Dibrugarh, Nov. 15: Master innovator Uddhab Kumar Bharali, recipient of the President’s Award in 2009, had a refreshing experience today at the Nandeshwar Chakravarty high school in Dibrugarh, where he was invited to interact with the students.
Over the years, he has received several awards, including the President’s Award, for his knack for innovating alternative and low cost implements for use in fields of agriculture and industry. Bharali had also been invited to the Rastrapati Bhavan along with 29 other innovators, selected from across the country, from March 10 to 14 this year.
During the interactive session with the enthusiastic students, Bharali was amazed at their level of interest, queries and innovations.
“Over the years, I have received several awards and recognition, including the President’s Award in 2009. Apart from travelling the entire length and breadth of our country, I have also visited a few countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the US. But never have I come across children with such intuitiveness,” Bharali, who is an engineer, said.
Bharali’s innovations are unique in two ways — they have the capacity to replace existing machines and they become instant hits because of low costs of production.
Bharali received the President’s Award on November 18, 2009 from President Pratibha Patil for his innovations, including polyethylene sleeve-maker unit, cassava-peeling machine, cane-stripping machine, pomegranate-deseeder machine and mechanised weeding machine.
He has been invited to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Leadership Award in New Delhi on December 25.“We had heard a lot about Bharali and his innovations. So we decided to invite him for an interactive session with students so that they can pick up something from the master innovator. We are happy that the interaction turned out to be so lively,” Anju Dowerah, a teacher at the school, who took the initiative of inviting Bharali, said.
“It was like a dream come true. Till date we had only heard about him. I had read somewhere that his machines are already in operation in 17 countries like the US, Holland, South Africa, Iran and Turkey,” Gaurabh Baruah, a Class X student, said.
The 90-minute presentation that preceded the interaction was so captivating that there was total silence among the students as Bharali narrated some of his innovations, their utility and the history behind the creations.
“I was delighted with the functioning of the pomegranate deseeder. Within a few seconds it can deseed the whole pomegranate. The betelnut peeler which can peel 100 betelnuts in just a minute was also attractive,” Pranab Roy, a Class IX student said.
“For innovating, you will have to have an inner urge to do something unique. Patience and hard work are also two important factors,” Bharali said, while replying to a question posed by a student, Satyajit Kardang, “Why did you become an innovator despite being an engineer?” “Moreover, I became an engineer by chance, not by choice,” Bharali added.
“Do you want to compare yourself with Rancho (played by Aamir Khan) of 3 Idiots?” Tapan Panging, another student, asked. “Maybe, you can say that. I have seen the film, and it is definitely a good lesson for our students,” he said.
Bharali said despite having the urge to do something unique, his feelings were hurt when a bank manager rejected his loan application plea.
