I believe that childhood is a part of life that is filled with magical memories and experiences. During my childhood, I visited my native place a lot; Rajasthan. It is a place filled with colors, cultures and traditions. I remember going to local fairs and sitting in front of the puppeteers. Kathputli or puppetry was one of the most raw and traditional Rajasthani performance-based art forms existing for more than one thousand years. With today’s fast paced life and focus on modernity, the art form has seen a rapid decline. The puppeteers have been desperately trying to preserve their dying art form and hence I want to pass a part of it down to the future so that they can at least know such beautiful forms existed. For my initial idea, I wanted to create a Rajasthani puppet as a tribute to the Indian culture.
However, after discussing my idea I realized that it is an already existing object and doesn’t necessarily have my personal touch. Hence I decided to reconstruct the entire structure and make it into a hanging object that could be hung.
The handle would be the same wooden ones used for puppetry and there would be strings attached to it which would have a hook in the end. The end would be a circular piece of air-hardening clay with each generation’s thumbprint on it. While this would be a mark of family and generations that existed, it would also act as a form of memory. Also as I was thinking of thumbprints, I have seen its use change over the generations. My parents used it as a signature on legal documents before while I use it as a fingerprint on my phone. I want to explore that side as well but need to figure out how I can include it. The future generations can keep on adding their thumbprints with passing time; a different take on family tree.
Maple wood for the top handle part:
Natural and Sustainable
Off-white cream color, sometimes with a reddish or golden hue
Fine even texture
Grain is mostly straight but can be wavy sometimes
Since the crushing strength is quite high, it is very durable
Resilient to high temperatures
Renewable
Recyclable
Bio-degradable
Kevlar Thread for strings:
Strong and heat resistant
Commercially available
2.5 times stronger than nylon and polyester
Has very little stretch
Does not melt
Decomposes at 800F
Air-drying clay for thumbprint:
Non-toxic
Can’t really break
Digitalisation contributes to increased economic activity and wealth; this can be seen in a significant rise in intangible assets, which remain mostly uninsured. Only 17% of intangibles are insured compared to 58% of tangible assets.
Instead of locking up capital to purchase or make physical assets, they achieve growth by connecting demand and supply, according to Beinsure Media. The source of value in these businesses stems mostly form intangible assets like data, trust, brand recognition, scale and network effects.
Digital transformation has given rise to new types of business models building on intangible assets, most notably the sharing economy.
The potential for further digitalisation of insurance highlighted by the index will take time to show through and will differ by region. Industry digitalisation is to some extent constrained by the digital progress of countries at the macro level, but insurers can nonetheless play their part.