Magic of Internet

It has been literally years since i have even thought about writing and putting down mu thoughts, in what i think is a journal of my personal thoughts, reflections, opinions, fears etc.

When i look around on railway stations, airports and street-side shops, the number of books on sell, sometimes i feel dizzied by looking at the range of topics, aspects and areas numerious peopple writing and that many out there must be reading, flipping through them, and i wonder what is it that is making us read so much. what urges us, to write, what urges us to read.

whats in all of this communication? even writing a blog, like this is a comunication, only it has far more 'economical', atleast resource-consumption wise, way-about. Atleast thats what it seems like, probably the resource consumption in electronic-media is of different nature and different magnitude, which is invisible.

But there are some aspects of this form of communication, i think its far more selective-elective in its nature, from both ends, from the one who is communicating and for the one is receiving it, both can selct-elect at will (almost, unless overzealous agencies snooping down, but that too with some effect not complete).

This freedom of information, is probably a phenomenon which can be seen in parallel what Guttenberg's printing machine must have been duringits early days.

Suddenly those who held control (specially the Church in Europe) and over which control was held by the means of 'Bible' suddenly was liberated, and each one could choose not only to read what he/ she wanted but even to communicate what he/ she wanted by writing about/ around it.

Internet is an amazing world, i mean this is sheer magic, how this is all happening. The very joy is in imagining how this all is being played out without anyone really been able to control it.

The information democratization is subtle but its effects are slowly beginning to become visible, in many spheres of the human world. Politics is just one of the aspects of many.

A Dead Rat in the Kitchen Sink

I kept watching, as having eaten the Rat-poison the day before (dutyfuly distributed by me) the ever so elusive rat was gasping for his last breaths and parched himself on the sink in our kitchen. It was part fear, part repulsion and part shame that i avoided even going near the sink, let alone think of doing something about the dying rat.
And as i kept thinking about the whole episode and my attitude to the dying rat, a set of thought was set in motion; what was happening inside myself, while i waited for the rat to take his last breath and die in the sink, waiting for an ‘aid’ to come and help me get rid of the ‘carcass’ .
The idea to deal with what is ugly, the filthy or the rotten makes me uneasy, restless and agitated so i try to postpone or procrastinate it, try so tha someone else may do the ‘dirty-job’.
I realised that i avoid anything that involves ‘getting my hands dirty’, to deal with the ugly, the filthy and the unwanted part of the story; the death, loosing battles, the oncoming disasters (physical, emotional, social as well economical) and sheer rottenness in the middle of our political and governance systems in India. I distaste and ignore what is the darker side of anything.
By choosing to ignore death, i am trying to ignore the very nature of life ‘death’ and in the process avoiding the guilt that may come for not doing anything for it. I always think of an Ostrich, who during the storm prefers to sink his head in sand, wanting to ignore it.

Fear, is my companion from childhood, I may not show it outwardly and may want to ignore it, but it will surface at the most mundane acts of daily life, like watching a scary-movie and just when its a show-time for dear ghost/vampire i will close my eyes, knowing full well that its going to come out in hideous forms.
And this fear, haunts my decision, the choices the actions consciously or sub-consciously. Why am i afraid? Of what am i afraid? I keep asking these questions, but with no answer.....

Shashi Tharoor and Electoral battle as backdoor entry in the Mainstream Governance

Shashi Tharoor, sometimes writes eloquently, i enjoyed reading his book 'The Great Indian Novel', that seemed to understand the Freedom struggle in the light of the epic story of Mahabharat.

After 29 years in the United Nations, and a lost bid for post for Secretary General of United Nations, Mr. Shashi Tharoor has come back to India and is contesting an election to seek what he termed as 'Rebooting of Self'.

Loosing a high-pitched battle, which seemed almost won-over at one point, is not easy to get over with and that to one for such a high-profile post like secretary general of United Nations. even though at many times it is made obsolete by dictates coming from Washington-London and Moscow, add to it Beijing now.

Initially i could not fathom a reason why mr. Shashi Tharoor has decided to contest a Loksabha Elections in India. The elections in India generally become murkier, high-pitched, demanding a series of compromises, voicing of opinions 'one may not really believe' and harnessing the divide within society for sake of democratic victory.

