Shreya Srivastava | KMC Mangalore | Guest Blogger
Have you, an owner of what one generally calls the rugged old lemon in the top shelf, ever felt that you could be worth more than a dime? Have you ever put the old lemon on the pedal and squeezed out ideas that can help perhaps one day transform even if in the smallest way possible the only inhabitable planet in the secluded spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy?
The Wearable Devices Hackathon let you do precisely that but better cause apart from whacking the old lemon here you get to thrill the fluttering pump in the mediastinum and bring forth what one calls ideas on a sally rally!
On a dreary Thursday afternoon, a bunch of Medicos-to-be were loaded into a yellow Dragon and rattled off to the Idea Cafe, Marena Sports Complex, Manipal.
Dr. Arun Shanbhag apparated from nowhere in his casual gray trousers and American Polo tee only to tell us that the Hackathon 2.0 was on and that we should undo our smiles and begin flashing friendly bulbs in the air if we wanted MIT hotties on our team. This was of course after a year of the mind boggling Hackathon 1.0 in which my team’s victory had been no more than a fluke.
This time however I had my priorities set, my heart hungry and my What If ready to bombard fellow hackers.
We began working on the Vein finder we had come up with, we dropped it, we ran after engineers, computer guys, business people, fashion designers and Homo sapiens in general. We stamped over LEDs, crushed screws between our teeth, laughed hoarsely, ate burgers well after dinner and drooled over blinking blue laptop screens.
Four days changed something about the way we thought. About the way we looked at things. About this and that.
We began asking questions. What if?
What if?
What if?
And when on the fourth day after the throes of a rigorous battle fought in the name of invention and what if, if not what ho, we were declared one of the teams to have not only qualified for the Innovation Day but also received a cash prize of 10K, the pump in the mediastinum shifted out of the body and launched itself such that we were beside ourselves.
The Hackathon 2.0 taught us to question and find some answer if not the best for problems that one hadn’t even thought existed.
It was the most transformative experience for the old lemon in the throttle and one I’d look forward to coming next year too!
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