Srinagar: Nine-year-old Muzaffar Ahmad Khan from Gurez valley
of the state has invented a ‘counting pen’ that while writing, keeps a count of
the number of words written.
“It is a pen with a casing
attached to its rear. Once someone starts writing, it keeps a track of the word
count, which is displayed on a small LCD monitor attached to it. It (the word
count) can also be displayed on one’s mobile phone through a message,” says
Muzaffar.
Muzaffar says the idea of
counting pen struck his mind when he got low marks in an exam as he could not
manage the prerequisite word count.
“In my last exam, I got minimum marks as I wrote fewer words.
It made me restless and from that very time, I started thinking of inventing
something which can save my time and finally ‘counting pen’ struck my mind,” he
says.
A prototype of the pen has
been kept on display at the Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
organized by National Innovation Foundation (NIF), an autonomous body under the
Department of Science and Technology, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
At the festival, President
Ram Nath Kovind heaped words of appreciation and rewarded young Muzaffar for
his innovation.
The pen is supposed to
help students during their exams when they have to maintain a word count of
essays and long-form questions. Muzaffar says the counting pen will be
available in the market in May as NIF has already decided to make it
commercially available.