Looking through the prism of reasoning, i presume, that Mr. Shashi Tharoor is not really bothering about the electoral victory. The election for Loksabha, for Mr. Tharoor looks more like a stepping stone which will pave his way into the power corridors in New-Delhi, if the Congress (I) emerges as the single largest party after the polls.

Battling the contest for the Loksabha will help install Mr. Tharoor in the middle of political spectrum. This will also help prepare a ground for the congress, if tomorrow Congress I wants to induct him into the Government. Mr. Tharoor then can become a Rajyasabha candidate from any part of India, and blissfully get absorbed in the central-government.

Imagine, that After few months, if Congress would have suddenly invited Mr. Tharoor to hold a prestigious post in ministry, there would have been huge hue-and-cry. But now the sailing would be lot smoother.

'Mahabharata' and Great Indian battle for Electoral supremacy

'Mahabharata', An Epic that probably has few parallels in the literature, ancient or modern, in its enormity, complexity and spread (over geography, cultures, civilizations and emotions).

The central or the constant undercurrent throughout the journey called Mahabharat lies the omni-present human life-force of 'Play by Power'. In most parts the story is about everything that happens in the process of gaining-loosing power, a constant struggle to achieve power or to maintain power. The struggles within myriad tales of Mahabharata are about struggles between 'Dharma-Adharma', the 'righteousness and selfishness', the 'greater common good', the search for consciousness within the confines of daily life, so on and so forth.

A cursory look at the electoral democratic system in India over last few decades and the whole political-process appears nothing but the constant struggle for 'Power', unlike Mahabharata, this power struggle has become too crass in its content as well in the means.

The large proportion of Political leadership in India, appears to have abysmally low clarity in understanding the social, environmental, ecological, economical, technological, financial, cultural or any other dimension of the society. The comprehension of the issues and national threats, opportunities or projected social-scenario's is always within the framework of 'self-appropriation'.

Political party's, individual partymen or election-contestants, news-media managers, and all the stake-holders in this 'power-play' invariably innovate, sometimes knowingly, sometimes by-chance, sometimes unknowingly. i wondered why not try and track the whole electoral process and look for sparks of innovation within the process.

Mahabharata will provide us a backdrop to contextualize and understand some of the 'innovations' that could prop-up as we go along. Innovations within electoral contests, might as well provide us the clues for the vibrancy in the political framework within our society.

Innovation and Civil Resistance Campaign - A Case study

It indeed was very humorous and probably a fitting reply to the outrageous incident of Mangalore induced by 'Shri Ram sene'.

Civil social resistance is slowly taking on new hue and colour. A lot of it inspired by some bollywood flicks like 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai' etc. Civil resistance to what happened in the pub in Mangalore and what followed later in various parts of country, had different scales and methods. But what got to the imagination of people, media glare was the 'Pink Chaddi' program.

At one level it did have the 'vent' for anger which all of us felt, at the complete intolerance on the behalf of the self styled outfits like Shri-Ram Sena.

In one of the key observations i read where the author rightly pointed out 'It would be wrong to name these outfits 'moral police', because it gives them a self-legitimacy.

Moral-policing does happen across the cross section of our social system, from our families to the community scale, but most of it is subconscious on part of both the party's, the 'perpetrator' and the 'perpetrated'. The Moral-policing in India is rampant, and it has gotten under our skin to such a extent that even while we are practicing it right-left and center, we are completely unaware that we are actually doing it.

Pink Chaddi campaign is not a very ideal start for an innovative social resistance campaign against self-styled outfits like Shri-Ram Sena, or for that matter all too conservative 'Muslim Law board'.

Innovation in the methods, processes and programs that will stand against all that is 'Unjust', Unfair and exploitative-in-nature is the need of the day. I will not consider Pink-Chaddi campaign as an 'Innovation', but a 'reaction' to the outrage felt, but it can certainly prove to be a precursor to the innovations in the civil resistance programs that would and should take place in the urban segments, lead appropriately by the young brigade.

Trike - Vijay builds an indegenious Trike n Bangalore

Vijay, my long time friend has a passion for machines, to understand how machines work, to actually building some of the machines on his own.
His recent interest is 'Trike', basically a three wheeled Cycle. He has built one such trike in his workshop which now is successfully running on the roads of Bangalore.

