July-Dec 2007

Honey Bee Vol 18(3) & 18(4) July - December 2007

2

Contents

EditorAnil K Gupta

Editorial AdvisorsRiya Sinha, Vijaya Sherry Chand

Editorial AssociatesVibha Mehta

Editorial Support TeamSomya Tyagi, Kirit K Patel, Jyoti Capoor, Hema Patel, RameshPatel, Mahesh Patel, Deepa Moni Gogoi Tripathi, T J James,Vipin Kumar, Nitin Maurya, Vivek Kumar, Ravi Kumar, AshishKanwal, Rakesh Kumar Maheshwari, Arati Karmakar

Graphics and DesignUnnikrishnan, Goraiya Shailendra

IllustrationPalash Graphics, Devendra Parmar,Praveen Mishra

Administrative TeamR P S Yadav, R Baskaran, Balaganapathy Mudaliar, NishaBinoy, Bhoomi Shah, Daksha Makwana, Devshi Desai

Editorial AddressHoney Bee, c/o Prof. Anil K GuptaIndian Institute of ManagementVastrapur, Ahmedabad-380015, Gujarat, IndiaPhone: 91-79-66324927; Fax: 91-79-26307341

Email: [email protected]://www.sristi.org

Published by Riya Sinha on behalf of Sristi Innovations, Gujarat University Boys Hostel Campus, Near University Library, Navrangpura,Ahmedabad-380009.

Printed at M/s Bansidhar Offset, Ahmedabad

Seeing Beyond the Visible

TCreativity Unconstrained: WalkingThrough the Chinars in Kashmir(Part II) ........................................................ 5

wo men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man wasallowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluidfrom his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had

to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes,their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would passthe time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world wouldbe broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. Thewindow overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the waterwhile children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowersof every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view ofthe city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other sideof the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoonthe man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’thear the band - he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the windowportrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find thelifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She wassaddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to thewindow. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he wascomfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbowto take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it forhimself.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who haddescribed such wonderful things outside this window.

Dear Readers, What do you think was her answer? Should we be the blind person whosometimes is unable to share the realistic situation about the prospect of a giveninnovation in the market place with the innovators? Will the reality outside thewindow be different some day will what we say and what we see then match more?

Source:www.mindspring.com/~totalhue/compassioninaction.htm

Mehtar Hussain: A Man WhoTamed the Wind ............. ...........................8

Ideas Sprout in Young Minds ................. 10

The Nut Crackers .................................... 20

Sattvik 2007-The Fifth TraditionalFood Festival, December 1-4, 2007 ......... 11

The Honey Bee Collaborators Interact 17

Enabling the Blind to Cook,Moving the Songs by Foot: China... ...... 31

Budding Bureaucrats ImagineSolutions... ................................................ 35

Honey Bee Hums .......................................................... 26

News and Views ............................................................ 39

Dialogue ........................................................................ 44

Honey Bee Regional Collaborators

Aama Akha Pakha (Oriya)Dr Balaram SahuKeshari Enclave B- Block,Flat No-401 NayapalliBhubaneswar-12 [email protected]

Hittalagida (Kannada)Dr T N PrakashDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsUniversity of Agricultural ScienceGKVK, Bangalore - [email protected]

Ini Karshakan Samsarikkatte (Malayalam)Fr Hubby Mathew & T J JamesPeermade Development SocietyPeermade, Idduki - 685531 [email protected]

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

Num Vali Velanmai (Tamil)Mr P VivekanandanCoordinator HB Network45 T P M Nagar, Virattipathu - 625010Tamil Nadu. [email protected]

Palle Srujana (Telugu)Brig. Pogula Ganesham VSM (Retd)Flat No. 303, Angeerasa ApartmentsKeemti Colony, TarnakaHyderabad - 500015 Andhra [email protected]

Mr Sundaram VermaDanta (Village & Post), Sikar - 322 702Rajasthan, [email protected]

Mr Kamal Jeet675/25 Patel Nagar, Rohtak - 124001Haryana. [email protected]

Mrs Anita MahajanAnurama, 13 B, VivekanandaNagar near Yashwant NagarJalgaon Maharashtra

20th Shodhyatra:West Bengal .............................................. 40

Puzzles in Paddy: Possibilities fromAfrica ......................................................... 22


3

EDITORIAL

Will you stand by the IPRs of peasants ?

idespread existence of creative and innovative people atgrassroots in India is now accepted as a cultural trait of oursociety. Honey Bee Network has made a small contribution

towards creating this confidence. While accessing the knowledge,innovations and practices of the people (individuals or communities),the network realized the need for seeking informed consent of knowledgeproviders. Over last two decades, it has been found that most peopleshare their ideas easily, though some are quite understandably, secretiveand hesitant. Those who are secretive, fear that knowledge might loseits effectiveness if told to others. Some believe that it can be sharedonly with the competent and committed learners who can do justice toits evolution and application. Still others feel that this is the onlysource of power they are left with, should they give up even this one.There is a small minority, which believes that they need to haveprotection of their intellectual property rights in their knowledge. Whilemajority of the knowledge holders trust the members of the Networkand share their knowledge, some rightly would like to know the possibleconsequences of sharing their knowledge. When the Network membersbegin their dialogue by first sharing the knowledge of other innovativepeople with the prospective providers, some hesitance is overcome.Obtaining PIC from generally illiterate people is fraught with risks. Wehave to ask ourselves whether the knowledge providers really understoodthe implications of different choices offered to them? But the questionremains, do people fully realize what their privileges are and whetherthey can ensure compliance of their rights by every knowledge seeker.

Nobody had ever asked them for their permission. Given the traditionof generosity, they shared their knowledge often without any restriction.As has been discussed in these columns earlier, the outsiders, whetherwith commercial or noncommercial motive, documented the localknowledge and often published it. Neither attribution was made, norreciprocity was required. This led to the dilemma as to whether thecurrent norms of seeking and sharing knowledge provides sufficientincentive for communities to maintain the knowledge, transfer it to thechildren and feel rewarded when it was used by others. Convention onBiological Diversity and Desert Convention reiterated the need forinvolving knowledge holders and taking their approval while accessingand utilizing their knowledge. The Honey Bee Network was concernednot just with raising the question but also finding viable answers. Thenorms of acknowledgment were evolved in the beginning so that theconvention of making knowledge holders anonymous did not continueunquestioned. And yet, people continue to have doubts about the wayit should be shared with third parties. The rights to knowledge thatpeople produce by modifying Traditional Knowledge or developingnew innovations has been debated at various fora around the world.

The concept of PIC for innovations as distinct from TraditionalKnowledge and from individuals as well as groups or communities hasevolved gradually over last two decades. Most journals and publications

Conundrum of Consent: Defining and Defending Knowledge Rights of People

around the world do not insist that the PIC be obtained from theknowledge providers before publishing the findings of the third party‘authors’. Leaving aside the majority of the transactions on peoplesknowledge, which are not governed by PIC, even the ones, which aregoverned are not free from complexities. Should the process of takingconsent of illiterate people be videographed to avoid any misunderstandingsubsequently? After all, why is the consent being taken? It could befor value addition or publishing, or negotiating licensing of theirtechnology to third party. It could also be for dissemination. . Intentionsapart, one has to ensure that knowledge providers understand the rightthey have, for permitting or denying Network members the privilege toadd value in their knowledge one or the other way. The knowledgeholders and innovators have to deal with several complexities: howmuch of what they are sharing is actually theirs? To what extent theknowledge belongs to the community? And does community implyonly a village bound settlement or people in many villages scatteredover a large area? If the knowledge seeker cannot resolve all the questionssatisfactorily, should a less optimal choice be preferred? Large numberof social activists believe that since it is difficult to find individualcontribution in collective knowledge (leaving aside the clear cases ofcontemporary innovations), it is better not to take any permission andtreat the knowledge as public domain. If such is the case, then noreciprocity is due. There cannot be any biopiracy then, because people’sknowledge according to this view is in public domain. However, a goodaction need not be an accurate one and vice versa. How much trade offis ethically justified in this regard? If knowledge remains unvalorised,people may not get any benefit.

The younger generation may not find it worthwhile to pursue thisknowledge and we may lose the knowledge trail. What could we do,which is just as well as fair: (a) We could check with the communityelders in the case of knowledge being unique as to how much is knownwithin the community or across the community, (b) We could alsoascertain the extent to which the knowledge provider is actually themodifier of the traditional knowledge. We may distinguish betweenthose who are just aware vis-à-vis those who are aware, who practice(or have practiced in past) and have shared it with the younger people,(d) We explain the advantage of sharing the knowledge widely withoutany restriction and explain that except recognition there may not be anyother form of return in such cases and (e) We may share various optionsof keeping the knowledge open- source for personal use of other smallproducers but restricting it for those who wish to exploit it commerciallyat large scale (we exclude village artisans from this category). Thedefault condition may be that unless specified, we should assume thatknowledge providers would like to be consulted before sharing theirknowledge. The fact is that the Network members and collaboratorshave found it very difficult to obtain PIC from all the knowledgeholders. We have to inform the knowledge and information rights of allthe knowledge providers unilaterally while acknowledging thecontribution of knowledge of innovations by the people. The knowledgeproviders should also know about the Prior Art Search we did, toestablish the novelty or distinctiveness of their practice. Likewise, theresults of any validation trials or value addition study should be sharedwith them regularly. There are many ways in which knowledge can beacknowledged. Recently, while licensing several technologies to a privatecompany for developing agricultural growth promoters and veterinarymedicines by SRISTI and NIF, the company was obliged to share theadvance royalty for each product with the knowledge providing

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

Anil K Gupta

communities and individuals. Not just this. The companyalso put the photographs/names of the knowledgeproviders (if individuals are involved) on every bottle.At the same time, an appeal was also printed on eachbottle asking every consumer to be also a potentialprovider of knowledge at the toll free number of theNIF. Even here the sharing of benefits is not simple.While some people shared their knowledge much earlier,others did later. Some others who shared later mighthave learnt from the early developer of the knowledge.But some may have developed simultaneously and quiteearly, though they were discovered by the Networkmuch later. Benefits should go to them as well. We haveto make the process as inclusive as possible. If all thebenefits are collective, the entrepreneurial potential ofthe society will be masked. But if the gains are onlyindividual, the community structure, which helped inconserving the diversity and the knowledge system willcome under strain. We have to balance the both. Manyof these products were developed in the Sadhbhav–SRISTI Sanshodhan Natural Product Lab by pooling thebest practices of different communities and individuals.The consent of the provider of each component of thepooled knowledge was taken earlier. An elaborate benefitsharing model has been developed after lot of debate inthe SRISTI Board after consulting grassroots innovators.Shares of different stakeholders in the benefits havebeen normatively proposed with the understanding thatinnovators/TK holders could modify these in specificcases (Innovator, 30 %, nature conservation, 5%,community, 5%, innovation fund to help other not solucky innovators, 20%, Reseacrh and field trials, 15%,institutional overhead expenses, 15%, contingency fund, 5% and fund to promote innovations by women 5%).Every knowledge providing community and individualwas given three cheques in the last Traditional FoodFestival in December 2007. One for the individual, secondfor the community and third for the nature. This processhas to become more inclusive and benefits have to beshared with other knowledge providers also who sharedsimilar knowledge, though some what later.

An important issue, which has emerged in regard tofulfilling the expectations in the PIC, is the processthrough which knowledge networks have to be fosteredamong the innovators, and among the innovators and thementors, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. It is beingrealized that the Network, which created new benchmarksin scouting and documenting innovations, may not achievethe same success in building the value chain. New actorslike scientists, private sector entrepreneurs or companies,policy makers etc., have to be brought in the Networkfor social as well as commercial diffusion. Despite thepossibility that their motivations and expectations maybe different, they have to be persuaded to respect thenorms of PIC to maintain the trust of knowledgeproviders. This problem has been tackled so far in threeways. (a) While dealing with formal institutions belongingto ICAR or ICMR network, the institutions have beenabsolved of any liability on account of mistakes orconflicts with regard to the obtaining PIC or complyingwith the conditions therein. The entire responsibility

lies with NIF and/or the Networkmembers. This was necessary to avoidanxiety on the part of the scientists whoobviously have not participated inobtaining the consent or itsimplementation. (b) the Network membersgets PIC only for distinctive technologiesthat is the one which are not in publicdomain. PIC has a provision that if theknowledge provided is already in publicdomain due to prior research orpublication, then the conditions in the PICcould not apply. Because in suchconditions, the Network could not havedone anything to prevent third partiesfrom using public domain knowledgewithout sharing any benefits. (c) For allthe cases in which technologies aretransferred to third party entrepreneurs,with or without value addition oncommercial or non-commercial basis, atechnology transfer agreement or alicensing agreement is executed involvingthe knowledge providers. The idea is thatin the light of new opportunity, knowledgeproviders must have a chance to changeconditions they imposed while sharing theknowledge earlier. In the case of atechnology being available from severalsources in different villages at individualor community level, the traditionalcommunity leaders or village elders arebeing involved in addition to thePanchayati Raj institutions (decentralisedvillage councils) for obtaining PIC andimplementing it. There is a considerablescope to improve the interface with thecommunities and we are still learning aboutthe better ways of achieving accountabilitytowards knowledge providers. As theNetwork starts adding value to traditionalknowledge and sharing the benefits, theissue of informed consent and itsimplementation in consonance with notjust the letter but also the spirit of thecooperation, becomes pivotal. Future ofthe Network and its interface withknowledge providers will depend uponthe authenticity and transparency withwhich the value chain is built and thematerial or non material benefits are shared.One cannot restrict to sharing the benefitsonly at the final stage. Even in theproduction process, efforts have to bemade for sourcing the materials used formaking products in fair and sustainablemanner. The employment generated incollecting the material and making theintermediate products must also beaccounted for while describing the benefits.The consent may have been obtained onlyfor knowledge but an effort should be

made to source the raw material also fromthe knowledge providing people andregion. There is an implicit consent weshould take from nature itself. All materialsmust be harvested in a sustainable mannerso that current and future extraction iswithin the carrying capacity of theecosystem. This is not easy. We do nothave scientifically developed sustainableextraction protocols for leaves, branchesand other vegetative materials. This is apart of learning process. The wisdom ofthe local communities will act as theguiding principle till experimental evidencecan be generated to avoid any harm to theeco system.

The consent of knowledge providersconventionally was assumed to follow ifthere was silence. In the present context,such an assumption, though sanctified incertain local traditions, will not be justified.The articulation of preferences in asociety, where such choice was never givento knowledge rich economically poorpeople, is an unprecedented experiencefor most of the people. Honey BeeNetwork is mediating a discourse, whichhas received national and internationalattention but has not been operationalisedin the context of people’s knowledge asyet in academic or public or privateinstitution. We do hope that one day itwill become impossible for any externalagent, private or public, individual orinstitutional, national or international toseek knowledge, innovation and practicesfrom local people without their consent.We look forward to hear from the readersabout their experience either as knowledgeprovider or as knowledge scout or user indealing with PIC. In medical science, thistradition is much better established,although we do hear about unauthorizedorgan trade or drug trials. But in socialsciences, the government and the academiccouncils have not even taken the firststep. The guidelines for research byUniversity Grants Commission or All IndiaCouncil for Technical Education or otherstatutory bodies do not deal with theknowledge rights of the common peopleadequately. Democratisation ofknowledge and the right to share itaccording to one’s own wish has to becomethe basis of an ethical and accountableknowledge society.


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19TH

SHODH YATRA

When did you think of a new idea last?

No celebration for fifteen years

ime and again, in Sadiwara, Verinag,Nagam, Batagund, Bragam, Kreri, Lisseretc., every school where we had a

meeting, interaction with the students revealed onepainful fact. For the last fifteen to twenty years,no function had taken place. A whole generation

had grown up without knowing whatit meant to celebrate collective joy,have fun, and display one’s talent. Notmany outsiders seemed to havevisited these schools, even forceremonial purposes. This meant avery rich feast of cultural presentationby students in every school we went.

The stay at Kreri village from wheremost members of the voluntary teamhad been mobilized was very eventful.Three schools had organized a veryrich cultural program for ourwelcome in addition to a recipecompetition. The “chutney” ofapricot was a novelty, which mostpeople had not heard about. It wasalso believed to have nutraceuticalproperties.

Young learners who just startedwalking with us

Spontaneity of the spirit of ShodhYatra was captured in a memorableway by the decision of two youngstudents who started to walk with usafter interacting with us. AhmerHussain Jan, a student of tenth classjoined us from the first day itself,when we started the Shodh Yatrafrom Quazigund. He had lost hisfather, had a younger sister and an

Creativity UnconstrainedWalking Through the Chinars in Kashmir (Part II)19th Shodh Yatra (June 20-27, 2007) Anantnag District, Jammu & Kashmir

T



elder brother who studied in Srinagar in first yeararts course. He wanted to do an ITI course inelectrical fittings and start a shop of his own. Hehad been learning this from his maternal uncle.The small farm that he shared with his uncle did

not fetch sufficient income for the family. He gavean application to the principle for leave and camewith us. When asked if he would not lose out onstudies, he said that he had already learnt whatthe teacher was going to teach in that period.

Aquib Javed joined us from Doru. His fatherworked as a ranger in the Forest Corporation. Helearnt the herbal preparations from his maternalgrand mother (Nani) who passed away a fewyears ago. He used to observe her making variousherbal concoctions and got interested in the same.

He showed us “Gulkand” (akind of preparation of rose

petals with sugar after afew months of

fermentation

in an air tight container), which whentaken with hot water helps clear throatcongestion and is also good for health.He had brought some other herbs fromwhich he made a “Churna” (a powderformed by grinding the dried contents)for indigestion and another for curingworms in the stomach. He wanted todo Ph.D in Botanical sciences andcontribute something useful for thesociety. There were two students whojoined us from Kokernag, SyedIntekhab Firdaus and Saifjan Wani.They had also helped the scouting teamearlier.

