)

Herbal healing practices

Deivanayagam (80) is a reputed animalhealer in Nadukuppam village. He hasbeen practicing Rana sigichai (Woundhealing, treating tumor and also bonesetting) for the last 40 years. He learnedthese traditional practices from hisgrandfather Mottai Gounder in oral

pattom near Vanthavasi.

221226 Surgery for curingswellings/ tumors

If animals suffer due to “Katty” (swelling/tumors) for many years, he doessurgery by using a sharp blade/ knife.After that, he applies special oil preparedusing the following ingredients:

100 g of seeds and bark of thattaipungam (Pongamia pinnata Linn.), ahandful of leaves of Keelanelly(Phyllanthus amarus Schumach. &Thonn.), 200 ml of Gingelly oil, ten g ofOmum (ajwain, Carum copticum L. ) andthe same amount of Turmeric(Curcuma longa L.).

First gingelly oil has to be heated alongwith pongamia and keelanally. Beforeturning the heat off, omam and turmericare added. The mixture is cooled andstored. Before applying the oil thewound has to be cleaned by putting fivegram copper sulphate powder on acotton cloth and cleaning the woundwith it. After that the oil is applied by“Kara seelai” (smearing with the cottoncloth dipped in the oil).

For ripening of swelling tumor ofSembirandai (Grewia flavescens Juss.)tuber is heated over fire and placed overthe wound area. It helps in the quickhealing of the swellings.

Sesamin from gingelly oil (Sesamumindicum L.) is reported for anti-tumorproperty (Tanabe et al. (2011): Int J Oncol.,39(1):33-40. Vankar Jethaji Mohanji fromSabarkantha applied pounded fruits of‘Dhatura’ (Datura spp) mixed with jaggeryon the tumours on the neck (HB 4(1)).

Lemon heals, fumes ofsembirandai cure

M. Muthupillai is a 60 years old, livestockkeeper from Mullipallam vil lage,Vadipatti taluka of Madurai district. Shemaintains a herd of four dairy cattle. Shelearned herbal healing practices fromher parents and her deceased husband.Some of the practices that she followsare given below:

221227 Mastitis

In Mastitis, udder becomes inflamedgenerally due to bacterial infections.This reduces milk production or altersmilk composition. Muthupillai advisesuse of lemon and Sembirandai (Grewiaflavescens Juss.) to treat this. About 200ml of lemon juice is squeezed andapplied externally on the udders. And theaffected part is exposed to fumes ofSembirandai continuously for a coupleof days.

Use of Citrus is reported in controllingmastitis in Pakistan (Dilshad et al., 2010:Pak Vet J, 30(3): 167-171). Sambirani(gummy Boswellia from Boswellia serrataRoxb. ex Colebr) is known to haveantimicrobial/antibacterial activities. http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/traditional/SelectMonoVol4.pdf

221228 Retention of placenta

Muthupillai advises grinding one kg ofboiled gingelly cake (Sesamum indicum

What shall the readers of EnglishHoney Bee do with the farmers’

practices?

It is not important whether a personcan actually use all the informationgiven here. What is important is tofeel inspired, interested or intrigued bythe creative potential of the massesat the fringe of the society!

“How” is sometimes as important,if not more, than “what”...

Tell us what do you feel about it?

When did you consume organic food last?



Continued from page 12

community have recognized his contribution and havefelicitated him several times. Many of them say, “Making themachine is a very difficult task, and requires a lot ofdedication and application of mind. In the entire village onlyNathubhai has the talent and brains to create such amachine and we have confidence in him.”

People from the village are aware of the cotton boll pickingmachine made by Nathubhai. There is a huge demand inthe region for the machine. According to them, it is one ofthe best ways to resolve the labour problem and save thecost, which they face during the harvest season every year(HBN will try to help labourers also to own this machine forcustom hiring and thus improving their productivity and thewages:Ed). They are ready to purchase the machine evenif it is slightly costly as over the years they can recover thecost and also own the machine.

Recognition

In 2005, Nathubhai was felicitated by Uttar Gujarat NarodaRajput Samaj. In 2006, he received Sardar Patel Krushi Awardfor being the most progressive farmer in the district. In 2007,he received SRISTI Samman (honour) for his innovations. Hewas also called in the last Krishi Rath by the Government ofGujarat to interact with other farmers so that they can benefitfrom his knowledge. He also participates in the fair organized

I think that I shall never seeA billboard lovely as a tree.Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,I'll never see a tree at all.

