AMAZING: Meet the Indian engineer with 98 INNOVATIONS!
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Assam-born mechanical engineer Uddhab Bharali dropped out of college in 1987 because of acute poverty. Called 'useless' by his family and labelled a lunatic for his desire to invent things the likes of which the world has never seen, today he has been shortlisted by NASA for a breakthrough innovation.
Bill Gates once famously said: If you are born poor it's not your mistake, but if you die poor, it's your mistake.
Uddhab Bharali was born to a businessman father in Lakhimpur, Assam and was only four years old when he first realised that his parent was a complete failure careerwise. Not only did he fail in business, but each of his initiatives nudged their family closer to debt and poverty.
By the time Bharali reached primary school, he had already seen the worst of times.
"We had only one cow for the entire family and we had to divide the milk among five people. Sometimes my mother would feed us peanuts with the milk. That was our only food for the whole day," he says.
The fact that he was academically extraordinarily bright was of no consequence at home. He had no role models to draw inspiration from and no time or money to indulge in leisure.
Bharali, who received his schooling at the Government Secondary School, Lakhimpur, was often asked by his teacher to stand outside the class because he asked 'difficult questions' in mathematics.
But despite puzzling his teachers and peers, he was twice rewarded with a double promotion at school. "After completing first grade, I was promoted to third grade and from Class VI, I was promoted to Class VIII. I loved mathematics. I even tutored some of my classmates to help them get good grades," he states.
"When I was in Class VIII, I could solve some of the toughest problems from Class 11 and 12 textbooks. Even college students would come to me asking for my help," continues Bharali, who graduated from school at 14, but had to drop out of engineering college because he could not afford to pay the fees and had to care for his family. And that is what he is doing even today -- Bharali currently lives with his widowed mother, wife, an eight-year-old son and two younger sisters in North Lakhimpur.
As the years passed, debts rose and the Bharali family owed a sum of Rs 18 lakh to the bank. The odd jobs that he took up were not enough to support his large family and that's how, he says, he stumbled upon the idea of innovation -- by accident.
"In 1987, the bank authorities told us that we would have to vacate our home if we did not pay them the money. I was aware that a company was looking for innovators who could design a polythene-making machine. But since the existing product was available for a price of Rs 5 lakh, I knew that if I wanted the deal, I should try to create a design which would cost less than that," says the innovator, who duplicated the exorbitantly priced original for a fraction of the cost and sold it for Rs 67,000.
Although this was ample evidence of Bharali's extraordinary talent, there were no takers to help him put his intelligence and talent to good use.
In 1995, things worsened when Bharali lost his elder brother to liver sclerosis. That's when he realised that as the only earning member, it was upto him to take care of his family's needs. He was also devastated at how poverty had affected his loved ones and therefore pledged not only to earn enough to sustain his family, but also to help resurrect the lives of others living below the poverty line.
With that dream in mind, he concentrated on making products to serve rural and commercial purposes. Even when he found it difficult to pay off his debts and avail of funding for the project, he believed that someday God would answer his prayers. And indeed, they were.
In 2005, Bharali's talent came to the attention of the National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad and they took him aboard as a grassroots innovator.
In 2006, his design for a pomegranate de-seeding machine was recognised as the first of its kind not only in India, but across the world. And since then, there has been no looking back for him.
"America had been struggling with this concept for over 30 years. I am glad to have succeeded in achieving this feat," says the recipient of the President's National Grassroots Innovation Award 2009, which turned his fortunes overnight.
The serial innovator, who has more than 98 inventions to his credit, was also recently shortlisted for his desktop pomegranate de-seeding machine by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for its prestigious Technology Award; the results will be announced in September.
Another of his innovations, the mini CTC tea plant, which aims to help smalltime tea pluckers and farmers, has also been nominated by the the World Technology Network for the World Technology Awards 2012.
In the following pages, Bharali emphasises the importance of being self-sufficient, tells us why he prefers being known as an innovator rather than an entrepreneur and shares some of his biggest dreams for India's future.
How young were you when you launched your first innovation? What was it about?
I was 23 when I duplicated the polythene machine. It was created more out of desperation rather than inspiration.
After the death of my father, my family owed a debt of Rs 18 lakh. There was no way I could earn that much money doing menial jobs. I designed a duplicate of the existing machine that cost Rs 5 lakh for Rs 67,000 only.
And the impressive part was that the raw materials cost me only Rs 22,000. That's when I realised that if I set my heart on something, I could definitely come up with better technological innovations.
What inspired you to continue with your work? What do you hope to achieve through your innovations?
Through my innovations, I want to reach out to those who are living below the poverty line, nationally and internationally. I don't want to make any profits for myself. I have made that clear to my family as well. Sometimes they think I am crazy, but I think it is the money and want of luxuries that drives you crazy. I believe that if you cannot help society through your knowledge and capabilities, you are living a worthless life.
Today, people from all over the world call me to know more about my work and life. Some of them have even offered me crores of rupees to work with them, but I refuse their offers. I cannot work like that. I earn enough to sustain myself.So, how do you finance your projects...the infrastructure, workforce, raw materials etc?
Although I started innovating to help poor people live better lives, I realised that by doing so, I was not able to generate enough money for my research and raw materials. I ended up making and distributing products free of cost to people. So I decided to commercialise my designs and make money through royalties, which I would use to meet my research and philanthropic needs.
Of the 25 per cent profits I earn through royalties every month, I spend 10 per cent on an old age home, 10 per cent on an orphanage and keep five per cent for myself.
I have also started a small research and training institute where I pick illiterate students, educate and train them for three months on technology and its applications.
How do you ensure that your devices are available at subsidised costs? Do you make enough profits now?
When I design a product, I ensure that it can be used by the illiterate and the handicapped. Most of my products consume low power and are easy to operate.
Another important factor I keep in mind is that none of my products should reduce employment opportunities in any way. I know that a lot of poor people in our country are dependent on manual labour for a living and if I introduce technology that runs on power, I may rob them of their very source of living. I refuse to make such designs. My designs are manually operated and demand comparatively less labour costs.
Most of your innovations have been in the field of agriculture. Why?
In India, agriculture and farming are the primary sources of livelihood for many. Farmers are not only illiterate, they are also poor and cannot afford to buy expensive technology, even if it's available. It's a vicious circle.
So I try to create technology that is available cheaply and requires less expertise. In the case of poor farmers, I design it free of cost.You must be working on more than one project at a time. How do you multitask?
Even now, I have 53 projects on hand and I am currently responsible for an average of eight projects a month.
Once I take up a project, I ensure that within 48 hours I crack and send the client a formula. I believe that if an innovator can't come up with a solution in 48 hours, s/he is not dedicated to the project and will not come up with a good solution even if the next one year is spent on it.
Once I crack the formula, in the next 28 days, I have to come up with a prototype. If I get bored or stuck with one project, I leave it and switch to the next one. I can't sit idle or rest as long as work is pending. I lock myself up for hours without eating or sleeping till I crack a formula. A lot of people get annoyed by that habit. But that's how I multitask. It's what I love doing.
Ravi
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