Memories of the neighbours whomight return some day

While walking to Kokernag, we metthree young people who were curiousto know about our walk. One of themworked in Police department and theother two were students. They told usabout the gardens Pundits of the regionhad maintained, the ruins of theirhouses, temples and the rest. Theyrecalled how they used to celebrate allthe functions together; join each others’parties and marriages. They regrettedthat the Pundits had migrated and feltuncertain about their coming back. Itwas destiny they felt, which mightdecide about the timing of their return.

Earlier when we had passed byWatishtha Ashram, the young localsshowed us the ruins of the houses ofPundits. They mentioned how duringthe days when they were there, theywould not let any one take bath in theholy pond. They always wanted tomaintain the sanctity of the stream,

which originated there. Thosenorms had weakened in

recent times.

Aquib Javed

Singing Lantern

Born in a farmers’ family, GhulamMohammed Meer was a naughty

yet studious boy. His interest inall kinds of mechanical and electronicdevices since his childhood madehim take up an ITI course afterhis matric. He wanted to make acareer out of it, but he could neverget a job.

He returned home to take care ofhis land but continued experimentingwith all he could do. He claims tohave made a small toy helicoptermany years ago, which flew awaynever to return. He also made abattery charger and modified manyother items of daily use includingthe traditional wooden load carrierby incorporating lights and brakesin it.

The commonly used lanternintrigued Meer. He used to thinkwhy it could not be used for someother purpose as well. A personwalking in the night or working inthe light of the lantern needs someentertainment. This thoughtprompted him to make somechanges in the traditional lanternand he came out with his ‘SingingLantern’.

The innovater has fitted a batteryin kerosene chamber of an existinglantern. It works for light as wellas radio. The battery can be chargedby solar pannel too.

Locked houses of Kashmiri Pundits in Mattan


7When did you last confess to your children that you did not know the answer to their question?

The parting of a community, which was woventogether in the mixed (mili-juli sanskriti, tehjeeb)culture of Kashmir had not brought solace to anyone. It seemed to reverberate in the minds of localcommunities almost always with affection andnostalgia. Those who divided the communitymight not realize the scars they have left behind.But the yatris felt quite optimistic about thepossibility of their coming back.

We moved to Shangus village where we honouredsome of the Traditional Knowledge holders in a

roadside meeting. Whileentering the

village, onthe way,we saw a

b e a u t i f u lhouse. The

walls of thishouse seemed to be

painted with clay, but had absolutely no mark ofrain or dust. We decided to enter the house andfind out more about the impressive architecture.What we learnt was quite a revelation. It was ahouse of a weaver, made of unbaked clay bricks.It was plastered with clay mixed with gunny bagfibre (jute), without any use of concrete. More

than 30 years old, the house lookedvery new. It was reported to keepwarm in winter and cool in summer.It was also safe during earthquake.Later we heard that people felt thatmodern architecture involving bakedbricks and concrete walls and floorwas perhaps a reason for peoplehaving frequent back pains.

While walking towards Deethu –Reenipora, we saw a row of treesclosely planted. On enquiry, we wereshown an abandoned house of aPundit family, for which these treesacted as a natural curtain and a noise-block. In Soafsali village, we met a

physically challenged person, FirdoosAhmed Matkoo, who had a great giftof making clay toys and componentsresembling the ones made of metal.The finish was so perfect and thesurface so smooth that it wasdifficult to believe that it was a handcrafted product. In Mattan, we sawthe famous sun temple. A middle agedMuslim farmer came running onseeing us. He thought we were thePundits who were returning home.When he came close, he just said, “Iwant to say Ram Ram to you”. TheShodh yatris were deeply struck bythis pure demonstration of love andrespect. The sun temple was also

called Pandava’s temple made in sixthor seventh century. It had prayerrooms for large number of devoteesand stone idols of Ganga, Yamuna andSaraswati.

The yatra officially ended with ameeting at the Boys' Degree College,Anantnag. After we introducedourselves and explained the purposeof our yatra, a student asked, whendid you first come to Kashmir? Whenwe answered that it was 2005, he wasdismayed. Why did we take so long?Another student commented as towhere were we for last 47 years. This summed up the situation. Whyhad we not engaged with them for solong?

A thought that has remained with ussince then, unresolved, uneasily butpersistently.

Sun temple at Mattan

The mud house of Mohd. Yousuf Khan we sawon our way to Shangus

“I want to sayRam Ram

to you”

Mud toys made by Mr Matkoo


8

Mehtar HussainA Man who Tamed the Wind

A Dialogue on People’s Creativity, Experimentation & Innovation

PROFILE

This story is part of the research for Be! an ENTREPRENEUR a multi-media project to inspire millions of young peopleto choose to become entrepreneurs. Be! is being created by GOING TO SCHOOL, a non-profit trust based in New Delhithat makes magical media for children. To find out more, please log onto www.goingtoschool.com.(We thank DoelTrivedi for sharing enlivening experiences of Mehtar Hussain's life). This story has been prepared jointly with NIF.


9When did you last meet an innovator ?

"A minute of pedaling will be able to generate electricity fora single household for an hour", so claims Mehtar.

From Assam to Gujarat:

Another feather was added to their cap recently. At the request of GIAN West & NIF, both the brothers installed a windmillin little Rann of Kutch to pump brine water for making salt. VIKAS & SAVE, an NGO provided the platform for the same. Thiswindmill is a relief and facility not only for the salt workers but for the wild ass population too, who were earlier disturbedby the noise of diesel engine. It is an example of low cost, less polluting and easy manageable technology. There are modificationsbeing made in the windmill by GIAN West team in consultation with SAVE and VIKAS. A detailed note about subsequent adaptiveinnovation being tried by user salt workers will be given in the upcoming issue. Mehtar Hussain received consolation awardat fourth National Presidential award function of NIF at Delhi, Feb 2007.

Mushtaq

But it wasn’t so easy in the beginning. Mehtar wasteased and laughed at for the contraption he wasbuilding. To avoid all the teasing Mehtar carried the firstprototype into the field in the middle of the night. Heand his family even lied to all the villagers (This is justour new scarecrow, nothing else!’) fearing more ridiculefrom the village if the turbine did not work.


10

COOLSKOOL

Ideas Sprout in Young Minds!

Air tanks to prevent road accidents

Pranav SinghClass IXMaharaja Agrasen Vidyalaya, MemnagarAhmedabad

Accidents are commontoday, especially on thecrowded roads ofmetropolises. To escapethis situation, Pranavsuggests that small airfilled tanks be fixedunder the base of car.The air inside them canbe compressed to suchan extent that a largevolume of gas can bestored in it. In case of a

collision, the stored gas will be released, and the

car will be heaved upwards due to the force tosave it from the accident.

(If it sounds strange then suggest some thing better.Ed).

Seeds to generate electricity

Seeds exert a lot of pressure while germinating.If kept inside a container along with some waterfor a few weeks, they can generate force that canbreak a thin glass container. If thousands andthousands of seeds are left to germinate in a large

glass container, it will exert a hugeamount of pressure on the walls ofthe container eventually leading to itsbreakage. The mechanical energygenerated in the process can then beconverted into electrical energy. The

seeds can later be then given tofarmers and water can be used forvarious purposes so that nothing goeswaste.(In earlier times, gram seeds wereplaced in the crevices in the rocks tobreak them apart, using the sameprinciple. Ed)

Road bumps to light houses

There are many bumps or speedbreakers on the roads. We can designspeed breakers that would get pressedunder a vehicle's pressure. Themechanical energy thus generated

can be converted into electricalenergy and supplied to homes.

(Similar ideas were received byNational Innovation Foundationnif.org.in, several years ago from manypeople. Shri Sham Rao Parhate, in factmade a prototype using hydraulicsystem to amplify the pressure createdby moving vehicles. Why do not we stillhave working models of such creativeideas ? Ask the makers of public roadsand culverts in your region. Ed)

Apply breaks without usingyour leg

Jay A PatelClass IXH B Kapadia New High School,Ahmedabad-54

Jay thinksof makinga device inbikes byw h i c hbreaks canbe appliedw i t h o u tp u t t i n g

down our leg. It would have abutton connected to a spring onpressing which, the side standwould come down and the vehiclewould come to a halt. On leavingthe brake, the supporters wouldcome up and the person canmove further.

It does not matter whether the ideas given here are feasible or not. What matters is that these are ideas, spawnedby young school children who observe problems and want to do something about them, little eyes but big dreams.Science City Council brings such students every year to IIMA to learn about the Honey Bee Network and getideas about creative ways to explore science. Purpose is to kindle curiosity of bright school children of Gujaratabout a career in science.

Contd.. on page 38



11

A new beginning

The Fifth Traditional Food Festival, Sattvik, wasorganized by SRISTI at IIMA campus duringDecember 1-4, 2007 with the support of theHoney Bee Network, GIAN, NIF and IIMA. TheDirector of IIM, Prof Sameer Barua inauguratedthe festival. Shri Ishwar Bhai, Founder Trusteeof Gram Bharati, a Gandhian education institutionat Amrapur and Gujarat Sarvodaya Mandal,appreciated the rich cultural and crop diversity inthe country. With thousands of varieties of riceand other crops, it offered a vast range of choicesto people. He commended the effort of organizingSattvik, which might help in conserving not just

the diversity but also associatedknowledge systems.

Shri Sukhdevbhai of Ganatar tookspecial effort to educate the visitorsthrough his volunteers about theinitiatives for making children moreresponsible, socially conscious andmore inclusive in their outlook.Ganatar has provided immensesupport to the Honey Bee Networkin scouting innovative practices fromGujarat. Sukhdevbhai's studentVishnu Bachubhai Dumania is onesuch example. Vishnu could not study

Sattvik 2007 - The Fifth Traditional Food FestivalDecember 1-4, 2007

SATTVIK

Diversity in food cannot be maintained without appreciating and acknowledging the diversity in culture. But howdo we express our cultural preferences and differences? Food is one way. We celebrate these differences everyyear through Sattvik Food Festival. Creating market for organic food, fast disappearing grains, recipes andproducts from different parts of the country may help us in maintining the cultural, culinary and agriculturaldiversity. Most children who visited Sattvik could tell more about the purpose of the Traditional Food Festival,compared to adults. This is what gives us hope. Ask yourself, what did you consume last week, which connectedyou to the roots and the diversity?

“If God had intended us to follow recipes,He wouldn’t have given us grandmothers.”

Linda Henley

When did you consume organic food last?

since most families in the saltmanufacturing region required theirchildren to monitor the water levels


12

in the water pumping tanks. Vishnu had receivedan award from Dr R A Mashelkar, Chairperson,National Innovation Foundation for his innovativewater level indication system at the 4th biennialawards at NIF. We hope similar organizationswill help disseminate this message of the HoneyBee Network so that we can reach out to manymore Vishnus. Ganatar organised street plays anddances to convey the deeper messages about therelevant school education during the festival.

Tongue Tied, Recipe Ride!

On the afternoon of 30th November, 2007 acontest of lesser known traditional recipes washeld at the IIM campus. Thirty five participantsshared more than 110 recipes. Some of theuncommon recipes were healthy noodles madeof “Ragi”, sherbet made of “Bili” fruit, AppleWood (Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa), nectar oflemon-guava (Citrus limon L. and Psidiumguajava L.), Shoe-flower (Hibiscus rosa-sinensisL.) juice, “Shankhpushpi” (Evolvulus alsinoides

L.) juice, sweet kachori, stuffed pancake with"Kang", Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.)dip, "Dodi" (Leptadenia reticulata Wt. & Arn.)mathiya, Jowar (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.)-apple pudding, sweet “Shingoda”, Water Chesnut(Trapa natans L.) and many more.

Prof (Smt) Ambarben Trivedi (Former Head ofthe Department, Food and Nutrition, B.D. HomeScience College, Ahmedabad), Prof (Smt)Rekhaben Mehta (Head Department of Food &Nutrition) and Dr. Dharmishtha Gandhi (Asst.Professor, Dental College, Vadodara) evaluated therecipes.

Ms. Ranjanben Shah received the 1st prize forher five recipes, healthy noodles, “Jowar”,(Sorghum bicolor (L.)Moench)raab,“Chil”

(Chenopodium album L.) & “Dudhi”(Leptadenia reticulata Wt. & Arn.)muthiya, “Bili” (Aegle marmelos (L.)Correa) ju ice ,“Shankhpushpi”(Evolvulus alsinoides L.) juice. MsMeenaben S. Trivedi received the 2nd

prize for her recipes, "Dodi" muthiya,juice of ginger (Zingiber officinaleRosc.), lemon (Citrus limon L.),“Amla” (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.),“Pudina” (Mentha arvenses L.), and“Tulsi” (Ocimum sanctum L.),chutney of “Amli-khajur” and gur(jaggery) (Tamarindus indica L. andPhoenix dactylifera L.) (that can bestored for one year). Mrs. EktaParekh received the 3rd prize forstuffed Pancake with “Kang”, Foxtailmillet (Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.) dip(a low calorie dish). In addition, tencontestants received consolationprizes.

Potpourri in Hot Pots!

Though the participation from Gujaratwas understandably large, peoplefrom far off places like Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, UttarPradesh, West Bengal, Assam, TamilNadu and Kerala had also put up theirstalls. The festival truly maintainedits diversity by offering not justreadymade organic products anddishes made of them, but alsoseedlings of “Ajma pan”,(Trachyspermum ammi L.), “Brahmi”(Centella asiatica (L.) urban),“Mamejavo” (Enicostemma littoraleBl.), “Dodi” (Leptadenia reticulataWt. & Arn.), “Kuvarpathhu” (Aloevera L.), “Limbdo” (Azadirachtaindica Nees).

Organic food from Daanta Ramgarh,Shekhawati and Jodhpur, Rajasthanmobilized by the HBN innovator MrSundaram Verma was available. “DalBaati” “Dahi Bade”, “Baajre kiRabri”, choorma made of wheat flour(helps fight against cold) and onionkachori were quite popular among thevisitors. One of the stall owners addedthat “the urban ways of making Baatiusing an oven makes it lose the

original taste”. According to him theiruniqueness lies in maintaining the ageold process of making the dishes.

People from Chamba and Kangra,Himachal Pradesh had also put uptheir stall (mobilized by two NGOs,

Era and Sewa Himalaya). Dr ArunChandan explained that the “Rajma”,Kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)and “Urd”, Black gram, (Vignamungo L.) they had brought alongwas grown by the tribals and otherfarmers in the middle, upper-middleand alpine zones. The “Urd”, (Blackgram) according to him not onlytakes less time to cook, but is alsoincomparable in taste. They had alsobrought jams, chutney and sherbetmade of Rhododendron, which theyclaimed were highly recommendedfor cardiac patients. Rhododendronsare notable for their flowers lastingonly for fifteen days after which theywither away. It is indeed a challengingtask for farmers to gather theseflowers within this time period andprocess them. Anoopbhai, a farmermobilised local women in the area forpicking these flowers and its sherbet



13

besides plum jam and apple chutney. Despite thefact that the production was low and the priceshigh, most of the products were sold on the firstday itself. Chukh, a variety of pickle made withcitrus juice, chillies, garlic and sugar used as anatural preservative was another unique item fromChamba. A special feature of this stall was the"Makki ka Atta" (Maize floor) they had brought.A local non-hybrid variety of Maize was groundby water mill. They had also aimed at a set ofnew dishes everyday with eleven recipes to offer.Notable amongst these was Bichoo booti (Urticadioca L.) ka saag, which is good for arthritis andneurological disorders. They were also very keenon holding the festival at local level with supportof the HBN.

Sardar Patel farm participates in the festival everyyear. They came up with powedered "Chiku",Sapota ( Achras sapota L.), Amla ( Emblicaofficinalis Gaertn.) and lemon that can be usedas instant add-ins for milk shakes and ice creams.They also offered ice-creams made from thesepowders, which attracted a huge crowd. DrDinesh Patel, a cardiologist took a break from his

clinic only to be at the festival. Theswitch from being a doctor to afarmer came easy to him. He said,“I had created a fence around methat separated me from nature. Ithought I could not wake up atseven in the morning to dig soil.When I put my foot out, I sawunlimited opportunities”. He touchedupon the importance of certificationin the acceptance of organicproducts among the public. “Whenwe started, I thought if I ampracticing organic farming, I willneed no certification from people forI know my products are authentic.But now I have realized that I maybelieve in my products, but it isimportant for people to see a thirdparty confirming these products asgenuine” said Dr Patel whose farmhas now obtained certification fromIndia Organic, and other agencies.He added that though certificationis a costly affair, small scale farmers

can opt for a group certification andpractice organic farming.

Sahya, a womens’ association fromIdduki District, Kerala mobilized bythe Peermade Development Societywith active support from NIF alsoparticipated for the first time in thefestival. On display were foodsupplements made of jackfruit, andpickles made of grapes, pineapple anddates. All the products had their basein the Traditional Knowledge ofwomen. Commercialization of theirinnovative products has led to thewomen earning additional monthlyincome of 1000-1500 rupees.

Health drinks like "Sehjan" (Moringaoleifera Lam.) Soup (helpful inarthritis) and sherbets made of Cactusfruit (Opuntia dillenii (Ker-Gawl.)Haw.), "Tulsi" (Ocimum sanctumLinn.) and Amla (Emblica officinalisGaertn.) were also available apartfrom organic herbal tea, barley water,imported coffee from Philippinesand the traditional "Kahewa", theKashmiri tea. The syrup of cactusfruit was a run away success.Khedut Haat had farmers fromvarious regions selling seeds ofcereals, herbs, oils, vegetables,millets, papad, jaggery and someherbal medicines.

Women from various districts inGujarat, mobilized by Sewa GramMahila Haat also displayed theirproducts at the Khedut Haat.Interesting products at their stall werethe Ginger-Amla sherbet fromDeopura village, Anand. All of this wassold on first day.

Mitticool, Maruti Jhoola and more...

