Mushtaq advises aspiring inventors to concentrate on unique ideas

Kashmiri innovator holds 3- patents

Suhail BhatSRINAGAR, Nov 11: Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, a 40-year-old innovator from South Kashmir's Anantnag district with three patents to his name, attributes his success to the direction of the National Institute of Fashion and advises aspiring inventors to concentrate on their unique ideas.Mushtaq's unique products, such as pole climbing shoes, were on display during the three-day Kashmir Expo Start-ups for Livelihood exhibition at the SKICC Srinagar. He believes that these occasions give innovators a stage to present their goods and inspire them to keep making tools for fixing problems.Born in a low-income family in the Kreeri hamlet of Dooru-Shahabad in South Kashmir Anantnag district, Dar joined his family's walnut business after the death of his father while he was in the 9th grade. He has been closely analyzing the issues that people face every day and working to come up with solutions. He was able to obtain patents for three of his products-a pole climber, a walnut cracker machine, and a walnut peeler-thanks to his curiosity and perseverance.Dar developed his most well-known invention, a portable pole climber, to do away with the need for conventional ladders and lower the possibility of mishaps for tree climbers or electric workers. "My focus turned to the difficulty faced by electricians and tree climbers who had to use high ladders to reach. Because of that, their lives were in jeopardy. I, therefore, made this tool specifically for them," Dar explained why he decided to develop a pole climber. He added that he improved the device with the assistance of a company called Indian Inovatix Limited, which has sold about 100 units so far. "They give me a royalty of about 4%," he said.The climbing aid consists of two supporting frames for each foot, Velcro-based straps to fasten each foot to the frame, a sturdy strap with a locking mechanism to fasten around the tree, and a flexible safety belt that can be wrapped both around the body and the tree.Dar's life changed when a friend took him to Ahmedabad in 2005 for the National Institute of Fashion's third national invention award ceremony. He was astounded to observe and interact with so many people from all over the nation who had solved various difficulties without training or assistance. "That was the platform that changed my life, and I have never looked back after that," he said.After leaving the event, he started looking for issues that needed fixing and developed a machine that could peel walnuts. Along with lowering labour costs, the machine sped up the process by being able to crack dry walnuts of various sizes and peel 80 kg of green walnuts in an hour."I have also installed a walnut peeling machine at my community workshop, which I set up with the help of the National Institute of Innovation and Foundation. The unit provides livelihood to around 8-people," Dar said.In 2008, he invented the almond-cracking machine that lessens the laboriousness of manually cracking almonds and prevents finger injuries. "Currently, this gadget is being improved and standardized. For this gadget, he has also obtained funding from NIF's Micro Venture Innovation Fund (MVIF) program," Dar added.