Riding it is an experience in itself. One thing that was particularly of interest to me is the very fact that it starts to looking at the design of a peddle driven vehicles in a fresh light and new perspective.

This is essential in Indian context, where a large number of commuting is still carried out by peddle driven vehicles like Bicycles, Tricycle-rickshaws, Carts etc.

These vehicles are predominantly used by people from lower economic strata of society. Even though bicycle is perhaps most commonly used mode of transport till recently not much design work has been done on this form in India.

The same is true for Tricycle-rickshaw. Some work has been done on improvement and development of Peddle-driven Rickshaw at IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kanpur but nothing has made any dent.

Jabbarbhai, a Rickshaw-puller himself has done some very interesting work in development of design for Rickshaw, and is looking at taking the idea to lot more Rickshaw-pullers.

The work done by Vijay shows a way to address the design problem of peddle driven vehicles, this will probably inspire some further work by Vijay himself or others like him to do much needed work in the arena of vehicle design for peddle driven vehicles.

Mahatma - Innovation personified

Mahatma Gandhi - Spirit of Innovation personified
I always wonder what makes mahatma gandhi talked about, discussed, followed, abused (only privately) and admired across the nation, across continents and across cultural bounderies.
One thing which strikes me personaly about mahatma gandhi is his unquenching quest for fresh perspective and innovation in thinking for everything he encountered and sought to answer.

It can be issue of cast in India, idea of 'Swaraj' and 'Suraj', idea of principled resistance he could develop a take which was innovative in its content. It always brought in a fresh perspective on the issue and many times it could bring in multi-dimensional view points.

He probably is one leader changed the way people thought about politics, about the resistance and about many more things that touch our lives every day in-and-out.

To believe that he did no mistakes or did not fail on his various missions, which ranged from starting a vegetarian club in London to experiments in naturotherapy or therapy using only mud, is prepostorous to say the least.

What probably distinguished him from a lot many others of the same ilk, is his openness to innovate in the face of the situation and translate it into the action.

His strength lies not in thinking innovatively but to be able translate it into action which brought change.

The attempt on our blog from today onwards probably is to collate and collect many such instances from day-to-day lives of scores of many who are innovating and developing solutions which defy conventional wisdom and brings joy for those to whom it touches.

I invite you all to write about people, instances, situations and circumstances which gives insight into the sense of innovation and spirit of joy that resides within us all.

Independance Day reflections

15th August marks a very special day in the history of Modern India.

As for every other nation, now we as a nation too have a Birth-day and date to look forward to. It is important as far as its function in the national perspective is concerned. It helps us identify and relate with what is largely an intangible idea, the nation and the state.

With its history going as far back as 5000 BC, the recorded one, it would have been difficult otherwise to locate and place the India in the definition of 'Nation state' as is understood today by intellectuals, historians etc.

India is now largely been accepted as the nation which is not a result or a function of physical boundary, a belief in certain faith or political-ideological system, but an ephemeral, subconscious and intangible idea of interconnectedness at social-cultural and human plane.

Sometimes its very difficult to try and capture the very idea of India. Some of giants in intellectual and spiritual spheres who walked the land in late Nineteenth century and early Twentieth century like Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Gandhi provided the insights about the subconscious which flows through all of us and we call it 'Indian'.

Shri. Aurobindo who shares his Birthday with that of the birthday of modern India, provide us with a powerful insights and directions in which the India as a nation can lead in his views, writings and musings.

I take liberty in penning down the thoughts from Aurobindo's writings on 'A Call to the Youth of India',

"We must resume India's great interrupted endeavor; we must take up boldly and execute thoroughly in the individual and in the society, in the spiritual and in the mundane life, in philosophy and in religion, in art and literature, in thought, in political and economic and social formulations the full and unlimited sense of her highest spirit and knowledge. ............... only we need to work out thoroughly in life what we have always known in the spirit. There and nowhere else lies the secret of the needed harmony between the essential meaning of our past culture and the environmental requirements of our future."

