Grandmothers in sari fly drones in villages, tech can break generations of limitations: Entrepreneur in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Drones are no longer just toys or cameras used to capture weddings, but are tools that might save time and create jobs, stated Rithika Agnishwar, co-founder and chief administrative officer of Garuda Aerospace. She was addressing an audience of around 500 students at the third edition of The Times of India's Leaders on Campus series at The Great Eastern PU College (powered by Taproot Group of Institutions) near Herohalli lake, off Magadi Road, on Friday."When I entered this industry, most people thought of drones as toys, something fun for our hobbies. But today, drones have become tools that save time, create jobs, and even save lives. Farmers once spent days spraying pesticides manually. It was very tiring, dangerous, and slow. Today, a trained drone pilot can do it in minutes, covering acres, ensuring precision, reducing chemical exposure, and earning a solid income," Rithika said.The entrepreneur added drones have also helped in empowering women in rural areas to become self-sustainable. She said: "Rural women who never stepped outside their villages are now flying drones, earning incomes, and becoming role models in their communities. When you see a grandmother in a sari flying or controlling a drone, you realise that technology can break generations of limitations."Sreedhar S, director of Taproot Group of Institutions, who called on students to follow Rithika's path, revealed reading newspapers like The Times of India help students excel in society. "Reading TOI is part of our timetable. We have a session as soon as children come to our college. The first thing that we do is to give the newspaper, and commerce students especially get a session for about 10 to 20 minutes where we ask them to go through terminologies, current affairs, and politics. It definitely helps our children to improve their vocabulary," he added.QUIZ winnersAs part of the series, TOI organised a thematic quiz on the drone ecosystem exclusively for college students of Bengaluru. The quiz, which ran for two days, featured eight questions in total. A total of 10 winners were presented with certificates at the event.The winners are:NameCollege Sonu RThe Great Eastern PU CollegePoojitha UThe Great Eastern PU CollegeAbhishek BMangalore Independent PU CollegeRoopashree VThe Great Eastern PU CollegeKushal KThe Great Eastern PU CollegeYugashreeMangalore Independent PU CollegePunith Gowda UThe Great Eastern PU CollegeDeepika KCThe Great Eastern PU CollegeLavanya K VEast West Independent PU CollegeDeeksha B GMangalore Independent PU College