Chopstick Adapter Saves Face

Vijay Atawane , China

I visited China for the first time in 1998. It was a business trip for sourcing lighting products for my company in Sharjah, UAE. Like many business visitors and tourists, it was a short trip of a few days. Also like most foreigners visiting China I was severely "chopstick challenged."

Every time I went to a restaurant with a local friend or with suppliers, I felt handicapped due to my inability to use chopsticks. Sometimes the restaurant provided me with fork and knife. But many smaller restaurants did not have fork and knife and I had to manage eating a full meal with a soup spoon. On many occasions I had to skip eating local delicacies or specialty cuisine.

It was after several such experiences spread over a few visits and couple of years, that I finally decided to do something about it. I had two options. Either I learn to use chopsticks (which I did eventually) or design a small adapter to enable anybody use chopsticks effortlessly. Over the next few years I kept working on such an adapter and kept improvising it.

I am an Electrical Engineer and an invention buff. I like to provide simple solutions to day to day problems. In my school days I designed a simple contraption to climb coconut trees and palm trees. Currently I am working on a hand wound generator to produce light for 3 - 5 hours, using LEDs and powered by rechargeable button cells. The button cells can be recharged with the hand generator. This is a small hand held torch type light source. Need sponsors and funding. Hoping to sell the chopstick adapters to raise funds.

Most tourists from Europe, North America, Asia and Middle East face a unique problem when traveling to China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

They do not know how to use chopsticks. Therefore they miss out on the joy of enjoying some specialty local cuisine. You simply cannot use fork, knife or spoon to enjoy local dishes.

Tourists and businessmen, on a short trip, do not have the time to learn the art of using chopsticks.

THE “V” ADAPTER OFFERS A UNIQUE ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITY
1. The “V” Adapter for chopsticks is a simple clip-on adapter. It can be clipped on to the chopsticks and detached easily.
2. This is a re-usable adapter, packed in a match box size carrying case.
3. There is no need to carry special chopsticks with this adapter. It can be used with different sizes of chopsticks.
4. The “V” Adapter for chopsticks helps first time users overcome their inability to use chopsticks.
5. It makes a memorable gift and has a very high brand recall value.

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