Young Achievers

Buddy aviators

One is a primary school dropout; the other a first year engineering college quitter. But quite obviously they have amazing self-learning abilities. Bangalore-based childhood friends Tauheed Alam and Nazeem, both 19 years of age, are short on education qualifications but big in ideas. Recently these country boys from Byalnarasapura village (pop.3,863) in Hoskote taluk (12 km from Bangalore) hit newspaper headlines in India’s premier IT city for assembling an airplane with self-acquired knowledge.

Tauheed who was always fascinated by aeroplanes drew inspiration from his brother-in-law, Meraj Hussain, who served as an IAF fighter pilot for two years. Although Tauheed completed secondary school in his village and signed up to study engineering at the Hoskote Government College, he quit after the first three months.

"I mis-advisedly thought that the best way to learn was by doing. But I soon realised that formal education, which gives a student a base of theoretical knowledge to build upon, is also important," rues Tauheed.

While he voluntarily quit college, his friend Nazeem was forced by family circumstances to leave school after class VII. "I reluctantly discontinued my education after primary school and started working as a labourer on a farm to support my family. But I learned engineering on the job by repairing and maintaining our family tractor," says Nazeem.

The materials they needed for their ambitious project were assembled within six months at a "huge cost" of Rs.60,000. Of this they invested Rs.5,000 on Gin metal sheet for the aircraft body. For Rs.8,000 they purchased a Yamaha 135cc engine and modified it to increase its thrust capability. Wheels and tyres of the aircraft were adapted from a motor scooter at a price of Rs.1,500.

The finished product, i.e. the two-seater aircraft is parked in a saw mill whose owner Nayeem Khan is impre-ssed by this young duo’s persistence and dedication. "Although our engine didn’t have sufficient power to give us altitude, the airplane travelled a distance of 150 metres at an estimated speed of 140 km per hour. Quite obviously we need to do some more work on our airplane," says Tauheed.

Set on their goal, they have approached the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for help in upgrading their airplane. "We believe that with a little help from HAL our airplane can become a low-cost business carrier. We have also given our blueprint to the aviation ministry of the Karnataka government. We are confident they will help us to advance and commercialise our plane for short-distance business travel," says Nazeem.

Wind beneath your wings!

Mekhala Roy (Bangalore)

Kapil Kalra

Young, vivacious, animated and brimming with ideas. That’s Kapil Kalra (23). On April 29 last year he became the first Indian to attain three simultaneous entries into the UK-based Guinness Book of World Records — all completed within the span of one year.

For one, he’s designed a calendar detailing the next 10 billion years on a single page. Next, he condensed a four-page book of logarithms into a mere half-page of sine, cosine and theta formulae, and third he has developed the expertise to shuffle an entire pack of cards within 38 seconds to arrange them hierarchically from Jack to King. For the card pack-shuffling record the inspiration came from a television news clip.

"It took me two years to match the dates and months for the next 10 billion years. I hit upon this idea while watching the interview of a French boy who configured a 8,000 years’ calendar. Responding, I calculated a calendar spanning 12,800 years but this record was soon surpassed by an Italian student. That’s when I resolved to configure a 10 billion year calendar to put the issue beyond challenge. I now have a copyright over this," he says.

With three record-breaking mental gymnastic feats inscribed in the Guinness Book, this young maths whiz has set his sights on formulating a cancer drug, and has started work on devising a polymer that can temporarily convert liquid alcohol into a solid state to facilitate transportation. "I’m in the process of selling the rights to United Breweries which has expressed interest," says Kalra, a resident of Dehradun, who is currently reading for a Masters in pharmacy at the Kanak-manjari Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Rourkela (Orissa).

For young inventors and Guinness Book aspirants, Kalra offers the following advice: "Build on your capabilities, set high goals and pursue them relentlessly. Maths was always my strong subject. I cracked Einstein’s equations easily when I was in class X at the Sri Guru Ram Rai Public School in Dehradun. I knew I could build on this capability to set record-breaking goals and worked resolutely towards attaining them," says Kalra.

Given this youth’s genius, grit and demonstrably workable success formula, his best is undoubtedly yet to come.