Monetizing Indic knowledge

From belly breathing, chai latte, turmeric latte, yoga pants, to patents on turmeric, etc. westerners are busy claiming IPR and monetising Indic knowledge. What are we doing?

I recently came across this tweet, courtesy of Amit Paranjape:

Amit Paranjape @aparanjape

"Working out just five minutes daily via a practice described as “strength training for your breathing muscles” lowers blood pressure and improves some measures of vascular health as well as, or even more than, aerobic exercise or medication..."

colorado.edu5-minute breathing workout lowers blood pressure as much as exercise, drugsStrength training for your breathing muscles? Daily High-Resistance Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training lowers blood pressure and improves vascular health as well as, or even more than, aerobic exercise or medication, new CU Boulder research shows.

This is not the first such case. You have Lulu Lemon that has captured the yoga craze. You have chai latte, turmeric latte, belly breathing, toothpaste with charcoal and salt, and what not being turned into global products. The US awarding patents on turmeric, yoga and other medicinal herbs are fascinating to Indians. But we fail to take the lesson.

The rules of monetising knowledge have changed

When some of this knowledge was created, Intellectual property rights were not well defined, product development and branding were in infancy, and simulation and modelling were done on paper (not computers). Since then, we have progressed in every area. The rules of this new system were created in the West and therefore India has to make an effort to learn and familiarise itself with these rules. We need to evolve our game to protect and monetize this knowledge created over centuries.

Hope we rise to the game so that some of these traditional innovations can be monetised in support of the country rather than by non-Indians. The question is how? Do write in your suggestions in the comments below.

Rohit aka C𝖍𝖎𝖊𝖋 @roshovani

Ancient Bharat (now Afghanistan) Grapes are stored of upto six months, kept fresh in air tight mud straw containers. This method of food preservation which uses mud straw containers is known as Kanjna، developed centuries ago in todays Afghanistan, earlier glorious Bharatvarsha