~Ogden Nash, "Song of the Open Road,"1933

on Baisakh sud teej (May/June). The programme isarranged before the onset of rainy season for the farmersto interact and learn from each other.

Creating this machine was one of the major objectivesin Nathubhai’s life. His passion is evident from thefact that he kept his aspiration alive despite facingfinancial difficulties and pressure to give up the workfrom his family. But his experimental journey stillcontinues...

There must be many more such farmer cum mechanics orartisans who we do not know yet. But they are the real assetof a society. They are real knowledge workers and deserveto be become a point of reference. Could we not have atleast a one crore social innovation promotion fund in everydistrict managed by local elites, innovators andsocial activists to spot, support and sustain such ideas? Weshould also have mobile high precision tool labswhich can be requisitioned by such innovators for a giventime period so that not every innovator needs to make a fixedcapital investment in workshop for developing just oneprototype. The story of their struggle should be part ofcurriculum so that young minds learn how an innovatorstruggles at personal, professional and social fronts,all at the same time. Indian journey towards a developednation will be pursued on the shoulders of creative peoplelike him:Ed.

L.) and about a kg of palmyra jaggery well. Sixbolus are made and administered orally twice.She gives an alternate treatment in which shetakes one kg of rice flour and one kg of palmyrajaggery. This is made into a bolus which isadministrated orally twice.

M.Muthupillai, Mullipallam, Vadipatti, MaduraiScout: V. Alagumalai SEVA

Use of Sesamum indicum ash with Riveahypocrateriformis, Suva and jaggery is reported inHoney Bee 8(2): 15, 1997


39

The National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF), an autonomous institute of Departmentof Science and Technology, GoI, based on Honey Bee Philosophy, invites entries from students(upto class 12 or equivalent) or children even out of school for IGNITE - the nationalcompetition for students’ original technological ideas and innovations. The entries (in anylanguage) can be sent to NIF by August 31, 2012 through email ([email protected]) orby post to the address given below. There is no prescribed format for submitting the entries,however, complete details of the original technological idea/innovation along with age, class,school name & address, and home address & contact number is required. Entries receivedafter the last date would be included in the next IGNITE competition.

The awards will be announced on October 15, 2012, birthday of Hon’ble former Presidentof India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam celebrated as Children’s Creativity and Innovation Day.NIF will provide patenting and incubation support in all deserving cases. NIF has already filedpatents in the name of student winners of earlier IGNITE competitions in all applicable cases.Readers may visit http://nif.org.in/ignite/ignite_announcement.php to know more about thecompetition.

National Innovation Foundation-India, Satellite Complex, Premchand Nagar Road, Ahmedabad -380 015, GujaratPhone: (079) 26732456, 2095, Fax: (079) 26731903, Email: [email protected]

National Innovation Foundation- IndiaDepartment of Science and Technology, Government of IndiaN I F D S T

IGNITE-12

Continued from page 22

Creative Children Send Us Your Ideas!

shared her knowledge very generouslywith us. We explained the concept ofprior informed consent to her andothers present. A male village midwifenamed Moren Khonglam (75) washonoured as well. We also learntabout man dai – a dew drop practice foreye (villagers use dew drops on thebroom plant and squeeze the juice ofthe upper nodes and use it as an eyecleanser).

Will faith alone heal ?

We stopped by a small hut in the valleywhere a little boy of about two, had asmall wound on his hand. When weoffered an ointment, her mother stoppedus saying “Oh sorry! our father wouldnot agree to that”. She exclaimed -“Faith alone would heal”. We wereastonished by the fact that they believein faith healing to such an extent thatthey would not apply ointment even

The paradox: People waiting in queue for water

on a small wound! There was notmuch we could do except appeal tothe State government to intervene insuch a situation and persuade suchfaith based groups to allow a mix offaith and modern medicine whereneeded, as was the case in thisinstance. While freedom of faith isfundamental in a secular society but to be continued in the next issue...

prohibition of certain perverse practicesmust be negotiated. We were latertold that it was small denomination oflocal church which followed suchpractices and it was not the dominantpractice even in this region.




NEWS & VIEWS

SRISTI

The year 2011 will be celebrated asthe year of dissemination by SRISTI.In the wake of this decision, SRISTIorganized meetings with theknowledge holders to know aboutthe new experiments they tried intheir farms, ways to reduce cost offarming, day-to-day problems whichhave not been resolved yet and toreview SRISTI’s work.

