Mandala
February 2023
GOAN GENIUS BUILDS MOTHERLY ROBOT
When faced by challenges, many of us give up and do not know what to do next. However, some, like Bipin Kadam from Goa, not only face the challenge but turn it into an opportunity for doing something remarkable.
Bipin’s daughter Prajakta suffers from cerebral palsy, and his wife, who is engaged in the continuous service of her daughter for the last seventeen years, from vertigo. Both had to deal with difficulties arising from their ailments, which made Bipin decide to build
a robot that would come to their aid. To this end, he learnt programming to build a robot by watching tutorials on robotics. He took permission from his workplace to design and print the spare parts he needed.
Every day, Bipin devoted a minimum of two hours of his 12 working hours to learn the craft of building robots and had his breakthrough in 2020.
Bipin used his skills to build helpful robots sensor which understands Prajakta’s gestures and acts accordingly. It has attached spoons and cups, which pick up food and feed it to her. It cost him between twelve to fifteen thousand rupees to build and can record 15 voice commands. Bipin says that, with some adjustment, the Google voice assistant can also be used in the robot. He has also made a version of the same robot for a child who cannot speak. Here, a button would inform the robot to execute a command.
When the robot was manufactured in 2020, it did not get any recognition due to the pandemic. However, it was noticed later, and the government found it to be a wonderful work of robotic technology. The Goa State Innovation Council has lauded Bipin for his innovation. It is now assisting him in working further on the device, and they are also working on developing a commercial product so that others can buy it. The council’s project director studied it and is convinced that the product is scalable and can help others.
Bipin still has miles to go before he completes work on this robot. He has seen the difference it has made to his daughter’s life and wishes to make it even better and affordable for all, to help them with their challenges.
SOAP FROM SAPO
Sheetal Kabra from Hyderabad had been struggling with skin ailments like eczema and hormonal acne for a long time. She avoided soaps as much as possible and ignored it as a minor issue. But when her one-month-old daughter started facing skin problems, with her skin peeling away, she took it very seriously. She stopped using soap, and to her pleasant surprise, the baby’s skin stopped peeling
This positive experience set her on the journey of natural soap–making and the brand Earthy Sapo was born in 2014. This is a personal- and home care brand that offers natural, chemical- and preservativefree products. “From making natural soaps at home for my daughter to packing, selling, delivering, and marketing them, I did it all,” she says with pride. Just like her baby, the brand too is very close to her heart as she gave birth to it with a lot of passion.
The company is based in Hyderabad and is a licensed producer under the Department of AYUSH, Government of India. It currently offers about 30– 35 products in the bath, body, hair, and home care category. Each of its products is uniquely formulated and handcrafted using traditional processes and free from chemicals, preservatives, synthetics, readymade bases, and synthetic fragrances.
the learnings she has had and the fact that many people have benefitted from it. From being clueless about how to run a business to setting up and leading a nine- member all women team, she has surely come a long way!
Earthy Sapo is currently an online brand selling through various e-commerce platforms. Sheetal hopes to explore B2B sales to stores, pharmacies, etc. Her priority has always been to provide natural and affordable personal- and home care products so that she can help people lead a natural and chemical-free life.
Knowing her passion, God willing, we will hear more about her in the area of natural, chemical-free products for a long time to come.
Sister-in-(f)arms Sister-in-(f)arms
We often don’t realise how important fresh food is and compromise our health by having packaged or contaminated food. This is what Manjari Sharma from Pune, the founder of Farm Didi, wished to address when she met farmers in 2019.
Having worked with Fortune 500 companies with more than 10 years of experience, Manjari found her true calling in working with the rural women of India, a section that is often neglected in the rigmarole of modern life. She understood that the entire cycle of farming and marketing needs to be taken care of if rural women were to prosper. She began to encourage them to do farming and make organic products, while playing a key role in selling them on their behalf. These women are experts in choosing raw ingredients, carefully putting them together in their kitchens, and preparing great pickles, papads, and chutneys.
While these women are experts at picking and making these products, they do need a helping hand in finding customers, which is where Farm Didi helps them. Their products are natural and authentic, with ingredients sourced directly from farms, and have no preservatives or artificial flavours or colours. The recipes are authentic and time-tested in their processing and preparation. Farm Didi reinvests a major portion of its earnings in the training and development of these women.
“The mission of Farm Didi is to provide traditional food produced by rural women to consumers, thereby providing a platform to many talented rural women,” says Manjari. Essentially, her goal is to enable all rural women to earn their livelihood with independence and pride. Farm Didi maintains a sustainable growth model, focussing on profitability, and adapts to changing consumer requirements.
Many of us feel proud of women who reach high levels in the corporate world and those who make a mark in the global arena. It is time we focus on our rural women too, who, with their knowledge and values, are the real strength of our nation. This is truly what Atma Nirbhar Bharat should be. Kudos to Manjiri for providing such a platform and being a true didi (sister) to the rural women.
International Year of Millets 2023
Millets have been an essential part of our diet for centuries. In addition to a plethora of health benefits that they offer, millets are also great for the environment, with a low requirement for water and other resources. To create awareness and increase the production and consumption of millets, the United Nations, at the behest of the Government of India, declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM). To commemorate this, the Central Indian Ministry is hosting various interactive activities around millets.
What are millets? Millets are a category of small-seeded grasses that are often called nutri cereals. Some examples of millets are sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), finger millet (ragi), little millet (kutki), foxtail millet (kakun), proso millet (cheena), barnyard millet (sawa), and kodo millet (kodon).
Being an important staple cereal crop for millions of smallholder dryland farmers across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, millets offer nutrition, resilience, income, and livelihood for farmers, and can be used as food, feed, fodder, biofuels, and brewing. Under the IYM, many activities have been kick-started in January 2023 by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of India. These include webinars on millets with ace nutritionists, expert dieticians, and top athletes; video conferences with fitness experts; promotion amplification through the Fit India app; and many engaging sports activities. Some other melas in Punjab, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, which will be organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
Many Indian states are actively participating in this initiative. Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Rajasthan have been allocated the month of January for conducting specific activities for sensitisation and promotion of the IYM. The states will be holding millet-centric activities including mahotsavs, melas, and food festivals; the training of farmers; awareness campaigns, workshops, and seminars; the placement of hoardings; and the distribution of promotional material at various key locations in the states. Other states that are organising similar activities in January include Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Punjab.
Millets are considered superior to wheat and rice. They offer significant health benefits like high-quality proteins, balanced amino acids, and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and are rich sources of good-quality fats and minerals like calcium, potassium, iron, zinc, and B complex vitamins. Looking at these miraculous qualities of millets, they have been identified as high-potential foods and are also prioritised for their greater production, propagation, and consumption.
Growing millets is encouraged by the United Nations as they require fewer input resources like water to grow and thus help in their conservation. Millets are the golden crops of India which can change the face of Indian agriculture for good.