Anil Gupta is on the hunt for the developing world’s unsung inventors — indigenous entrepreneurs whose ingenuity, hidden by poverty, could change many people’s lives. He shows how the Honey Bee Network helps them build the connections they need — and gain the recognition they deserve.
Anil Gupta created the Honey Bee Network to support grassroots innovators who are rich in knowledge, but not in resources. [...]
This person, whom we met — and you will see it on the website, www.sristi.org — this tribal person, he had a wish. And he said, “If my wish gets fulfilled” — somebody was sick and he had to monitor — “God, please cure him. And if you cure him, I will get my wall painted.” And this is what he got painted. Somebody was talking yesterday about Maslowian hierarchy. There could be nothing more wrong than the Masxlowian model of hierarchy of needs because the poorest people in this country can get enlightenment. Kabir, Rahim, all the great Sufi saints, they were all poor people, and they had a great reason. (Applause) Please do not ever think that only after meeting your physiological needs and other needs can you be thinking about your spiritual needs or your enlightenment. Any person anywhere is capable of rising to that highest point of attainment, only by the resolve that they have in their mind that they must achieve something. [...]
In Champaran, we had a Shodh Yatra and we were walking in the land where Gandhiji went to hear about the tragedy, pain of indigo growers. Bhabi Mahato in Purulia and Bankura. Look at what she has done. The whole wall is her canvas. She’s sitting there with a broom. Is she an artisan or an artist? Obviously she’s an artist; she’s a creative person. If we can create markets for these artists, we will not have to employ them for digging earth and breaking stones. They will be paid for what they are good at, not what they’re bad at. (Applause) [...]
Source: Anil Gupta: India’s hidden hotbeds of invention | Video on TED.com
Address : http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/anil_gupta_india_s_hidden_hotbeds_of_invention.html
Date Visited: Mon Jun 11 2012 20:21:19 GMT+0200 (CEST)
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