Hyderabad: For 13-year-old Hemesh Chadalavada, a resident of Ranga Reddy district, Monday would have to be among the best days of his life. His dream of meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi came true, albeit virtually. He was one of the 32 awardees of the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar.
"It was very heartening to be in the presence of the PM. He spoke to us about how the youth of the country could make an impact on the world. He spoke to us for an hour. Since there were 32 people on the video call, he could not speak to us individually," Hemesh told Deccan Chronicle.
Hemesh won the award for developing a wearable device that helps those afflicted with Alzheimer's'.
The device monitors the health of the patient such as wandering, pulse, and BP. If the patient starts wandering, or if the patient has abnormal health conditions, an alert is sent to the caregiver and the doctor.
The Prime Minister took to a prominent micro-blogging website to say. “I truly admire Hemesh Chadalavada’s sensitivity. Seeing his grandmother suffer from Alzheimer's, he decided to work on a 'Smart Wristband' that would help monitor aspects that relate to this disease. Congratulations on being conferred the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2021!”
Inventing was something that he took a fancy to. “I took part in Ideate for India in January last year. I was awarded by Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Then, in February, I took part in a competition named 'Eureka Junior' in IIT Bombay,” he said.
Prior to this invention, he had come up with a device that could make car rides safer.
"I had taken up a small project in which I came up with a device that could be attached to the seat belt buckle of a car. If an accident takes place the device would alert the authorities," he said.
In the future, the young innovator plans on starting his own company which would come up with more such devices and innovations.
