| At the face of it, it might seem that frugality demands sacrifice. That it is more about giving than receiving. That frugal lives are hard and austere. Can frugality create beauty?
In the natural context, the use of resources involves no waste. While Nature is bountiful, none of what she creates ever goes to waste. The human body, like all other living bodies are self regulatory and will only take in as much as they need. Going beyond this , creates disharmony and ill health. On the other hand, a healthy individual, can create abundance and surplus for the entire community, just as a tree that has grown fully offers an abundance of flowers and seeds for the ecosystem.
At the ICCIG, we had the opportunity to hear of and meet several such individuals whose individual efforts towards frugality and empathetic innovations have enriched their communities manifold. With little access to resources themselves, and having faced many physical and financial challenges, these people have shown what is possible to create with little.
Chintakindi Mallesham, was intent on reducing the pain his mother experienced in the weaving of the Pochampally Ikat sari. He invented a machine called the Laxmi Asu machine to process yarn mechanically and increase productivity of sari makers.
Arunachalam Muruganantham, whose mission was to improve menstrual health for women, invented a low cost sanitary pad making machine which made the pads affordable to women and helped them earn.
Balbir Singh Seechewal, known as Eco Baba, innovated on a sewage system that helped ressurrect the Kali Bein river in Punjab.
Daripalli Ramaiah has been planting trees for to the extent that he has planted a tree for every third person in Telangana. |