An exhibition of innovations fromdifferent parts of the country wasorganized by NIF and GIAN on theoccasion. We had a gas operatediron from Andhra Pradesh, side standgear lock from Kerala, manual milkingmachine from Karnataka, Maruti Jhoola,earthen kitchen product range from

Will you stand by the IPRs of peasants ?


14

Gujarat among many other things. Earthen productrange like tawas, pots, mugs, fridge (Mitticool)were displayed by Shri Mansukhbhai Prajapati,an innovator from Wakaner, Gujarat. Traditionallymade and uniquely designed leather chappals byBhaiyaram from Chattisgarh, small toys madefrom wires, cards and other stationary itemsmade from flower pulp were other attractions.Battery operated tricycle for handicappedpeople made by Shri Asjadbhai from Kayalpur,Banaskantha, Gujarat also received some ravereviews. It was an outstanding example of howa son who really cared, designed a tricylcle tosuit various needs of his aged father.

New Products at Display

Clay cooker by Shri Mansukhbhai Prajapati waslaunched on the first day along with the mobilewater carrier and dispenser, ‘Ganges Water Wagon”,from the makers of Natural Water Cooler ‘Unicool’,M/s Rachna Industries and Shri Arvindbhai Patel,innovator. NIF-SRISTI also displayed their Shashvatrange of neutraceutical products that included cactusfruit drink in two flavors, “Moringa” (Moringaolifera Lam.) based health tonic, “Ragi” (Eleusinecoracana (L.) Gaertn.) and Barley (Hordeum vulgareL.) enriched food supplements in three flavors,seven grain biscuits, biscuits to be had during fasting,“Kodri”, Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.)biscuits and herbal tea.

Once eaten, twice try!

A critical component of the food festival was togather feedback from the visitor to constantly improvethe festival. Shri Arun Kumar Agrawal, who hadbeen to all the earlier festivals, cancelled his tripto Agra for this food festival. His wife who alwaysbuys organic food for home supported the cause

….And the little ones

Face painting, hand paintingand T-shirt painting weresome of the activitiesorganized for the children.Many beautiful and inspiringsongs were sung by tengirls of Gram Vidyapith,Amrapur all belonging todifferent districts in

Gujarat. A small girl guided her grandfather to the kids area and simplyrefused to leave. She was not the only one. Sanskriti, a student ofclass VII decided to skip her tuition classes for the festival.

Though waste-bins were placed at regular intervals, their use by smallkids was impressive. We observed a group with a small child neara food counter. After they had consumed the eatables, the group stoodthere for long chatting. A kid who was looking at them for quitesome time took the waste plates from their hand, and despite notbeing tall enough to reach the waste bin, lifted himself up and threwthe waste in.

A remarkable feature ofthe Fifth Traditional FoodFestival had been a clearunderstanding in childrenof not only the objectivesof the food festival butalso the implication ofgoing organic. On beingasked the purpose of thefestival they saidunanimously, “it isorganized to bring forththe traditional food varietiesfrom different states of India and to promote organic food.” Katha,of class VII went on to say “we have been adopting food fromdifferent countries. This is an attempt to realize the cultural and culinarydiversity within our own country”.

The Aggrawal familyhad visited the festivalfor the first time. Theysaid “our granddaughter Eli got ushere.She had visitedthe festival twice withher Aunt. A year hadpassed but she knewthe way to the festivaland guided therikshaw driver.”


Asjadbhai demonstrating thefunctioning of his innovative tricycle


15

of organic farming saying “ye do inch ki jeebhhoti hai na, yehi faisla karti hai ki andar kya jayega.Hum sirf swad ke liye khate hain aur galat khanakhake jab bimar hote hain to wohi jeebh kadwidawai to jhel jati hai, lekin agar kaho ki neem karas sehat ke liye accha hai to nahi maanti.”

(This tongue no matter how small, decides whatgoes in the stomach. We have a habit of eating fortaste. On falling sick after eating improperly the

same tongue that refuses to understand that Neemis good for health, takes in doses of bitter medicine)

Amanda from England liked the fact that she couldget organic products in India. She said, “In England,I only use organic products, but in the last fourmonths that I have been in India, it has been difficultfor me to find non chemical input based products.Its encouraging seeing there is a market for organicproducts here”. She also suggested some of thebanners be in English also so that people fromother countries can enjoy the fare without havingto deal with the language barrier. She expressedan interest in visiting the fair next year with ahope of seeing clothes made of organic fabrics.Shri M S Sudarshanan and Shri Ajay K Nair fromIIMA said they would like to see more participationfrom the Southern states. They also suggested a

digital display of the food items nearthe stalls so that the crowd at the stallscould be managed more effectively.

Rameshbhai and Smt Tarulatabenbought “Singdana”, Groundnut (Arachishypogea L.), ‘Nibda” ka gado,”Nagli”ka aata (Eleusine coracana (L.)Gaertn.), and “Til” (Sesamum indicumL.) from the Khedut Haat. Despiterealizing that the price of organicproducts was quite high as comparedto the chemical input based productsavailable in the market, an understandingof the authenticity of the products wasenough for them to buy so much. Theyhowever felt that the Khedut Haat mustbe provided a bigger space and shouldbe highlighted more.

The aura at the festival was suffusedwith mirth, laughter, noise, music,and voices of the multitudes. Somewho rejoiced the dishes wanted tochange their life styles but for many,it was just a happy diversion fromevery day routine. Children seemedmore interested in persuading theirparents to shift their currentconsumption style. Lack of a regular

outlet of authentic organic choiceswas regretted by everybody. Unlessfarmers movement comes forwardto develop a rigorous repeated andrandom inspection system so that


authenticity can be assured, manyconsumers will remain unconvinced.The Network is pursuing this idea withits members and hopefully such asystem of inspection will emerge indue course. Unless we create marketsof some of the fast disappearingcrops and their varieties, theirconservation will indeed becomevery difficult. Urban consumers haveto join hands with rural producers andthe Sattvik will continue to provide a

platform for dialogue to take place.Dialogue on diversity has to sustainthe confluence of creativity incultural, culinary and consumptionchoices of consumers.


16

NATIONAL INNOVATION FOUNDATION, INDIA

The Department of Science and Technologyestablished National Innovation Foundation (NIF)India on February 2000, with the main goal ofproviding institutional support in scouting, spawning,sustaining and scaling up grassroots greeninnovations and helping their transition to self-supporting activities. The Governing Council of NIFhas several distinguished members and is chairedby Dr R A Mashelkar, former Director General, CSIRand President, Global Research Alliance.

National Innovation Foundation, constituted by theDepartment of Science and Technology, Governmentof India, aims to recognise, respect and rewardgrassroots technological innovators and outstandingtraditional knowledge experts.

The competition

The NIF solicits entries of unaided technologicalinnovations and traditional knowledge developed byan individual or group comprising farmers, artisans,fishermen and women, slum dwellers, workshopmechanics, students, local communities etc., inmanaging natural and/or other resources. Theinnovations can be in machines, gadgets,implements, or processes for farm operations,household utility, transportation for improved efficiency,energy conservation or generation, and reduction indrudgery, creative use of biodiversity, plant varieties,generation of herbal remedies for human or animalhealth or developing new or any other low costsustainable green technology related to variousaspects of survival in urban and rural areas. Creativeideas for innovative technologies are also welcome.Communities developing People’s BiodiversityRegister (PBR) or People’s Knowledge Register(PKR) are encouraged to register/link their knowledgebase with the National Register at the NIF.

The awards

The best three innovations and traditional knowledgepractices will be awarded Rs 1,00,000, Rs 50,000and Rs 25,000 each in different categories. Inaddition, individuals and/or organizations that makeextraordinary contributions in scouting grassrootsinnovations and traditional knowledge may also getawards worth Rs 50,000, 25, 000 and 15, 000respectively besides recognition to many others. There will be several consolation prizes of Rs 10,000each in different categories depending upon thenumber of entries and incremental inventiveness andpotential social and environmental impact. Threemost outstanding innovative ideas may be given

prizes of Rs 50,000, 25,000 and 15,000 in addition toconsolation prizes of Rs 5,000 each. There are specialprizes for innovations by or dealing with, physicallychallenged people.

Students

Young inventors and innovators are invited to send theirideas or innovations for a special category of awardsfor them. These should be unsupervised, an outcomeof their own creativity, without any support from theirteachers or outsiders. There will be prizes worth Rs15,000, 10,000 and Rs 7,500 for the best three entriesand several consolation prizes of Rs 5,000 each in thiscategory.

How to participate

Individuals or groups may send as many entries asthey wish on plain paper providing a) genesis of theinnovation and traditional knowledge b) its backgroundand c) educational qualification and occupation,accompanied by photographs and/or videos if possibleand any other information that may help in replicatingthe innovations/traditional knowledge. Herbal entriesmay be accompanied by dried plant samples to enableproper identification procedure. The Sixth NationalCompetition started on February 1, 2007 and entrieswould be accepted till December 31, 2008. Every entryshould include the full postal address, as this facilitatesfurther communication. Please send the entries to:

Where to send entries?

National Coordinator (Scouting & Documentation)National Innovation Foundation, Bungalow No. 1

Satellite Complex, Premchand Nagar Road,Ahmedabad 380015 GujaratToll Free No 1800 233 5555

Fax: (079) - 2673 1903email: [email protected] www.nifindia.org

Our Regional Collaborators: Various organizations andindividuals across the country assist us in recognizinggrassroots innovators and traditional knowledge holders.Our regional collaborators are P Vivekanandan fromSEVA, Tamil Nadu, T N Prakash from PRITVI, Karnataka,Balaram Sahu from Innovations Club, Orissa, FatherHubby Matthew and T J James from PDS, Kerala,Ranjan Mahapatra from SRISHTI, Orissa, Arun Chandanfrom Makhir, Himachal Pradesh, Sundaram Verma fromRajasthan, Anita Mahajan from Maharashtra, KamalJeet from New Delhi, Sonia from Uttarakhand, RajeevRanjan from Social Upliftment Trust, Jharkhand andBrajkishore Kumar from Dr Ambedkar Sansthan, Bihar.

The Sixth National Biennial Competition for Scouting Green GrassrootsUnaided Technological Innovations and Traditional Knowledge

Co-sponsors

IIM-A

Honey Bee Network

CSIR

SRISTI



17

COLLABORATORSMEET

The Honey Bee Collaborators Interact

Reinventing markets for sustainableproduction and consumption

here is a need to create an entrepreneurialrevolution at the grassroots level byturning the supply chain upside down.

The challenge, however, still lies in providing ane-commerce platform, linking the courier andpackaging industries to cater to the consumerrequirements. Idea being that a distant consumercould order a traditional processed food or someother such product made by women and men invarious parts of the country. At the same time,there is a need to customize the goods as per theconsumers’ needs. Rather than just focusing onvertical markets, an attempt must be made toprovide horizontal/circular market so that goodsfrom one village can reach another. There is aneed to provide a “signature of source”, so that aconsumer in one country is able to establish thesource of the commodity in another.

Shri Sundaram observed, “even today when a localvegetable seller with her small basket sits next to

a big vegetable shop, manyconsumers prefer to buy locallygrown fresh farm vegetables fromher. Thus, we have to empower smallgrowers and vendors".

Recollecting the past while movingforward

Shri Vivekanandan recalled how hisjourney with the Honey Bee Networkbegan seventeen years ago in 1991when he met Prof Gupta. Within afew months, he started volunteeringfor the Network. He worked with theinsurance sector and a Nationalizedbank but was not satisfied with hisjob. He along with Shri MuthuVelayutham started organizingbiodiversity competitions with schoolchildren in 1991-92 in Tamil Nadu.He initiated the Tamil version ofHoney Bee during 1992 and has beenpublishing it ever since. The Tamilversion of Honey Bee soon paved

way for its publication in otherregional languages with the help oflocal collaborators.

Shri Vivekanandan said “despite amasters’ degree in agriculturalsciences, I had not gathered as muchinformation on the subject as I didfrom field experiences.” Now manyGoshalas are inviting him to share hisexperience and also train people onindigenous herbal healing practices.He also informed that the ethno-veterinary practices scouted fromTamil Nadu have been compiled inthe form of a book in Tamil and alsoto an extent in Gujarati. Since manypeople are interested, a Hindi versionof the same can be worked out bythe team members.

He added that on the one hand,National level programmes like thefood festival, Shodh Yatras and the

T


The relationship among institutions, network and individuals (Innovators, volunteers and others) has always been adelicate one. Institutions try to standardize, network try to differentiate and individuals in social movements try to deviate,express dissent and diversify. The informal interaction among various Honey Bee Network collaborators during TraditionalFood Festival on December 3, 2007 generated lot of insights about the way forward. The dialogue will continue duringSRISTI Samman (Awards) function and Foundation Day celebration of NIF during February 28-29, 2008.



award functions are important, efforts at anindividual/local level also need to be strengthenedto provide support to the Network. The languagebarrier that often retards growth at this frontneeds to be dissolved. Shri Vivekanandan, whohas been continuing as a Honey Bee Networkcoordinator for the last five years has opted topass on the responsibility to other members.

Father Mathew recalled the important events sincethe last Honey Bee meeting. In November 2007,Regional Research Advisory Committee (RAC)meeting on mechanical innovations was held atIdduki where twenty eight innovations werediscussed and expert opinion was sought onthem. Missing details for all the innovations isbeing searched. Similarly for agriculturalinnovations, an RAC meeting was held inDecember,2007.

In May 2007, a training programme on Scoutingand Documentation was held for the science clubcoordinators, teachers and students in Kerala. Acompetition was also organized among children.In August 2007, four products, developed usingindigenous knowledge of women, were launchedincluding two nutrient supplements, an oil and afumigant. Twelve other products are currentlyunder-trial. As a result of these products, fourwomen earn a regular income of upto Rs 2000-2500 per month each. Valsamma Thomas, a herbalhealer, earned so much profit from the Rs 25,000given by NIF to make and market her hair oil thatshe bought a car in November. Shri SundaramVerma appreciated the efforts of PDS in providinga stable source of income to women andhoped that more such attempts would be madein future. Father Mathew inquired if NIF couldappoint a marketing person to oversee themarketing of the products developed by SHGsand help in the development of the supply chain.

Shri Yusuf Khan of Rajasthan explained how hisground nut digger was used by Dr Rammana (anentrepreneur) to develop a device to clean thecoastal areas from debris in Vishakhapatanam.The modified sea beach cleaner is still underdevelopment. He has received Rs 1, 55,000 asdown payment up front and would receive a royalty(4 percent) for the same in future. He has decidedto give ten percent share of it to GIAN-N andaround five percent to his scout, Shri SundaramVerma. Shri Sundaram requested the fellow Networkmembers to discuss the issue openly and advise.It needs to be seen how and whether the benefit

sharing model that till now has a placefor the innovator, his community, nature,and women apart from otherstakeholders can now incorporate ashare for the scout also. They indeedplay a very important role in the chain.

Overcoming challenges and realizingopportunities

The Network in Kashmir hasprogressed considerably with the helpof Mushtaq, Zahoor, Nadeem andSabzar apart from other well wishers.They had also extended immense helpin organizing the 19th Shodh Yatra.Subsequently, the local team hasorganized several workshops and triedto spread the Network in the region.

Another success of the Network hasbeen in permeating the realms of theacademic world. While the Honey BeeNetwork model continues to be taughtin the universities abroad, we needto make similar efforts to promote itat the National and regional levels.

Grassroots to global

Activities of the Network oninternational front were discussed.

Important amongst these have beenthe online and offline incubationplatform being built for India, Braziland China for sharing grassrootsinnovations and promotingentrepreneurship. In China, morethan 500 grassroots innovations havebeen scouted in a period of one year.An international conference wasorganized last year at Tianjin, Chinaand worldwide support washarnessed in support of the HoneyBee Network. Similarly, the APCTTworkshops have been organized inPhilippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,India, Indonesia etc., to build capacityin these countries in scouting anddocumentation The participation ofthe local innovators at global forumscontinues to increase. Shri Sundaramrepresented SRISTI and the Networkalong with Prof Gupta at the inauguralfunction of the second session of theGoverning Body of the InternationalTreaty on Plant Genetic Resourcesfor Food and Agriculture (ITPGR GB-2), 29th October 2007 at Rome. The21st Shodh Yatra likely to beorganized in UK in August, 2008 incollaboration with Professor Katalinof Cambridge University and othervolunteers in UK including Mark


19When did you last confess to your children that you did not know the answer to their question?

Davis and Ruth Thomson of Kodak. Next summerShodh Yatra may be in Eastern UP and Bihar orin Andhra Pradesh.

The Honey Bee Network in the past few yearsthrough its editorials in Honey Bee newsletter hasmade a genuine attempt to critique the existingpublic policy, as a duty of a responsible Networkserving the interest of creative communities andindividuals at grassroots. The idea is to enable thecommon people to also stand up against any unjustpractice.

It was mentioned that all the versions of HoneyBee taken together have not directly reached morethan 20, 000 people, a figure that needs to beimproved in the coming year. While the Networkhas managed to document a considerable amountof knowledge, a major challenge still lies indisseminating it uniformly across the nation andalso abroad.

Marketing innovations

The activities of the SRISTI laboratory were alsodiscussed. Sadbhav foundation, a trust hadprovided SRISTI a sum of Rs 60 lac five yearsago to analyze local technologies, add value to

the products and market them orlicense them to other partners sharingbenefits with the knowledgeproviders. Rs 10 lac worth ofproducts have already been sold inMaharashtra and Gujarat and trials areon in Delhi, Uttaranchal and Lucknow(UP). Matrix Biosciences, Hyderabadhas also come forward and helpedSRISTI conduct field trials in India,Canada and Holland. They have alsostarted an innovation series beginningwith products based on thirteeninnovations. Every bottle of theproduct reads the product name, thecompany’s name, a sketch of theinnovator, and a message inviting anyfeedback or new idea to NIF's tollfree number. It is an importantdevelopment where the consumerhimself becomes the knowledgeprovider.

