Biomimicry: Solving today's problems with a million-year old blueprint

I attended this workshop on Biomimicry at the Lift India conference in Bangalore today. This workshop was run by people from the Biomimicry India lab, Prashant Dhawan & Seema Anand. It was an enlightening talk about a interesting concept that holds huge potential.

Source: Biomimicry india website

Biomimicry is innovation inspired by nature. In other words, the fundamental premise is that today's problems have solutions all around us - in the form of nature's tried and tested blueprint that is millions of years old. Here is a 2-minute video explaining the concept. In the words of this movement's founder, Janine Benyus, natural organisms have managed to do everything we want to do without guzzling fossil fuels, polluting the planet or mortgaging the future. So, we need look no further than our surroundings to solve some of the most puzzling problems we encounter.

Pic source: Asme.org

A classic example cited to highlight success of this concept is the redesign of Japan's bullet trains that were super-fast (300 kmph) but had the issue of causing sonic boom while exiting tunnels. This was due to the bullet shaped nose, that resulted in the high noise levels. This was solved when the train's chief engineer, Eiji Nakatsu observed the splashless, graceful entry of a Kingfisher into the water, based on which he redesigned the train's nose mimicking the bird's beak design.

Here is a nice Ted Talk by Janine Benyus on Biomimicry along with some striking case studies inspired by nature, and here are some more resources to explore.

Design for a better world

I've been dabbling in design and related disciplines as part of my work over the past 5 years. This has been across areas such as Information Design, UI-UX and Dashboarding, primarily for solving the problem of data consumption. The focus has been on practical application of these disciplines across several domains, variety of user groups, different devices and form factors. 

Quite recently, I've renewed my focus in this area and have been trying to delve deeper in the discipline to understand what makes anything functionally better, easier to use, while also driving up the emotional connect. There a lot of questions bubbling up at several levels in my mind that I'm struggling for answers. Here is a sample: 

• How do you bypass the clutter and engage directly with your target audience? Why do things have to be unpleasant 
• Why do you have to teach anyone to use a computer, while most people don't need instructions to use basic functions of a mobile phone?
• How do you make new technologies seem undaunting, or rather more inviting for the majority of people?
• Why should we live with daily irritants, for instance, struggling to identify the right switch when you want to turn on lights in a room?

I will keep sharing more thoughts on these and also a profiling of good and bad designs that I bump into.

A world without user manuals, sign boards or loud announcements, one where thoughts can directly translate into actions, is perhaps a better designed world.

Startups that make playtime enriching for kids

Startups are all the rage now in India, and education startups operate in a perfect sweet spot for Investors. They have made traditional classrooms digital, while also making learning fun through activities. There are yet another class of startups making schools efficient by tracking performance of students & teachers through analytics & visualization. All of these have been successful and found a niche in their respective areas. 

After all, Indian parents spare no expense to better 'educate' their ward and prepare them for the rat race! Tapping this very psyche, some education-focused startups have moved upstream from schools and into the homes. Their claim to fame is to engage the children better at home and keep them away from the dreaded evil that 'TV' has been made out to be. Two such companies that have caught a lot of attention are Flintobox and Magic Crate. Though these companies have been around for a year or so, they have really upped their advertising & marketing initiatives to reach people. 

I came across these on Facebook and was impressed by the concept, team & creative marketing initiatives. They target only the 4-8 year old kids and have a subscription model wherein one box is sent on a monthly basis to each kid. This has a set of 4 things that could be games, books or other creative activities, on a set theme every month. The materials are made of simple paper or cardboard and get the kid to build stuff through simple instructions, while teaching scientific skills through the activities. Taking a look at the team behind this company explains why the box contents & the website have been designed extremely well - a talented bunch of people from various disciplines like Engineering, Graphic Design and Psychology backgrounds, from top schools & many having quit big corporate jobs.

Impressed, I tried boxes from these companies for my kid and have been quite happy with the results. This is a much better & simpler way to engage children, than buying them a new set of Hot wheels Cars, Disney toys or hunting for some new activity games in toy shops every few months. Do try out one of these companies, for your children. 

Endurance Trek - Katraj to Sinhagad night trek

Planning a trek

After a gap of almost a year, I planned to go on a trek with GHAC. This was a back-to-back trek, first one during the day to the Vasota fort in Koyna wildlife sanctuary (~12 km), and then the night-long trek from Katraj to Sinhagad (~16 km). This was categorized as an endurance one, perhaps due to ~28 km being done within 24 hours, without any break for sleep and with hectic short bus travels in between.

Locating the 21 member group in the Hyderabad railway station was a no-brainer - anyone with a large enough backpack, could be invited in gleefully without even checking. While introductions happened in the train with ice-breaking name games, most of the discussions veered towards leeches, since the trek region had reported heavy rains in recent days and was supposed to be swarming with the blood-sucking creatures. All past accounts of 'leech treks' were recounted and a variety of interesting & equally bizarre precautions reported: from raw tobacco leaves, snuff powder, toothpaste, eucalyptus oil, kerosene, salt, fire, volini spray to just running a race to outrun leeches were listed. With every account, the first-time trekkers got over-anxious. Little did we realize that the group would eventually try ALL of the remedies!

