As children we all had our own ways of doing jugaad. But society taught us to become doctors, engineers or lawyers, and this kept us away from innovation, took away our scientific temperament. A look at the NIF database and you get to know what you missed out on. It lists over a thousand innovations even we could have thought of. From making the cycle-rickshaw a geared machine to Tukaram Verma’s Rs 175-contraption which cuts off two-wheeler engines, these creations tell us it is time we also got thinking or at least supported the good innovators. Remya, Satyanarayan and Tukaram must get their due credit before someone steals their ideas.

This is where you have to see the NIF team’s passion and zeal to get these innovations to the masses. And the NIF does all this for free, as it is an NGO funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and run by a bunch of academicians, who are really connected to the cause.

If you think you have an idea, or know someone who has one that you think will work, you can inform the National Innovation Foundation at 1800-233-5555, an all-India toll-free number, or through its website www.nif.org.in. Soon, someone will get in touch with the innovator, and who knows it could be the next big thing to happen to us.