The Secret Gift of Being Born in a Developing Country

Many would like to think that, being born in a developing third world country, like India, or Brazil or Indonesia is a curse in itself.

True, the child mortality rates might be a little higher, there may not be enough food for everyone now and then, but with that comes the greatest gift that could be bestowed onto any student.

Frugal innovation

Frugal adj.

Economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful

So someone invents something. For example, the first telescope. It must have cost a lot to make. And today we have even more expensive telescopes on the tallest mountains.

But, any 12-year-old, who is smart enough to hold lenses at the right distance from each other can make a telescope. Now that’s what is so exciting about frugal innovation.

To understand something so well, it means you strip off everything which is not essential.

Inventions that are being made in developed countries sometimes cost them millions of dollars (of sometimes tax money) to make.

Take the pharmaceutical industry. Out of thousands of drugs that undergo human trials, maybe only 1 or 2 might come out to be actually successful. The drug costs about a $1000 in the USA. Now the same drug, in India costs $4.

How did that happen?

Once the patent for the drug wears out, the formula, which is the essential part of the invention can be used freely by anyone. What that means is, we get the fruits of research that costed millions of dollars to make, almost for free.

In a developing country, the need to experiment and improvise on such things to make them cheaper is not just exciting. It is a necessity.

Learning to steal

Good artists copy, Great artists steal

— Pablo Picasso

Disclaimer: All material provided on this post is intended for informational purposes only. Piracy is a crime and pirating copyrighted papers is a crime under the Indian Penal Code.

With the internet, we know when someone has made a breakthrough, within seconds. The research papers that they publish on their invention will be available for free on illegal sites within minutes (whose motto being “removing all barriers in the way of science”).

Now, after reading and understanding that, we get to learn concepts and valuable lessons that would have been almost impossible for us to learn through experience.

People love the Robin Hood story because he took from the rich to give to the poor. Knowledge is very easy to steal. It is literally a click away. And in countries like India, where the piracy laws against papers aren’t really strict, well…I’m not implying anything. I’m sure you read the disclaimer. Read it again.

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

— Sir Isaac Newton

Armed with that kind of knowledge, we are now ready to do something that would be of immense value to society. Making a cheaper version of it. Making a jugaad version.

It will help millions of people. It will develop technology.

And most of all, it is the best way a student could possibly learn.

No fancy degrees. No mandatory examinations passed. Just understand the basic minimum, and apply. The greatest gift is, here your actions will make a difference.

A cheaper version of an incubator in a developed country might attract criticism for its lack of quality. Here, a cheaper version of it, just a simple light bulb, can make the difference between life and death.

The government probably won’t be mad that you downloaded an illegal copy of a research paper to make your own incubator to save the life of a child. Neither would the author of the paper nor the child’s mom.