ORIGINAL THOUGHT

How would you like if you had worked hard on a wonderful new idea and someone stole it and said it was his? There are thousands of people who either knowingly or unknowingly plagiarize ideas, art works, industrial designs, music or produce it for their own benefit. Why do you think A.R. Rehman won two Oscar Awards for his Slum dog Millionaire track song? He made it sure that songs and music were original.

With the age of knowledge explosion anything can be reached within seconds on computer and there is nothing that you cannot find out. You should only know the right question and you can copy paste it in no time. We are taught to be honest and not copy during exams. Some projects reach the teacher’s hand totally copied from the net. Examiners are also smart; there are softwares that identify the original work. That’s why original works value so much that can fetch a straight A grade.

Your original idea is your intellectual property. Intellectual property is defined as; an innovative property that arises from the mind. The innovation can be literary, artistic or industrial. The law of Intellectual Property was first established in 1967. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the specialized organs of The United Nations. The property rights could be protected through regional and country wise firms who ensure the inventions are patented or trademarked. Any design, logo, color or artistic work can be protected by IP. You must be wondering if you have an innovative idea and you want to protect it where should you go. Firstly it is not that easy to patent your invention, you should prove its originality. Secondly it should have usefulness and innovation to be qualified for patenting. Finally a nominal fee ensures registration. The patent usually lasts for 20 years which is conditional to renewal of the same every year.

Tenith Adithyaa is a young Indian inventor who has 17 inventions under his name that have bagged him many awards and two Guinness World Record attempts.

He says “I am inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s life. After reading about him I decided that I will not be a scientist only but will become an inventor who makes people’s lives better. I want to become an aeronautical engineer and a space scientist like Dr. Abdul Kalam and like Stephen Hawking,”

Ishan a student of DRS International school says, “To become an inventor you should put your heart, mind and soul to bring an impact or change in the world. You need not win a Nobel Prize; as long as you could ease the work of some people you have achieved your purpose”

India’s games are also intellectual and innovative such as chess, snake and ladder, kabbadi. India has contributed a lot in the field of science, education, mining and agriculture. The number zero and signs in multiplication, Infinite series for sine, cosine, and arctangent, Pell’s equation are all invented in India. Carbon pigment ink, Stupas and first prefabricated houses originated in India. Cashmere wool, cotton cultivation, indigo dye, jute cultivation, and sugar refinement originated in India. In the field of medicine, cataract surgery, the cure for leprosy, plastic surgery and lithiasis treatment were all discovered by Indian scientists. It is great to know that; CV Raman, Prafulla Chandra Ray, Salim Ali, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Jagadish Chandra Bose, A.P.J.Abulkalam and S.S. Abhyankar are of those Indian scientists who changed the world.

In contrast to the huge population we have very few inventors in recent India. We make beautiful music, art, literature and machines however most of it is copied or remake of others. Is it the fault of our education system that concentrates on memorization rather than logical and creative thinking? or the inventors are not encouraged enough? Original thought are precious and needs to be nourished right from young age.

Janet Fanaian

DRS International School