#mitticool

In the bustling towns and quiet villages of India frugal innovation, a quiet revolution is underway—one that is reshaping the landscape of innovation. Powered by necessity, resource constraints, and boundless creativity, frugal tech startups are offering low-cost, sustainable solutions to real-world problems. These grassroots innovations are not only empowering rural communities but also…

Nature's Chill: Mitti Cool Glass

Discover the simplicity of Mitti Cool Glasses - natural, eco-friendly, and refreshing. 🌿🥤 Perfect for serving your favorite drinks with a twist of tradition and sustainability.

MittiCool Sustainable Innovation

Today’s pollution is a global concern which is why eco-friendly and sustainable innovations are coming into existence like Clay products ( MittiCool), Solar light, electric vehicles, paperless banking, organic farming, and many more.   Clay products are goods for health, eco-friendly, natural, economic, stable value, and durable. Mitti Cool is an Indian startup by Mansukhbhai Raghavjibhai…

From being a Simple Potter, he transformed himself into a successful businessman.

In 2001 Gujarat survived a massive earthquake. Mansukhbhai was amazed at the idea of a broken fridge, which was featured in the Sandesh Gujarati Daily captioned as “the broken fridge of poor.” So he started making a more cost adequate fridge which can be easily purchased by the poor and just like that he ended up making “mitticool” in 2005.

This clay fridge can keep the vegetables fresh for a week. Priced at Rs 2,500-3,500, it cools water by almost 10 degrees and keeps perishable items like milk safe and clean. . In 2005, Prajapati received recognition for his outstanding innovation – ‘mitticool.’ In 2010, he was named in the Forbes list of Top 7 Rural Entrepreneurs.  Former Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam named Prajapati as a ‘true scientist’ of India. His innovations are cheap and eco-friendly; thus, he is also playing his part best by creating less pollution as well. Mitticool was featured recently at a conference organized by the Centre for India & Global Business, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, the UK, in May 2009.

#MittiCool #Mansukhbhai #Innovation #truescientist #ClayFridge #Gujarat #Innovator

#Indianness #TheIndianness

Mitti Cool: Innovation meets necessity

Among the many affected by the Gujarat earthquake of 2001, was one such man by the name of Mansukhbhai Prajapati. Mansukhbhai who at the time manufactured earthen pans and water filters suffered a huge loss of stock. In Februaury 2001, Sandesh Gujarat Daily carried a photo of a broken water filter of Mansukhbhai with the caption ‘Garibi Ka Fridge Tut Gaya’ (Fridge of the Poor got broken).This…

MANSUKHBHAI PRAJAPATI & MITTICOOL

4 P's of Sustainability

Profits

Protests

Policies

Preservation

A true inspiration, Mansukhbhai Prajapati, hails from a village in  Gujarat from a family of potters. Post Machu Dam breakdown, his family lost everything and migrated to another village where his father took up a job as a mason. Mansukhbhai opened a chai- stall. It so happened that, his chai-stall was right in front of the factory of his wife-to-be. He felt the need to make a name for himself and do something big, because he did not want his wife to ever feel embarrassed of his profession. 

Once, his uncle visited him and offered him a job in a rooftop tile manufacturing unit. He closed his tea lorry and joined the factory. During his time there, he learnt all related work at the factory. 

He combined the traditional pottery knowledge with his experience at the factory and set up an enterprise called MITTICOOL (Read the whole story in detail here). He developed water filters with ceramic candles, refrigerators, cooker and non-stick tawa (pan)- all made from clay.

These products operate without electricity and have negligible maintenance costs. They are easy to produce, sustainable and serve their function well. They have improved the domestic lifestyles of people from so many small towns and villages.

Mansukhbhaai, discontinued his education in class 10. Without any educational expertise, he managed to succeed in Designing for the real problems that people face. 

Mansukhbhai's story really makes me question my own actions as a designer. We- designers- spend all our time trying to help brands of all kind sell better but does the world actually need all these brands, some of which sell really useless products? Are we really 'designing'? Are we really solving problems that need our attention? Is selling a new brand of toothpaste or designing a packaging for a bodywash, worth our time and effort? Will the world die without more brands and are these brands really making a difference in our lives? 

Many problems faced by the rural sector are untouched by designers. We can make a difference in their lives- give them a chance to live the same healthy lifestyle and fulfill their needs beyond the basic food, clothing and shelter. Attention to those problems really requires time and effort and it is worth it. Mansukhbhai has proved that.

Photocredits: Kanchan Dhankani