Edison of India! Today Birthday of G.D.Naidu.....

I owe my grateful thanks to Prof E.V.Subba Rao for whatever i post here on the lives of great leaders in Science because of his inspiring writings in the local edition of Eenadu.It has become a habit to me to peep through the edition first and then start the day.And now the story of G.D.Naidu who had really achieved great things in those days of poverty and lack of facilities. Born on March 23, 1893, in Kalangal, a village near Sulur near Coimbatore, Naidu worked in a ginning mill for a few years.He had only primary education studied only upto third standard,but excelled as a versatile genius. Among his hobbies was train travel to near by cities.Capitalising the experience in ginning mill, he set up an industry and earned substantially. But the cotton business in Bombay made him virtually a bankrupt.On return to Coimbatore, he expressed his inclination to work in the unit run by Robert Stanes.On the advice of Stanes, he bought a bus with funds from his friends and also Stanes himself.This proved the turning point from which he never looked back.Historian C.R.Elangovan says that it was Naidu who introduced a system in the transport industry in the State.Punctuality was his forte. And he had introduced even timing machine and ticketing machine.Apart from running festival specials, all his buses and also the bus stands set up by him used to be spic and span.From the owner of one bus in 1920, he acquired 22 more by 1924 and in 1933 he owned as many as 280 buses.He began

his transport business in 1920, with the purchase of an automobile coach. He drove it between Pollachi and Palani. In a few years, his United Motor Service (UMS) owned the most efficient fleet of public transport vehicles in the country. In 1937, the first motor to be produced in India, was brought out from G D Naidu's UMS factory.Naidu, inspired by various scientific inventions of England and also the US , invented almost 100 gadgets !As an inventor, G D Naidu was one-of-a-kind in the country. He invented an Electric Razor Rasant, that gave users far more shaves than other existing options in the international market. Among his other inventions were the super-thin shaving blades, a distance adjuster for film cameras, a special fruit juice extractor, a tamper-proof voterecording machine and a kerosene-run fan. In 1941, he announced that he had the ability to manufacture five-valve Radio sets in India at a mere Rs 70/- a set.One among the unbelievables of this miracle man was the cheap houses constructed within a span of about eight hoursfrom laying the foundation till the completion.The dignitary who laid the stone was present for inaugurating the building also.Such houses constructed during 1967-68 are in good condition even now.In 1941, he started a 40acre farm at Podhanur. Several scientists and technical experts, including Sir C.V.Raman and Visweswarayya, had visited this farm.Among the crops he researched and succeeded in identifying new varieties include cotton, maize and papaya.But as all these were produced within certain specific scientific parameters, they could not draw much response either from the Government or the public.As he was interested in Siddha system of medicine, he had been conducting a number of experiments in that also. In 1952, his brainchild the indigenously built Petrol engine twoseater Car (costing a mere Rs 2,000/-) rolled out. But production was stopped subsequently, because of the Governments refusal to grant the necessary license. His inventiveness was not confined to machinery alone. He is said to have grown ten feet high Cotton plants, millet plants with high yields and several injections for plants that made possible what Sir C V Raman called Botanic marvels. On his trips abroad, Naidu always seemed to draw appreciation for his innovations and his personal drive. In 1935, he personally filmed the funeral of King George V at London. In 1936, he met Adolf Hitler in Germany (even taking Still Photographs of the Fuhrer)[citation needed]. Among the Indian stalwarts that GD

Naidus camera captured were Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru and Subash Chandra Bose. GD Naidu remained an outsider to Politics, despite having contested and lost in the 1936 Provincial General Elections.
THE INVENTOR WITH A DIFFERENCE Duraisamy naidu

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G. Duraisamy Naidu popularly known as G.D. Naidu was born on 23rd of March, 1893 in Kalangal, a hamlet in Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. As Naidu lost his mother when he was just one , he was brought up by his maternal uncle. In school, Naidu showed little promise. The school did not hold him long. He was irresponsible and naughty and therefore dropped out of school. Even as a youth he was unruly and turbulent. After some time he started a business, selling pain balm imported from the USA. When he was 20, he married Chellamal. Spurred by curiosity for a more challenging life, Naidu left his village for Coimbatore. He worked as a waiter in a hotel for a monthly sum of three rupees, a fairly decent salary at that time. But Naidu s real interests lay elsewhere. He was fascinated by machines. He quit his job as waiter and with his savings bought an old motorcycle from a Britisher. As he was eager to learn the mechanism of the motor cycle, he dismantled and reassembled its parts. He learnt about its structure. He repeated this process several times until he was thorough with its mechanism. Though he was greatly interested in machines, Naidu had to wait for some more years before he could design machines on his own. His interests were varied. So he started a small ginning factory in Tirupur, now famous for manufacturing hosiery. Naidu s business flourished. Very soon he earned a large amount of money and as a result he extended his business to Mumbai. Unfortunately, in Mumbai, he suffered heavy losses. But Naidu remained unfazed and returned to Coimbatore.In Coimbatore, Naidu sought the job of a mechanic in a motor company owned by Sir Robert Stanes, a wealthy Britisher. Instead, the kind-hearted Sir Stanes gave him some money and encouraged him to buy a bus and run a bus service. Accepting his advice, Naidu started a transport company. He himself drove the vehicle. This was the first phase in his glorious career as an inventor and industrialist. More buses were added to Naidu s fleet and very soon he became a leading bus-transport owner in South India. He founded United Motors, a Cooperative Society of bus owners which became famous. Today Coimbatore is a leading industrial centre, thanks mainly to his pioneering efforts.Making money was not Naidu s sole aim in life. He believed in providing quality service to his passengers and providing his workers with the basic amenities. He was an amiable person and treated his workers with dignity. So,naturally he expected total commitment and discipline among his workers. Without a formal education, Naidu attained greatness because of his inborn talent. He had inventive brains. He was a born technocrat. The many mechanical and electronic gadgets that he invented are proof of this fact. Some of his inventions were weighing machines, testing machines and sheet-making machines. He also designed new cost effective models of radios and clocks and conducted interesting experiments in agriculture. He sought to improve upon nature s creations in the plant world. He developed pumpkin-sized chillis and coconut-sized brinjals! Unfortunately for Naidu, the world of science failed to recognize his achievements and contributions. But Naidu being the dignified person that he was, did not care and crave for recognition. But he did not give up his efforts to make the fruits of his labour available to the common man. Until his death on 4th of January, 1974, he continued with his experiments. He remained the first and last authentic and down to earth scientist to bring science and technology to the common man. A permanent industrial exhibition has been set up in memory of the industrialist and visionary in Coimbatore. It attracts visitors from all over India. His life is not only an example but an inspiration to the youth of India. He was a legend in his own life time.