Organization as a collective entity

Dr Sudarshan Iyengar, Vice Chancellor,Gujarat Vidyapeeth, and a very oldNetwork member, felt that reaching

different people in various differentparts of the country in differentlanguages is an innovation in itself.Traversing new paths more often thannot happens through a leader, and theleader in the process gets moreattention than the movement itself.Through self-critical assessment, hehoped that the movement will find newdirections.

The relationship between the variousorganizations like the NIF, SRISTI,and GIAN needs to be assessedcarefully. All these organizationsemerge from a movement and in ourattempt to deeply embed the messageof the movement with the help ofcreating organizations, we mustensure that the organizationssynergize with the aspirations of themovement.

Brig Ganesham, Coordinator fromAndhra Pradesh could not attend themeeting but conveyed hisobservations and suggestions. Hesuggested the need for higher visibilityfor grassroots innovations around thecountry. Moreover, he said that theNetwork should try to tie up withthe employment guarantee programof Indian Government so as toencourage adoption of the ruralinnovations by unemployed peoplee.g. sanitary napkins making machine.He has further suggested thatmonthly feedback on innovationsshould be collected and circulated,and this be transmitted to other HoneyBee publishers of various editions andalso the respective contributions inlocal language. The collaboratorsshould be briefed about National andInternational events soonest for theireffective involvement.

There were many other suggestionsto make the Network effective andmore vibrant. The new coordinatormust be able to spend enough time invisiting each region and galvanize theNetwork so that connection amongcreative people and the Network growsstronger day by day.


20

NUTCRACKERS

Electronic Complaint Board

Vaibhav Verma

An online message board, where people cananonymously put their complaints for any act ofcorruption. The message would be public and can

be read byeveryone. Thefear of gettingthe namedisplayed on themessage boardwill preventpeople fromindulging incorruption.

(Care can be taken to avoidfrivolous complaints, throughsome user managed scrutinysystem. Ed)

Midnight buffet for the poor

Nayan Karnavat

The idea is to collect unserved food fromrestaurants across city (at a discounted price)every night. Poor people from the neighbouringcommunities should be mobilized to cleanlocalities-footpaths, bus stops, railway stationsetc., for 10-15 minutes every night and then beserved food in return. The money required for

food can be collected from municipalcorporations (in return for cleaningthe city). Mass messages can becommunicated at such buffets(regarding cleanliness, healthawareness).

(Such efforts have been made worldwide,so long as dignity is maintained, suchefforts may have relevance; questionoff course must be asked as to why highgrowth economy of India cannot feedall its people. Ed)

Let’s walk, my friend…

Vibha Singhal

A buddy system can be encouragedwhere young people volunteer to taketheir neighborhood elderly people fora walk. Each volunteer can take theresponsibility of one elderly person.This will prove to be a mutuallybeneficial deal where the elderly canenjoy the company of the young, canknow more about them, their lifestyleand their thoughts. The volunteers onthe other hand avail of the vast poolof experience and knowledge of theelderly.

(Write to us when you take such a step,particularly for a stranger, but any onewould do. Ed)

Adopt BPL People and save tax

Abhishek Verma

Every tax payer should adopt a personbelow poverty line and a part of thetax he pays to the government should

be directly given to the adoptedperson. However, when the systemis in use, he will be connected to aBelow Poverty Line (BPL) person andthis BPL person gets a share of hisincome. Of course, the Government.will need to part with certain funds,but whatever funds it parts with willensure a better livelihood for a BPLperson.

If the person pays very high tax, heshould have the freedom to chooseand be connected with multiple BPLperson. Thus, the Government candivide taxpayers in various categorieswith each category assigned a setnumber of BPL people. For instance,everyone in category A has to adoptone BPL person, in category B twoBPL person and so on. Thesecategories A, B, C, D are in order ofincreasing tax payments. Thetaxpayer may be allowed to set arestriction on usage of funds, e.g. foreducation of children, food andlivelihood, medical, savings forfuture use etc.

(Hope the Finance Minister islistening! Ed)

Mobile schools and reverse grading

Akanksha Thakore

Creating a system (especially inmunicipal schools in remote villages)whereby students grade teachers anda part of the latters’ pay is associatedwith this. This will ensure quality,attendance of teachers, and solvingthe problem of schools with truantteachers.

Towards Creative, Compassionate and Collaborative IndiaIdeas from senior students


As a part of a first year course on Indian Social and Political Environment at IIMA, every student is encouraged to comeup with a new idea (feasible/utopian), product, service or improvement in an existing product or service. Some of theselected ideas are mentioned here. First seven ideas are from IIM students and last three are from the students of BKschool of Management, Ahmedabad collected during a lecture there. We are sure that every institution of higherlearning in the country has young people who care about the society at large and wish to contribute in solvingproblems. Watch out for who will be the next on this page.


21

Also she thinks of a mobile school that will not beconstrained by any walls. The world would be itsclassroom, its playground, its laboratory. A mobileschool will take the students for a live, hands-onexperience. The idea is to draw out learning fromwithin the students, and show them the worldthrough new eyes.

Application forms in newspapers

Ankur Chandgothia

Every year, a lot of competitive exams in variousfaculties of studies like engineering, medical, lawetc. are conducted at regional as well as Nationallevel. The application forms for these examsshould be printed in the newspapers and the peopleshould be allowed to cut out the form and send itthrough post. This will reduce the transactioncosts both for the people conducting the tests aswell as for those appearing in them. It will alsomake the information related to exams reach outto a lot more people.

Improved medical dispensing system

Abhishek Biswas

It has been seen at times that the right medicine isnot provided to the patients, especially to thosefrom the lower economic strata in Governmenthospitals. At times, the wrong medicine isprovided, at other times, incomplete medicationis given. The reason for this is the time constraintscoupled with lack of clarity about propermedication.

There should be a process where the dosage andthe required medicines are fed into a computerrather than preparing it before the required time.A proper mix of pills can then be filled intoindividual bottles and kept in a patients’ room withhis name, bed number and room numberbeforehand.

RFID in buses

Tushar Patel

Tushar suggests the use of Radio FrequencyIdentification Device (RFID) in public transport.One can put RFID tags in all state transport busesand their terminals on major bus stands. This willprovide information about the exact position of abus. At the same time, this empowerment of thepassenger will lead to a competitive pressure on

the state transport to performefficiently. Tushar thinks that thecost of such an application may behigh but looking at its scale ofapplication, it is much desirable andefficient.

A system and method for notificationof arrival of bus or other vehiclealready exists (US2005258980, 2005-11-24). Each bus is equipped with atransmitter, typically radio-frequency(RF) that broadcasts as the bustravels. As the bus and transmittercome within range of correspondingreceivers, the receivers will detect thetransmitter and will indicate that thebus is approaching.

Automatic blackboard cleaner

Vishal Paremoo

In the classrooms, each time a lectureends, the front row students are left

in a cloud of dust resulting from cleaningthe board. Vishal thinks of an automaticblackboard cleaner, which would cleanthe board after every lecture and alsosave the people sitting in the frontrow from the chalk dust.

Literature points to the existence of ablackboard eraser using vacuumcleaner (JP2006341580, 2006-12-21). The powder of the chalk isprevented from flying and a

blackboard can be cleanly erased byusing the suction force of a vacuumcleaner connecting a blackboarderaser to the vacuum cleaner.

Escalators for baggage

Janki P Datta

As a solution to the problem of coolieshaving to carry heavy loads on theirheads at the railway stations, Jankisuggests that we can have some free

space at both ends of the railing ofthe stairs. A manual circular machine/device (as seen in escalators) withmany trolleys attached to it can beused. We can load our bags in thetrolley for either transporting them tothe top or bringing them down.

A transporter conveyor system,integrated with an escalator, for thetransportation of pieces of baggagefrom one conveying plane to a differentconveying plane (US4179020, 1979-12-18) exists. Parallel to the escalatorfor the transportation of people thereis arranged an endless baggageconveyor belt which is provided withbalustrades, which conveyor belt isdriven synchronously with theescalator.

Why waste body heat?

Reshma Modan

Reshma thinks of a hair massagerwhich will work on energy generatedby body movements doing householdwork.

When did you last meet an innovator?


22A Dialogue on People’s Creativity, Experimentation & Innovation

Control of iron toxicity using lime + dry oilpalm tree flower

Musa Jawneh, Gambia, May, 2005

Iron toxicity has been a major problem for ricefarmers in the lowlands especially in the mangroveand associated mangrove areas. Farmers have usedmany coping strategies since ideal solutions areseldom found.

Musa Jawneh, president of the National Farmer’sPlatform, said he and a couple of farmers triedLime + dried flower of oil palm tree + rice husks.About 7.5 kg of dry flower of oil palm tree isground and mixed with 7.5 kg of rice husk and10 kg of lime. These were thoroughly mixed,applied and incorporated into the soil beforeplanting. The plot size measured 10m x 10m. Thecombination worked very well as traces of irontoxicity were minimal and farmers' yields wereincreased. In the following year the combinationwas replicated and farmers in the particularlowland observed the performance of theinnovation and were very motivated. Now manyfarmers are using the innovation.

A field experiment has revealed thatliming decreased the concentration ofFe, Al, and Mn in forage. (Effects oflong-term N fertilizer-inducedacidification and liming onmicronutrients in soil and inbromegrass hay; S. S. Malhi, M.Nyborg and J. T. Harapiak; Soil andTillage Research; Volume 48, Issues1-2, 1 September 1998, Pages 91-101).

A traditional method for removal ofiron from ground water by using ricehusk ash, and ashes of various othersubstances has been systematicallyinvestigated. Ash was found to lead toenhanced precipitation of iron at highpH, and the method has been foundsuitable. (Removal of iron fromgroundwater by ash: A systematicstudy of a traditional method; B. Das,P. Hazarika, G. Saikia, H. Kalita, D.C.Goswami, H.B. Das, S.N. Dube and R.K.Dutta; Journal of HazardousMaterials; Volume 141, Issue 3, 22March 2007, Pages 834-841)

Control of salinity using lime +millet husk + dried mangoleaves

Njuma Ceesay, Njonji DrammehGambia, Sally Sanyang14 March 2006

Salinity according to farmers is alimiting factor in rice production. Formany years, farmers have beenstruggling with the problem and nosolutions were found. Many effortssuch as fertilizer applications proved

futile. Recently, the farmers in Pirangtried lime mixed with millet husk anddried mango leaves to control theproblem. This combination, accordingto them is applied and incorporatedinto the soil before transplanting.Within the course of the season theyrealized that their rice plants weredoing well in terms of good tillering,growth and flowering. After harvesttheir yields were better than before.Now many farmers in the inland valleyare using the innovation.

A study confirmed the view thatincorporation of organic manureespecially into soil–root zones is aneffective low-input agro-technologicalapproach to enhancing soil fertilityand minimizing phytotoxicity inducedby secondary salinization. However,effectiveness of millet husk and driedmango leaves in the present context isyet to be verified. (Organic manurestimulates biological activity andbarley growth in soil subject tosecondary salinization ; YongchaoLiang, Jin Si, Miroslav Nikolic, YuPeng, Wei Chen and Yun Jiang; SoilBiology and Biochemistry;Volume 37,Issue 6, June 2005, Pages 1185-1195)

Grass cutter control in the ricefield

Fassou Haba, Guinea16/03/2006

Fassou Haba is a farmer of Batouata,a village of the forest region of

Puzzles In PaddyPossibilities From Africa

Africa Rice Center (WARDA), Benin has been involved in exploring the potential of farmers’ innovations in solving theproblems of paddy cultivators. They have collected many different innovations and traditional knowledge applicableto crops and also livestock . In this part of the article contributed by Dr. Paul Van Mele, Technology Transfer Agronomist([email protected]), we learn about many creative ideas of African farmers, some of which might appear quitefamiliar to the readers. Africa Rice Center (WARDA) is an autonomous intergovernmental research association ofAfrican member states. It is also one of the 15 international agricultural research Centers supported by the ConsultativeGroup on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It was constituted as the West Africa Rice DevelopmentAssociation (WARDA) —a name that it carried until 2003 when it was designated as the Africa Rice Center. It is goodthat CGIAR institutions are at last waking up to realizing the potential of farmers’ innovations., However, not manyseems to have been subjected to serious institutional research and that is an area where much more action will beexpected in future. It is also hoped that CG institutions will take up practices form Honey Bee Network database fordissemination among the African farmers. More than two decades ago, Paul Richards had also argued for this cause.

www.paraquat.com

AFRICACALLING


23Will you stand for the IPRs of peasants?

Guinea. He said that in their childhood when hewas living with his uncle, he used to supervisethe fields. When his uncle noted the effects ofthe grass cutters, he prepared soil at differentplaces where he asked the children to urinate. Hemixed the earth with urine and a bark powder ofa very poisonous tree (Erythrophleum guineensis(Tely in poular, Meli in soussou, Kondo in kissi).

As the urine, containedammonia, the placesattract those grasscutters that come toeat these mixed earths.Once the grass cuttersate this earth, they can’tmove. They advancefor few meters andthey fall down. Thefollowing day thechildren come to collectthose dead grasscutters and bury themto avoid poisoning.Since then, Fassou andother peasants use thismethod in their fields.

Studies have reported use of urine as quite effectiveas a low cost bait for insects in many orchards, thepresent use for attracting grasscutter, cane rat needsfurther research. MartínAluja and Jaime Piñero,Florida Entomologist, Volume 87, Issue 1, pp. 41–50 (March 2004)

Using spiny Cactus lianas in the control of thetermites and nematodes in rices, corns, foniocrops and orchards

Alhassane Pendessa, Guinea25 December 2005

Touguikhouré is a small locality situated 25 kmaway from the county-seat of the prefecture ofKindia. It is an important zone of production withhigh agricultural potentialities. However, for lastfew years, the village has faced a lot of problemsrelated to the damages caused by the insects notablythe termites and nematodes in rice, corn, foniofield and in the orchard.

Farmers, with no financial and material means touse chemical products, decided unanimously tolead indigenous research in finding local productsto solve the problem they encountered. TafodéCamara, farmer in Touguikhoure has succeededin developing a solution based on the spiny cactus,

a toxic and dangerous plant for thehuman consumption.

Liana is cut from the forest and onehas to avoid loss of its sap. The lianais cut in pieces and soaked incontainer with a proportional quantityof water for about 12 to 24 hoursuntil a concentrated solution isobtained. This solution is poured intermites’ holes which were previouslyopened with picks. The holes arefinally covered with leaves from atoxic plant called meli or sosso in locallanguage (Erythrophleum guineensis).

In using the solution, the users haveto avoid the contact of the productwith skin and the eyes. Its applicationhas to be done by using a small broomand/or a sprayer. This innovationhelped Touguikhoure farmers’ to havevery effective results in the region forthe last few years. Currently, this localinnovation is practiced by manyfarmers in the prefecture of Kindia.

The toxicity of senita cactus(Lophocereus schotti), and thealkaloids derived from it, pilocereine(I) and lophocereine (II), have beentested against Drosophila of theSonoran Desert. It kills the adults and/or progeny. Kircher, Henry W,. Heed,William B ,. Russell, Jean S and Grove,

John (1967). Senita cactus alkaloids:Their significance to Sonoran DesertDrosophila ecology, Journal of InsectPhysiology, Volume 13, Issue12, Pages 1869-1874

Struggle against the wild rice torhizome with salt

Bakary Traoré, Mali10/10/06

For a long time, farmers in theSikasso region could not find asuitable solution to the damagecaused by the “Diga” in rice croppinglowlands. During a Participatorylearning and Action researchpresentation on weed management,one farmer named Bakary Traoré toldthe WARDA researchers his ownexperiences concerning the controlof Diga (a rhizomatous wild rice)which is a harmful weed in cultivatedrice.

Mr Bakary Traoré, aged 35 years,became a farmer when he was 20years old. He is from Molobala, asmall village in the Koutiala zonesituated in Mali’s third region(Sikasso). He now lives in Ziansoand is secretary of the village

www.congo-pages.org

Continued on page 30

Rose, a project staff member, gathers information about localinnovations.

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Honey Bee Cow urine for Cumin andCumin for Body Fat

Practices for plant diseases

183401 Cow urine and plant extracts totreat “Kadiya” in Cumin

“Kadiya” (Charcoal Rot) is a disease of Cuminwhere the leaves become black after an out-of-season rainfall. The entire crop gets destroyedin 2-3 days. Shivabhai takes 500 gm leaves of“Limdo”, Neem, Ratan jyot”, Jatropha (Jatrophacurcas L.), “Bhoiringni”, Thai Egg plant(Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. & Wendl.),“Akda”, Crown flower (Calotropis procera(Ait.) W. T. Ait.), “Nagod”, Chaste Tree (Vitexnegundo L. ), “Ardusi”, Vasaka (Adathodavasica Nees) each and adds six litre cow urine

and mixes it with10-12 litre water. He keepsthe mixture aside for a month and then boilsit till about 10 litre of it is left. The extractis sprayed over cumin leaves twice on a threeday interval.

Shivabhai Dhudabhai Patel, Sabarkantha,Gujarat.Scout: Haresh Patel

Patents (US7235262, US6896907, US6410059)on novel pharmaceutical compositionscontaining cow urine as one of the majorconstituents have been reported. They claimthat cow urine, when present with a drug oractive molecule, enhance its activity andavailability (bioenhancers).

183402 Karanj and Kakria toincrease ginger production

Mr Ranjit Sinh suggests a method toprevent weeds in ginger to increaseits production. The land is firstprepared, followed by the addition ofmanure and castor cake. A 6 X 6 cmdistance is maintained while sowingthe seeds. Dried leaves of “Karanj”,Indian Beech (Pongamia pinnata (L.)Pierre.) and “Kakria”, Bastard Teak(Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub.)are spread between the rows ofrhizomes.

