Sam Pitroda in this blog of 13 sections extensively covers his journey in India trying toe change the system, successful when Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister and hounded when Rajiv lost election. There are many episodes of interest, one particularly on interest to me struggling to take Indian innovations to international events was Science and Technology Exhibition in USSR.
One manifestation of these ongoing ties was that back in 1987, Rajiv Gandhi and Mikhail Gorbachev had agreed to hold science and cultural festivals in India and the USSR. Rajiv was eager to put on the best show possible to showcase India’s achievements, and the government had allocated funds to put on a large, wide-ranging science- and-technology exhibit as a part of the ‘Festival of India’ scheduled to be held in Moscow, Leningrad and Tashkent. The problem was that the ministries involved told Rajiv that it wasn’t feasible to mount the science exhibition on the schedule he and the Soviets had agreed on. They said it was impossible, that there just wasn’t enough time for it. This resulted in Rajiv asking me to do it. He was as frustrated with the country’s bureaucracy as I was, and he found in me someone he could use to cut through the red tape and foot-dragging. He asked and I said yes. The science-and-technology exhibition was going to be huge— the Soviets had allotted about 200,000 square feet for us, which meant we had to fill all that up. The first thing I did was call Air India to book two 747s. Then I worked backwards. Along with Gulshan Kharbanda, a museum technology expert, I designed layouts for the space. Then I called a meeting with the heads of the various science and cultural departments and industries. ‘The PM said this has to be done,’ I told them, ‘so we have to do it well and on time.’ I described the overall scheme and the space allocations for each category. ‘Aeronautics and space industries, you have 4000 square feet; leather crafts, you have 2000. Drug industry—I want a capsule that people can walk through and be shown the Indian drug industry. The capsule should be 8 feet high and 20 feet long. Technology, I want two robots. As visitors enter they will be able to walk between the robots—a female robot in a sari, and a male one in maharaja clothes, saying: “Welcome, welcome.” Delegate this to some institute, they’ll design the robots and put Indian dresses on them. Visitors walking in should see a big slide-show—India, a land of deserts and mountains and tigers. Water, dancing, music, a ten-minute show, 150 slides. Everyone has ninety days to produce their exhibits and booths. You don’t have to worry about transportation or anything other than designing and producing your part of the exhibition. You just have to get it done in time.’
The Festival of India and the science-and-technology exhibition were a great success. The skills, creativity and talent it displayed were striking. As I saw it, the effort it took to design and create the exhibits was equally exceptional. My role in that effort was simple. The only thing I had to do was lay out the requirements and provide people with the necessary motivation and direction. After that, they were on their own. Once they knew what to do, they did it superbly.
One manifestation of these ongoing ties was that back in 1987, Rajiv Gandhi and Mikhail Gorbachev had agreed to hold science and cultural festivals in India and the USSR. Rajiv was eager to put on the best show possible to showcase India’s achievements, and the government had allocated funds to put on a large, wide-ranging science- and-technology exhibit as a part of the ‘Festival of India’ scheduled to be held in Moscow, Leningrad and Tashkent. The problem was that the ministries involved told Rajiv that it wasn’t feasible to mount the science exhibition on the schedule he and the Soviets had agreed on. They said it was impossible, that there just wasn’t enough time for it. This resulted in Rajiv asking me to do it. He was as frustrated with the country’s bureaucracy as I was, and he found in me someone he could use to cut through the red tape and foot-dragging. He asked and I said yes. The science-and-technology exhibition was going to be huge— the Soviets had allotted about 200,000 square feet for us, which meant we had to fill all that up. The first thing I did was call Air India to book two 747s. Then I worked backwards. Along with Gulshan Kharbanda, a museum technology expert, I designed layouts for the space. Then I called a meeting with the heads of the various science and cultural departments and industries. ‘The PM said this has to be done,’ I told them, ‘so we have to do it well and on time.’ I described the overall scheme and the space allocations for each category. ‘Aeronautics and space industries, you have 4000 square feet; leather crafts, you have 2000. Drug industry—I want a capsule that people can walk through and be shown the Indian drug industry. The capsule should be 8 feet high and 20 feet long. Technology, I want two robots. As visitors enter they will be able to walk between the robots—a female robot in a sari, and a male one in maharaja clothes, saying: “Welcome, welcome.” Delegate this to some institute, they’ll design the robots and put Indian dresses on them. Visitors walking in should see a big slide-show—India, a land of deserts and mountains and tigers. Water, dancing, music, a ten-minute show, 150 slides. Everyone has ninety days to produce their exhibits and booths. You don’t have to worry about transportation or anything other than designing and producing your part of the exhibition. You just have to get it done in time.’
The Festival of India and the science-and-technology exhibition were a great success. The skills, creativity and talent it displayed were striking. As I saw it, the effort it took to design and create the exhibits was equally exceptional. My role in that effort was simple. The only thing I had to do was lay out the requirements and provide people with the necessary motivation and direction. After that, they were on their own. Once they knew what to do, they did it superbly.
No comments:
Post a Comment