A Call to the Youth of India, Shri. Aurobindo

Center for Crafts in Architecture

The idea which is being passionately developed and promoted with KB Jinan at the helm is gaining movementum.

I have had the opportunity to participate in one of the meetings that discussed various aspects of the concept and proposal in some detail, at chennai.
For me as a person and Wonder Grass as an organization there would be lot to learn from and understand tha broader context of 'Work', the craft and the artisan as part of india's socio-cultural-economic fabric.
The attempt 'Center for crafts in architecture' is probably an initiative that strives to reinvent the role artisan and craft had in the melieu of Indian social-fabric.
The number of individuals who are interested and want this initiative to take-off is slwly growing and it is adding momentum to the whole process. The first such center is proposed to be started near Visakapattanam, AP.

Bamboo-Building Workshop at Peth
Developments and Future Plans

As Wonder Grass is growing in last few months, it was time for us expand the available infrastructure at our workshop at Peth, Nagpur.

There has been growing interest amongst various segments and prospective clients to use bamboo and bamboo based building systems for their future building-proposals. in the wake of which we need to build-up on our capacity in terms of Human resource and infrastructure to meet the demands.

In the last month we have added three structures to our existing workshop facility.

1. Storage shed for Raw-bamboo - 12' X 24' Semicovered shed
The expansion includes new storage shed for raw-bamboo. We now cae up-to 1000 raw-bamboo poles almost 24 feet long.



2. Kitchen and dining - 16' X 8'
The shed was added on the southern side of existing structure to be used as kitchen and dining place.

3. Semi-open working space: 14' X 24'
We extended the workshop in front in the form of semi-covered area which is like a veranada.

4. Storage shed for Treated bamboo: 15' X 20'
We have also started building a seperate building for storing treated bamboo and also to store completed Ready-to-assemble kits. The work is underway.

The center ar Peth is evolving and growing a bit organically. we are working on what the center at peth should eventually evolve as.

On of the idea is to develop it as a Recourse Center for Bamboo.

If someone has any ideas as to how this center should be, what all it should include, offer etc, do write in.

10 Years and 1000 bamboo saplings............
(11th June, 1998 to 11th June 2008)
Today we fondly remember our Baba Vinoo Kaley, as his soul departed from his body on 11th June 1998.

So for the man who loved bamboo and worked tirelessly for bamboo-artisan community, what else could bring a joy and a child-like smile but a 'Sankalp', a small gesture to plant and grow 1000 bamboo clumps. Our team at Wonder Grass and artisans have started the plantation from yesterday marking the 10th anniversary. Artisans Prashanth, Naresh bhau and Vasantha (farmer) have taken on the mantle to make sure that clumps will grow, and we shall spread the plantation of bamboo year-on-year. On this day, one more 'sankalpa' on our behalf is to get the 2nd print of 'Venu Bharati; A comprehensive Volume on Bamboo' out by Year-end. This is relatively a tougher challenge for us, but we will see how we can make this possible. probably all we need is a monitory funding or some investment. We need something like Rs. 5,00,000/- (Rs. Five Lakh). We are sure that we will be able to generate enough support and financial input to make this possible. If anyone is interested in, do get in touch with us. To mark the day, what else could summerize what bamboo meant for Vinoo, but KT's lines

”Some how Vinoo Kaley was much like his favorite bamboo, with great tensile strength in his inner fiber and at once delicate, supple and responsive to nature. Vinoo was the breath in bamboo without which it does not sing. The task is to keep that flute singing.”
Prof KT Ravindran, A+D, November 1998.

Design and Development of a Prefabricated Modular structural system

The month of April and May saw hectic work schedules, we were neck-dip in implementing three projects simultaniously located in three different locations.

As we approach May-end we are quite well placed in the sense that we have completed all the three projects, namely

1. Addition of Roof structure for a farm-house at Jain farms, Bagluru. The structure has come out very interesting and we have been able to achieve a consistent quality.

2. Terrace Top extension at Pent-house near Whitefield, Bangalore.

Interesting outcome of this project has been the details we could develop in terms joinary and junctions. we have evolved it as a building system. Most of the components were prefab and assembled on site with the help of these systems.

The project at T-Zed has given us the take-off pint to develop a prefab system that we were working on for a long time. This project in a way has become testing ground to see what problems of assembly we face when system is sent on site.

