After watching actor R Madhavan’s film ‘Rocketry’, people started searching for ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, whose story was based on the life of this film. Recently, Madhavan has announced another film whose story is on a person who has contributed a lot in the field of innovation. But history has forgotten this person so much today that very few people know them.
The name of this new film of Madhavan is ‘GDN’ and this is the biopic of Gopalaswamy Durajiswami Naidu. Now the question is, what did G.D. Naidu do that a biopic is being made on his life? In the world of inventions and engineering, he was such an Indian name that well-known celebrities from all over the world knew him, but today hardly anyone remembers his name. He had invented so many things in different fields that he is called the ‘Edison of India’.
A motorbike changed life
Born on 23 March 1893 in a village in Coimbatore, Naidu was so irritated by studies that he ran away from school by throwing sand on the master’s mouth in the third class. This is mentioned in the book ‘Appa’ written on his life, which was written by Tamil writer Shivshankari. Later Naidu’s son G.D. Gopal has also updated it.
Naidu was working in his father’s fields at the age of 20 years. Then the motorcycle of a British officer passed from there. It is mentioned in ‘Appa’ that Naidu ‘was surprised to see a vehicle walking on its own without any external power like bulls or horses. Now he had to buy a motorcycle.’ At the age of 16, Naidu started doing many small things, including a waiter job in a restaurant.
Finally, in three years he managed to raise Rs 400 from which he bought a motorcycle. But he then opened the part of this motorcycle himself because he wanted to understand how it works. When he understood, Naidu started working as a mechanic. When there was money, he reached Bombay (now Mumbai) to do cotton business and failed and returned to Coimbatore. After coming back, Naidu started working in a company of British businessman Robert Stens. Staines loved his curious nature and always motivated him to do something new.
Naidu learned English from him and bought a bus with his help. In 1920, Naidu started running the bus between Polachi to Palni. By 1933, he had a full consignment of 280 buses and had created a company called ‘United Motor Company’. He introduced the transport system for the first time in Coimbatore and his bus stand and terminal were very clean. In many places, there is a mention of an anecdote that once a German couple was so upset with the service of a hotel in the area that he left the room and started living on the bus terminal of Naidu.
An invention more than one
Naidu went abroad in the era of erecting the company. He saw many new gadgets in England and America, after learning, he started making many new discoveries in India. The father of many inventions like kerosene-powered fan, MICA capacitor, Destance Adjuster, Steel’s Super-Thin Shaving Blade, D. Naidu was the only one. His inventions also included a voting machine from which it was not possible to tamper. By the end of the second World War, Naidu started manufacturing electric-powered motor in India. But he had a discovery which was discussed all over the world.
During one of his trips abroad, Naidu was trying to modify the motor of a toy car. He was fitting a blade in it and similarly he made an electronic razor running from the cell and error method. He patented it in Europe and started manufacturing it. The motor for this razor came from Germany, Casing from Switzerland and Steel from Sweden. Its name was ‘Rasant Razor’. Within a month of reaching London, 7500 units of this razor were sold and its ads used to come in American magazines.
In 1941, radio used to be a luxury item and its price was around 175 rupees. But Naidu announced that he can manufacture five-wall transistor manufactures for only Rs 70. In 1952, Naidu’s company built a two-seater electric car worth Rs 2000. He wanted to start its manufacturing but by then the period of ‘license raj’ had started and Naidu had to stop this project due to government regulations.
Also invented in agriculture
G.D. Naidu not only promoted electronic or mechanical, but also in the field of agriculture. Be it 10 feet long cotton plants, advanced crop millet or injection for many plants, Naidu also promoted innovation in the field of agriculture. Before his death in 1974, Naidu started many scholarships and grants in order to promote innovation in the country as well as many types of scholarships and grants.
He was not active in politics, but he captured from Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler in his camera. Indian scientist, Professor CV Raman, who won Nobel in Physics, talking about G.D. Naidu, ‘Mr. G.D. Naidu’s personality, his extremely different achievements and his character in a few words will require any more powerful writing than me.’
G.D. Naidu was sure that Indians should know more about them. Whereas gradually the name of such people is being lost, which was an icon in terms of new discoveries and entrepreneurship in India. It is expected that Madhavan, who is playing the role of Naidu in ‘GDN’, will bring his story on screen in such a way that the public would want to know more about him.