The meetings were arranged indifferent districts of Gujarat whichreceived enthusiastic participationand support from the villagers.Between February 15 - May 22,2011 many meetings wereorganized at Godhra, Panchamahal,Umret, Banaskantha, Bharuch,Surat, Kukama village near Bhuj inKutch, Surendranagar, Rajkot,Sabarkantha, Panchmahal andJunagadh.

GIAN West

ISO 9001:2008 to MansukhbhaiPrajapati

GIAN west facilitated the grant ofthe ISO: 9001:2008 certification forquality manufacturing of innovativeproducts (Non Stick Clay Tawa,Mitticool Refrigerator and ClayCooker). He is the firstgrassroots innovator of HoneybeeNetwork who has received thisrecognition.

NEW INNOVATIONS

New Product Launch: AK StencilMarker

The existingprocess ofp r e p a r i n gstencils (top r i n tpatterns onfabric) is byp u n c h i n gholes withh a n d - h e l dn e e d l e s .

This is very time-consuming,involves a lot of drudgery and ispainful. AK Stencil marker (pattern

perforating tool) developed byNazim Shaikh mechanize theprocess of punching on the butterpaper. The device will increase theproductivity of the workers and helpthem in increasing their daily wages.It saves time by 1/10th ascompared to traditional method andan unskilled person can alsooperate the device.

Innovative stand for women forhand embroidery

GIAN teamworked on astand for theembroideryf rame.Th isdevice ismade fromthe springs t e e lmaterial and

a flexible Three Point Clamper ontop to accommodate the varioussizes of rings used for griping thecloth. The three point clamper ismounted on the knuckle, whichallows the user to orient it as perhis/her requirement in the verticaldirection of movement of neck orseating posture. The height of thedevice can be adjusted as per theuser’s convenience especially theheight. This device gives flexibilityto users to work at multiplelocations viz. one can do the job byplacing the device at the floor orcan also keep it on the bed.

A demonstration was given to SEWA andGram Shree. They appreciated the device.GIAN is further working to reduce the costand to make it more versatile.

NIF

NIF has created a new benchmark inprotecting IP of the poor!

It took ten years for NIF to file about 200patents and TM applications. But by using avery innovative, distributed and inclusiveapproach, NIF team filed more than twohundred patent applications in March-April,2011. How did it happen? NIF team invitedmany IP firms out of which ten responded.The IP firms were Anand and Anand, Noida,Uttar Pradesh; Altacit Global, Chennai, TamilNadu; Surana & Surana InternationalAttorneys, Chennai, Tamil Nadu; Legasolv,Mumbai, Maharastra; Closer2 patents,Mumbai, Maharastra; Lal Lahiri and Salhotra,LLS, Gurgaon, Haryana; Khurana andKhurana, Greater Noida, New Delhi UT;Allatus, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh; Y JTrivedi and Co, Ahmedabad, Gujarat; iLf-RSJ-IPR, New Delhi. These firms sent theirstaff to work with NIF’s team and draftapplications. With just two staff members itwas impossible for NIF. But now with probono help of private IP firms, it has beenachieved. Hopefully similar success will beachieved in licensing such innovation toentrepreneurs and corporations for wideruse globally in times to come. Lest one feelsthat NIF's primary focus is IP protection, wewill discuss about Technology AcquisitionFund aimed at creating public goods in thenext issue.

Future Group’s Mr. Kishore Biyani signing anagreement with Prof Gupta in the presenceof Dr Mashelkar, Chairman NIF and AshniBiyani, Co-ordinator, Khoj Lab

The KHOJ lab

On December 14, 2010, NIFentered into a MoU with theFuture Group, India’s largestretail chain, with the aim oftaking promising grassrootsinnovations to the market. Thiscollaboration resulted insetting up of an innovation labcalled the Khoj Lab whosepurpose is to bring out productsthat are truly ‘Indian’ andbranded as “India ka Idea”.The first product rolled out fromthe Khoj Lab, is a range ofnutritional cookies, developedfrom the traditional knowledgeof the Bhil community.


41

Capacity Building

To promote the scouting anddocumentation activities, NIF alsoparticipated in workshops in Baroda(Gujarat), Vishakhapatnam (AndhraPradesh) and Bettiah (Bihar) onDecember 18, 2010, April 15 and May21, 2011. A two days workshop on“Capacity Building for Scouting,Documentation and Dissemination forGrassroots Innovations and TraditionalKnowledge” was also organized jointlyby National Innovation Foundation,India and Sikkim State Council ofScience and Technology at Gangtokbetween May 19-20, 2011.