As a follow on from here, we are working on a complete module of a self-standing unit of 8' X 12', which can be repeated in one direction.

Bamboo and its applications in Building industry

A lot has been written, speculated and now being experimented on for using bamboo for construction and structural applications.

At Wonder Grass, we are convinced that bamboo indeed has a potential to emerge as one of the key building materials in the near future. The conviction sure has brought us a long way, what we need is to make the best of the opportunities we find ourselves in.

This conviction needs to be corroborated in terms of number. Numbers which will talk of the requirements of buildings and structures for various types and kind across the sector. Numbers alone will help us understand the nature and scale of demand in present and for future.

These will substantiate our belief and help us make our case strong.

The task now is to collect, document and compile data that will help us correctly gauge the requirement in building industry and start developing solutions and services that would fulfill the existing gap in supply-demand scenario of building industry.

Making a claim that conceret, steel or brick should be replaced by bamboo, is not practical nor desirable. Every material resource has its role to play and should be used to its optimum potential.

Somehow bamboo missed the train of modern-contemporary explorations as building systems. It has been relegated into the margins of building industry, rather it never entered into the mainstream of modern building industry.

With the global environmental crisis becoming a serious threat to continued ecological existance, it is but natural for us to turn our focus to materials and resources which are sustainable in nature.

Bamboo, is an amazing gift for Indian subcontinent. It is fastest regenerating plant, available in ready-to-use timber form, At Wonder Grass our efforts are to come out with solutions which can at the best compliment the wonder that bamboo is.

Current projects at Wonder Grass:
1. Full-Bamboo screen at Anand Niketan school, Ahmedabad.
client: Anand Niketan school, Architect: Ar. Surya Kakani and associates
Site: ahmedabad
project cost:
Phase I: 2.15 lakhs
Phase II: 1.35 lakhs

Brief: First phase of the project to erect bamboo screens on the south-west wall of the school building complleted in February. The second phase to complete the remianing part of th wall is under progress.

2. Supply of treated and seasoned bamboo for a Resort under construction at Coorg.
client: BCIL, Bangalore Architect: Design Cell, BCIL (Bangalore)
Site: Village Kopatti, Madikeri,
Project cost: approx. 2500 bamboo's at Rs. 6.5 Lakhs

Brief: We are supplying treated and seasoned bamboo for a construction or Eco-resort under construction in rain-forest patch of coorg. First batch of 600 bamboo's have been delivered and the second batch of 800 bamboo would be delivered in the next two weeks.

3. Farm house renovation for shri. NS Raghavan,
client: shri. NS Rahgavan Architect: Ar. Nilay Pataliya
site: Jain famrs, Bagaluru (nr. Hosur)
project value: Rs. 5 lakh.

Brief: To design and implement a roofing structure for a farm-house at Jain farms, Bagluru. The purpose pf the bamboo roof which will be erected above existing roof is to cut-down on excessive light and heat that comes through the existing polycarbonate roof over Living area and Dining area.

current status: The work on panels for started. Design and detailing for large span beams underway.

Road ahead:
1. We are working on the design and development of a 'Ready-to-assemble' structure which would be ideal as makeshift or temporary dwelling units, for various applications.

Workshop with students of Holon Institute of Technology, Tel-Aviv

It was a wonderful experience working together with the participants of the workshop organized by Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel.

It was my honour to be invited by the institute to conduct the workshop and introduce bamboo, as a material for sustainable future for designers, coming from three different streams mainsly Product design, Industrial design and Interior design.

The workshop was a 7-day long event and i think it was a good idea to make this workshop a week-long event, this gives participants time to understand the materials and explore its potential.

Participants, which included students of the 3rd and 4th year also had some faculty members working along with the students.

Participants did come up with some really interesting ideas, considering it was probably for the first time most of them had a chance to really work with the bamboo.

Somre more pictures shall follow soon.

Wonder Grass: Three months in its infancy

The New Year, we await the coming year with lot of enthusiasm and eagerness.

Wonder Grass, practically 3 months old now. We started operating from the office at NS Raghavan Center, IIM-Bangalore on 2nd October, so we can consider it as our Foundation day.

