Tech route towards making a difference

Innovation is the name of the game. And nothing can be more innovative than what these Gen-Next men and women are doing.

So from SignSpeaks, an Android app that allows the verbally challenged to freely communicate with those who can speak, to the 'open library' Student Desk whereby a topper in Chennai can sell his engineering books and notes to his students in Delhi, new-age technology is helping these youngsters turn into entrepreneurs.

Karan Pujara, 22, certainly thinks so. This third-year engineering student got the idea of an "open library" when he realised a used book at a cheaper price could offer a student much more value than a new book. "Used books can actually save the environment through recycling and offer more value for money," he says.

Great minds

Kinjal Chaudhari came up with SignSpeaks when she noticed a communication disconnect between the verbally challenged and hearing impaired and the rest of society. "I was in a cafe one-and-half years ago and the waiter was hearing impaired. So he asked us to point at what we wanted and he would write it down. This is when I came up with SignSpeaks," she says.

The app will allow the verbally challenged or hearing impaired to type what they need to say on their smartphone and the result will appear with the appropriate sign and the word underneath. However, such novel ideas do not come cheap. Both Pujara and Chaudhari say they are relying on social media and crowd funding to raise money to go ahead with their "dream ideas".

The tech revolution is also being used to bring back Hindu epics. The idea, started by IIFT pass-outs Sagar Shankar and Chandan Mohanty, has resulted in Maha Yodha, a game available online and offline to teach teenagers and families about forgotten epic tales. Says Shankar, "Maha Yodha was born in a conversation I had with Chandan. We both wondered how we know more about Harry Potter or X-Men than we do about intriguing characters like Shankachuda or Dhumavati. This is how Maha Yodha was born."

The game which has can be played by two to six people pits the Devas, which includes heroes from the Mahabharata like Arjuna, while the evil faction comprises Rakshasas and evil humans like Shakuni and Shishupala.

With such innovations, the new breed of Indians is not afraid to take risks and the future looks bright, with a little help from improved technology.