The beat of eco-friendly drums

Drum beats and illuminating LED bulbs powered by the sun... do they have anything in common? Naah, nothing! Ponder over it for a minute. How are drums made? The typical response would be that the workers gather raw materials, add their labour and voila, the drums are ready. Here we have workers who actually make drums under light bulbs powered by solar panels. Isn’t that exciting? Eco-friendly drums! In Thannisandra, a locality of Bengaluru, there is a small community of Mirasis living under the roof of tarpaulin tents. The Mirasis are a nomadic community originally from Uttar Pradesh. They make various types of drums, ranging from small damarus to huge djembes; this has been their craft for the past 500 years. They excel at creating beautiful carvings on delicately crafted percussion instruments. This is now a dying art form, that needs to be preserved. SELCO Foundation – a sustainable energy NGO, based in Bangalore, looked at this threat to survival, as an opportunity to innovate. The foundation helped create a community-owned business model, called the ‘solar cart’. Under their mentorship, a cart with solar panels on its roof, charges batteries through the panels during the day and illuminate the homes of 30 families at night. read more → - See more at: http://www.eai.in/360/news/pages/12105#sthash.UO0tJ4Ow.dpuf