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Fire. Shelter. Tools. The Wheel. What do these things have in common? A maker.
A new born maker does not have a grand design, he does not often even know what to make. How could you think about making anything? Neither are you qualified in or certified to use tools. You dont even know which side is up. How would you be able to make anything.Do you have a drawing? Wait, Do you even know how to draw? Careful! stay away from power tools! you’ll chop off a limb! Carpentry!? are you crazy? aspire to become an Engineer and make your family already filled with engineers; prouder.
Typical.
Often, we forget the most important form of learning. The way we began to learn as a species and as a child was by touch. Don’t touch fire. It’s hot they said. But what IS hot? what does ‘Hot’ feel like? The quickest way for a child to learn that lesson is to burn it’s finger. I’m sure we all did.
The kinaesthetic input has always been a dominant learning tool for us as a species.It’s the quickest way we can learn and master any skill you can imagine.
Often, the cost and risk of Kinaesthetic learning is restrictive. We got more theoretical to the point where they could make a friggin Laser Cutter sound boring!
At a point in time where “Make In India” is on banners all over the country, It is interesting to see the many meanings it has taken. Some vaguely derived and some literal.
One such literal meaning is the one adopted by the makers community.
“Make. in India.”
The maker spaces coming up across the country are acting as enablers. Allowing people to experiment with power tools and machinery, Learn to respect crafts and more importantly, helping them create.
They say writing is like water, it doesn’t flow until you turn the tap on. I assure you. So is making. You need to spend time with some fancy tools to understand how easy it is to let your imagination flow. Spending time with a reciprocating saw is the only way you can learn how to NOT use it.
> “With great power tools comes great responsibility”
>
> -Spidermans Uncle.
The maker spaces are organized. They teach you how to safely use a tool before they let you use it. They understand very intimately that safety IS the first priority. You can see that in the way helmets, goggles and other PPE are placed strategically all over the space.
Maker spaces such as Makers Asylum are making it possible for people from all walks of life to make stuff for themselves. The hardest part about getting something done is communicating your ideas across to the other guy. How do you solve that? make a prototype yourself. Heck. Make the final product yourself.
In a surprising contrast to the often painted image of men with sweat dripping from their brow as they concentrate on the job at hand with bulky power tools, it’s the girls who have taken the carpentry section by storm. Vaibhav, Co-Founder of Makers Asylum; was amazed at the observation that “8 of 10 people using the carpentry section are girls!”. More power(tools) to them!
Architects are using maker spaces to help them visualize their creations and better yet, demonstrate their ideas.
Doctors are making gear that helps them document retinas.
What touched me the most was how retired employees from industries are using this space to train younger generations to operate machines.
But the best one of it all, Makers making gifts for the ones they love. Shoddy, Inaccurate, Rough-edged & Raw — Such an accurate representation of what true love is like. Poetic even.
The beauty about making is in the fact that it is a way to unleash creativity. The power to be able to make what you want is far greater than what we can imagine. Making was in the hands of the factories. They made — We consumed. The consumers were often rendered option-less when it came to what they wanted.
Recently, At the launch of the Bajaj V, Rajiv Bajaj spoke about how the consumers end up buying what they do just because they have no other choice and that breaking the law of averages and distorting the norm will always bring with it a massive change in the market dynamics.
The maker movement is doing the exact same thing but at a more grass roots level. It is putting power into the hands of the people. Bringing better sense of value to the masses. Having been in the business of manufacturing, I’ve been blessed in that aspect of being able to look at something and estimate what it costs. I cant stand the thought of paying through my nose for sake of a brand name. The process of making helps people understand what it means to make something. what is the effort that goes into taking an idea and making it a reality, what the quality of materials being used in the making of a product is worth. The maker movement in general will change the market preference from visually appealing to functionally appealing products. And that is always a good thing.
On the other side, the maker movement promotes the use of tools. Which will improve the sales of the aforementioned tools, Which will reduce the price of the same. So yaay!
Making is a beautiful thing. It is emotionally empowering and physically satisfying to see your Ideas come to life: to create, there is a primal joy in making that can only be experienced, not explained. So head out to a maker space and have some fun.
If all of these reasons are not enough, At the end of the day, If a girl who can handle a reciprocating saw is not a turn on, what is?
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_You can read the original post here : [Medium post? Click me!](https://medium.com/@varunkbhargav/what-does-it-mean-to-be-human-140b291464f7#.m33fj05ua)_
_Do you have any other maker stories that blew your mind? Let us know in the comments below!_