Posted on 04/18/2012 7:24:35 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Talk about innovation at gun-point. A Kashmiri farmer, with no formal education but a quirky habit of sleeping naked, found an novel way to escape the embarrassment of getting caught with his pants down.
Gulam Mohammad Mir of Anantnag, J&K, developed a 'singing lantern' that warned him every time soldiers approached his house during the peak of militancy in the state. Powered by a dry battery and fitted with a remote sensor, this lantern alerted him about human movement near his house in Sagaam village in Anantnag's Kokernag area, giving him enough time to dress up.
The 48-year-old, who recently participated at an innovators' meet at the University of Kashmir, claims the 'singing lantern' has even saved his life many times.
It all began with the fear of death or even just getting beaten up. Over the past 20 years, many Kashmiri men have been killed during nights when they ventured out without lanterns and walked into army ambushes. Many were beaten, simply for not carrying the lantern.
Mir knew the new ground rules well. Yet, he got thrashed several times when the lantern's oil dried up or when wind blew out the flame. That was when the idea of a battery-powered lantern struck him.
"Torches were banned. Soldiers could have mistaken a person with a torch as a militant," Mir said.
His next step-a radio in the lantern-came out of boredom during the nights spent guarding his field. This time, Bollywood songs came to his rescue.
One night, Mir was sleeping, naked as usual, when soldiers barged into his house. The embarrassing situation led to the soldiers beating him up, yet again, Mir said. This led to another modification in the lantern-inclusion of a motion sensor with a 15-feet range, enough time to alert him.
"When soldiers would stop me, they would be surprised by seeing a different lantern, and then I would show them the radio in it. They would enjoy a song and let me go," Mir said.
Today, Mir manufactures the lantern for others in a workshop at his home. He sells them at Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,800 (with full range of features).
Instead of a song, his lantern should blow up military encroachment on private property - enough to warn the farmer to grab his machine-gun to help finish them off.
He needs to recruit more farmers to do the same thing, and rid themselves of such absolute tyranny!
” quirky habit of sleeping naked “
What part of Oregon is Kashmiri?
Downtown Portland where all the bums hang out!
You’re aware That part of Kashmir is a war zone, right? And that the local Muslims used to shelter the terrorists before they changed their mind?
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