Ranjtsinh Dalpatsinh Chauhan,Dahod, GujaratScout: Kiransinh Rathod

Pongamia pinnata are useful greenleaf mulch (ICRISAT, 2005, unpubli-shed data; Parmathma et. al. 2004)

Practices for human diseases

183403 “Hand” for fracturedbones

Mr Wani suggests that leaves of“Hand”, Dandelion (Taraxacumofficinale L.) when boiled, fried andeaten, help in healing fractured bonesfaster.

Mr Umer Hamid Wani, Quazigund,Anantanag district, KashmirScouted during the 19th Shodhyatraorganized by SRISTI

Taraxacum officinale has beenfound to demonstrate antiangiogenic,antiinflammatory and antinociceptiveactivities through its inhibition of NOproduction and COX-2 expressionand/or its antioxidative activity.

Taraxacum officinale is also reportedfor treating bone fracture in folklore.(Jain S. K. 1991. Dictionary of Indian

Folk Medicine and Ethnobotany. DeepPublication, New Delhi.)

183404 Treating round worminfection using “Tethvain”

The juice of “Tethvain”, Artemisia(Artemisia absinthium L.) leaves isgiven to patients to treat roundworm infection. This is a commonpractice in the Anantanag district ofJammu & Kashmir.

Bioactive compounds are reported tobe present in Artemisia absinthium,which control intestinal parasiteloads.

Marsha B. Quinlan, Robert J. Quinlanand Justin M. Nolan; Journal ofEthnopharmacology , 80(1): 75-83,2002

183405 “Kaliyoth” to treataching joints

A local herb “Kaliyoth”, Self heal(Prunella vulgaris L.) is crushedand mixed with salt water and

boiled. After cooling, the decoctionis used as bath water to cure jointpains.

Manjoor Ahmed Sheikh, Bidder,Kokernag, KashmirScouted during the 19th Shodhyatra


Loksarvani(Gujarati version of Honey Bee)


27

Purified preparations of Prunella vulgaris havebeen shown to have cartilage protective andantiinflammatory effect, due to which it relievesjoint pain and improves functionality inosteoarthritis patients. (Phytomedicine, 18th Oct,2007)

183406 Cumin to rid body fat

To reduce extra body fat, one tablespoon of“Shahi Jeera” or “Safed Jeera” (Cuminumcyminum L.) seeds is boiled in four cups ofwater till it reduces to 1/4th of the originalquantity. The mixture is left to cool down. Two

tablespoon of lemon juice is added to it andconsumed early in the morning.

Areena, Mattan, KashmirScouted during the 19th Shodhyatra

Cuminum cyminum treatment is found to cause asignificant reduction in plasma and tissuecholesterol, phospholipids, free fatty acids andtriglycerides.

Surya Dhandapani, Vijayakumar RamasamySubra-manian, Senthilkumar Rajagopal AndNalini Namasivayam; Pharma-cological Research46(3):251-255, 2002

183407 Kaincha fruits as oralcontraceptives

Fruits of “Kaincha”, Crabs’ eye (Abrus precatoriusL.) are dried, powdered and consumed to avoidpregnancy. Ms Barala has tested it on threepatients. She grows this plant in her backyardand has been following this and othersimilar practices she learnt from her elders.Ms Sita Barala, Motari village, Dhenkanal, Orissa

Oral administration of a 50% ethanol extract ofAbrus precatorius seeds (250 mg/kg) in albino

rats for 30 and 60 days inducedinfertility (reversible) in males.Rakesh Sinha; Journal ofEthnopharmacology 28(2):173-181,1990

183408 Oil preparation for skindiseases and body pain

To treat skin diseases, Mr Lailamanysuggests that 21 pieces of bark of“Muringakka”, Drumstick tree(Moringa oleifera Lam.) be cutinto an inch long pieces and boiledin half a kg of Neem oil(Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) tillthey attain a red color. This oilshould then be applied to treat skindiseases and infections and generalbody-ache.

Lailamany Rajan, Karunapuam,KeralaScout: Peermade DevelopmentSociety

Hot water infusions of flowers, leaves,roots, seeds and stalks or bark ofMoringa oleifera were found todemonstrate antispasmodic andantiinflammatory effect inexperimental models in rats.

Armando Cáceres, Amarillis Saravia,Sofia Rizzo, Lorena Zabala, Edy De

Leon and Federico Nave; Journal ofEthnopharmacology 36(3):233-237,1992.

A therapeutic compositioncontaining Moringa oleifera fortreating pains and swellings has alsobeen suggested. (Pl see Honey Bee,15(2):13, 2004)

Practices for animal diseases

183409 Polyherbal formulationto cure swollen tongue andnostrils

Mr Antaryami Pradhan is a traditionalanimal healer from Orissa. He

prepares a herbal medicine fortreating “Benga” (glossopharingitis)characterized by swollen tongueand nostrils. He uses 50 gm rawchillies, 50 gm “Rai”, Mustard(Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.), and100 gm of a paste made from thetrunk of young banana plant and 50gm of tender leaves of "Bara",Banyan (Ficus benghalensis L.).He grinds all these ingredientstogether and adds two spoonful ofwarm ghee to it. This herbalpreparation is fed to the animal forthree days. Some of it is alsoapplied under the tongue of theanimal. By the fourth day, theanimal gets cured ofglossopharingitis and starts eatingfood. Mr Pradhan has treated 25such cases with success so far.

Mr Antaryami Pradhan, Angul, Orissa

Extracts from Brassica junceaseedlings show varied degree ofimmunogenic reactivity along various


Ama Akha Pakha(Oriya version of Honey Bee)


28

plants, yeast, bacteria and animal system.

Renu Deswal and Sudhir K. Sopory;Phytochemistry 49(8):2245-2253, 1998)

Water extract of the bark of Ficus benghalensisshows significant antioxidant effect, in additionto hypolipidaemic effect. Rimi Shukla, ShwetaGupta, J. K. Gambhir , K. M. Prabhu and P. S.Murt; Journal of Ethnopharmacology 92(1):47-51, 2004.

Mr Chaitanya Charan Das treats animals sufferingfrom glossopharingitis by feeding them a pastemade of 50 gm of roots and leaves of “PippalMula”, False Kava (Piper chaba Hunter), 100ml of raw cow’s milk, 10 gm of “Maricha”,Black Pepper (Piper nigrum L.), and 20 gmof “Adrak” ginger. Glossopharingitis is reportedlycured after administering 2-3 doses of themedicine. Mr Das has treated ten such cases.

Mr Chaitanya Charan Das, Dist. Jagatsinghpur,Orissa.

The methanol extract of the stem bark of Piperchaba has been reported to have analgesic,antiinflammatory and anti oxidant effects.Md.Taufiq-Ur-Rahman, Jamil Ahmad Shilpi,Muniruddin Ahmed and Chowdhury Faiz Hossain;Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 99(2):203-209,2005)

Suchandra Chatterjee, Zareena Niaz, S. Gautam,Soumyakanti Adhikari, Prasad S. Variyar andArun Sharma; Food Chemistry 101(2):515-523,2007.

Ginger also has an antiinflammatory property. F.Aimbire, S.C. Penna, M. Rodrigues, K.C.Rodrigues, R.A.B. Lopes-Martins and J.A.A. Sertié;Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential FattyAcids 77(3-4):129-138, 2007.

183410 “Harida” to cure systemic bacterialinfection

Systemic bacterial infection in animals ischaracterized by profuse salivation, painfulswellings in throat, dewlap, brisket, temperature,depression, discharge from nostril and rednessof eye. Mr Padhy takes one dried fruit of“Harida”, Myrobalans (Terminalia chebula Retz.)and grinds it to make a powder. He adds 20gm of ghee and makes a bolus to feed thecattle. By the third day, the disease is cured.Mr Padhi has treated six cases of suchsymptoms with success.

Mr Ashish Ku Padhy, Sambalpur district, Orissa

The aqueous extract from Terminaliachebula inhibits Streptococcusmutans activity.

A. G. Jagtap and S. G. Karkera;Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 68(1-3):299-306, 1999

183411 Herbal cure forindigestion

Animals often suffer fromindigestion due to eating of rawpaddy grains. This is followed bya loss of appetite. To cure this, MrSaroj Kumar Biswal takes 100 gmof baking soda (Sodiumbicarbonate), dried ginger powder(50gm), powder of “Juani” (Carumcopticum L.) and common salt (50gm). He mixes these together inhalf a litre of lukewarm water andfeeds it to the animal. This treatmentis given once a day for seven toeight days. Mr Biswal has treated

20 cases of indigestion with successfollowing this method.

Mr Saroj Kumar Biswal, Bonaigarh,Orissa

Calcium antagonists in Carumcopticum are believed to account forits antispasmodic and hepatop-rotective activities.

Gilani, A.H., Jabeen, Q., Ghayur M.N.,Janbaz K.H. and Akhtar M.S.; Journalof Ethnopharmocology, 98(1-2):127-135, 2005.

Acetone extract of ginger were foundto contain (6)- gingerol and (10)-gingerol, which are mainlyresponsible for the cholagogic effectof ginger.(Journal ofEthnopharmacology; Vol 13, Issue 2)

183412 Another cure forindigestion

Mr Indramani Sahu prepares aherbal medicine to treat animalssuffering from indigestion. He uses200 gm of leaves of “Dhanitri”,Prickly Sesban (Sesbania bispinosaWt.), 100 gm of raw turmeric andone gm of “Maricha”, Black Pepper(Piper nigrum L.). All the ingredientsare ground together to make a

paste. This paste is mixed in halfa litre of cold water and fed to theanimal for two days. Mr Sahu hastreated 10 cases of indigestion byfollowing this method

Mr Indramani Sahu, Jagatsinghpurdistrict, Orissa

Piperine extracted from Piper nigrumis believed to increase thepermeability of the intestinal cells.Rakesh K. Johri, Neelima Thusu,Annu Khajuria and Usha Zutshi;Biochemical Pharmacology43(7):1401-1407, 1992.

(Piper nigrum has been used in aherbal composition to cure diarroheain animals. (Pl see Honey Bee, 8(2):9,1997)

Turmeric is used in hyperactive statesof the gut.



29

Anwarul Hassan Gilani, Abdul Jabbar Shah,Muhammad Nabeel Ghayur and Kashif Majeed;Life Sciences; 76(26): 3089-3105, 2005.

183413 Cure for loss of appetite

Mr Chaitanya Charan Sahu of Orissa preparesa herbal medicine using 20 gm of dried“Adrak”, Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.), 20gm of “Chiraita’, Indian Echinacea(Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Nees), 20gm of leaves of “Marichi”, Black Pepper (Pipernigrum L.) and 5 gm of “Juani” (Carumcopticum L.). The ingredients are mixed with

50 gm of common salt and 50 gm of jaggeryand served to the animal daily for three days.Mr Das has treated 15 such cases of loss ofappetite with success.

Mr Chaitanya Charan Sahu, Jagatsinghpurdistrict, Orissa.

The diterpenes andrographolide & andro-graphoside isolated of Andrographis paniculatawere found to have antihepatoxic activities. (Biochemical Pharmacology, Vol. 46, issue 1)

Rakshamani Tripathi, H. Mohan and J.P. Kamat;Food Chemistry, 100(1):81-90, 2007.

Andrographis paniculata has been used in aherbal composition to cure indigestion in calves.(Pl see Honey Bee, 10(4): 9, 1999)

183414 Milk to treat rinderpest inanimals

Mr Biswanath uses the milk of Ass to preventrinderpest (an acute, often fatal, contagiousviral disease, chiefly of cattle, characterized byulceration of the alimentary tract and resultingin diarrhoea) in animals. He takes 250 ml of

milk and serves it to the animal forseven days. This is said to preventthe animals against shootingdiarrhoea. Mr Pradhan has learntthis traditional method from hisgrand father, late Mr AnandaPradhan. He practiced this methodabout 50 years back when therewas a massive outbreak of shootingdiarrhoea.

Mr Biswanath Pradhan, Bonaigarh,Orissa

While we didn't get avidence aboutuse of ass milk for virus control, thisneeds further investigation. A studysuggests that some bovine milkproteins, especially lactoferine,interfere with viral infections.Y. Pan,A. Lee, J. Wan, M.J. Coventry, W.P.Michalski, B. Shiell and H. Roginski;International Dairy Journal,16(11):1252-1261, 2006.

183415 Eggplant for Rinderpest

Mr Madan Mohan Pradhan uses theroots of a thorny shrub “Ankaranti”,Eggplant to treat rinderpest in hiscattle. He takes four roots of young“Ankranti” plants, which have notflowered or which are in pre-flowering stage and grinds them withseven black pepper seeds. This pasteis fed to the animal continuously forseven days.

Mr Madan Mohan Pradhan,Athmallick subdivision, Orissa

The oral administration of methanolicextract of Solanum xanthocarpumshowed significant antinociceptiveactivity in mice. M. Ahmed, M.Alimuzzaman and J. A. Shilpi;Fitoterapia 74(1-2):119-121, 2003.

183416 Kachnar to increasemilk production

To increase milk production in cows,Lalitabhai suggests that “Kachnar”,Variegated Orchid Tree (Bauhiniavariegata L.) should form thirty percent of the cattle feed. It has beenobserved that milk productionincreases up to 1-2 litres. However,the leaves should only be fed during

winters and the animal should not beallowed to stand out in the sun.

Lalitabhai Amrutbhai Chamar,Sabarkantha, Gujarat.Scout: Sangeeta Vankar

Bauhinia sp. is believed to providenecessary Nitrogen concentration forproper digestion in the rumen.Katjiua, M.L.J. and Ward, D. Journalof Range and Forage Science, 23(1):59-67(9), 2006.

183417 Saupa to treat FMD

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) isa well known viral disease in cattle.Mr Brundaban Sahu follows atraditional method to treat theaffected cows. He takes twocamphor balls, 100 ml turpentine oiland 10 ml oil obtained from “Saupa”,Dill Seeds (Anethum graveolensL.). He mixes all these ingredientstogether and applies it on the woundsand ulcers. The oil heals up theulcerative wound in udder, foot andmouth when applied 2-3 times aday for five days. Mr Sahu hastreated 100 such cases withsuccess.

When did you talk to your grandparents last?


30

Mr Brundaban Sahu, Kamakhya-nagar village,Orissa

Essential oils from Dill herb and seeds have beenfound to have genotoxic activity, and may thuseffect the viral proliferation.J. R. Lazutka, J.Mierauskien, G. Slapyt and V. Dedony; Food andChemical Toxicology39(5):485-492, 2001

Engineering practices

183418 Low cost Sugarcane Harvester

Mr Kandaraj owns a small mechanical workshop.He cultivates sugarcane on his five acre land. Inresponse to the acute labour shortage during theharvesting period, he has designed a smallsugarcane harvester. Initially, he fitted thesugarcane cutter with two wheel mountingassembly. Not satisfied with its performance, hedecided to use the three wheel mounting assembly.The cutter consists of three wheels of 12 inchdiameter each. A minimum of one feet widthbetween sugarcane rows is enough for operatingthis machine. By altering the blade, one can usethe machine to harvest paddy, maize, sorghumetc. The cost of the sugarcane cutter is aroundRs.10, 000.

Mr Kandaraj, Madurai, Tamil Nadu

183419 Shock free electric converter

K. Nicholson Singh fromImphal, Manipur has asmall workshop where herepairs electric motors andother items. Though hecould not study much, withhis hard work, he has beenable to get expertise in hiswork.

He has made an innovative shock free electricconverter. The basic function of the device is toconvert a normal electrical current to a shockfree electrical current. The device can be installednext to the electricity meter so that it is wellconnected to the entire household/commercialestablishment. If the device is installed at adomestic service connection, the subsequentelectrical lines will become shock free. This willprotect the person from getting an electrical shockupon an accidental touch on naked wires, faultyappliances and switches and prevent serious injuryor loss of life. However, on touching both wires

(phase and neutral) together or dueto a problem in the internal wiring,the device will not work. The cost ofmaterials for fabrication of a newmachine is around Rs 6000-7000,depending on its capacity.

Besides the shock free electricalconverter, Mr Singh has also made arecycled tubelight and a double phaseprotector. He has also done lot ofwork on wireless system, cordlessphone, etc. With his improvisedhandsets, a normal cordless phonecan be used as a mobile phone byincreasing its area of coverage. Suchingenuity has undoubtedly got himinto trouble with the law enforcingagencies in the troubled state ofManipur. At the same time, the samepeople also come to him wheneverthey have problem with theircommunication equipments.

Mr Kshetrimayum Nicholson Singh,Wangkhei Koijam Leikai, Imphal

Electric shock eliminator (US2614155, 14.10.1952): available.

Electric Shock Preventing Device AndPower Source Box (JP2007027007,1.02.07)

Read remaining references in thisregard at www.sristi.org


Have you ever tried to listen tothe wisdom of your grandparents?If so, share with us somethinginspiring, interesting andintriguing. Selected insights will bepublished along with thephotographs of yourgrandparents. Other ideas arealso welcome. Ed

...Continued from page 23

women’s association and amember of the PLAR center ofZIANSO.

For several years Mr Traoré usedpesticides and cultural techniquesto control this enemy of cropproduction. Unfortunately, all hisefforts remained in vain.

In 1998 he was invited toparticipate in a training session on“Strengthening soils productivity”.During the training, he was askedto think of an appropriate meansto control weeds without spendingtoo much money. To find anexample, he went to see an elderlyvillager who advised him on themethod of using salt to control theDiga.

According to the elder, Digacontrol consists of spreading salton the Diga-infested area beforeploughing. A solution is made byadding water to the salt. Thissolution infiltrates to the root levelof the Diga. Through the rootabsorption system, the Diga aredestroyed. For 1 ha, 25 kg of saltis spread.

According to the farmer, the effectof salt on the Diga is comparableto the effect of petrol on treeleaves. Since using this method,he has noticed a decrease in theDiga population and a higher riceyield.

