“I was sitting with my father and discussing some ideas around innovation when we thought of all the old people in our locality who live alone,” says Rishab Aggarwal from Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) of DAV Public School, Amritsar.

Father and son discussed how, many times, senior citizens are left alone at home when their children go out to work, on errands, or are out of the city.

Any accidents or mishaps at such times could be dangerous. Often, such aged people do not have anyone to call for help, and delays in assistance received can be life- threatening.

“Something to help out old people – this was the motivation behind my innovation. The idea of ‘ASARA’ (Affordable Smart Access for Rescue of the Aged) was born.” says Rishab.

The small device can be easily fixed to the handle of a walking stick. In case of an emergency, all the user needs to do is press the ‘SOS’ button. The device will send an SMS alert to family members, neighbours, and other relevant contacts.

“When we approached some people living in and around the community and gave them a demonstration of the device, they were ready to buy it right away,” says Rishab.

This shows how relevant this innovation could be. In today’s day and age, when most family members have to leave the house for various reasons throughout the day, this could help bring peace of mind for many.