Reaching Pune station at 9 AM, we had a breakfast of hot & delicious poha and paav bhaaji and boarded the bus for 3 hour journey to Satara. The journey was lively with dumb-charades and three parallel games of cards. So much was the fun and noise that the co-passengers shut us down. Satara was the biggest city closest to the Vasota trek-base point, and all supplies had to be bought there. So immediately preparations were underway, not for the lunch which was overdue, but to fight leeches. The group split up to do their shopping and when we congregated it was found that each person had bought one 'remedy' each. With about half kilo tobacco leaves, 2 bottles of snuff powder, 3 packs of powdered tobacco, 10 rolls of cotton, 5 rolls of crepe bandage, a variety of oils and chemicals. Putting all of this together, we looked like a group camping to do drugs!

Bamnoli, a quaint village

The 1.5 hour journey from Satara to Bamnoli was a scenic one with the road going through ghat roads, crossing a dam catchment area and the dense green reserve forest. Bamnoli is a quaint little village with a small population of few hundred. However, it showed ample signs of development with several houses having cars & modern amenities, possibly due to the mild but continuous tourist inflow from Pune and neighboring cities. The village had a big temple dedicated to the local deity, Bhairavnath which was also the place where we halted for the night.

The scenic route to Bamnoli (Pic: Ibrahim M)	The beautiful Koyna river (Pic: Ibrahim M)
An amazing sunset view, by the Koyna	Bhairavnath temple

The plan for the rest of evening was to get forest permit from the local ranger office and then spend the evening in the river. The Koyna river is a serene, clean river flowing right by the village. The group spent a couple of hours bathing and playing in the river, after which we witnessed a beautiful sunset. The sun sets right by a hill in front of the river and this was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen. Tired from the day's travel, we un-winded at one of the many hotels in the village, incidentally belonging to the village Sarpanch's that served delicious rice roti, curry, rice & dal, . After a camp fire by the river, the group had a good night's sleep in the Bhairav temple.

Trek to the Vasota fort

Gathering energy for the long day ahead, we woke up to a scenic view of the river from across the temple. How calm and different a morning this was from the hustle and bustle of the city life. With a sumptuous breakfast of hot poha (yet again!), we quickly got the needed permissions from the forest office and took 2 boats for the enjoyable 1.5 hour ride, which was yet another highlight of the trip. This trek route through the Tiger sanctuary was the one supposedly leech-infested, so all preparations were in full swing during the boat ride, using the procured materials. Applying eucalyptus oil on the foot as level-1 deterrent, followed by tobacco-soaked water or shampoo on the shoes as level-2, while a layer of toothpaste applied on the legs up to the knee as level-3 protection. God save the leeches if they happened to latch onto the shoes! Given my encounter with leeches on earlier treks & the backpacking trip, I took some precautions as well.

Koyna river in daylight (Pic: Ibrahim M)	...and the boats waiting to ferry tourists
Clean blue-green waters	That's part of the 'leech-fighting' prep!

Vasota fort is tucked deep in a jungle and is considered to have one of the best natural defences, hence its other name of Vyaghragad or 'tiger fort'. Completing the registration formality at the forest office on the other side, we started the 1.5 hour trek that took us through some dense green forest area that crossed a crystal clear water stream at 2 places. The trail eventually snaked up out of the thickets and onto the mountain that housed the fort. Emerging from the forest, one gets a majestic view of the Koyna backwaters in the midst of the jungle. Moving ahead, the remnants of fort wall covered in moss and greenery, dotted with a lot of wild flowers makes for a breathtaking view. There is not much left of the fort apart from an old temple and few pillars razed to the ground, thanks again to the British rule. However, the spectacular view from the top point of the surrounding mountains ranges, Babu Kada, Nageshwar peak and the Koyna river at the base makes it well worth the visit.

River stream in the forest	Moss-laden walls of the Vasota fort
View of the forest & river from the fort top	A clean water tank in the fort

On the way back, we noticed a fork in the road at the mid point, with a route leading up to a Nageshwar cave, that was closed post-monsoon due to dense bushes & tall grasslands, since it also supposedly has very high density of snakes. This is reported to be a popular destination during Shivaratri and I've seen blogs of trekkers covering this place as well, apart from the fort. Not disappointing our group in both legs of the journey, there were a lot of leeches! These were found mostly on the initial part of the journey that's closer to the water stream. Excitement turned to anxiety with frantic pulling out of the creatures, however the precautions seemed to help since most in the group did not suffer more than a couple of bites, with several emerging completely unscathed. There was a sense of relief upon reaching the boat and the group took a much needed break. The boat ride was enjoyable in the blue-green waters of the Koyna, while passing by some tribal village huts and few small islands.

