Pradnya Gaonkar Rane
Deepak Pathania, an industrial designer from NID and an inventor and Pratheek Dhruva, who studied psychology and forensics and is a quirky story teller, met seven years ago, on a TV show where they did experiments to educate kids about science. Mixing science with fun certainly struck a chord with the kids and the show was a hit in no time.
Pathania also started a YouTube channel called ‘D’ Art of Science. However, the duo then began thinking on the lines of doing something live to give kids a chance to actually be a part of the whole thing in real time. This sowed the seeds for the first ever science theatre in the country called the FabLab Show.
“In schools, science is taught very theoretically. The practical experimental part of it is not as developed. So, kids often watch science experiments on YouTube, but do not always do it by themselves. There is no motivation to do it by themselves,” explains Dhruva.
So, the duo decided to do something where they could inspire children, teachers, parents and everyone to get their hands dirty and do the experiments themselves. “There is a kind of shift in understanding that happens when you actually do the experiments,” explains Dhruva.
The show is co-hosted by Chyp the robot and a science know- it- all. “We developed Chyp in-house. There is a guy who does the voice and there are people who control his movements. Chyp is a huge attraction of the show,” informs Dhruva.
Having a live show also has its own benefits. “Here the feedback is instant. You can see the reactions on the faces of the students, their parents and the teachers as they laugh, clap while the show is on. You know whether they are enjoying it or not at that moment. They even come to us after the show to give us the feedback and it gives us a chance to do even better,” adds Deepak.
And to keep things interesting and different, they ensure that they incorporate at least 30 percent new experiments every time they do a new show. “Sometimes the experiments don’t work out the way we want it to be.
And we do caution the audience that this can happen sometimes. An experiment is a science and there cannot be success always. So, failures should be taken in stride and we just have to try and do it again. Our 10 years of experience does come handy during these situations,” says Pathania.
(FabLabShow will have their next show on April 15, 11 am at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao)
