Innovation

INNOVATION

Society is like a huge machine with several parts, hubs and hinges that need to work in unison and harmony for its proper functioning – Any engineer would provide an allegory of society this way. But thankfully society is far more complex and can be best explained as a huge organism which evolves, grows as well as falls sick or even dies. And thankfully not all engineers think this way.

For the survival of any creation it has to constantly adapt and change with the changing times and environment. Change is another name of innovation. The changes to be more precise should be proactive and positive ones. Changes are brought about by great thinkers, political leaders, industrialists, scientists, students, professionals like doctors, lawyers, engineers and so many others and most importantly by regular hardworking people, like farmers and mechanics. It all starts with an idea, an innovative concept and snowballs into a mass movement.  A spark of creativity in an individual or group may arise from a need. As is said necessity is the mother of all inventions this stands true for innovation as well.

The dictionary meaning of innovation is ‘the introduction of something new - a new idea, method, or device’. The success of any innovation depends upon its acceptance. Every innovative idea meets resistance at first, as humans by nature are resistive to change, but gradually the resistance loses ground and gives way to development. As the concept gains acceptance with use, it takes the shape of an innovation.  Without innovation, proactive thinking or creative ideas academics will lose its charm, industries will not prosper and economy will never grow. I have just the example which will illustrate innovation in action.

There was this poor village in my state named Gohaldanga. Most people there lived below the poverty line despite being hardworking farmers. Their major produce was potatoes. The government too couldn’t do much to help except giving them various subsidies. They didn’t get good rates for their harvest and there was no assured market for it. 

A son of the soil who happened to be lucky enough to become a mechanical engineer and later a professor at MIT wanted to pay back his debt to his village. He brainstormed with the villagers and found that the root cause of their woes was a lack of cold storages in the area due to which most of the produce rotted or for the fear of which they had to sell their harvest at throwaway prices damaging the economy of the area. He didn’t just stop at this. He built a cold storage which didn’t need electricity or an elaborate construction. Shallow water reservoirs were made above the ground and covered with bamboo slats and surrounded again by bamboo slat walls. The whole structure had a thatched roof… and voila! They had an eco-friendly and economical potato cold storage.

He made quite a few other innovations too in the preservation and marketing of potatoes. He designed machines which made potato flakes and potato pulp. The pulp was dried to make potato powder or flour which could be used to make numerous food items. He didn’t stop at this, his innovative concepts like ‘mother teachers’ in ‘the after school teaching project’ and ‘community learning’ revolutionized education in the area. Social taboos were broken. Women were more involved in teaching and a close-knit society was created. Households were saved and women were empowered.

I can go on about his innovative concepts which changed an impoverished village forever. He gave the village its first industry. All the more, he coaxed his people to think out of the box. He inspired them to create and be proactive thinkers. His creation, that is a prosperous Gohaldanga, will never forget this innovative and proactive thinker.

This proves people have a lot to offer society if they really want too. Being an engineer and academician he didn’t restrict himself to academics.  He walked and extra mile and empowered the people he loved with his innovative concepts. Beating the resistance of shallow local and regional politics his ideas today have gained wider acceptance.  Initiated by necessity, the water cooled cold storage may have been a product of reactive thinking but his later creations like the ‘after school teaching project’, the potato processing plant, vocational training and self sustaining co-operatives were all results of proactive thinking.

Last but not the least, I need not stress that being mere thinkers won’t result in development; we must be a country of doers.