Workshops

Interactive workshops were alsoorganized at Cherrapunji (Meghalaya)on January 13, Dahod (Gujarat) on May2, Kullu (Himachal Pradesh) on June 5,2011 and Junagadh (Gujarat) on July 1,2011. The workshops were attended bytraditional knowledge holders andgrassroots innovators. Discussionswas held on knowledge protection,identification of plant sample and itspreservation, various human andanimal ailments, medicinal plants andtheir usage.

A workshop on “Development ofdatabase of less common medicinalplants and associated traditionalknowledge” was conducted at IndianInstitute of Management, Ahmedabad onMarch 4 - 5, 2011 by NIF and NationalMedicinal Plant Board along with Centrefor Management in Agriculture, IIMAhmedabad. The workshop wasattended by eminent scientists, seniorgovernment officials, professors, civilsociety representatives and students. Aformat for the collection of informationand development of database wasfinalized.

A National workshop on incubatinggrassroots innovations was held at IIMAhmedabad on April 21, 2011. Theworkshop was held with the assistanceof Prof. Abraham Koshy, IIM Ahmedabadwho was the convener of the workshop.The main background points fordiscussion were: (1) Review of NIF’sincubation experience, good and not sogood examples of mentoring, businessplanning support, lessons from MVIF

funding as well as individual innovatorbased incubation facilities being set up,likely tensions e.g. some innovatorshave not l iked the idea of sharedinfrastructure, willful and non-willfuldefault, journey of innovators to settingup firms and then companies; (2)Challenges being faced in productdevelopment, market research,incubation planning andimplementation, l icensing etc. (3)Linkage with marketing faculty, firms andnetworks such as Academy of Marketing;(4) Key milestones for performance andthe road map for achieving those goals.The workshop was concluded with atalk by Prof Jagdish Sheth, mainlyfocusing on ways to take grassrootsinnovations to the market.

Foundation Day celebrated

NIF celebrated its 11th Foundation Dayat SRISTI on February 28, 2011. Abrainstorming session with socialleaders, entrepreneurs, intellectuals,businessmen, activists, thoughtprovokers and well-wishers wasorganized on the occasion to discussthe strategies to take the grassroots’innovation movement forward.

Exhibition at Mughal Gardens

For the second year in succession, NIForganized the Innovations’ Exhibition atthe President House on March 14-17,

2011, which was inaugurated byPresident Pratibha Devisingh Patil.Governor of Tripura Dr. D.Y. Patil andShri Manohar Joshi were also presentat the inauguration along with Dr TRamasami, Secretary DST and otherinvited guests. This exhibition featured32 stalls showcasing 45 innovations bystudents and grassroots innovatorsfrom 15 states. The exhibition featuredinnovations, such as: the hand operatedwater lifting device, bullock operatedsprayer, compost aerator and leafpruner, manual milking machine,bamboo lathe machine, solar mosquitodestroyer, etc and different plantvarieties. The State Minister of Textile,Smt. P Laxmi visited the innovationexhibition with her team, specifically tohave a look at the handloom clusterdisplayed, viz. looms from Manipur,Assam, Tamil Nadu in addition to astencil cutter for making embroiderydesign from Gujarat. The innovationexhibition was also visited by Prof PVyas, Director NID, Dr P B Sharma, ViceCancellor, DTU, Lt. Gen. Mahasale, ArmyEngineering Division, andrepresentatives from NationalInnovation Council office, SeniorGovernment officials, Scientists,Professors, Designers, Entrepreneursand the Students. Thousands of peoplevisited the Mughal Gardens during theUdyanotsav and appreciatedgrassroots innovations displayed in theexhibition.


Honourable President Smt Pratibha Devi Singh Patil inaugurating theInnovation Exhibition at The Mughal Gardens, President’s House



The Unsolved Problem: Can any of our readers think of developing adevice to pick tea leaves so as to reduce drudgery, improve the efficiencyand the help millions of women who do this in a painstaking manner?

Meet the cover page artist

Manoj BhingareApang ManavMandal, OppositeAMA, Athira road,AhmedabadGujarat -380015M- 9909705943

Dear Readers,

Does this issue of Honey Bee makes youthink and look around for the odd ballsand mavericks in our society ? Do youknow some one who is different from therest of the crowd ? Do you have acentenarian grand mother or grand fatheraround you ? Indivdiual or communityunaided innovations about education,insitutions, culture or technology arekeenly awaited. Write to us [email protected]

HBN on BBC London

A team from BBC London profiled theHoney Bee Network and NIF for one ofits series on April 8, 2011. They alsoorganized a video shoot in Delhi wheretwo innovators Abdul Razaak (mobilebased burglar alarm) and PrakashDwivedi (mobile based vehicle theftidentification device) had participated.The same was telecast to a worldwideaudience in June 2011.

