Nammakal: A young architect from Tamil Nadu built a portable home on top of an auto rickshaw, probably first of its kind in India. With the tiny movable house, N G Arun Prabhu wanted to spread awareness about small-scale engineering and reasonable housing.

And his innovation has found a fan in none other than billionaire businessman Anand Mahindra.

While Prabhu first finished his project, which was in 2020, the impressive design found its way on the Internet, making the man a trending topic on social media. “I never imagined for Mr. Mahindra to appreciate my project like this. I look forward to what else comes my way,” Prabhu told Times Now after the business tycoon tweeted about him.

It was on February 27 that a the post about Prabhu’s innovation found its way to Mahindra, who admired the young man’s skills and applauded his creative outlook. Not only that, but the billionaire also showed keen interest in getting in touch with Prabhu. “Apparently Arun did this to demonstrate the power of small spaces,” Mahindra said in a tweet.

The Mahindra Group chairman also wondered if Prabhu would be interested in designing one for a Bolero pickup. “Can someone connect us?” he further wrote. The 65-year-old businessman is a known admirer of talented, hardworking people with a knack for creativity and has never shied away from using the power of social media to promote such people.

Soon after Mahindra’s tweet, social media got to work to track down the young architect and oh, the Interne won yet again.

The 24-year-old Prabhu shocked everyone by building a portable house with space for a bedroom, kitchen, living space, toilet, bathtub and a workplace with a 250-litre water tank for water on top of an auto rickshaw, giving the country probably its first tiny movable house. And guess what? He built the house, called ‘Solo 0.1’ in a pocket-friendly budget of 100,000 rupees.

Stunned Prabhu says that he didn’t even have time to process it all or even inform his family. The young engineer said that he was traveling and so had no time to check social media. But it was later in the day when he got the news. “Around mid-afternoon when an old friend, frantically called asking for my email address and said that he is sharing it with Anand Mahindra,” Prabhu said.

Prabhu comes from a modest household in Tamil Nadu’s Nammakal. He finished B.Arc from Chennai before starting his own architecture firm in Bengaluru, with just 5 people. The 24-year-old has one main goal: to spread the awareness about compact space being fit for living.

“The idea of Solo 0.1 roots from the condition of slums in our country and from the nomadic tribes and gypsies. I wanted to make something that would be apt for both,” he further said, adding, “Slums are in a very bad state and mostly lack basic necessities and with gypsies, who are traveling all their life, they too are deprived of basic necessities. I wanted to make something that would take the least amount of space, is habitable, and can be traveled in.”

The reason behind choosing a rickshaw to build a tiny house over was its pocket friendly element, since it’s a lot cheaper than cars, Prabhu explained.

From Solo 1.0 to Solo 2.0

What comes next? Prabhu said Solo 2.0. Further in his chat with Times Now, the 24-year-old said that next on the cards is Solo 2.0 which will have enough space to accommodate more than two people.

With the pandemic hitting a pause on life, the concept of tiny houses rose in the West as people moved on to live economically frugal lives. Tiny movable houses also give the freedom to move and be on the go, for those who desire freedom and travel.

Source: m.economictimes.com