A traditional Kashmiri kettle used to boil, brew and serve tea is known as a ‘Samovar’, which uses coal as fuel. As the youngest child in a farmer’s family, Shazia prepared and carried the Samovar to her father and brother in the field. Using it regularly, she realized the problems associated with handling it. It was a lot of effort to get one cup of Namkeen tea. Using coal as fuel in the traditional Samovar is time-consuming, produces a lot of ashes, irritates the eye, causes black patches on hands and clothes, and many other problems.
Mrs. Shazia Jan devised a design to use LPG as fuel in a Samovar and proposed her design to her father. There was no one to make modified burners and regulators for the samovar even though the concept and design were ready. Unable to find a suitable vendor, Shazia decided to proceed independently. After numerous attempts, she worked on the burner, developed a curved burner, and successfully designed and modified the traditional samovar with the LPG samovar. The modified LPG Samovar takes only 10 to 15 minutes to make 25 cups of tea, saving precious time and a lot of human effort without producing any eye irritation or ash.
Shazia Jan’s innovation has been popularized through various media and received many awards, including the state award in the 8th National Grassroots Innovation Award ceremony.