CMVR certificate

Automotive Research Association ofIndia (ARAI), Pune had tested retrofittedcar suitable for physically challenged(retrofitted by Biju Varghese, aphysically challenged innovator fromKerala). ARAI had issued him the CMVR(Central Motor Vehicles Rules)certificate on June 7, 2011 andmentioned that retrofitting kit can beused in over 50 models of 13 brandsof cars available in the country.

GE Innovation Award for DeepakBharali

Deepak Bharali, an inventor fromAssam (see page 24 for his innovation)won GE Innovation Award on April 26th

2011. The innovator had won the stateaward in the 5th National BiennialCompetition for Green GrassrootsUnaided Technological Innovations,Ideas & Outstanding TraditionalKnowledge.

(http://www.indiainf-oline.com/Markets/News/CII-and-Govt-of-India-celebrate-World-IP-Day/5140247035)

For How long?


43

DIALOGUE

Biodigester

Calvin [email protected]

I wish to present the idea of having a SingleDrum Continuous Biodigester on your forum.

Problem: 1.0 The Deenbandhu (Fixed Domedigester) has been unsuccessful due tofailures in construction and also spacerequirement. Biodigesters are not popular inthe urban areas due to space requirement.By integrating the Compensation Tank and theFeeder Pipe inside a Single PVC Water Tankwe can have a clean and neat Biodigesterwhich could be appealing to the urbanpopulation as well as rural India.

Method: Take the example of a 3000 LitersPVC Water tank. The height is 2.02 metersand the Manhole is 0.4 meters. Use a PVCPipe of the same diameter (400 mm) andmake two holes in it; one slightly above theother. The diameter of the holes must be 50mm (2 inches). The bottom of this pipe mustbe closed. At the top of this pipe, in line withthe PVC tank inlet position, make another holeof 2 inches. This is for the outlet slurry to flowfrom the 400 mm PVC pipe. From the bottom,2 inches hole, connect a 2 inch pipe so that itcomes out of the 400 mm pipe. This will bethe Feed Pipe. The other 2 inches hole will bethe outlet to the Compensation Tank. Thespace in the 400 mm pipe itself will be theCompensation Tank. Make a hole for gasoutlet connection which is higher than theoutlet slurry pipe. Connect a valve.

Lower the fabricated arrangement into the PVCTank. Connect a pipe for the outlet slurry. Sealthe 400 mm pipe to the manhole edges of thePVC tank. Slip the Manhole covers over theFeed Pipe so that it covers the opening of thePVC Tank. Keep a drain on the PVC Tank for

maintenance. Now the digester isready for operation. Charge thedigester with Cow Dung and waitfor the generation of Gas.

We can use food waste and othermaterial in the urban areas.

Advantages: (i) Cheaper, (ii) Noleakages, (i i i) less Spacerequired, and (iv) Elegant looks

Very good idea indeed! We will post itat techpedia.in, also in Vietnam, I hadseen a balloon or inflatable pipe basedcontinuous digestion system floatingin irrigation channel. Good thoughtsthough. Stay in touch and keep up yourcreativity: Ed.

Carma connect

Hemant [email protected]

I have interacted with you a coupleof times – once when I washeading the activities of NewVentures India – a CII initiative. Andsecond, when I was a speakerbefore you at IIT, Kharagpur at theirAnnual Entrepreneurship summit.I have also closely worked withCIIE. Also, I am an executivealumnus of IIMA. I am convinced that scalableentrepreneurship is the only wayto ensure inclusive andwidespread growth and economicopportunity creation for theteeming millions. I really like yourHoney-bee network concept andthe work it has done. I havedeveloped a unique early stagecapital raising model to assistcompanies raise betweenRs. 25 lakhs and Rs. 5 crores,the gap area not being addressedby the current ecosystem. Iinvite you to our website – www.carmaconnect.in Also, I am pleased to inform youthat I have been chosen in aprestigious international businessplan competition and am “anUnreasonable fellow 2011”.Please see www.tiny.cc/knrpl. Ilook forward to hear from you andto explore ways to help grass rootinnovators successfullycommercialize their businesses.