Jones described methods ofcontrolling weeds by using salt asfar back as 1907. BAILEY, L. H.(Ed). Cyclopedia of AmericanAgriculture: A Popular Survey ofAgricultural Conditions, Practicesand Ideals in the United States andCanada (Three Volumes Only).NY: Macmillan, 1907.

Honey Bee has published manypracticies involving uses of salt inpaddy for disease and weedcontrol.


31

Enabling the Blind to Cook, Moving the Songs by Foot...

CHIN-II

Team China, working under the enthusiastic leadership of Prof Zhang Liyan and supported by theTianjin University of Finance and Economics (TUFE) scouted hundreds of innovations under aninternational collaboration between China, India and Brazil as a part of SRISTI’s initiative to createan online and off line platform for incubating grassroots innovations. The team included teachers:Bian Cuilan, Zhou Yongjun, Zhang Jiayu, Nv Lei, and students: Yang Peipei, Zhang Xiaoxu, Feng Tian,Du Wenting and Shang Xuebin. Dr Zhang Wei and other senior officials of TUFE supported thiscollaboration which led to the emergence of China Innovation Network (CHIN, a close partner ofHoney Bee Network). We will be sharing a lot more innovations from China as well as other countriesin the coming issues. Honey Bee network is spreading its wings…..

Solar powered mosquito-repellent

WangXiYunShan Yan Middle School Jinghai county of TianjinTel: 0861-022-68923097

The mosquito rep-elling equipmentdeveloped works withthe help of solarenergy stored in thebatteries. As a result,even without sunlight,the device can repel

the pests for eight hours with the stored energy.

An insect repellent light system (JP2003284482,2003-10-07) constituted by connecting an insectrepellent light equipped with many yellow LEDswith a solar cell electricity-generating deviceequipped with solar cells and a battery.

Drip-preventing umbrella

Water drips from the top of umbrella,making the ground wet and stainedduring rainy days. To solve theproblem, the innovator has attached

a small bottle on the top of umbrellathat can collect the dripping water.

The invention(US5495866, 1996-03-05) provides an umbrella drip watercollector to be attached to the ferruleof an umbrella and to collect dripwater from the umbrella when theumbrella is collapsed.

Linker for broken saw blades

A linker can be attached to a saw. Incase the blade is broken, the linker

can hold on the ruptured blade, sothe saw can still be used.

A different apparatus for joiningbroken hack saw blades (RU2055705,1996-03-10) is available

A battery box without poles

The battery box made by the innovatoris unique, for it has no poles. Onedoes not have to worry about whichdirection (positive or negative) to orientyour battery in. All you have to do isjust put the batteries into the box, andthe system will adjust itself.

A non-polar battery storage device(JP5021047, 1993-01-29) facilitatesprevention of trouble due to battery

loading mistakes, by symmetricallyarranging a lead unit such thatelectrode leads, containing dedicatedarmatures for contacting only positiveelectrodes or negative electrodes,respectively.

Wood-conserving plane

A lot of wood gets wasted in theprocess of smoothening the surfaceof wooden articles. The innovator hassuggested that the blades of the plane

When did you talk to nature last?


32

should be assembled tightly, so that it will producefewer wood shavings when used. This wouldmean more wood saved and also lesser chancesfor the plane to be clogged.

Drip-preventing brush

Now you would not have to clean your floor forstains each time you paint your house. The brushdesigned by the innovator has a tilted handle, andthere is a “cup” assembled under the brush’s head.While painting a ceiling or upper portions of the

walls, the paint drip will be collected by the “cup”and would not stain our hands, clothes or the floor.

A device for applying paint onto surfaces(US2003126712, 2003-07-10) especially ceilingsand/or walls exists.

Innovative pruning saw

One of them o s tc o m m o n l yencounteredp r o b l e m swhile pruningbranches withthe help of apruning saw

is that the cut branch often slidesaway. The saw designed by theinnovator has one of the bladesdifferent from the normal ones’.There are two saw-teeth on the edge.When we cut the branches, the sawcan hold them and prevent them fromsliding.

Special raincoat for bicycles

Zhang RunshanNo. 1 Hu Jing Road Nankai DistrictTianjinTel: 0861-022-85663007

The innovator has made a specialraincoat for cycle drivers. An

uncorked cirque has been attachedbelow the hat and placed outside the

neckline. It would make turning headleft or right convenient and facilitatea clear view of the surroundings.

A similar invention CN2595196Y(2003-12-31) is reported.

A short-circuit detector

FengZhuoNo.43 Middle School of TianjinTel: 13512851243

This inventioncan inspectseveral powers u p p l ynetworks atthe same time.When somepart is cut off,it can protect

the whole building. Moreover, allelectric equipments will not bedamaged due to faulty working ofone.This invention won a gold medal atthe Beijing International InventionExhibition as well as a gold medal atTianjin Invention Exhibition in 1996.

A power distribution network shortcircuit detector (1.x) system hasdisplays (6) for the first over-currentpulse and separate displays (7) forother pulses using a time gate that islonger than the shorter supply

protective device (2) reset time (tza)but less than the longer supplyreset time (tzb) (DE20310361U,2003-09-11).

Swimsuit for learners

Dong QiNo. 17 Dansu Road Heping District,TianjinTel: 13920096128(US5495866,1996-03-05).

This swimsuit can change itsbuoyancy so as to help learnersmaster the skill. There are two parts



33

in theswimsuit .The mainbody ismade oftarp withs o m epockets inthe front

and rear to hold empty plastic bottles. The floatingpart also consists of empty plastic bottles. Thereare two ways to change the buoyancy: either bychanging the number of bottles or by filling bottleswith some water.

Attention: The capsule must be tightened to besafe.

Gas stove for the blind

LuDaMingYanshan middle school Jixian of TianjinTel:13821119995

The traditional gascooking stoves in themarkets can not be litin a single ignition. Itis not only a waste ofgas, but also verydangerous to blindpeople. The innovatorhas, therefore, made amodification in the

traditional stove. He has used the gaselectromagnetic valve to control the escape of gasand has set up a micro-electric motor to controlthe amount of the gas released in each turn. He

has also attached a sound circuit in the stove,which will use a voice signal to warn blind peopleof any leakage and chances of fire.

This gas cooking stove is not onlyconvenient to operate, but also lightsin a single ignition and ensures alonger cylinder life. It has been testedfor a year and passed the tests of therelevant departments.

Magnetic Tool rack

ChenHaiLongYanshan middle school Jixian ofTianjinTel:13821119995

Chen HaiLong hasmade aninnovativerack con-t a i n i n gtwo parts.One is forthe iron-made orsteel-made

tools and another for non-magneticarticles. There are many pieces ofpowerful magnets on the magneticparts, and the tools can easily beattached to it and are ready for usewhen required.

The invention (US6719155, 2004-04-13) provides a magnetic tool rack thatincludes a magnet container to receivesmall-size magnets therein and therebyhas an integral and pleasantappearance.

Environment protection:Melon seeds bag

DuJinSongYanshan middle school Jixian ofTianjinTel:13821119995

M e l o nseeds aree n j o y e dthroughoutthe worldbut peoplethrow awaythe seedsand skin on

roads making it an unpleasurablesight. So the innovator has designeda special bag with two bags inside it,one for the melon seeds, and the otherfor the skins. After consuming themelons, the bag can be convenientlythrown in the bins preventing litter.

Automatic water dispenser

LiuHaiYangYanshan middle school Jixian ofTianjinTel:13821119995

The traditional infrared rays basedwater dispensers have their own

disadvantages: they get stained easily,are hard to repair and have a shortlifetime. Liu HaiYang has launched aswitch in the market. It works stably



34

and consumes low energy. Any subjectapproaching the switch will change thecapacitance. An electromagnetic valve controlledby this capacitance change will operate thedispenser.

Innovative music stand

ZangXuBinNo. 1 middle school of TianjinTel:022-81988848

This music standcan be run by footoperated switch sothat the music bookcan be turnedclockwise oranticlockwise. Itcan be used indance hall withalternating currentor on the stage withdirect current. It isable to turn the


pages of the books as requiredwithout using the player's hands.

A similar invention relates to anautomatic music stand, which isprovided to turn over leaves of musicbook in an accurate manner bypermitting the operating plate to movein left and right directions.(KR20020064595, 2002-08-09)

The auto-switch desk lamp

WuJiangYanshan middle school Jixian ofTianjinTel:13821119995

Sometimes it is difficult for us to turnon the lamp in the dark and a lot ofenergy is wasted if it is turned on forlong. The auto-switch desk lamp isdesigned to solve these problems. Aheat-inductor is added in the lamp,when people stand around it, whethermoving or standing still, the lamp willbe turned on automatically. There isa time-delay unit in the inductorwhich will keep the lamp on,one minute after people leave and thenturns off automatically. It will notonly solve the energy wastageproblem but also make turning theswitch on in dark, possible.

An automatic illumination lamp withlight source and occupancy sensor(KR100682591B, 2007-02-07) isavailable.

Views on the story Burden as support:(Honey Bee Cover Story: 8(2) 1, 1997)

I agree with your interpretation in a way but I also view the story in adifferent way.

I think the ant should take away the grain on its back that she hascarried so far, because there might be other crevices in the path forwhich she would need the grain again and again.

We cannot do anything for others. We have to follow what is right andnatural for us. Our goal should not be to protect others - the others areprotected themselves.The goal should be to be true and pure to themoment so that we can know the real happiness and ahappy self contented man can make others happy. Nobird sings for others, no flower blooms for others.They all are self contented and that is why they allare beautiful and appreciated by others.

Yogesh Gairola, Akashdeep colony, Dehradun,Uttarakhand

(Do you agree? Write back your critical comments on thestory or the comment)


35

User-friendly computers

Mr D Ronald Rose

Mr. Rose is concerned with the entangled wiresbetween a computer’s monitor and the CPUand other accessories. He thinks that theprovision for various wires should be on the

side rather than at the back so that the operatordoes not have to go the back of the CPU eachtime. The points should be in the left side ofmonitor and right side of the CPU. The mouseshould be connected to the monitor, to its rightinstead of CPU. There can be a space on thefront side of the monitor where these wirescan be accommodated.

A wire management system is provided(US2007261874, 2007-11-15) to neatly andefficiently assemble the many wires of an electroniccomponent system such as a personal computer

without tangling and intertwining.The system utilizes a container havingaxially aligned upright posts withhooks at their upper ends to keepwires wound around the posts in thewound position.

Now your mobile will ring evenon silent mode

So many times, we keep our mobilephones on silent mode and wastehours searching for them. Mr Rosesuggests connecting mobile phonesto your TV remote or with yourcar keys. A button provided on theremote control/car keys whenpressed will give a sound or emitlight. Alternatively, we can have aspecific number given by the serviceprovider followed by a persons’own number to make the mobilering even while it is on the silentmode.

A service center is provided with anauthentication function; a triggerfunction for ringing a ringer toneindependently of the setting of thesilent mode of the mobile terminal(JP2004112253, 2004-04-08). Theservice center replaces a telephonenumber of the informationcommunication terminal making a callby using the caller ID replacementfunction and makes a call with a callerID of the service center to call themobile terminal.

Slippers that cool

Ms Sonam Deki

Imagine walking in a dry hot placein shoes that cool. Ms Deki hassuggested slippers suited to suchareas. The soles will be designedto store cool water or ice. Suchslippers will also provide relief toaching feet after a hard days’ work.

The shoe sole(KR20010008851,2 0 0 1 - 0 2 - 0 5 )comprises anair circulationsystem withinthe inner sole,a refrigerantc i r c u l a t i o nsystem forcooling aircirculation, ana u x i l i a r ycooling systemto assist therefrigerant circulation system to coolthe inner side of the sole in walking

IdeAS!

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

Budding BureaucratsImagine Solutions!

As a part of workshop on creativity and innovation organized by Prof Gupta for budding administrators of India of the eliteIndian Administrative Service (IAS) last year, a spontaneous idea contest was organized at LBS National Academy ofAdministration, Mussoorie. Some of the distinctive ideas are given here. Ms Arati Ahuja who coordinated this course, alsoinvited first time at the Academy, two grassroots innovators to address the probationers. It is hoped that their ability to appreciatecreative solutions for individual as well as social problems will grow with the passage of time.


36

to the effect of prevention of athletes foot of theuser.

A unique foot massager

Ms Tanu Kashyap

Ms Tanu says “My mother is a diabetic patientand feels a lot of pain in her soles after a normalday’s work. Once she had seen those fancy foot-massagers from abroad in a neighbour’s houseand was overawed by the comfort. It was ofcourse not possible for us to get one for her giventhe cost.”

She wants to make a shoe which has smallglassbeads so that when worn and rolled aroundmechanically, it relaxes your feet. Such a thingwould be far more economical than the fancy footmassagers available in the market.

An adjustable podium

Mr Manoj Kumar

Short people often find it difficult to adjustaccording to the height of the microphone whiledelivering a speech. Mr. Kumar has thought of apodium that would adjust itself according to thespeakers’ requirements. The speaker will just need

to enter his height, and based on somepredetermined proportion, the podiumwill adjust itself. The roster will havetwo strong upper and lower parts.The middle portion will be adjustable.The adjustable part would behydraulically operated once speakerenters his/her height.

HBN first learned about this problemin the first International Conferenceon Creativity and Innovation atGrassroots, Jan 11-14, 1997 IIMA. TheKeynote speaker Elaben, founder ofSEWA regretted that the podium wasdesigned for men and was notadjustable to the height for women, asan example of prejudices againstwomen in every day life.

A non-swiveling height adjustablepodium comprising a base, a squareor rectangular column, a pneumaticcylinder disposed within said squarecolumn; a square receiver tube havinga first tube end slidingly disposed overa first end, and a second tube end; anda top mount assembly(US2002134286, 2002-09-26).

Bed cum cupboard

Mr Abhishek Krishna

The fast paced and narrow spacedlife in metropolises does not leavepeople with enough space forfurniture. A bed cum cupboard issuggested. When sleeping, the bedcan be pulled down and fixed to thefloor with the help of a knob. In theday time, it can be made to restagainst the wall and can be used ascupboard.

The invention (US2770813, 1956-11-20) relates to a portable piece offurniture comprising in one novelcooperative combination a wardrobe,bed, desk, dressing table, bench andother features.

No more sleeping during lectures

Ms Jenu Devan

Jenu has thought of a device whichcan wake you up if you doze off in

the class. The device should be ableto identify the physiological changesin a persons’ body as soon as he goesto sleep. A small electric shock willsoon be sent to the person, whichwill immediately bring him back tothe class.

Mr Tanmay Chakrabarthy

Mr Chakrabarthy has thought ofglasses with a photoelectric cell, alight source and an earpiece whichcan make a loud beep. In the glass,on one side will be a light emittingsource and on the opposite side aphotoelectric cell as a receiver. Whilea person is sleeping and his eyes areclosed, the cell will receive light, sendan electric signal to the earpiece andmake a loud sound to wake theperson up. The setting of thephotocell will be such that it will needconstant exposure of, say at least fiveseconds to get activated.

(We hope that such devices preventadministrative officers from sleepingover peoples’ problems for long. Ed)

A cuff having stimulating electrodesproviding a wakefulness electricalsignal and a counter sleepinesselectrical signal and a sleepinessdetector coupled to a control unit(WO03089062, 2003-10-30) is inpractice. The sleepiness detectordetects an indicator of the onset ofsleep, such as the heart rate, and



37

provides a signal to the control unit, which analyzesthe heart rate and determines signs of sleepiness.

Putting waste to use

Ms S. Bharathi Dasan

Ms Dasan suggests that motor of a fan or mixerafter dismantling can be used for grating coconutby attaching stainless steel saw blades and can bepowered with the use of batteries.

Cycle-Depots for Urban Transport

Mr Dhananjay Singh

Urban transport is a huge problem. Limited spacefor the vehicles, pollution and the cost of fuelspent because of inefficient utilization of the motorvehicles are some of the problems. Bicycle canbe utilized in a very professional manner forsolving the problem of urban transport.

This will require moving cycle-depots ofimportant places in a town. These places can berailway stations, bus stands, cinema halls, mainmarkets etc. A very light and easy to ride bicyclecan be procured for this purpose. The momenthe does not want to use cycle any more, he candeposit the cycle to the nearest depot. Thisscheme would be extremely popular amongststudents and office goers who can pay a fixedmonthly rental. This will not only save the fuel

and reduce the pollution but will alsobe a great boon in improving oururban transport system.

(Such a service is prevalent for cars inIndia and abroad, but why use carsand cause pollution? Lets switch tocycles. Netherlands have cycle facilty,see www.bikecity.ne Ed)

Some relief for the mothers

Mr Alok Kumar Pandey

Mr Pandey says that “my mother isaround 65 years old and she does a

lot of domestic work. She has towash large amount of wheat ormillets and then carry it to the top ofthe roof as to make it dry in sunlight.This task is very cumbersome and atthis stage it is difficult for her to doit.”

He has suggested an electronic devicewhich can take 5 or 10kg of wheatat one go, pour it on a platform. Onswitching the machine on, anattachment can rub it, wash it andcollect the grains in a chamberprovided sideways. We can developa drying chamber and a device, whichcan mix extract of dry Neem leaves(as a disinfectant).

Both the above-mentioned processeswill work together saving time andimproving efficiency.

Mr Pravin Kumar

Mr Kumar has also thought of asimilar multi-purpose wheat thresherthat will not only wash the wheat,but also dry it and grind it. This willreduce the transportation costinvolved of the wheat and the flourcan be directly packed and marketed.

Automatic Cradles

Mr Pravin Bakshi

Mr. Bakshi has thought of anautomatic cradle powered by batteryor solar cells, which can move bypendulum action. It would dispensewith the need for the mother to pullthe string of the cradle all the time.The cradle would also emit a warningbeep when the baby is restless andtries to come out of it, which couldbe measured by weight displacementin the cradle.

