India and Innovation
You might have got those emails. About India's contribution to the rest of the world, be it in mathematics, in astronomy or numerous other fields. Unfortunately, most of these inventions, discoveries and innovations are from Ancient Indian times.
I've always wondered what has been happening since!
It took a few years for me to realise that a number of great things that have happened in India in modern times have not been individual contributions or products & ideas. Most of the creative, innovative things that have happened have been in the social realm.
The first census that happened in independent India was in 1951. The literacy rate in India then was 16.7% and in 1991 it was 43.3%. Why that low even after 40 years? Maybe this number would enlighten: the population of India in 1951 was 361 million, in 1991, 83,606 million! Phew! What happened? Suddenly, after India gained independence, the population exploded! Barring risque comments, the actual reason were primarily due to improved healthcare. The death rate per thousand population has decreased from 26.6 in 1955 to 9 in 2000. Wow! That's a remarkable 66%! What happened here? Increased healthcare for India meant a number of developements in medicine, eradication of major epidemics like malaria, and of course, focus on educational instititutions, both medical and otherwise and better food production and distribution systems.
Somehow, when Indians think, write and criticise about India, they forget the fact that they are able to do so primarily because of a number of social incentives which were taken soon after our independence. If it weren't for institutional education, medical and infrastructural facilities which were created in the early years after independence, I might not have been sitting halfway across the world, writing this blog today.
Although learning these facts was certainly consoling, I was still feeling despondent for a number of reasons. Many, many Indians who are well educated and have travelled all over the world, have been successful outside of India, but there haven't been many success stories of Indians in India.
A recent article, for example, listed 9 Indians in MIT's top innovators' list. Smruti Vidwans has a new approach to develop drugs against tuberculosis and Vikram Sheel Kumar developed interactive software that motivates patients to manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and AIDS.
Of course, neither of them are in India, so I was wondering if it would ever be possible to create Indian greats while in India!
So, it was really heartening to see Wired coming up with a wonderful article about "India Emerges as Innovation Hub".
Two of the notables - Shekar Borgaonkar and his team are building what they call Script Mail, a device that makes electronic communication easier for people who speak languages that can't be typed on a standard keyboard. And Kirti Trivedi, from IIT Mumbai, has built what he calls a "compact media center" for schools without enough computer equipment to go around. Although it costs a steep $3,200, a single unit can tutor a large classroom of nearly 100 students in schools that cannot afford multiple personal computers. Considering tha a computer in India costs over $500, this is certainly a more economical alternative.
Of course, there are many, many things that can be done in India. Things that can be improved. Sometimes the number of hurdles left still to cross seem daunting and it never seems like an achievable goal. But I think, slowly there is a realisation creeping in. That things can change. That we can create, innovate, think up new ways to solve problems which have dogged us for years.
The interesting times are just beginning!
I've always wondered what has been happening since!
It took a few years for me to realise that a number of great things that have happened in India in modern times have not been individual contributions or products & ideas. Most of the creative, innovative things that have happened have been in the social realm.
The first census that happened in independent India was in 1951. The literacy rate in India then was 16.7% and in 1991 it was 43.3%. Why that low even after 40 years? Maybe this number would enlighten: the population of India in 1951 was 361 million, in 1991, 83,606 million! Phew! What happened? Suddenly, after India gained independence, the population exploded! Barring risque comments, the actual reason were primarily due to improved healthcare. The death rate per thousand population has decreased from 26.6 in 1955 to 9 in 2000. Wow! That's a remarkable 66%! What happened here? Increased healthcare for India meant a number of developements in medicine, eradication of major epidemics like malaria, and of course, focus on educational instititutions, both medical and otherwise and better food production and distribution systems.
Somehow, when Indians think, write and criticise about India, they forget the fact that they are able to do so primarily because of a number of social incentives which were taken soon after our independence. If it weren't for institutional education, medical and infrastructural facilities which were created in the early years after independence, I might not have been sitting halfway across the world, writing this blog today.
Although learning these facts was certainly consoling, I was still feeling despondent for a number of reasons. Many, many Indians who are well educated and have travelled all over the world, have been successful outside of India, but there haven't been many success stories of Indians in India.
A recent article, for example, listed 9 Indians in MIT's top innovators' list. Smruti Vidwans has a new approach to develop drugs against tuberculosis and Vikram Sheel Kumar developed interactive software that motivates patients to manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and AIDS.
Of course, neither of them are in India, so I was wondering if it would ever be possible to create Indian greats while in India!
So, it was really heartening to see Wired coming up with a wonderful article about "India Emerges as Innovation Hub".
Two of the notables - Shekar Borgaonkar and his team are building what they call Script Mail, a device that makes electronic communication easier for people who speak languages that can't be typed on a standard keyboard. And Kirti Trivedi, from IIT Mumbai, has built what he calls a "compact media center" for schools without enough computer equipment to go around. Although it costs a steep $3,200, a single unit can tutor a large classroom of nearly 100 students in schools that cannot afford multiple personal computers. Considering tha a computer in India costs over $500, this is certainly a more economical alternative.
Of course, there are many, many things that can be done in India. Things that can be improved. Sometimes the number of hurdles left still to cross seem daunting and it never seems like an achievable goal. But I think, slowly there is a realisation creeping in. That things can change. That we can create, innovate, think up new ways to solve problems which have dogged us for years.
The interesting times are just beginning!
posted by abhijit at 7:38 PM
1 Comments:
Yes, Sandeep, there are many, many infrastructural issues facing India. In fact, those are the main things that, in my opinion, are holding back a huge amount of development. That, and political will.
My aim in the article was to point out people who are doing a number of things for India despite the tremendous challenges they face (including commuting to work!)
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