These three months have been full of activities, crammed schedules and running around to get our fledgling operations in some stable shape, but as with all start-ups the anxiety and work-pressure never seems to cease.

But there have been some good achievements and milestones for Wonder Grass in these three months into its working, Beginning of a new year could be a good time to sum-up what we have done so far and also to visualize and lay our road map for the year to come.

October saw two critical moments, one the selection of our company 'Wonder Grass' for incubation support by NS Raghavan center for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) at IIM-Bangalore and second award from BiD India challenge for innovative business plan.

We also bagged first order to supply treated -graded bamboo for Ar. Surya Kakani's project for a school 'Anand Niketan' at Ahmedabad.

November; We started the registration process for Wonder Grass. We proposed to organize a seminar under the theme 'Bamboo and Building Industry; Prospoects and Potentials', which was eagerly accepted by Dr. Kalyani Gandhi and she even got the venue finalized. It was due to the support from NSRCEL, that we got the boost to pursue the work on Seminar. Data compilation for invitees, sending emails, calling concerned people.

Running short of manpower and resources, but we kept persisting. Enjoying the experience to organize and conduct a full fledged seminar.


December; All our energies were concentrated on making the event a success. To generate enough curiosity amongst invitees we even tried to get some articles about bamboo and its building applications in leading newspapers, without success.

Keeping the date of the seminar our deadline, we could put together our communication-material together,

1. Visiting Card and Logo
2. Banners for the seminar,
3. Brochures
4. Website

The communication material has come out really good. Brochure designed by Jaai, has come out really wonderful. It lives you with the comprehensive idea about the venture.
Our printer Mr. Subramnay did a good job and that too on time. He works really hard.

Chandrima and Prashant were really patient with all my constant pestering to complete the website, and upload it. Prashant literaly worked two nights to finally upload the site. ALl those who have seen it have appreciated the website.

Chandrima has come up with an interesting logo, which people have liked a lot.

The seminar was a great success, much more than what we had anticipated or expected. It has generated a good awareness about bamboo for building applications in general. Some stake-holders from mainstream construction industry have already approached us to see if we can start providing them services.

Wonder Grass, has been featured in two regional dailies namely 'Vijaya Karnatak' and 'Prajavani', this has taken our name far and wide.

People from across Karnataka have been calling to see if we can provide them with the building-soluiton using bamboo.

To sum it up;

• We have made the beginning and launched Wonder Grass into the operations.
• We have, if not completed but put together some kind of 'identity' for the company, which is represented by our visual communication materials,
• We have received a lot of inquiries and we are working on three interesting and large projects for now. it is in the initial stages of discussion, we will know for sure about our role towards the middle of January-2008.

Bamboo and Building Industry Seminar

Seminar 'Bamboo and Building Industry' has given us necessary impetus to take further the work we have initiated in bringing bamboo-based building systems in the mainstream of construction industry.

It is due to the efforts and support provided by the NS Raghavan center for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), at IIM-Bangalore that this task was made easier and enjoyable.

It is for the center and prof. Kalyani Gandhi that we could put forth the issue of sustainable building systems and role of bamboo in future of building industry from the platform and podium of the premier business institute of management in world like IIM-Bangalore.

The platform such as this ensures that business community and key stake-holders in the mainstream building industry will take a note of the emerging trends of bamboo based building systems. Professionals and organizations tend to listen and understand you with patience if you talk from this platform.

Seminar went on well. Speakers provided us with insights and perspectives of this sector from various viewpoints.

Ashwin Mahesh, founder-director of Mapunity was kind enough to agree to moderate the discussion during the course of the seminar. As it always happens there was a last minute hitch, Er. Vilas Gore, who was coming from Mumbai could not make it to the venue as the flight was cancelled.

Seminar as was planned happened in three segments, first segment 'Market Prospects' was very well put forth by Mr. C Hariharan, CEO, BCIL. Arguably the largest Sustainable Building Entreprise in India today.

He provided an all round perspective on what future lies for the sustainable and green building systems, and what are the avenues one can explore. He provided inputs from the experiences of what BCIL has been offering and doing for last 10 years or so.

