I came back to rural town Phaltan from the U.S.A. in 1981 after getting a Ph.D. and spending a few years teaching renewable energy at University of Florida, USA. In late 1981 when I returned, very few Indians with an IIT degree came back. Even the ones who did come back went to big cities like Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore, etc. I went straight to rural Maharashtra which was as alien to me as any foreign country since I hardly knew the local language or the milieu.

I came back because of my arrogance and the naive belief that I would change India. India did not change but it changed me since staying in rural India made me aware of the problems and challenges of the rural population, taught me to live a simple life and be spiritual.

I was always inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s rural development work. Gandhi’s work on rural development made a tremendous impact on me and inspired me to do something for rural areas but through technology. I was also quite sure that the poverty and the primitive conditions in rural areas deeply influences a sensitive mind and too often well-meaning people, even with a technological background, who want to work for rural upliftment have been sucked in by the misery they see and end up doing social work only.

I was therefore very clear that the greatest social worker Mahatma Gandhi could not make much of a dent in improving the life of rural people through his social experiments so who was I to think that I will make a difference. Thus, I felt that with my training as an engineer I should try to utilize my knowledge for developing technologies for rural areas and hence my effort in that direction.

I was also inspired by Gandhi ji’s experiments in living simply and sustainably and have tried to follow his example though not to the extent he did.

Challenges in Rural India

However, coming and working in the small rural town of Phaltan in 1981 was not easy. There were lots of struggles initially and very soon after my return the ground realities hit me, and all my romantic notions and arrogance vanished. If I had an iota of intelligence, I might not have taken this step of coming to rural India.

Yet, once I took it there was no looking back. I would like to share how one can do meaningful and satisfying R&D work even in a small rural town with hardly any facilities. This is what I call ‘Romance of Innovation’ since the work was done for the very selfish reason of doing something meaningful with my life. And it is my hope that the book will inspire some youngsters to follow this dying vocation of doing R&D in engineering for rural areas.

Doing R&D in any setting is a challenging task but more so in rural settings and especially when there was no model to emulate since NARI was the first rural NGO in India in early 1980s to initiate work in renewable energy R&D. In fact, we were probably the first example of social entrepreneurship and rural startup in India. This book is therefore an account of that unique experiment.

For the first two years after we returned from the U.S. my wife Nandini and I lived in a small, rented house in the slums of Phaltan. We moved into our present house, designed by me, in early 1984. Both of us used to cycle to the Institute every day – about 3 km one way. In 1984 my brother, an orthopaedic surgeon who was moving from India to Saudi Arabia, took pity on me and gave me his old scooter which he had purchased in 1975. That was our first motorized vehicle.

In those days one had to go to Pune – a town 100 km away – to buy even small things. Now with its milk, sugarcane and horticulture economy, Phaltan has grown to be a mid-size town with supermarkets and easy availability of other services.

Telecommunication facilities were almost non-existent in those times, and it was a nightmare to make a long-distance phone call to any place. One had to book a call in the early morning and if one was lucky the call would materialize by the evening. So quite a few times for urgent and important calls I would hop on the bus and go to my friend’s office in Pune to make those calls.

The bus journey in those times took about four hours one way. Today the situation is better with the availability of broadband internet connections and telephone facilities to call anywhere in the world. The roads are still not good and the travel time with traffic is nearly the same. Nevertheless, travelling in Pune is a nightmare nowadays because of traffic jams.

Challenges of Rural R&D

When I came to Phaltan there was a flat piece of land where I was supposed to start building my energy lab. The Institute at that time had a small building and farmland with almost no other infrastructure. I got an old fan fitted in my office, and that was the only fan in the whole Institute. Besides, one rarely had electricity, so the fan was mostly non-functional!

In the early days of setting up my lab, it was very difficult to get engineers and scientists. It took me nearly four years to get the lab to become functional and hire decent staff. Even now there is a tremendous problem in getting good staff. The situation has become worse because we cannot compete with the very high pay packets being offered by the industry and the government. Besides, any good scientist or engineer does not want to come to rural Maharashtra.

I now realize that one of the biggest drawbacks in setting up a research Institute in a rural area is getting good people to come and work in it. The rural infrastructure precludes any long-term commitment by people to work in such institutes. This has been the main reason why NARI has remained small. Still, even with the small staff, meagre budget and limited infrastructure we have been able to do reasonably good work with lots of firsts to our name.

I have always believed that good research can be done by thinking deeply about the problems and one can extract a huge amount of information from simple and clever experiments. In fact, sometimes too much money and equipment are a hindrance to good research. We have shown this in our lab where we have been able to accomplish the entire R&D work in renewable energy from 1981 till the present in a total budget of Rs. 4 crores (Rs. 40 million) only!

Our work at NARI has mostly focused on developing devices, hardware and policies for rural development with special emphasis on the use of high technology for a holistic and sustainable India. Some of these technologies and ideas have been picked up nationally and internationally, and that has been an exhilarating experience.

For example, our work on Taluka Energy self-sufficiency became a national policy. Similarly, our pioneering work on ethanol from sweet sorghum is now established nationally and internationally. So is our work on biomass gasifiers, safflower, multi fuel lanterns, ethanol stoves, electric cycle rickshaws and vehicles for the handicapped, etc. All these pioneering efforts have inspired people all over the world.

For our efforts in rural development, we have also received a few prestigious national and international awards.

Challenges for Engineers and Technologists

India is a young society with 54% of its population below 25 years of age. The aspirations of this young generation, majority of whose members live in rural India, are not being fulfilled. With increasing exposure to mass media, they aspire to a better quality of life, which I think can be made possible with development and application of technology especially for them.

