the maker
Collaboration not competition.
The benefits of technology belong to every member of society.
No skill, concept or understanding is 'impossible' to learn, if approached with the right attitude.
Creativity is essential for a healthy, growing mind.
The emotion of Curiosity has an evolutionary, biologically reason for existing and we are, therefore, duty-bound to explore those things that capture our attention.
The sense of community and engagement with real people in the real world is an endangered animal that urgently requires protection.
True creativity comes from having exposed oneself to wide range of ideas and experiences, and then pulling them together in unique ways.
manifesto
Team
the
Team TURBIT, and the extended community of collaborators, is a small group of pathologically curious, "let's do this, what could possibly go wrong" kind of people.
The most rewarding and affirming aspects of our work have been our collaborations with various institutes, organizations and people from around the world. A special shout out to the wonderful people from Bosco Institute and the Hub Jorhat who have been with us, every step (and misstep) of the way.
A shared passion
Ayesha Langstieh
Founder, CEO
With extensive experience in key administrative roles in the field of event management on the local, national and international circuit, Ayesha is an entrepreneur from Shillong who believes her region and people have untapped potential and wants to play an active part in creating new opportunities.
Founder, Creative Director, Chauffer
Chancharick Choudhury is a sculptor, radio jockey, event management consultant and aspiring entrepreneur from the hills of Shillong. His mission is to bring technology into the service of each and every member of society.
Chancharick Choudhury
Accountant
Santosh Das
Hailing from Shillong, Santosh is a mainstay in the accounting department.
Origin story
TURBIT MAKERSPACE: THE PROTOTYPE
It all started in a small(ish) classroom on the first floor of the Bosco Institute of Social Work. The Director of the institute, Father Jerry Thomas, along with a friend and colleague Robert Ewers, an advisor from Childaid, Germany were able to see the vision and, more importantly, to believe in the cause. They extended a hand in support and solidarity. Their beliefs and philosophy was exactly aligned with the tenets of the Maker movement; ie that the power of a community working together, even when they are working separately is a powerful thing, failure was to be celebrated and shared, not feared and avoided, that young people had a responsibility to the communities they came from, and adopting their places in their communities was the ticket to a meaningful and dignified life.
Oh, and that having fun was priority numero uno.
And so began the process of thinking globally and acting locally. The small steps and laborious process seemed frustratingly slow and limited at first.
Time is a confusing thing. Looking back now, what seemed like a slow, never-ending slog towards a goal that only existed in our collective imaginations, was in fact, the natural progression of an idea growing muscles and bounding along at a good pace. In fact, at the right pace. It was challenging but not overwhelming. Well, not overwhelmingly overwhelming. It also taught us all that limitation, be it financial or logistical, was a necessary pre-condition to being able to think creatively.
This is where the first makerspace began. And, through the miracle of Virtual Reality, you can actually, literally visit this first Beta-tested version of our makerspace!
Take a tour in Virtual Reality
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Open the QR scanner on your smartphone. *
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Scan this QR code.
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Follow the link being displayed.
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You can now move your phone around and see the visualisation.
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To view in Virtual Reality, press the icon.
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Slip the phone into VR viewer (google cardboard/Shinecon etc)**
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You are now in Virtual space. Look around!
* check for compatibility (90% phones released after 2016 are compatible.
** relatively inexpensive (average price Rs. 400)
motivates
What
The Maker Movement owes its allegiance and success to, largely, one concept. The concept of Generosity. The generosity shown by everyday, run-of-in-mill, salt-of-the-earth people who openly share their time, patience, enthusiasm and knowledge, who share the 'tips and tricks', 'hacks' and institutionalised understanding which often takes a lifetime of work to amass.
Be it the open-source tech communities online that are demystifying what is thought of as 'high-tech', the you-tuber explaining what they just discovered about mason jars or the carpenter up the street who sharpens your scissors for free while talking you through the intricacies of how to angle the teeth on a cheap handsaw, they are all motivated by the same reason. An eagerness to share that one little nugget of information that changed how they understand their work. To those who have not experienced a similar micro-revelatory moment, the information would seem irrelevant, even trivial. But if someone finds themselves grappling with a problem to solve, that information may be transformative.
Our venture is, in part, an expression of gratitude to that aspect of the human condition. A thank you to all the unsung, unknowing heroes, many of whom would prefer to remain unsung.
In our most grandiose moments, we at Turbit aspire to be a living repository, a library, of sorts, of all the experiences, advise, tools and machinery, enthusiasm and insanity. A resource for anyone who hears an inner-voice that tells them, "Hey, just Do-It-Yourself, homie".
It's an interesting thing to ask, as a species, what separates us from every other life-form? The culmination and masterpiece of gabillion years of evolution? Our response would be creativity and a sense of community which ensures that the creative efforts of one generation can be built upon by the next.
Creativity is what allows us to generate ideas.
Community is what embodies them.