The man who loves inventing new machines has patented a device to control rampaging elephants
The man who loves inventing new machines has patented a device to control rampaging elephants
Zacharias Mathew, 59, may have dropped out of school after the sixth grade, but that has not stopped him from inventing and patenting products that range from mid-hinged poles to a Cashew nut remover. He has many patents in the field of machine designing to his credit, and his latest patent is a device that can supposedly calm a raging elephant without causing the animal any harm.
By means of a small device fixed to one of the legs of the elephant with an elastic belt attached to the other leg, Mathew claims that one can calm a violent elephant. The moment the animal turns wild, the mahout - with the help of a remote - can lock the elephant's legs from a distance of about 25 metres. As the belt tightens, the elephant is forced to stop his rampage. "I invented this device after an elephant killed three people in a temple at Thrissur, Kerala," he says. "I have got several orders from the Kerala government. Recently, the use of this elephant control gear has been made mandatory by the government on account of the increasing number of elephant-related casualties."
Mathew, originally from Kerala, is a self-professed machine maniac. "It all started when I was 12. While tilling the land, I dismantled a tractor and fixed it again all by myself," he says, his eyes gleaming with pride, as if the incident had occurred recently.
The attempt turned out to be successful, and there was no looking back for him. In 1972, he moved to Mumbai. "I used to stay in hotels and started attending to the complaints of various industrial units regarding their mechanical problems," says Mathew.
Today, he runs his own industrial establishment in Turbhe, New Mumbai, and employees 250 workers. His clients include heavyweights like Godrej, Voltas, Pfizer, Siemens and Larsen & Toubro, apart from international assignments.
But for him, his most memorable event was meeting former president, APJ Abdul Kalam - the 'machine man' meets the 'missile man'. "Our meeting was to last for 10 minutes, but it went on an hour. I told him I that I was approaching 60, and would live for another 10 or 15 years, to which he replied, 'You will live for another 50 years Mathew; India needs you'."
Having been on the panel of technical teams of many multinational companies, he has also been honored with national awards for his contribution in the field of machine designing. The Rajiv Gandhi Shiromani Award, the Lourde Bhavan Trust Award, the National Excellence Award and the Rashtriya Eka Award are a few of them.
Playing with machines is his life. "It is my hobby which I have made into my profession," he says simply.
Few are blessed with turning a hobby into a successful career and Mathew is definitely one of them. He says humbly, "I have been lucky and it feels great when your work pays off."
His other innovative accomplishments include the manufacturing of hydraulic poles, octagonal poles, high masts, gantries and cantilevers. Most of his ideas come from what he sees around him. He has set up a plant to manufacture metal the 'Beam Crash Barrier' for road and highway safety. "All the machines in this plant were designed by me," he says.
Innovation is the key, and nothing is too big or too small for him. "I have made another device that can break open a Cashew nut by simply pressing a button, and that too without damaging the nut."
To deal with the decreasing number of 'coconut pickers' in Kerala, he has designed a one-foot=high robotic machine. "This machine can be fixed to the coconut tree, and can be controlled with a remote to glide up, and slash a coconut, instantly causing it to fall on the ground," he says, adding that even housewives now fetch coconuts from their backyards using this device.
It looks like Mathew's daughter, 25-year-old Saino, has inherited her father's talent. "I am going to follow in his footsteps; he is my only idol," she says. And as director of Saino Engineering Pvt. Ltd, she headed in the right direction.
But for now, Mathew is waiting for the next idea to "erupt" so that he can work on a new machine.
_ansari@dnaindia.net
Zacharias Mathew owns the patent Rights to the following machines
-Base-hinged hydraulic poles
-Hanging car parking (mass car parking in limited space)
-Baggasse feed pusher (to achieve extra yield)
-Hanging safety gear (for maintenance of high-rise buildings and risky structures)
-Wagon shunting system
-Mid-hinged poles
-Control gear for violent elephants
-Coconut plucking robot
-Cashew nut remover
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