You are very right about the gap and theneed to bridge this gap. Most grassrootsinnovators don’t have companies, one willhave to develop new exit strategies and thusincorporate proprietary firms in theinvestment entitlement. It has an advantagethat you can mobilize mentoring skills, whichgrassroots innovators need very badly. Tellme more about who your investors are sothat we can be assured about ethical andsocial issues too. I’m so happy to see thisinitiative, All the best: Ed.

Inspired to contribute

Brijesh [email protected]

I saw your talk at the TED Indiaconference and felt extremely inspiredby it. You have truly set a very highbenchmark for Indians like me to takethe country ahead.

Since my school days, I used to detestthe text book explanation of India’seconomic problems, where Populationwas always on Top of the list. Your HoneyBee Network truly proves how thepopulation can be turned into the biggestadvantage we have.

I am an independent film & TV producerand trying to work on subjects that wouldbe relevant to causes similar to yours. Iwould like to be associated and helpyou in any way possible.

I am currently based overseas buthoping to be back by end of 2010 andwill be based in Mumbai eventually. Itwill be an honour if I could contribute toyour movement in anyway. Thanks Brijesh! Will be very happy if youspread the word around so that those whowish to join the network can. Alsosubscribers for honey bee are mostwelcome: Ed.

Ideas for quality education

[email protected]

I got inspired by you when you gave atalk at IIT Madras Tech Festival 2005.Then I became serious thinker of “Howto give a quality education for poorest ofthe poor”. That time there was noyoutube and Facebook etc. Afteryoutube came, a lot of schools (IITs, MIT,UCB, Yale, etc) put their quality teachingmaterial on youtube. Even APPLE joinedthe race by introducing iUniversity.


�

�

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Sorry I ‘m Late Again !

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(We regret the delay in bringing out Honey Beeissue once again: Ed.)



DIALOGUE

Recently “Khan Academy” introduced lotof videos for school students in USA.

Most of the school teachers, professorsface the same problem; that is teachingthe same material for many years.Eventually, that reduces the time forquality thinking and research. AfterNPTEL (http://www.nptel.iitm.ac.in/), afaculty can say please watch the videosand ask questions, think and solve theproblem yourself. I believe that is themotto of education.

Similarly why can’t we have a systemfor 6th grade to pre-college or 12th Stdstudents in their own language and theirown medium of education (State board,CBSE, ISCE).

I am willing to develop such system ifHoney Bee Network supports suchentrepreneurship.

We do believe that an open source libraryof educational material is needed, and wewish to encourage you by providing you spaceat www.sristi.org. Please do send us yourinsights, knowledge and practices. We willbe very happy to learn about these: Ed.

Biologist

Zdravka [email protected]

I am a biologist from Bulgaria. I amimpressed of your research andinnovation in alternative medicine. As Ialso work in this field, I’d like to exchangeinformation regarding this. I would beable to provide you with traditionalBulgarian prescription for alternativetreatment.

We will also appreciate if we can plan a locallanguage newsletter on people’sinnovations in Bulgaria as well: Ed.

A Friend from USA

John J. [email protected]

Currently, I work for a music companyhere in Los Angeles, California. In thepast, I have put together marketing ideasfor Mr. Puri on how to reach out to theIndian Diaspora both here in the US andabroad. It never went anywhere, but myresearch taught me that there is stillmuch to do in the world and especially

in India. I enjoyed your TED video recentlyand admire how you are solving (some)technical problems the world over.

I have wondered of late why there aren’tproducts l ike these (http://www.solarjoos.com/) available on every streetcorner in rural India. Also, with contestsat Universities here in the US for roboticsand such, why couldn’t your teambroaden the scope of such events toinclude ways in which to improve onedesign or another to help people whocannot grind their own grain, chargetheir new phones, or somehow improvetheir own condition somehow?

With so much computing poweravailable (i.e IBM’s Watson, or worse/better: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html ), or“crowd sourcing” (http://www.wired.com/magaz ine /2011 /02 / s t _ thompson_living_games/) it makes me wonderwhy someone isn’t pursuing largecompanies to fund a project for the likesof your organization to try to remedysome of the problems that people facethe world over, no matter what they be.

What I have done for the past few yearsis to work for one of the top videodirectors for live DVDs. If there weresomething I could do in the name ofadvancing your site through the likes ofa well made video, or through the simplediscussion of more ideas, or throughthe active pursuit of companies here inthe US, I would do what I could for you ifat all possible.

Thanks John, videos, of course yes, weneed a lot of them to convey the range of ourwork. We have some friends in USA butnothing like a “friends of honey bee networkin USA but surely, we could try.”