A cradle using pipe hanger andautomatic shaking device(JP2002262968, 2002-09-17) exists

Fuel tanks with taps

Mr Randhir Kumar

At times we need to transfer fuel fromthe two wheeler tanks to otherpurpose. So, a separate tap can beprovided (with a key) at the bottomof the tank so that fuel can betransferred and cleaned easily.




Insect repellent floors

Shalini Pal,Class IXMaharaja Agrasen Vidyalaya, Memnagar Ahmedabad

A permanent layer of bacteria and insect resistant material should be placedon the floors in houses so that we do nothave to clean the floors everyday withrepellents. Such floors will also be preferredby mothers because kids often end upcarrying infection playing on the floors.

(A paint mixed with nano particles of Titaniumdioxide or silver can in fact achieve just thiseffect, but Shalini did not know about nanoparticles so far. Will teachers teach such ideas

to our children now? Ed)

Contd.. from page 10

Instant egg-powder

Ajit Kumar

Mr. Kumar says “I am very fond of eating eggs,especially in breakfast. Preparing an omelette isnot easy.” He thinks of making egg powder bykeeping the mixture under the sun. The driedmaterial can then be further ground to make afine powder. This powder can be stored in a bottleand whenever we need to make an omelette wecan mix the powder with water.

There is a mention of the production of an instantprocessed egg powder (JP54062366, 1979-05-19)

Hands-free cordless

Sheetal Nanda

Ms Nanda thinks of “a strap/holder attached tothe cordless/mobile phones so that while talkingon the phone, both the hands are free to continue

doing other tasks. The strap/holder can be tied tothe ear/neck/head depending on the weight of thephone. This is because I feel that a lot of time iswasted just holding the phone while we could doseveral other jobs alongside. The currently availableblue tooth devices, earplugs do not give that typeof freedom as mobile still has to be carried inyour hand.”

The phone (SE9800913, 1999-09-20) contains aradio receiver connectable to a headset comprisingat least one ear phone and an extra microphoneconnected to a strap worn around the neck. Thestrap contains a protective shield and on theoutside of this there is a mobile phone antenna wireand a radio antenna wire.

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39

Ideas flow on Children’s Creativity DayCelebrations

Dr A P J Abdul Kalam’s 76th birthday on 15th

October, 2007 was celebrated as Children’sCreativity Day by launching the children’s sectionon the NIF website and organizing an ideacompetition in NIF.

The first prize was bagged by Yogarishi Vyas (14)for his idea about educational multimedia kiosks,

powered with internet connections in villages toenable illeterate people to learn illiterate people tolearn reading and writing. The second prize winnerLipi Thakkar(13) gave an idea to use match-sticksfor Braille writing for the blind. Shehazan Tavadia(14) gave an idea of having mobile kitchen in deserts,that uses same fuel for cooking and transport,thus eliminating the need to have dual fuel.

Vaidyas - Verbal for herbal

A one day workshop on " Sharing knowledge inherbal medicines by Vaidyas" to document the longunrecorded knowledge of herbal treatment withtraditional knowledge holders was organized bySri Gajanan Yuvak Mandala on 27th Oct, 2007 atSampkhand, Karnataka.

The Vaidyas were very happy to share theirknowledge and appreciated the efforts of theorganisers in bringing NIF to their village andproviding an opportunity to share their knowledge. " It is very that some Government organization(NIF) has recognized us. Though we never lookfor recognition or money while treating patientsbut it's great to be felicitated by NIF in myhometown" said Mr Ramaiah Hegde Arasapura.

At the same time, they alsoexpressed concern about thedecline in the use of Ayurvedicmedicines and Traditionalknowledge . Mr Eashwara ShukruBhatta Gowda said, "the presentgeneration is moving away fromAyurveda and home medicines . Iam afraid this culture may endwith our generation."

Community capacity building

Honey Bee Network wasrepresented at World IntellectualProperty Organization(WIPO)Roundtable entitled BuildingCommunity Capacity: PracticalInitiatives on Intellectual Propertyand Traditional CulturalExpressions, Traditional Know-ledge and Genetic Resources, heldfrom December 10-12, 2007 atWIPO Headquarters, Geneva. Theparticipants from across the

NEWS & VIEWSworld, representing different organi-zations working in this area sharedtheir experiences in the practicalinitiatives on intellectual property andtraditional cultural expressions,traditional knowledge and geneticresources.

APCTT workshop

An International Workshop onGrassroots Innovation for PartnerInstitutions in Selected Asia-PacificCountries for Building Capacity forScouting, Documentation, DatabaseDevelopment and Dissemination ofGrassroots Innovation was organizedby Asian and Pacific Centre forTransfer of Technology (APCTT) ofthe United Nations Economic and SocialCommission for Asia and the Pacific(UNESCAP), New Delhi, India between16-18 August 2007 at IIM Ahmedabadwith SRISTI and IIM as the knowledgepartners. The workshop was supportedby the Department of Scientific andIndustrial Research (DSIR), Ministry ofScience and Technology, Governmentof India.

The workshop had participants fromPhilippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Chinaand India who were given orientationon the mechanisms of scouting,documentation, incubation anddissemination of grassroots innovations.Also, demonstration and hands-ontraining on documentation of these andprior-art search, design, use andmanagement of multilingual databaseswas provided to them, which wasfollowed by the field visits.

When did you talk to your grandparents last?

Dear readers

when you celebrate birth day or some other social function, donot you share gifts with your near dear ones? If so, why notgift the subscription of Honey Bee or Sujh Bhuj Aas Paas Kior any other local language version, to them and we will senda special letter on your behalf to them. All those who send giftsubscriptions before June 30, will get a cd of all the back issuesof Honey Bee worth Rs 250 free as a gift from us. Please helpus spread the word about creative voices at grassroots aroundthe world.


40

that meant long hours for women.The knowledge for survival was soabundant and yet valued so little, notonly by outsiders but even many ofthe local people. Why else wouldsomething known and effective inone village be not known to otherpeople suffering from the same problemjust two kilometers away.

A herbal healer Gohiram Soren,Celingdha disclosed his formulationfor asthma where he uses thecombination of four plants viz.‘Kosum’ (Schleichera oleosa) ,‘Kumbir’ (Careya arborea), ‘Bahera’(Terminalia bellirica) and ‘chatni’(Alstonia scholaris). We called up our

colleagues at NIF, Ahmedabad to

A week long walk, every summer and winter indifferent parts of the country for more than adecade to recognise, respect and reward thegrassroots innovators and traditional knowledgeholders, creative children and centenarians hastaught us a great deal about genius at grassroots.Walking in Purulia and Bankura, and Patamda,drought prone regions of West Bengal andJharkhand was reminder of the cultural richnessof a semi-arid landscape. With single crop ofpaddy in most parts of Purulia, fields after fieldsshowed the standing dried stubble of paddy.Animals could graze anywhere but would not findmuch greens. Water in the ponds would dry upin the next two to three months. Cycle ofmigration would begin if not begun already. For aregion that has remained deprived of many basicamenities, occurrence of extremists’ violence isnot unexpected. But why would people protest

20TH

SHODH YATRA

Richness in ScarcityFrom Purulia and Patamda to Bankura: West Bengal

if the welfare arm of the state, oropportunities from markets or civilsociety could extend to the peoplein need? Some succour wasprovided by a few NGOs involvedin organisation of the Shodh Yatra.But a great deal remained to be done.

The life of Santhal tribals was alesson in simplicity, frugality but alsosubmission to the situation of scarcityof basic needs that existed. Ayodhyahills are quite rich in biodiversityand forests. But, should that be thereason for so much poverty to exist?In most houses, one would onlynotice dried fallen or chopped woodfor fuel purposes. More than thefood, the fuel seemed scarce. And


Given the enthusiasm of one of the youngest HBN collaborator and SCAI coordinator, Jaydeep Mandal, the entirelogistics of Shodh Yatra fell in place though a very close network of volunteers of DRCSC having many initiatives in theregion; Basudha- an NGO having a collection of 540 traditional rice varieties, Social Upliftment Trust, a grassrootsorganisation and volunteers1 of SCAI. There were professors from China, students from European universities andjournalist from Switzerland besides farmers, volunteers, students and professionals from all over the country walkingtogether from three places in Purulia and Jharkhand. They finally met at Bhagabandh to walk together to conclude thephysical yatra at Basudha. But then the inner journey may have continued further for many of them. Some of them weredeeply impressed by the standards of sanitation among Santhal tribals in Purulia; their aesthetics and willingness toshare knowledge. Gujarati farmers could not resist expressing a feeling that many farm implements from Saurashtracould be used there; similarly, the lack of water conservation efforts by state and civil society groups (except servicecentre) also appeared a bit strange to the Yatris.

The contradictions in developmental processes were obvious; naxalites were active in some of the regions; policeguarded the way in the night when we passed through certain villages; but will poverty and slow rate of economicdevelopment not legitimize the growth of extremist movement? Pressing concern was as to how do we engage with angryand other youth and generate more entrepreneurial development options for them? Fellow Yatris sang Tagore, Nazruland other folk songs bringing out the living cultural diversity and richness so poignantly.


41

find the available literature on these plants. Afterthe scrutiny of scientific literature, it was foundthat out of the four plants, two were reported forasthma, the third was reported for cough andcold, and the fourth one was reported forpneumonia, which proves the credibility of thefolk claim made by Soren if such proof wasneeded. Another herbal healer Sitaram Murmuwho has a herbal garden consisting of nearly 100species in it, disclosed the formulation for malaria,

which consists ofcombination of wellknown and lessknown plants inclassical literature.Many other distinctivepractices for treatingseveral diseases likejaundice, typhoid, and

asthma were also documented. The informedconsent of the healers was obtained on video andpaper wherever possible so that further researchcould be started. Some of the healers would alsobe supported to streng-then their local phar-macy.

As we walked through the forests and talked tothe local communities, it became more and moreapparent that even the tribal societies werebecoming ‘vertical’ rather than maintaining their‘horizontal’ nature. State interventions, weak asthey are, have created hopes of vertical structurescoming to rescue for the local communitieswithout contributing to the strengthening of localstructures. This is a challenge not just in WestBengal but all over. The knowledge network atlocal level has to be strengthened so that we donot find so much gap at such a short distance.

In most of the schools we visited, before organisingan idea competition, we played a small game. Weasked everybody as to what did they do with thematch stick after lighting a candle or fire.Everybody said that they threw it away. Our nextquestion was, imagine how much of wood wasbeing wasted when millions of people around theworld threw such sticks away. Everybody realisedthe point. At this stage, we asked them to redesignthe stick so that it can last longer. Then followedvery interesting ideas almost everywhere in thesame vein. One could put the combustiblesubstance on both ends of the stick or make thestick longer. Stick could also be reduced to onethird size and popped out by pressing the boxhaving a hole and then picked with a holder. Theextinguished stick can then be dipped in a small

bottle with quick dry combustiblesubstance so that one could dip it andignite as long as possible. The pointwas quickly made that to invent orinnovate one did not always need lotof material resources, a big workshopor too much of education. Anybody,by changing the context of theproblem, could discover new waysof solving it. In some places, wefollowed up this exercise with anotherone. We asked everybody to finddifferent uses of the extinguishedstick. The ideas that emerged quicklyranged from making a toothpick,painting stick, clearing nails to puttingvermilion mark on the forehead. Morethan forty such uses were mentioned.Being innovative was easy, and it didnot require a special skill. The newtechnique was brought out in fewminutes. After that the students werechallenged to come out with new ideasand in many places, they did think ofabsolutely original ideas.

In Basudha, Binodbaati we organiseda two-phased competition for newideas on the last day. In first one,we called two boys, one from thevillage and another from Kolkata andasked them same questions about theuses of match stick. And then openedit to everybody. The little boy fromthe village scored much higher thanthe other boy from Kolkata. In thesecond round, everybody was askedto come out with an idea of a newproduct. One of them, Bapi Roy cameout with a fascinating idea of a foursided television. In most of themeetings in rural areas, people preferto sit in a circle so that they can lookat each other and at the same time,enjoy a fire in the winter or a folk

theatre performance. The multimediadatabase that we were showingrequired people to sit behind eachother and face other person’s back.The suggestion of the four-sidedtelevision would make it possible forpeople to sit in a circle and watch theprogramme and also look at eachother. On further investigation, wefound that no such product had beendeveloped by anybody so far.

On the way from Patamda inJharkhand, another student SanjayKarmakar thought about a fishing rodwith a siren and a light. The idea wasthat many times while waiting for thefish to be trapped, the mind getsdiverted and one misses the fish.Alarm and the light will be switchedon the moment the bait is bitten bythe fish. Akash Kumar from Patamdagave an idea to develop a 'ludo' forthe blind and illiterate it on a poster.All along the Shodh Yatra route, wegave prizes to the students who cameout with such very creative ideas.

All the Shodh Yatris who viewed theexercise realised that when childrencould be so creative and discover theirown potential so easily, why couldnot they, as adults, also innovate?Discussion on this issue kept themanimated in the whole journey andsome of them even started thinkingof new ideas.

While passing through Kashipurcrossroads, we had a roadside meetingin the evening. Initially, the responsewas lukewarm. We took out the laptopand showed the videos of some ofthe innovations. The amphibiouscycle developed by Mohd. Saidullahof Bihar, which worked on road aswell as in water, was always aninstantaneous hit with the viewers. Sowere many other videos like washingcum exercising machine of RemyaJose, tree climbing device of Appachanand Mushtaq Dhanjibhai, a polioaffected person for modifying a threewheel scooter which he could drive,Kanakdas for a cycle, which converted

Mr. Sitaram Murmu

When did you talk to nature last?


42

the shocks generated by bumps on the road intopropulsion through gears linked to the rear wheel,etc., were also appreciated. The bystanders thanunderstood the point. One of them told us abouta workshop mechanic who made paddy threshersand we went there to see his designs. Anotherone mentioned about a young boy Raju who haddeveloped an FM station, which broadcasts musicat no cost to anyone. We could not meet him onthat day but later we managed to contact him.Though his station was illegal, he was performinga great community service. He did not broadcastany advertisements. He had a phone-in-servicein which anybody could request for a song orannounce a spiritual or social event. He had sucha great understanding of the sequence and thelocation of about 2500 songs on different CDs

and cassettes thathe couldi m m e d i a t e l ylocate and play thedesired song. Healso publicisedg o v e r n m e n t ’sprogrammes forpolio vaccine,

education, and other activities. He had developeda transmitter with 25 km range in just Rs. 5000as against commercial transmitter with about 70km range costing Rs. 3,00,000. The problem wasthat public policy did not favour a low costinnovation, which could create tremendous impacton local economies and socio-cultural conditions.New performers could become popular and thusmight get livelihood opportunities by being invitedto various functions and local administration couldmonitor the proper use of such transmitters.

Madsudhan Kalandi had made ‘Chaudal’, a batteryoperated boat model in Mekhada village Kashipur.Nepal Pramanik had such an extraordinary skillin making clay parts that he could make them shinethrough a clay polish. There was a particularkind of soil, which was used for polishing. SushantoSaihis had used wooden triangular frame in his

c y c l einstead ofsteel frame.SurayakantaMurmu hadmade as i m p l etorch lightby joining

old cells without too much of casingand other attachments.

While passing through the villages,we honoured many herbal leaders andsenior citizens above 90 years or 100years. Several recipe competitionswere organised through which welearnt about the creative uses of eitheruncultivated plants or less obviousparts of plants or different processesof using existing materials. The notionthat the food of the rich is quite poorand that of the poor often is rich, atleast nutritionally, came out forcefullyin several recipe competitions.Similarly biodiversity competitionswere organised among the schoolchildren all along the Shodh Yatra routeto assess their knowledge on the locallyavailable herbal resources. It was adelight to notice rich awareness ofthe students about the uses of severalplants and also to know that transferof this knowledge was actually taking

place from the older generation to theyounger. The students withoutstanding entries were rewardedwith prizes.

Weed Control in Paddy by usingthe mulch of pigeonpea leaves:

This was a common practice amonga small community at Ayodhya hills.They used pigeon pea leaves as mulchbefore transplanting paddy. Whenwe searched the literature databasesin the evening we did not come acrossany report of this kind. In Cassava,the leaves had been used but therewas no such widespread practiceanywhere in the world. This could,after validation, become a veryimportant technology for weed controland soil fertility management. For

poor people who can not affordchemicals and others who did not wantto use chemicals, this could providea sustainable alternative. It is a differentmatter although that the AgricultureDepartment may have no incentiveto diffuse such non-chemical, non-monetary technology, which helpedpeople become self-reliant. Farmerresearchers at Basudha have been usingpigeonpea leaves for eight years tocontrol "mutha" (Cyperus rotundus)grass, a difficult weed of paddy field.

Creativity in scarcity:

While passing through a villageLoahardih, we came acrossextraordinary designs on the mud wallsof the huts. The Santhal tribal peopledid not have much material resourcesinside the hut but maintained a veryhigh degree of cleanliness outside.The art work on the walls by SumitaMahato, Sonali, Sabitri and RebatiMahato were outstandingcontributions. Why wouldn’t they berecognised as artists? How do wecreate platform for such grassrootsartists to share the richness of art andculture in everyday life? Couldn’t someof them become designers of wallsand wall murals in the cities andneighbouring villages? Why suchskilful artists should be considered onlyunskilled labourers while conceivingvarious poverty alleviation andemployment programme? How couldIndia become a knowledge society

Raju

Nepal Pramanik

Battery operated boat mode ofmadhusudan kalandi


Mohit Majhi, a centenarian beinghonoured

Recipe competition


43

very similar to ‘Swarna’ varietyalthough farmers grew it without muchfertiliser and pesticide. In fact, manyfarmers grew it completely organically.They got about eighteen quintals perhectare yield, which was comparableto the best local variety but withoutany additional cost of purchased inputs.The traders mixed the grains of ‘AsitKalma’ with that of ‘Swarna’. Mostof the farmers growing this varietyhad small holdings. They could notafford to sell it with a separate name.Even if one pooled the production of

this variety by all the farmers of thevillage, it would not fill even half ofthe truck. Thus, the variety haddiffused but the consumers and themarket did not seem to know aboutit. When asked about the experience,Asit said, “I have seen what Basudhahad done. They are maintaining morethan 500 varieties, I have developedonly one. I am extremely happy thatother farmers have liked it so much.I don’t expect anything in return.”

