BY RITESH RATHI
Creative Director, Designaren
There is a big difference between the common American life and the common Indian life. In the US, much of my identity was determined by what my residential status was (I was an alien as per the INS) and what my accent sounded like. It took me a few years to assimilate to the culture of the Americans.
Now, I am a self imposed South Mumbai-ite who jokes about needing a visa to go to Andheri. On returning to India after 12 years in the US, my identity is determined by what my accent sounds like and whether I use the letter ‘U’ to spell certain words.
Amongst the many differences in the way the people of both countries live is the way they view the culture of DIY (Do it Yourself). This could simply mean changing your own light bulb to building a 3D printed Iron Man suit.
In the US, DIY is deeply embedded in the culture, while it is largely unnoticeable in India. There is a base being established, but it pales in comparison to the US.
The US has a well established culture of DIY, where common people look to build their own furniture, products, fix things in their cars and homes, and hack their lives. Of course there is the Indian innovation system of jugaad and the value it has added for our developing country, but while the American system of hacking and DIY is common place and even might lead to business, the jugaad model has seen success primarily when no other option is available and seems to be limited to the poorer sections of society.
Let’s take the task of ordering furniture online. In the US, your furniture arrives, much like it does in India, in boxes, packed for efficient shipping and handling. When the delivery person leaves the box at your doorstep, in the US, you’d probably open your toolbox and get down to assembling your new piece of furniture. In India, along with the furniture comes a small army of assemblers. I recently insisted that I could set up the dresser I had ordered myself, only to be met with a sideways head tilt followed by the ‘army’ looking at each other. I didn’t press further and 25 minutes later, much to the delight of my wife, our dresser was ready.
Whatever your DIY project, the US seems to have a marketplace that makes getting things done much easier. From hobby shops where you can buy kits to make your own Drone, to storefronts like Home Depot, Frys, Autozone and Radio Shack where you can buy essentially everything including lumber, wiring, tubing, tubs, etc., to build your own house and practically fix your car to a brand new state. Many of these stores have obviously flourished because people want to fix and build things themselves. In India, tools and materials are available, but what is lacking is access to variety and knowhow.
Meanwhile, there are lots of Americans who don’t know the similarity between 1/8th of an inch and 0.125 inches. There are also a lot of Indians learning to create things at the many new maker spaces and art and craft centers opening up around India’s cities. My friends at Animal Factory Amplification, for example, run a metaphoric garage establishment making and selling guitar pedals. From tinkering with electronics, they are now looking to retail their pedals in Europe and the US and have earned great reviews for their homegrown products.
Instructables.com has over 13% of all its traffic coming from India, second only to the US. This all bodes well for India, because I do believe that DIY and innovation go hand in hand.
Feedback: ritesh@designaren.com