SRISTI has not been lucky to get suchresources as you mentioned, maybe wehave not tried hard, maybe we are veryidiosyncratic. We always need manymany volunteers to help in this transformative movement at the grassroots.Do tell us more about yourself. See www.sr is t i .o rg , s r is t i .o rg /an i lg ”an i lg ,nifindia.org, techpedia.in: Ed.

Planning a visit

Kari [email protected]

I am a third year student at theNorwegian University of Science and

Technology. I study Industrial DesignEngineering, and my class (of 23) isplanning a three-week visit to Indiaduring the spring.

I was given your contact informationfrom Ida Groth, another student fromNTNU (School of Entrepreneurship) whovisited you earlier. We haven’t plannedeverything about our trip yet, but we’dlike visit you and see your projects ifthere’s a possibility of doing so. I knowyou have many projects on how to usedesign to solve social problems -something I find very interesting.

We will be very happy to have you all visit usin spring. All the best: Ed.

Bringing about change

Amit [email protected]

I am an Asst. professor at NV PATELCollege of Pure & Applied Sciences, V.V.Nagar, Gujarat and wish to tell you thatinspired by your activities and forumwhich i witness through Honeybee,newspapers and website; I had starteda club in the college for the awarenessand some concrete steps to think anddo innovatively. I just need your

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blessings to do make a change, smallor big i do not know. I would work mylevel best to inculcate in myself and mystudents the attitude to think in this way.I had subscribed the Honeybee andwish to conduct First Idea contestin September in our college to start theprocess. I wish your blessing wouldcome in the form of advice or suggestionto do efficiently.

I belong to Jaisalmer, Rajasthan and ifyou are planning a shodhyatra inWestern Rajasthan, I would be morethan happy and privileged to look after

every assistance in local arrangements,troubleshooting and the objectives of theyatra.

I want to meet you once, to get moreinsight and motivation to contribute withwhatever capacity I can to your mission.

Amit, you are most welcome to the HoneyBeeNetwork. It would be wonderful to have amotivated person like you help us! Do visitus sometime at SRISTI Ahmedabad: Ed .

Chinese financial Magazine

Fiona [email protected]

This is Cathy Yao from China, I am aneditor of Chinese financial magazineChuang Fu Zhi which focuses onbusiness model, our magazine is verypopular in China, our circulationis 300,000 in China.

We know that you have created acharitable organization named Honeybeenetwork, and it is a very famous all overthe world. And we are going to report itto our readers. But now I have somequestions which need your help, couldyou please clarify them for us?

1. Does Honeybee network helpinnovators apply for the Patent?

2. We learnt that from your website,there are some members ofHoneybee network as bellow, whatis their role? And what they areresponsible for in Honeybeenetwork?

We would get in touch with you soon: Ed.

Appropriate technology

Nina [email protected]

My name is Nina Sawhney and I amcurrent young American faculty memberat NUS Engineering. I graduated fromFranklin W. Olin College of Engineeringin May of 2010 with a BS degree inelectrical and computer science. I washired for a short-term (1.5 year) contractto help develop NUS’s Design-CentricCurriculum projected to fall under NUS’sEDIC.

After my term with NUS, I am hoping toconduct a study in appropriatetechnology under the Fulbrightorganization. In order to obtain a grant,I must first submit a research proposalunder a host affi l iation (academicinstitution for India). Dr. Ming Po Thamsuggested to contact you with the hopesof helping find an appropriate hostorganization and possible providing mewith knowledge with regards tonarrowing my research topic for theFulbright Grant.

Please let me know if you are interestedin helping me. I would be mostappreciative to have any sort of help.

Surely SRISTI as well as NIF (NationalInnovation Foundation) will be very happy tohost you. Since you wish to be part of alreadyongoing technology incubation exercisegoing on at NIF or SRISTI, you canjoin techpedia.in team or work with RakeshMaheshwari, a senior fellow at NIF who issupporting many technologies for furthervalue addition: Ed.

Physicist and science journalist

Ingolf [email protected]

My name is Ingolf Baur and I work forthe German cultural Television program“Länder Menschen Abenteuer” which

you could may be translate as people-countries-adventures.

I read the story about you and the wayyou are looking for innovators and lostknowledge in India in the magazineGEO a while ago and can’t forget it. Ifind your approach very interesting and Ithink it would be quite amazing forGerman audience to find out more aboutyour initiative.