There was a brief but interesting discussion that followed his presentation. Ashwin kicked off the discussion by putting a very critical question that haunts all the sustainable and green 'systems' of the day, that is how do you scale up? what deters and blocks the 'scale-up' nature of the sustainable technologies.


Ar. Jaigopal then provided a broad overview of the projects that his office has carried out along with Vilas Gore using bamboo for building applications. His work gave a vast range of various applications for which bamboo can be used from a fence to be used as composite wall panel or flooring system.

The next session, after a small tea-break was basically to throw light on various business-possibilities that bamboo offers for entrepreneurs to look at.

During this session we had representatives from some interesting and national level organizations who presented a vast range of applications that were already into market for the people and consumers to be used. It gave a glimpse of various products and systems that are already into offering using bamboo.

Dr. Gopalan gave a fascinating talk on the huge work on bamboo-composites being carried out by RV-TIFAC composite park headed by Dr. Gopalan himself. The range of products and applications using bamboo based composite materials like boards, panels and sheets gave a new perspective of how bamboo can be used.

Mr. Ajay Kumar, who represented National Mission on Bamboo Applications, a premier body set up by Government of India under the aegis of Dept. of Science and Technology, gave an overview of the work undertaken by NMBA in the area of structural applications of bamboo, specially what is largely known as engineered bamboo. They have been very active in developing and providing solutions in the pre-fabricated and easy-to-assemble building units.

Ar. George Joel, who represented CIBART - KONBAC, presented one of the works recently completed for MSTDC (State tourism development corporation). KONBAC is an organization set up and promoted by INBAR, International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, a multi-lateral organization with headquarters in China.

The Resort, basicaly developed along the lines of a Boat-houes, uses bamboo as primary building materials and its formation into interesting structural formations.

A small note for concluding remarks was presented by himself along with acknowledgments.

As a part of concluding remark, we announced that we shall initiate a network, what we call 'Friends of Bamboo', for all of those who are interested in bamboo and its applications in building industry. As a initiation of this network, we gave away a sapling of bamboo plant each to all those who were interested and asked them to water the plant twice a week and spend 10 minutes every week on thinking about bamboo and how it can used.

Bamboo and Building Industry; Prospects and Potential

Some images from seminar

Bamboo and Building Industry; Prospects and Potentials

'Bamboo and Building Industry; Prospects, Potential and Possibilities'

The seminar was supported by NSRCEL, IIM-Bangalore and organized by Wonder Grass

Venue: Main Auditorium, IIM-Bangalore
Date and Time: 15th December, Saturday. 9.00 am to 1.30 pm.

The Primary idea behind the seminar was to see three critical segments within construction industry, like Demand (Prospects in the market), Application and resource potential of the Bamboo as building material and various business prepositions that are into play or proposed, to understand the economic apsects of this industry.

To address these three different segments we had invited individuals who would provide us with some insights into these different apsects. A brief introduction about the content of the seminar and what is proposed in the seminar can be found in the attachment.

Our effort was to bring in critical stakeholders from within the larger sphere of building industry like Builders-developers, Architects, Finance institutions, Housing Banks and investors etc. Management professionals etc.

Talking from the platform of Indian Institute of Management, it is expected that the so-called mainstream would take notice and be willing to spare a moment to listen to what is being discussed.

It is been a month now for Wonder Grass formally occupying and operating from the office at NS Raghavan center, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

We must say that it indeed is an amazing place to start working from. The office provides us aa appropriate platform and a base to initiate the next set of activities for Wonder Grass.

What has been the take away for Wonder Grass, in the whole of this month. Looking back, one does not find any concrete achievement.

Let me try and put down the overall progress,

1. We have initiated work on registration of the company.
   
2. Started writing the content and development of the Website for Wonder Grass.
3. We have started working on and putting down what is largely recognized as 'Business Model', because what we have is a 'concept' an idea, which needs to be put into some form of structure, to make it into business-venture.
   

To start with,
We have proposed a Half-day seminar on 'Bamboo and Building indusrty; Prospects, potentials and Possibilities'. The seminar will be conducted at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore on 15th of December.

I shall write about the seminar in detail in the next post.

We are getting good support and direction from NS Raghavan center, in terms of encouraging the works at Wonder Grass and the activities being proposed.