It is a matter of shame for all of us that 78 years after independence we still have a major portion of our rural population living in primitive conditions. They lack electricity, clean cooking fuel, potable water and toilets in their homes. Somehow modern technology has not touched their lives.

To find solutions to these problems offers the greatest challenge for any engineer or technologist and I feel that most Indians, wherever they are in the world, should help in trying to solve these problems with the help of advanced tools of science and technology.

After all, what we are and wherever we may be is because of the early life that we spent in this country of our birth and we should give back something to it. The real challenges and opportunities are in India and if we can improve the lives of our rural population then we would have solved the problems of 1/5th of mankind!

Presently our greatest problem is that most of the engineers and technologists from our best schools opt for non-engineering careers where the pay packets are higher.

India spends a huge amount of money on their education and yet they do not use their technical education for India’s benefit and leave for better opportunities abroad. Unless and until this problem is rectified India will always remain backward in technology and hardware.

The reasons for this situation could be many - one of which could be our faulty schooling system which somehow does not encourage young students to tinker nor inspires them about the romance of science. Another reason could be that our top engineering schools do not challenge our bright students in technology areas. I hope the work described in this book will challenge some of these bright students to take up technology related work for rural development.

In my innumerable interactions with young students all over the country I have always got the impression that they want to do something meaningful in their lives. Yet they are neither challenged or shown the proper path because of the paucity of good and motivated teachers. I am sure if given a chance and the motivation provided our engineering students can do wonderful work to help the country.

Junoon as Driving Force

During my interaction with these young students, I have often been asked how I have continued doing this type of work despite all odds. I think the answer is ‘junoon’ or passion. Without a single-point focus and passion for doing something meaningful one cannot continue this path. That is the romance of innovation.

Also, if the focus is only on money, then it is not the path to be taken. Junoon not only provides the energy to do something but also takes the mind away from external pressures. One can then do things one likes and not what others want you to do. I have never been afraid to tackle any problem and challenge. This is what my Ph.D. has taught me. It is a training of the mind and given enough time and patience one should be able to attack any problem. Readers will see how we have managed to work on myriad problems facing rural India.

Another way in which junoon is sustained is by developing hardware. The motto in our lab has been ‘just do it’! Even when the theoretical challenges have been daunting, we have solved them by first developing the devices, experimenting upon them, and then developing appropriate theories. In this we have followed the old school of thought where experiments often showed us the theoretical underpinnings of the design.

Most of the problems we have worked on have come from our surrounding area. I feel that all the problems exist right in front of us. If each one of us can provide solutions to them then we could rapidly develop India. There should be a concentrated effort to expose students in our schools and colleges to the local problems and their possible solutions rather than giving them esoteric problems which unfortunately have no connection to the local conditions.

Social and other challenges

Sometimes we face social problems. For example, our bathrooms in the institute were filthy and since we were quite far from town nobody came to clean them. So, when I proposed that all of us clean them there was a revolt by the staff. Even when I took the lead in cleaning them, they did not budge. Thus, not only do we need to train the scientists and engineers in R&D but also in the ethics of work. This training nevertheless needs to be imparted during school and college days.

The romance of innovation is like yoga. The goal is clear and attainable and by pursuing it one forgets about all other problems, odds and obstacles. For rural development it is essential that single-minded focus on doing meaningful work becomes the paramount purpose in life. How we can teach this to young students is the biggest challenge and I try to engage the students on this subject at any opportunity I get.

Spirituality and Technology

There have been many times when our research has not progressed as planned because of so many uncertainties in the rural set up. I have utilized that time to think deeply about spirituality and the problems of rural India and have written about these issues. I have also tried to utilize the knowledge of science and technology in the realm of spirituality and hence have tried to blend spirituality with technology.

I think this is a novel and innovative theme. Writing on these issues has been very enjoyable and therapeutic, giving me new vigour and motivation to overcome challenges and hardships. It has also made us well known world over, and one of the tangible benefits has been a good number of interns who have come to help us from across the globe.

I believe that thinking deeply and writing about higher issues is also a part of the romance of innovation since it could be in any field, whether technology or spirituality. However, the ability to think and work on these higher objectives is achieved only when one simplifies one’s life. Once the basic needs are met most of the energy can be focused on doing something that is enjoyable.

Living in rural areas helps in simplifying one’s life and becoming spiritual. With hardly any avenues to spend money and availability of very few amenities, one starts living a simple life, which is the first step towards spirituality. Initially one may not like it but with time one starts to enjoy the benefits of a simplified life. I recommend such a life for anybody who believes in sustainability because when everyone becomes sustainable in their personal life, the world will automatically become sustainable. I feel one can live a simple, high-thinking and emotionally satisfying life with much less energy, and in our small way we have shown that it is possible.

This does not mean that we should live a primitive life. In fact, the extremely sophisticated technologies that provide modern tools of communication and power are an important part of reducing energy consumption, thereby promoting sustainable living. What is needed is to curb our consumptive lifestyle, which promotes greed for resources, and spirituality helps in doing that. I believe the mantra of India’s development should be ‘Spirituality with High Technology’.

I feel very lucky to have come to rural India so that I could develop simplicity in my daily life and now I feel that it is my duty and responsibility to spread the message. This I have been doing through my work, speeches and writings, and this book is another small step in that direction.

I have always believed that the purpose of human beings is to first become happy and self-contented and then give something back to society. Giving back to society gives a purpose in life and brings joy and happiness. I feel our work in rural development is a small contribution to society. Towards that goal we have made freely available most of our publications and work on the net.

(The writer, an IIT and US-educated Indian spiritual engineer and rural development pioneer,  a 2022 Padma Shri award winner, is the Director, Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Phaltan, Maharashtra.  He can be reached at anilrajvanshi50@gmail.com/@anilraj24.bsky.social)