Probably you get lots of requests fromjournalists from all over the world, butmaybe you do see a chance to get incontact and talk about a filming project.I’d look forward to it very much.

I greatly appreciate your interest in HoneyBee Network and ShodhYatra about whichyou read in the Geo magazine. Let usdiscuss your plans and then may be we canfind a productive way of taking your ideaforward: Ed.

Oasis Television

Aparna [email protected]

We are doing research for a TV showfor an international channel, for whichwe are looking for cool, innovativeengineers/ scientists/ designers.

The premise of the series is that eachweek a team of engineering experts willbe given two major pieces of machinery(e.g. a hovercraft and a bulldozer) andwill be expected to put their creativebrains and practical skills together tocombine the machines’ componentsand build an entirely new machine. TheTV series will be a celebration of theachievements of engineering and allthings machine. So the people we are looking for couldbe engineers, designers, scientists andmechanics who relish a technicalchallenge, are happy to get their handsdirty and ideally have practical skills andexperience in some of the followingareas – vehicle electrics, hydraulics,

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fabrication, mechanics, diesel andpetrol engines, mechanical design. Itis also crucial that they speak excellentEnglish and are passionate aboutmachines. They could be anything froma car mechanic, to a machine designengineer or a mechanical special effectsdesigner. Would you know of anyone likethis? Sure, Aparna, many innovatorsand students at techpedia.in would be veryhappy to join hands. English may not alwaysbe strong for them, but I suppose some cancompensate it with their ingenuity: Ed.

COLORS Magazine

Angela [email protected] My name is Angela Quintavalle and I’mwriting you from COLORS, a “magazineabout the rest of the world” publishedsince 1991 in Italy and distributed in 40countries. Our editorial team suggestedme to contact you.

As you may know, we are about topublish a new issue of COLORS thatwe’d like to launch in Shanghai, China,towards the middle of July 2011. The issue is dedicated to the alternativeways of transport; it can be seen as a“survival guide” when petrol will cometo an end. The featured stories comefrom all over the world; among them, MrChen Shenghui, a Chinese farmer whoinvented the first “solar-powered” carand a story about the popular Indian“Chakdas”, a one-seat motorbiketransformed to move as many peopleas a minibus.

Our idea would be to organize a smallexhibition inspired to this special issuewith real vehicles and blown-up spreadsof the magazine. We would be honoredto have you as our guest of honor at theevent. Your testimony as global leaderin sustainable technologies would bevery enriching for us.

I am happy that HoneyBee Network isspreading its wings in China. Ourcollaborators in China, Zhnag Liyan is intouch with you and extend full support. Hopeto find new friends through your platform:Ed.

Geek Nation Television series

Aloke [email protected] I am a television producer currentlyworking on a six-part documentary sriesabout science, technology andinnovation in India, which will bebroadcast on Al Jazeera EnglishTelevision.

I have been reading extensively aboutyour work at the Indian Institute ofManagement, the National InnovationFoundation, and within SRISTI and theHoney Bee Network. It has impressedupon me the importance of exploringgrassroots innovation in India, and theblending of formal and informal science,as an integral aspect of the series. Just to give you a little more background,the series will be presented by authorand broadcaster, Angela Saini. Angelais uniquely qualif ied to lead thisexploration about Indian technology andinnovation, having recently published a

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book on the subject, entitled ‘GeekNation: How Indian Science is takingover the World’.

The Geek Nation television series willprovide an equally thorough andilluminating account of how Indianscience and technology is drivingeconomic growth, changing the wayIndia is run through the shift to e-governance, and spurring innovationsin areas such as biotech, agriculture,computing, environment, communi-cations and medical sciences.

Thanks Aloke, explorations like these almostalways bring new friends to HBN. Lookingforward to engage, explore and involvecurious and concerned well wishers like you:Ed.

Greetings from Bulgaria

Ivan [email protected]

My name is Ivan Kovachev, I’m 23 and Ilive in Sofia, Bulgaria. I have just read inthe Bulgarian GEO magazine an articleabout you and your activities, yourdedication and adventures in India! Thisarticle left me very impressed and excitedabout the way you help other people bysharing and spreading the knowledgeyou’ve gained! I must say I really admireyou and your doings, so I just want towish you best of luck and good health,god speed on your journeys!

Many thanks Ivan! Please dosee sristi.org and also sristi.org/anilg formore information about our work Do tell memore about what u do and do think ofhoney bee network in your esteemed country:Ed.

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Glimpses of 27th Shodhyatra (May 28- June 8, 2011) Silli to Hundru, Ranchi

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