We recently asked the participants of a workshop to identify the one obstinate problem that may hold the key to many of the maternal and child health issues. The majority votes gravitated rather strongly towards anemia. If you are a young Indian woman, experience fatigue, headaches, shallow breath, with a propensity to catch colds and feel low, anemia could be the culprit. Half the women between fifteen and fifty in India are reportedly anemic. The usual remedy that our medical friends recommend is iron tablets or even parental iron, in cases of anemia. On a visit to a Public Health Facility in Chota-Udaipur, the exasperated team there shared instances where they would find these tablets thrown away in the garbage by the adolescent, pregnant and lactating women. A common reason is that women experience nausea and constipation on taking Iron tablets. Efforts are on to persuade and make more girls and women, in the adolescent and reproductive age, take Iron tablets. Yet, can there be other more culturally acceptable, natural and behaviorally sustainable ways of tackling this issue? One time-tested solution is the consumption of iron-rich food like green leafy vegetables. The leaves, flowers, stem and pods of drumstick, also known as Saragwa or Moringa, are very rich in various nutrients, including iron. This is called the 'Nutrition Dynamite', and 'a Mothers' best friend' in Africa. For many years, these leaves have been a part of almost every meal and delicacy in our home! And some time back, we came across a very interesting, successful experiment by a Canadian researcher, Dr Charles, in Cambodia. He took a cue from research that iron content of food increased when cooked in cast iron pots. He improvised and tried putting a 'fish-shaped' block of iron into gravies and soups, which was culturally considered a good charm and accepted locally. Over the years, in our home, too, we have replaced nearly all the 'non-stick' and aluminum pots and pans with iron ones. The intervention in Cambodia is understood to yield 75 per cent of the Iron requirement for adults and even more for children. I had shared this idea with faculty members of the National Institute of Design (NID) last week. I didn't dream that this casual conversation would lead to something fantastic. This Friday, I was invited by Faculty member Gayatri Menon to a presentation by the 150-odd fresher students at NID on guess what? They presented a variety of culturally creative designs of innovating and improvising on the 'Cambodia iron fish' initiative, suited to different regions of India! This was a sumptuous 'design treat', and gave us food for thought and action. It really became a strand of the 'Design for Health and Wellness' strategy. Groups of students explained the research that they had done, and the nugget shape suggested for their region. This varied from iron nuggets shaped as 'Bhut Jholokia', the famous and hottest chilly of India, to almond, ginger, onion, coconut, clove, Tulsi, Curry leaf, paddy flowers and 'modak' shaped iron chunks to ladles, conch and Dhokla cutters made of iron. These ideas emanated from different regions of India and drew on their cuisines and typical delicacies. As the students articulated their ideas with great confidence, we saw common threads across the diverse cultures and geographies they represented. One was the common problem of anemia that women from across all these regions shared. The sensitivity, creativity, enthusiasm and eagerness to solve problems affecting the common people of our country and the world was heart warming. Some contemporary pundits from media and other walks of life may be critical about the real-life engagement of young folks, especially designers. However, this shows that if young people are properly sensitised to the real, hard issues facing the country, their response is surprisingly innovative and inspiring. Let's resolve to say goodbye to anemia and such ills afflicting our communities. Let's follow simple, powerful innovations and design strategies like this, that are culturally embedded and sustainable. The author is a Harvard-educated civil servant & writer, and has worked in the education sectorjayanti.ravi.dna@gmail.com

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