AHMEDABAD, DEC 12: The chair is what every handicapped person would dream of: in bright shades of green, red, blue and yellow, it is a far cry from the clinical white and black wheelchairs. A small wheel is fitted at the back so that it doesn't topple, there is a facility to fix a dining tray, and it has removable arm and foot-rests. It can stay with the person for life as it has a size adjustment mechanism. It even fits neatly in an autorickshaw.

The wheelchair designed by Vikram Panchal and being used by the Blind Men's Association is one of the few product designs from the National Institute of Design (NID) for people with special needs, the elderly, the handicapped, the blind.

It is the jewellery, clocks, tea and coffee makers, floor cleaners that bring NID alumni their glory, but most of the time, projects like these get buried in the attic of the Mecca of design. Instances are rare when they are picked up for production.

Toilet seats for the arthritic, a wheelchair for paraplegics, a walker for the handicapped, toys and games for the visually impaired, a bathing stool for the elderly.

``It was a very satisfying project which I had done, and given a choice I would want to do more,'' said Niladri Manna, who works for Maruti Udyog and believes in creativity for a cause. The seat for arthritics was designed by him. The portable device in green and white can also be mounted on a wall.

``I realised that a person above 60 has to live with a problem like arthritis for so many years, so I made something which would make a difference,'' said Manna.

Another perfect marriage of needs and aesthetics is a low-level mobility device for those paralysed waist down, designed by Panchal. It is a far cry from wooden boards with wheels. Other students have made a folding bathing stool for the elderly, grab-rails from bedroom to bathroom with intermittent lights, gardening tools for people with severe arthritis. ``Small structural changes make all the difference,'' said Sudarshan Khanna, another faculty member in the product design department who has worked with several students on such projects. Products for the real world. But are they used by the real world? There is a need, and there are designs aplenty, but the hitch is somewhere else. ``The time and the cost is very high and no industry is willing to shell out that much,'' said Ravi Mokashi, a faculty member.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.