The English idiom Take for Granted succinctly represents the outlook of most people marked by underestimating the value of any of the things in use making life more comfortable than before, particularly the inventions as common as the telephone simply because it will always be available. The 16th century English proverb Necessity is the Mother of Invention, the author of which expression is unknown, although ascribed to Plato, underlines the factor of necessity, the primary driving force for most inventions. Among the inventions that are common place in our times but not bestowed the value it deserves is velcro, the ubiquitous hook-and-loop fastener. Maybe, condom also has suffered the same fate.
If the simple definition of invention, that it is a creation of something that has never been made before is accepted, one is left baffled at the thousands of tasty, nutritious and tongue-tickling dishes in their thousands consumed with boundless delight by the land’s masses but with no knowledge who were their inventors. It is considered not either worthwhile or necessary to gratefully remember the inventors of such commonly consumed snacks such as masala dosa or idli. The grandmothers, who gave hundreds of such snacks in years long past, are hardly given the credit.
