Clothes can be peddled to cleanliness

New Delhi: Remya Jose hails from a small village, Kizhattoor, about an hours drive from Calicut in Kerala. But she has dared to dream big.

An electrical engineer by education but an inventor at heart, soon after she finished her class 10, Remya built a washing machine that doesn’t need electrical power to run.

Her invention is red in colour and resembles a bicycle and cost her less than Rs 2,000.

"When I was in 10^th standard, I saw that the washing machine runs with electricity. So, I thought how can I substitute it into mechanical power. And then, the idea of using the pedals came into my mind," says Remya.

She's one of thousands of innovators and inventors from among the many members of the National Innovation Foundation. IIM Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta heads the foundation.

His reasons are simple: "The image of India is that of a land of temples. The notion has to transformed to it being a land of science and technology."

Remya's story will be one of the short clips that the Discovery Channel will play during a new series called Beyond Tomorrow.

But for Remya it's a story that's already seen all kinds of reactions. "People have laughed and wondered at my innovation," she says.