Tag Archives: Amar Chitra Katha

Connecting the dots – innovation

14 Tuesday Jun 2011

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This is the third blog in the series of Connecting the dots… which started from way off the track blog on cricket.

You see how things and ideas connect to one another. I was wondering about cartoon channels. These channels show many foreign based cartoon series and the characters are very famous amongst children. Ask kids – “Pokemon, who is this?” and see their reaction as if you are an alien, ‘oh! you don’t know Pokemon?’ And “world becomes their stage” they would show all the trademark actions and dialogs of the key characters of the series. Well, I don’t see any issue to this however it made me think on a tangent. The tangent resulted in an earlier blog on Cricket… another on “Amar Chitra Katha” and finally here I am writing on innovation. I connected the dots and here I am. The dots are as below –

Cartoon Channel -> Blog on Cricket -> Amar Chitra Katha -> an article by Darrell Mann -> Blog on Innovation.

Darrell Mann


Once in a tutorial Dr Darrell Mann (a renowned TRIZ expert and professional) created a solution space for Better Mobile Phone starting from an Elephant. Surprised! Yes he did that in 2006 in a tutorial session. And if one knows how to connect dots one can design/formulate or conceptualize faster and better.

I started thinking in the following fashion –
‘why we do not have any local Indian Character?’ I asked myself. Then answered to myself – ‘Hello! do people know that Chess and Badminton are conceptualized in India? Well in India Cricket is a sport rest are time pass. Perhaps true! How many notice, that the first archery competition in world happened during the time of Mahabharat, when Arjuna hit the eye of a fish. Oh! Olympics, from 1996 onwards in each Olympics India brought at least one medal home’.

1996 – Peas
2000 – Karnam Malleshwari
2004 – R S Rathore and
2008 – a few… who were they? Let me ask people if they recall names of these sports men/women

Mahabharat, cartoon characters and kids not knowing about the Indian Mythologies – wow! that was what was the premise on which Amar Chitra Katha was born.

Innovation requires flow of thoughts, flow of thoughts from different directions to a solution or an offering (Product/Service). However, we cannot rely on random thought and free-will for solutions. We need solution better and faster. Innovation requires open mind, ability to connect dots and think and look beyond obvious. At the same time it does not mean innovation is a play of experts, if someone is open and willing to learn one can learn approaches to be innovative. All the freewheel thoughts were the random stimulus and I connected them in the form of blogs – Cartoons, Cricket and Amar Chitra Katha.

A tree is only as strong as its roots

10 Friday Jun 2011

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Have you heard this saying before?

This is the second blog in the series of … wait for it… (updated on Jan 2013) Connecting the dots – innovation

Well, to continue from the earlier blogs – Cricket… here I am to write the next in one which takes off from the Amar Chitra Katha.

Why Amar Chitra Katha? Because it relates to me on two levels. One on Business and the other the Buddha… As an innovation consultant I observed that innovative ideas not necessarily become successful revenue source. There could be many reasons for the same. One most important point for constant innovation and healthy top/bottom line is understanding the customer, understanding their overt and covert needs. That is what Uncle Pai could do with the concept of Amar Chitra Katha. No doubt he had a noble cause at the center. However, he also knew the need gap and could fulfill the same. So effectively, he was one who could understand the consumer insight and voice of the customer.

I loved reading the comic and magazines by him and I was unfortunate that even though I lived in Dadar for a long time I could never meet him and when I heard about his sad demise I was not in India.

Part two of Amar Chitra Katha is the Buddha. Again reiterating the fact that when I say “the Buddha” I do not restrict myself to the Buddha only. This relates to every possible concept which connects us more on a higher plane above our made so called ‘religion’. Amar Chitra Katha was born for all round development of kids. Read any story it would be either for knowledge, imparting some lesson or last but not the least to develop the habit of reading. Uncle Pai took this root as an obvious path – stories are easy to remember, kids (at least that time – 60s-70s) used to hear stories (Dada Dadi ki kahaniya) – when Jatak tales were used by the Buddha why reinvent the wheel?

A to Z mysteries 1, A to Z mysteries 2, A to Z mysteries 3, A to Z mysteries 4, A to Z mysteries 5, A to Z mysteries 6,

 

Cricket is a sport in India rest are time pass

09 Thursday Jun 2011

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Spoiler alert! Answers to the question posed here are below, please do not spoil the fun of the post… Believe me I knew the answers to many of the questions asked below…  This is the first blog in the series of … wait for it… (updated on Jan 2013) Connecting the dots – innovation

1. What is the ATP ranking of an Indian men’s singles player, after recently concluded French Open? (First tell me his name…)
2. Who won the lone medal in Olympics in 2000 for India?
3. What was the score of Abhinav Bindra when he won the Medal in Olympic in China? Well, can you answer when did China Olympic happen?
4. Who are the other two members who won individual medals in Olympics for India (this post was written in 2011 June)?
5. Which games played in international arena are originated in India?

On the contrary if I ask questions on Cricket (which I do not follow that much after 2003 world cup Final defeat of India) –

1. who hit 6 sixes in an over for India some time back, in an international cricket tournament, which was the opposing team? This seems easy to even me to answer. Even there would be people who would tell me name, location, scores of winning and loosing teams and even the run/wicket difference etc etc. which I didnt even ask here.

2. Let me ask little more difficult question. What is the name of one daughter of Lara. Brian Lara named his daughter after name of a city, why? This is kind of difficult, Very difficult question.

Do you have answer for any of the above questions? Well, without the Google Search. Mostly Cricket related questions are answered easily by Indian people. Therefore, I say “Cricket is a sport in India rest are time pass.” No offenses against other sports women/men. How many would agree with me on this statement?

I guess the number of people able to answer the above questions on cricket would be more than the number of people able to answer the question posted in first few lines. Take a random sample. So what is the reason.

Now let me come to the other part which relates to me and I wanted to write about. “Amar Chitra Katha” was started by Uncle Pai on the same premise. He observed that kids participating in a quiz contest were able to answer questions related to Greek mythologies however they were not for Indian mythologies.

There is a saying in Hindi – Ghar ki murgi dal barabar meaning: Self possessions are always undermined and other’s possessions seem better. I think when I am writing this I look like a representative of political faction BUT I AM NOT. We need to learn our own culture better before looking beyond. I love Amar Chitra Katha on which I will write later…

Answers are as follows –
1. Somdev Devvarman ATP ranking 67,
2. Karnam Malleshwari in Weight lifting, medal – Bronze.
3. Find out yourself, now at least Google it 🙂 in case you do not know
4. Leander Paes 1996, Tennis (of course) Bronze Medal Atlanta Olympics 1996 and Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore doubletrap shooting Silver Medal 2004.

The sports originated in India and played internationally (at least the following two)
1. Chess
2. Badminton (How many of you know the fathers name of a Bollywood actress who won All England Badminton competition) – Prakash Padukone
3. I am not sure on this (and I didnt Google Search it) – Horse Polo is also originated in India

Cricket
1. Yuvraj Singh, Against England in T20 2007.
2. Sydney after scoring 277 runs in Test Match, try Google for the year (at least you can do that)

Answering questions of sports – other than cricket  – by people of India is difficult. And therefore I say “Cricket is a sport in India rest are time pass.” I apologies for the sports people of other sports, this is just an effort to bring this to the notice of WE THE PEOPLE…

Further blogs on – we the people and Amar Chitra Katha…