When a teenager, Danish Javaid saw his mother struggling with the process of cooking during the harsh winter season, he came up with an idea of developing a two-way gas stove. The cooking gadget made by him, apart from easing the cooking process, can save the time of cooking and allows users to make judicious use of fuel.
The innovation of two-way gas stove was also selected among top 60 innovations at the 9th National Level Exhibition and Project Competition (NLEPC) for INSPIRE Awards MANAK, held at ITPO, New Delhi. The Inspire Award was given to him by Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh.
The multi-use cooking stove has four compartments where the burners are installed as per the heat required for the food to cook.
The two burners are designed to emit a high temperature which is required for cooking purposes. The other two compartments are for the considerable temperature required for the heating purposes. Also to its side is another compartment which is for baking purposes and works like an oven.
“The coal used in the cooking can be kept in another chamber and later on used as a fuel. Another compartment is a water tank which can be used to heat up the water simultaneously. Below the gadget is the drawer which collects the ash or residue from the coal. The ash will be removed in a hassle-free way,” he said.
Each burner is designed to cook the food as per the required heat. The heating gadget is portable and also warms up the room in the cold winters where it is carried.
“it’s a modification of traditional chola which is called Daan in the local language. Daan is not yet used because of the smoke it emits which causes a lot of inconvenience to the women folk while cooking. However, the gadget made by me is smoke free,” he said.
Talking about his own village, he said that at his home, the cooking gadget is used with the help of firewood due the unavailability of LPG cylinders and electricity. However, he is further improving the gadget to use it on electricity, solar energy or LPG cylinders to increase the utility of the gadget in other areas.
He said that his heating gadget saves time as many dishes can be cooked or warmed on a single gadget. “Apart from this, a lot of time that goes into cooking can be saved. The natural resources that are used by us in our day-to-day lives need to be used in a proper way. With this gadget, the firewood or fuel can be utilized in a judicious way,” he said.
He is currently studying in 9th standard in Government Upper Primary School, Machipora, Handwara and one of his teachers, Abbass Ahmad mentored him in the project.
Abbass Ahmad, a science teacher said, “It is a big thing that his innovation was selected for national level with 60 students after competing with the lakhs of students participating across nations. There are other kids from rural areas who are making a mark at national level but still there is less awareness about the schemes run by the government. It’s the role of a teacher and the media to make people aware about such schemes.”
Danish, who is the son of a driver, wants to be an engineer in future.
The invention, Danish said, can help rural women who struggle with the daily domestic chorus during the harsh winter months.
The INSPIRE Award- MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) is being executed by the Department of Science and Technology and National Innovation Foundation- India to align it with the action plan for Start-up India initiative launched by the Prime Minister of India. The scheme aims to expand the Science and technology system and increase research and development by inviting all the government and private schools across the country to send their original and create ideas focusing on common problems and come up with solutions on their own.