Innovation has to Begin in Classrooms!

Innovation has to Begin in Classrooms!

Innovation is not new to India. We have been innovating a lot of new methods by which to do business, especially in the areas of technology and engineering. This is actually been a part and parcel of our culture, as such. If you go some 500 years back, India was the leader in many technological and medical fields. The idea, then was to make our lives and living better.

I would say that what we are trying to do today is only to reinvent the old ways of innovating. I think it is this solid background that has made India one of the top players in automobile ancillaries sector. We are not only making them for Indian vehicles, but we are also exporting them in large quantities. On the other hand, there are many Indian companies (like TATA Steel and Mahindra) that have gone abroad and made in-roads into the western market, through innovative strategies.

A perspective that many would not know with regard to the downfall of India’s ancient innovative DNA, is the sudden onslaught of colonial powers into our country. Because of that, India lost its ‘mostpowerful-player-in-the-foreign-trade-sector’ tag. We are slowly attempting to regain that position, but it would be a herculean task, since we were relegated to fractions.

This brings us to the lack of resilience among Indians to face the issue raised by Western countries (in terms of patent/copyright laws). This is because India has forgotten the core value system that it had a few centuries back. We have forgotten the way students should be taught in class, and how they must be trained. There is now hardly any real transfer of knowledge and wisdom from one generation to another. However, a gradual trend is now coming into gaze—there is increasing respect for the ancient/ traditional ideas of this country, especially among the younger generation.

For instance, look at this Indian company called Hidesign, which is one of the top leaders in leather products in the world. This company is known for its traditional way of tanning leather and making products that have a global appeal. Diamond trade, another tradition-based activity, is an area where India is on the verge of capturing the Asian market, if not the world. TVS, another Indian conglomerate, has been doing phenomenal work in exporting finished auto ancillary to the western world.

What is different in India, from the large-scale conglomerated western nations, is the presence of thousands of micro and small enterprises, which have been contributing to a very large extent to India’s GDP and employment generation. However, most of the innovations happening at that level are either obliterated by the big players, or the enterprises do not have the wherewithal to formalize their invention into commercial products. This is a systematic problem, and not a problem of innovation culture in India. We have this trait in our blood, but there is so much pressure from behemoths.

If you ask me personally, I feel that our Indian boys and girls are well-versed in science and technology aspects. What is missing is our real lack of a robust innovation ecosystem, embedded with the cultural values of this country. Whatever is taught and learnt is only as per the western dictates. One example is that of Vedic mathematics which had almost been erased out of the mainstream Quantitative curriculum. There has to be more of context specific innovation happening.

One suggestion I would give is that the Indian government may consider suggesting to the universities that more of Indian way of thinking and Indian cultural values are be mandated in classrooms. Innovative exercises, along with our cultural ways of thinking, will make our classrooms, the birthplace of ideas. Additionally, instead of mass education, individual focus must be there on students so that they get a feel of what they are capable of!