Preeti

without learning to value the knowledge and cultureof such artists? In an earlier shodh yatra in westernUttar Pradesh, we had come across an outstandingpainting on a heap of dung cakes. Wherevercreative women found a space they could call theirown, they gave vent to their creative impulses.

Creating music out of leaves:

Phatik Bawri was anoutstanding performerwho could create verydeep classical tones inthe music performedby using just any leaf.He demonstrated histalent in Jorda village.All the shodh yatris

were spellbound listening to his extraordinary music.

Samar Kumar Dutta in Chakaltor village could tellthe day of the week for any date hundreds ofyears before or after the date. He seemed to havea system of calculation by which he could quicklyfind out which day of the week, a particular datewould be.

A herbal skin cream:

While havingr o a d s i d emeeting in thesmall town ofB a n g l aIndapur, wewere talkinga b o u tinnovations

and invoking bystanders to help us locate somebodywho has developed a new solution to any localproblem. For more than half an hour, we couldnot find any innovator though there were a fewherbal healers whom we honoured. Then came alittle girl, Preeti Choudhary who brought in herbag, a skin cream made by her mother. They hadheard our appeal on the public address system.This was a very remarkable moment. Theinnovation by Mrs. Rina Choudhary, mother ofPreeti, could be seen by everybody through the

samples Preeti brought. She claimedthat this was very good for skin andhad a good fragrance too.Prashant Bhui from Aailtya village inBakura district had designed a cycle-based mobile charger. Deeplai Pal ofDanga village shared the idea ofpumping water employing a joy rideused by children. In the same village,Bappa Ghorai gave an idea ofgenerating energy from the wind thrustcreated by a fan.

Developing new paddy variety:"Asit Kalma"

A youngfarmer, AsitDey went tosee hisr e l a t i v e saround 17years ago.While comingback, he saw

some plants which looked verydifferent. He decided to collect someseeds and then grew them separately.Every year, he selected the plantswhich were disease free, did not havemuch attack of the pests and yieldedwell. After a few years, he developeda variety, which he gave to some ofhis friends and neighbours forevaluation. In the last five years, thevariety has covered almost all the fieldssuitable for the purpose in the village.Farmers called that variety as ‘AsitKalma’. The traders found the grains

Shodhyatris savoured 14local aromatic varieties ofrice conserved at Basudhaby Dr Debal Deb and histeam.

Phatik Bawri

When did you consume organic food last?

Preeti

Asit Dey

...to be continued in next issue

1Several volunteers helped in organizing the 20th Shodh Yatra. It is difficult to recognize the contribution of everybody, but some of themare: SCAI members: Jaydeep Mandal, Koyal Biswas, Subajit Bhaskar, Shyan Ahmed Khan, Rajiv Gupta and Anamika. Vivekanand Vikas Kendra(VVK)- Mrs Ashru Bhumik (Didimuni), Ajit Roy, Ramnath Murmu (RRSC), DRCSC- Ardhendu Chatterjee, Sanjib Chatterjee, Sandhya Mandal,Sujit Mitra, Milan, Anshuman, Sunit Mahato, Sachin Mahato, Badal, Prashanto, Bablu, Social Upliftment Trust (SUT)- Rajeev Ranjan Pandey,Shashikant Ojha, Pawan Mahato, Basant Mahato, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies- Dr Debal Deb, and Jagat Taran Ghosh.


44

DIALOGUE

Indian creativity to solve US problems

Fred DillonHopeLab, Redwood City, CA [email protected], www.hopelab.org

I am writing from a non-profit organizationcalled HopeLab near San Francisco, UnitedStates. We work to develop innovative solutionsfor young people with chronic illness.

HopeLab is currently focusing on the problemof childhood obesity, and we are looking fornew ideas for products that can get kids tobe more physically active. To that end,HopeLab is sponsoring an international onlinecompetition called "Ruckus Nation"(www.ruckusnation.com) that challengesparticipants to imagine innovative productsthat will increase physical activity among kidsages 11 to 14. The competition is open topeople of all ages and prizes will be awardedto contestants in four categories – middleschool, high school, college and others.Those who compete in Ruckus Nation maysee their ideas come to life; the best productideas will be prototyped, tested, and broadlydistributed to young people.

I am writing to see if you might be willingto let individuals associated with the NationalInnovation Foundation know about theopportunity to participate in Ruckus Nation. Itis a great opportunity for individuals to beinnovative, help tackle a complex social problem,and potentially win a financial award for theirefforts.

(Sure, we will share the information at our website and also with our readers of Honey Bee. Ed)

‘Medicine Men’

Mora McLaganKeo Films, [email protected]

I am writing from Keo Films in London, whomake documentary films for worldwidedistribution, with a strong anthropological focus.We have just finished work on a new series‘Medicine Men’ which is exploring differenthealth problems around the world and localsolutions-whether in the form of ‘alternative’or traditional medicines, or shamanistictreatment.

In conjunction with the series, weare exploring the possibility ofsetting up a global informationwebsite about Medical Biopiracy,and the necessary protection ofIndigenous Knowledge systems. Wehave also been exploring thepossibility of building on the databasesites of TKDL

h t t p : / / 2 0 3 . 2 0 0 . 9 0 . 6 / t k d l / L a n gDefault/common/Home.asp?GL=Eng

h t t p : / / n e w s . b b c . c o . u k / 1 / h i /technology/2858253.stm

Obviously there are some very largepractical and ethical issues to considerin undertaking such a project, andit would be very helpful to speakto somebody working in thecampaign field already at this veryearly stage, to seek advice on whatcurrent medical bio-piracycampaigns exist, and who the bestexperts would be to advise andcollaborate with in such a venture.

(It would be wonderful to discussyour ideas. We appreciate your efforts.Ed)

YouDev

LawrenceInstitute of Development Studies(IDS), University of [email protected], www.ids.ac.uk

I wanted to find out whether theHoney Bee Network is planning orknows of anything like somethingI am calling YouDev. Basically itis the YouTube model of shareduser-generated video content, butfocusing on illuminating innovationsin development—in health,agriculture, water, governance,mobilization, social protection etc.I would be very interested in yourreaction and perhaps in collaborationif you thought this was of valueto the network.

(We are thinking about Global Gianas an on line incubation platform.We have put a lot of content at

youtube under Indiainnovates. Youridea is very good and worth pursuing.Ed)

Innovations

Vijay PunianiZenith Homes [email protected]

I read an interesting article in theChicago Tribune. I was veryimpressed with the way innovativeway you are trying to help the poorpeople in the remote areas of India.I am not an educated person likeyou, but I would like to help thepoor in any which way I can. Ihad started a small charitableorganization during the Tsunamidisaster. I personally went to SouthIndia and helped over 80 familiesrebuild their lives.

I still have some funds left overfrom that effort as well as thecapacity to raise some more funds.I like to personally meet with thepeople I am helping, and getsomewhat involved in their livesthen simply writing a cheque.

I am planning a road trip all overIndia, covering over 12,000 kmover a period of few months.During this trip I plan on helpingpoor people with their health careor educational needs. I waswondering if there is any way Ican be of any help to you, duringmy “Bharat Yatra”

(There are a number of ways inwhich you can help. Adoption ofsome versatile and young innovatorby sponsoring them through monthlymonetary grants/or innovationfellowship, supporting one or a fewinnovators who are past their prime,innovations that would make the lifeof people easier if disseminated forfree but which do not have sufficienteconomic return for the investor. E.g.Low cost check dams, pulley withstopper, head load reducing deviceetc, some low cost version ofeducational kits. Ed)



45When did you think of a new idea last?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you last meet an innovator?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you last meet an innovator?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you last meet an innovator?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you think of a new idea last?When did you think of a new idea last?

On line and off line global collaboration

Cornelius HerstattInstitute for Technology and InnovationManagement, Hamburg University of Technology,Germany, [email protected]/tim; www.global-innovation.net;www.eitim.org

I am involved in user innovation work for along time (you will find some of our work inJournals like the Product DevelopmentManagement Journal, R+D-Management, Int.Journal of Technology Management, Int. Journalof Innovation and Technology management orPolicy Research or at www.leaduser.org).

Besides, I have started the research initiative“Innovation for Silver Markets”, where we lookcloser at Product Innovation for aging andhandicapped people (involving them into theinnovation work).

I feel that we work in similar fields and I wouldreally like to do something together with yourgroup.

(We do encourage online and offlinecollaboration across the world. Weacknowledge the outstandingcontributors to common pool, onecan contribute ideas for productdevelopment, share information aboutthem, post their profiles and let usersknow, which new add-on wasprovided through whosecontribution. Grassroots Innovatorsdeserve global support. Ed)

The Future of Our Cities

Aditi Nath [email protected]

I am sending you a copy of “TheFuture of Our Cities”, a videoprogramme that I made with mycolleagues at Shape, Calcutta, andthat was nationally telecast onDoordarshan. It is a somewhat longprogramme, but I believe well worththe time.

It fundamentally seeks to pose thequestion ‘Does the ‘Future’ belongonly to our cities? Can cities survivewithout the ‘Country’? Or may wework towards a country-citysymbiosis?’ It tells the story of thewetlands of East Calcutta, wherethe local villagers in informal alliancewith the lower stratum of CalcuttaMunicipal Corporation engineershave innovated over the past 100years, a remarkable system for themanagement of the city’sliquid and solid waste. The city hasno other waste managementsystem.

The liquid waste is canalized intoshallow fish-farms where understrong sunlight over a number ofdays, the bacterial count is radicallydiminished and blue-green algaegrows. The algae also replenish theoxygen in the air and these wetlandsare Calcutta’s lungs. The solid wasteis separated into organic andinorganic and the organic wasteserves as fertilizer for the localvegetable gardens that provide onethird of Calcutta’s fresh vegetables.

The innovation of the villagers hasnot only devised a system to recycleenergy but also to restore theoxygen supply of Calcutta and actas a battery to trap the dust andpollution generated by the city.Whereas the City acts aggressivelytowards the Country, the latter actsinnovatively and symbiotically andrestores the balance.

(We fully agreed with the need forsymbiosis. Ed)

Be! an entrepreneur

Doel TrivedyGoing To [email protected]

We at “Going to School”, a non-profit based in Delhi, are dedicatedto creating media (radio, books,films) that encourage underprivilegedchildren to go to school.

Our new effort “BE!” is a multi-mediaproject that aims to inspire youngpeople from underprivilegedbackgrounds to becomeentrepreneurs and create businessesthat solves economic, social andenvironmental problems in theircommunity and beyond.

We’ve just begun researching theproject, and would like to findentrepreneurs from underprivilegedbackgrounds who have the integratedvision to create viable businesses witha larger social or economic impact.

(We are carrying your story in thisissue. Thank you. Ed)

Postmen as scouts

Sandhya [email protected]

We seek your support in movingforward to design the InnovationsProgram of Dept. of Posts and forputting in place an effective grantmaking system. We are looking for

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

Quiz ???

Tell us what thegirl in the pictureis trying to do?

(Hint: There issomething attachedto the thread.)

Attractive prizes tobe won. Send youranswers to theeditorial address.


46

support in terms of ideas, tools, processes,evaluation criteria, product performancebenchmarks etc. for developing the InnovationsProgram. We would be grateful if you or any onefrom you team members could provide us somerelevant inputs in this regard.

(We will be happy to help .We also wish to involvepostmen in scouting innovators and recognizethem for the same. Ed)

Honey Bee in Haryana

Arjun [email protected]

I am working with an NPO known as ABLECharities located in Village Behrola, DistrictFaridabad, Haryana. There are about 600 orphansand children of widows, who are indigent (belowthe poverty-line). They are currently enrolled inlocal schools, but supported, along with the tuitionfees and other expenses wholly by ABLE, as theABLE Charitable School is yet to be built.

Your knowledge-based programs are veryimpressive. However, I was unable to discoverwhich states you operated in (other thanGujarat), hence this e-mail to find out moreabout how you disseminate knowledge aboutinnovators and innovation useful for ruralchildren and adults.

(I am so happy to hear about your excellent work,please do visit www.sristi.org, www.nifindia.organd www.indiainnovates.org You can also see thevideos at India innovates at youtube. Ed)

Voluntary help in innovation movement

Srikrishna [email protected]

I was brought up in Chennai, India and cameover to the US to pursue my master’s and acareer. As I track the growth in Indian economy,I have been truly fascinated by the amount ofinnovation that is emanating from India. I cameacross the work that you have done and amtruly fascinated by your grassroots efforts thathave had such incredible impact.

I am very eager to connect with you to learnmore about the current aspects of Innovationthat is happening in India and things in particular

that you are driving and also seekopportunities that I can help with.

(We certainly need all the support inthis innovation movement. Weappreciate your voluntary help. Ed)

Volunteering for ShodhYatra

Charlie [email protected]

I discovered that you are planning tobe here in October. As I’ve got sometime on my hands I wondered if Icould be of any help leading up to orduring the UK Shodh Yatra. (MaybeI could use my experiences with youin UP to help explain the Shodh Yatrato bystanders, or perhaps bring someCDs of the programme fordistribution or playback.

Unfortunately we had to postpone theShodh Yatra because we could notmobilize our efforts: those whowould help developthe route for walk and fix meetings,scout creative people and involve localcommunity members.(Thanks for your very kind offer ofhelp. It would be great to have you onthe yatra. It is now planned inSeptember from Cambridge to NorthSea. [email protected]. Ed)

Bullocks to generate power

Avikar [email protected]

It is heartwarming to see your effortsto foster innovation. I have someideas/questions.Can a female buffaloor a cow used as a draught animal(similar to a horse), it may affect milkproduction but could be an idea worthpursuing. Is it feasible to use draughtanimals to produce electricity invillages the way they were use tosqueeze oil, pump water using waterwheels etc. I can visualize a team ofanimals moving in a circle and

powering a suitable electric generatorfixed in the center. With the numberof cows/buffaloes in villages, this canbe another source of electricity.

(Such use of milk animal is doneroutinely in Bangladesh and to alimited extent in India also. Similarlygeneration of power by bullocks hasbeen around as a concept andtechnology for a long time, it has notproved much viable so far, but withimprovement in generators, itmight happen. We appreciate that youwrote and explored your ideas with us.Ed)

UK Shodh Yatra

Dr Satyendra [email protected]

I am a doctor in the UK, veryappreciative of your thoughts and the‘yatras’. My own journeysrediscovering my own country startedin September 2004. This led to myown thoughts on supporting theefforts of a Himalayan NGO to startand sustain a small rural Himalayanhospital, and on biodiversityconservation. The journeys havecontinued regularly since then gettingmore focused now on health,education and environment. I wouldlove to know more about your ShodhYatras, and look forward to youryatra in UK.

(I am deeply impressed with your ownway to discover your roots in such anorganic and authentic manner. In away every Shodh Yatra is a search forgreater authenticity. It is also anattempt to celebrate creativity andinnovation at grassroots. Ed)

Testing bore wells withoutinstalling a pump

Srinivas [email protected]

I am a Mechanical engineer (Machinedesign), specialized in pumps andmotors. I invented an instrument tosolve the problem faced by farmers



47

and bore well owners to install a pump andmotor for particular depth in the bore wellfor continuous availability of water by usingvisual technology. This is an instrument totest bore wells without installing a pump andmotor directly and also to avoid the pre-investment made on electricity, pump, motor,pipes, cable, etc. I developed an instrumentto scan bore wells to identify casing length,casing condition, formation of the bore well,number of dry gaps, number of super watergaps, direction of flow of water and totaldepth of the bore well etc. I got a patent forthis instrument. The instrument issuccessfully working and more than fivehundred bore wells have been scanned.

By using this technology we can avoidrepetitive drilling of new bore wells byrepairing existing old one. Please kindlysuggest me to sell this technology, for furtherR&D works.

(We invite you to write [email protected] or TePP program atDSIR. Honey Bee Network primarily supportsgrassroots innovators without professionaldegrees. You can also apply for Inventors ofIndia program at CIIE. Ed)

QNeem

Ankush [email protected]

I am from Sindri, Dhanbad, Jharkhand. Iam making a product named “qneem” whichis useful for killing harmful bacteria withoutcausing any harm to the human body. It ismade up of neem. I have collected about 50

comments on Honey Bee magazine fromthose who received the magazine fromme. Can I send it to you?

Great! Send us the comments. And send usdetail of your Neem product. We can alsotry to test it. Ed)

Innovative changes to thebullock-carts

Krishna [email protected]

For many years, I had thought of twoimprovements in the bullock-cart. Thefirst would be to install the simple andrelatively inexpensive ratchets with pawls

The winner of the quiz question askedin Honey Bee 18 (2) April-Jun2007 issueis Mr Suresh Muthukulam fromThiruvanantha-puram, Kerala

He says that the cylindrical wooden boxhanging outdooor will get free aircirculation, light and protection formants and termites, it will act as a suitabledwelling/shelter for honeybees.

Congratulations Mr Suresh!! You havewon books worth Rs 500.

on the wheels, so that when the oxenhave to struggle to take the fullyloaded cart up a steep mountain, theymay pause and recover their breath(which they now can not as theymust continue to exert maximumeffort till they come to a level stretchof the road). The second would beto have a simple wooden block of abrake appliied on the wheels througha lever by the cart whenever theloaded cart has to go down hill.

(We really appreciate your ideas andwill certainly pass on your suggestionsto some of the grassroots innovatorswho have developed bullock cartbased innovations. Ed)

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of othersonly a green thing that stands in the way.

Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and somescarce see Nature at all.

But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature isImagination itself.

- William Blake, 1799, The Letters


July-Dec 2007

Documents

Transcript of July-Dec 2007