Innovation: an Art, a rare Artifact in Nepal

There was a time when a young teenage boy (me), wanted to become a scientist without knowing what benefits choosing that profession would have or what the repercussion I would have to face when the time came to become one. I wanted to be one of the select few in a fewer select group of scientists who represented Nepal in the global arena of Science and Technology. Now that I am older and wiser to go for scientific research, I opted to wait until I became a scientist; for now I want to explore more before I start my own research work.

By the way I am an engineer, specialized in Electronics Technology. Without wasting much time talking about my academic credentials, let me get to the point. The major point that I am making is that people tend to research when they're still in their premature stage of knowing what their strengths are and their weaknesses, even more intriguing would be to know that research is something you do with a preconceived vision, knowing where you want to end up and instead you deviate from the right path and end up somewhere else, you hadn't imagined possible in your wildest imagination, and invent something out of this world; you create something that no one before you had even realized, let alone imagined.

Having metaphorically defined research, I would like to share a few thoughts with you all; something that I have had for a while but hesitated to share with anyone probably because I feared the thought and the idea would not be able to stir your comprehensive mind. Bottom line: I feared no one would understand. I thought, and I am doing the same: sharing ideas, ideas should be shared, especially in a country like Nepal where not a lot of ideas are brought to limelight and they all fade away with the hunger satisfied with others' leftovers in the dumpster; this is just a metaphor but a little exaggerated, the situation is not that bad, or so I hope. The point I make here is that, need creates ideas, for instance, an idea or a way to light the broken lighter in an last ditch effort to light the cigarette late at night when no stores are open to buy one or you dare not go to the kitchen to fire your cigarette because you're scared your parent would find out that you smoked. This exemplification is typical to a Nepalese teenager whose desires are buried underneath traditional Nepalese family values that bar eligible young teens or even young adults to smoke in front of their families. These are the same values that are guided by traditional beliefs that creativity are for Westerners, mostly American and proliferation through innovation is for the Japanese; they don't believe that even a Nepali can create something out of the blues and prosper by improvising existent ideas, just because there aren't any substantiating evidences when this rudimentary sentiment has been proven wrong. The basic message to be derived out of this paragraph is: need creates innovation or idea and Nepal is in dire need of many things from basic necessity to luxury needs, so Nepal is very innovation should find shelter.

So what do we lack then? Firstly, I believe it is interaction that idea carriers have with listeners and encouragement those listeners' listening to those ideas and a nod of approval, saying it is a good idea, will give. This supports the loudest voices claiming Nepalese talent lack the right platform, here in Nepal. This also explains why there is an erosion of Nepalese students and researchers to the east, west, north and south, anywhere but Nepal, itself. Secondly, I believe it has got to do with the fund that is required to finance those costly Research and Development work. If these two problems are solved, half of Nepal's problem would be solved- that of unemployment and underpaid employment opportunities. This conclusion stems from the fact that if ideas materialize and are implemented, newer self fashioned job opportunities are created that pay higher and better than people usually are with their current underpaying jobs, the major cause that has wrecked havoc in Nepal’s fight to emerge out from the poverty line, and in the process better their meager per capita income of $400 (approx.).

So how will these ideas materialize and idea generators get the right platform, the best navigation and the money to go for out-an-out research activities and creative findings. There have been efforts made many-a-times in this regard with efforts from Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) but its attempts have been in vein. It is just a gathering of highly paid underachieving self proclaimed scientists who are yet to prove to Nepal let alone the world. This has led to failures to confirm the fact that Nepal has the potential and well-groomed undermined prodigies who live in the outskirts of their scientific fundamentals of life in luxury, the people for whom luxury is merely an opportunity to showcase their raw talent and prove their worth. Without much deviation indulging in pointing out the flaws of NAST and what could or should have been, let me turn your focus on to the question as to what has to be done in order to stop this stalemate of hide and seek game of people and ways to realize the ideas or even bring out the ideas from the people who have it.

I also have had this question looming at large for a while and the best I could do so far up to this moment is to point out the direction where the major focus on this quest to congregate right people with the right ideas and the right platform to realize those ideas should be. The focus should be on needs and the requirements of the people or market, not just on any random topic; ordinary people have to be surveyed as to what they think, they lack in technology and service. This involves market study done in the form of ordinary people gathering to share ideas about what they need, what they want and how they want: innovation or improvisation in service or technology. The answer to this could be to improve the accessibility to quality or just plain education for the rural and urban poor in Nepal. The question here is how this would be of any help in this crunch situation of shortcomings of innovations, and ideas that lead to innovations. I am working on this; though I believe I am far off from finding the appropriate answer to solve this riddle of education for the poor to be food for the famished. Another probable solution to this problem could be to sum up an event where ideas meet sponsors; this way people get to interact among themselves where the platform is given to poor who rarely get to think beyond their basic necessity of food, clothes and shelter. For further contemplation on this idea, I have set up a group on Facebook, “Innovators’ Club for Innovations in Nepal”. This is my first baby step to achieving something most intellectuals in various fields in Nepal, from economics to education to science and technology, like NAST, have failed to do, to conjure any thing substantial to alleviate this problem thoroughly analyzed in this read. Keep yourself updated about this group where I hope to summon something or may be many things of real substance to counter this issue.

I hope this baby step will take me a step closer to me wanting to achieve what I revered as a young teenager, that to become a scientist of Nepal. Realizing that dream of becoming a scientist may take a few more years in coming but for now, I hope to achieve the feat of being a researcher, a promoter of ideation and a congregator of idea, people and the right platform of money and environment. Cheers to all! Cheers to ideas!