4th weekend of Feb.'12

"And somewhere there are engineers
Helping others fly faster than sound.
But, where are the engineers
Helping those who must live on the ground?"


This weekend, lets salute an IIT Kanpur engineer of 1975 who claims himself
as a toy-maker. He quit TATA Motors (then TELCO) to pursue his obsession.
More in the small write-up on Arvind Gupta.


Arvind Gupta is an Indian toy inventor and populariser of science.


As  a student in the 1970s in Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Gupta
became  a  socialist in belief but eschewed actionless discourse; he stated
that  instead  he  "placed  more  faith in small positive action than empty
rhetoric."  Gupta  began his social service by teaching the children of the
mess staff who had no opportunities for formal education.


Gandhian  in  outlook, Arvind Gupta participated in the Hoshangabad Science
Teaching  Programme (HSTP) in Madhya Pradesh in 1978. While he was there he
developed  his  idea  of  creating  simple toys and educational experiments
using locally available materials as well as items usually thrown as trash.
These  simple toys, he found, fascinated children and Gupta went on to make
these  as  the  hallmark of his movement of popularising science. His first
book, "Matchstick Models and other Science Experiments" was reprinted in 12
languages.  Gupta's website holds instructions, including short video clips
on  YouTube,  in  a  number of languages, for making hundreds of improvised
toys, which he makes available freely without copyright restrictions. Gupta
draws inspiration from a number of people, including Gautama Buddha, George
Washington Carver and his mother.


He has won awards for his lifelong popularising of science and
contributions in designing science teaching aids for young children. These
include the inaugural National Award for Science Popularization amongst
Children (1988), the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Kanpur in 2001,
the Indira Gandhi Award for Science Popularization conferred by the Indian
National Science Academy (2008), the TWAS (Third World Academy of Sciences)
Regional Prize for Public Understanding and Popularization of Science
(2010). At present, he works at the Children's Science Centre located in
the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Pune,
India.

More details about the said author and his creativity can be found out at
www.arvindguptatoys.com.  This would serve as a major feeder of knowedge
and inquisitiveness amongst all kids.

 As I always say, brickbats and bouquets welcome!
-Sukhi