Thats part of the gang..	Babu kada range

...and the imposing Nageshwar peak

After getting back to the Bamnoli village, we picked up the packed lunch and headed straight to the bus that was waiting for us; booking 21 seats in a 30-seater does get you some special treatment! The travel back to Satara and then onward to Pune was eventful, with more card games taking up bulk of the time while some caught up with few quick winks for the long night ahead.

All-night K2S Trek

At 10 PM, we walked towards the Katraj tunnel and started the overnight trek to Sinhagad fort base. This route had around 15 hills spread across a 16 km stretch. Being the post-monsoon season, the entire area was completely covered with 5 to 6 feet-tall grass and other dense foliage all over the hills, while the narrow trail was barely visible in several places. The walk from the highway and onto the continuous uphill climb for the first 2 hills was steep, wading through shoulder-high grass. Reaching the top ridge of the hills, one was greeted with an amazing, night aerial view of the Pune city on one side, while the other direction showed the long winding highway extending for some distance.

The walk through each of the 15 continuous set of hills was as if on a set pattern, with the trail gradually edging up the hill and then running almost through the center until the top of each hill, after which a steep decline takes you down onto the other side. Most of the descents were steep, but not too technical and could be covered with some simple and careful maneuvering, albeit in the dark. The weather was dry but pleasant, with pleasant breeze greeting one on each hill top. The few other trekking groups visible in the distance were moving like a group of fireflies, with only a continuous set of torch lights marking their movement. I quite liked the trek and thought that this could have been even better on a full-moon night, wherein the natural lighting could add to the beauty. 

As we navigated hill after hill all eyes were trained on the blinking red light at a distance, which actually was the telecom tower atop the Sinhagad fort and was clearly visible all the way from Pune. With no other indicator of the progress made or distance to be covered, this light was a motivation for one traversing in the dark of the night. After 4 hours into the trek, at around 2 AM, fatigue and lack of sleep started hitting the group,which had 5 to 6 first-timers. Water was quickly getting finished and the 3 litres mandated for the trek looked all the more critical, for there was not a single water source in the vicinity. With completion of every hill, people slumped down only to push themselves ahead with rest of the group.

At around 3 AM, we had done about 60% of the trek and it appeared that we were doing good on time. That was when we came across the SOS of another trekking group from Pune. The group of 7 had split up into two and the backward party had wandered off-trail. With enough able people leading our trek and guiding our group, we decided to split and have 2 of us who were sweeping at the end help this other group. So, 2 of us traveled back to find and guide the group. We located them and found that one of the members, a first-timer had fatigue & was ill. Using medicines from our first-aid kit, we then set them into a slow pace and led them back onto the trail. With an hour of delay due to this change in plan, we eventually brought these 7 people and caught up with our group, that was duly waiting for the 2 of us around the last few hills.

View of the last few hills in daylight	Wading through the post-monsoon greenery

It was 6.45 AM and we paused atop the hill to witness a beautiful sunrise over the Sahyadri mountain ranges. With the path completely lit up in broad day light, the last patch should have been easier to cover. However, as in most treks, the last few kilometers turn out to be the most challenging, particularly since our group had done a back-to-back trek over the past 24 hours without much sleep. Motivating, pleading and pushing, we got the group to cover the last lap and then moved down towards a village with road connectivity, in the vicinity. We had heard of most other groups climbing over the last hill to hit a tar road on the other side, but considering the condition of our group, we decided to take the down-hill path. Walking past the village's grazing cattle, we took shelter in front of a farm house that had beautiful green-brown fields growing wheat, pulses and a variety of flowers. The availability of water and a shade to cool the heels was like a God-send after completing the trek.

Beautiful seasonal flowers	Green fields, by the farmhouse

After taking some rest, we hired a truck to ferry us upto the Sinhagad fort entrance that was atop a nearby hill, and then back to the bus stop. We took a quick walk around the historic fort, that had seen some spectacular battles of valour and had continuously changed hands reflecting the power struggle in the region. Sadly, there were no details about any of the places of importance in the fort, the historical wars or rulers who commanded the fort, nor is there a museum or gallery to house any important artifacts. Most of the people who visit the fort are couples looking for some quiet time in the parks/remote areas of the fort, or groups of travelers on a daily sight-seeing mode who tick off the fort as a spot to visit while in Pune. This is yet another squandered opportunity in preserving history and highlighting its importance.

Entrance to the Sinhagad FOrt	Rock structure that housed the army's horses

With the trip completed, we took a bus back to Pune, that saw heavy rush due to the ongoing Puja festivities. Boarding the train at Pune station, the people had a quick meal and hit the bed early by 6 PM, to catch up for the day's lost sleep. Overall, it was an enjoyable trek testing the endurance, with a good itinerary that provided an eclectic, scenic view of forts, forest, river, hills... and amidst some leeches :)