A 32-year-old innovator from Assam is gathering praise online for repurposing discarded box television sets into "paw-dorable" homes.
Abhijit Dowarah built five shelters out of old television sets to keep dogs warm in the lockdown
He was a brown indie pup who leaped from the bushes, and narrowly missed the road. It was not love at first sight. “Four years ago, I was riding pillion on a bike and a dog almost got run over. We tumbled; I was hurt and filled with rage. My reaction was that strays should stay away from residential areas,” recalls Abhijit Dowarah, 32. A month later, Dowarah’s younger brother bought him the most unexpected birthday gift—a dog. “I don’t think I have ever been fond of canines, until I got one of my own. I would bathe him, feed him, play with him—it was a riot. He is the greatest gift I could ask for!”
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The newfound love turned into concern when the lockdown left strays out in the cold. He found the answer to alleviate their helplessness in the scrap piling up in the backyard of his Phukon Nagar home in Sivasagar district. “I don’t have the means to feed the strays every day. I can barely provide for my brothers, mother and our dog. But I had a dozen discarded TV sets, which neighbours had left for me to tinker with. I am the crazy science guy. I recycle and innovate,” he adds.
Dowarah loves experimenting with scrap items and building out-of-the-box innovations
He painted the sets in yellow and green—bright enough for vehicle owners to spot—and installed a water tank that can be replenished. In order to draw the strays in, he used sheets used by his pet dog to layer the insides. He calls the shelters Baator Ghor or home for street dogs. “In November 2020, I installed five of these in my area. And they were a hit. A lot of locals began noticing and taking videos of me. I become a social media star,” he laughs.
This is not Dowarah’s first science innovation. When he was a seven-year-old in Class II, after his father passed away, his mother found a housekeeping job at a school for Rs 200 monthly. He’d save one rupee from every grocery shopping trip and bought a second-hand radio worth Rs 150. In two months, it broke down and needed instant repair. “I remember grabbing a spoon and fork and cutting open the valve radio set. In a few minutes, it was as good as new!” He developed his talent for repairing electronics at a shop while studying arts in college. The meagre sum he’d earn was not enough to buy a colour television.
His innovative streak came in handy during the lockdown, when he designed a cycle sanitiser sprayer to make the job of the local civic staff easy. News of rising cases of rape in Assam a few years ago inspired him to launch a gadget that was part torch, part alarm and part electric current conductor to throw the abuser off guard. He sends entries regularly to science fairs hoping someone will notice an innovation and back his idea.
Dowarah plans on building 12 more television shelters for stray dogs this month and hopes animal welfare volunteers and NGOs consider using his innovation.
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