In the Inspirational Indians series of Agastya, Arvind Gupta, a renowned educator and a toy inventor, has spent decades demonstrating how simple, low-cost toys made from discarded materials can be powerful tools for learning. One of the most striking examples he shares is his spinning top.
The spinning top is a perfect instance of how sustainability and education can go hand in hand. Instead of relying on mass-produced plastic toys, Arvind Gupta repurposes everyday waste like bottle caps, cycle spokes, and old CDs—into engaging learning tools.
Everything has a life—objects, materials, even the things we discard without a thought. An ink cartridge could have been refilled, a bottle cap could have spun a little longer, a chips packet could have been woven into something. But so often, we cut their stories short, treating them as disposable rather than unfinished.
The question is why do we not wonder more about where things could go instead of where they came from? Why is waste always an ending, and never a possibility? Education, in its truest sense, should not just fill minds but open them, to the idea that creation doesn’t always require something new, that making and remaking are part of the same cycle.
A child who learns to build a spinning top from a discarded CD is discovering, and seeing, maybe for the first time, that an object’s purpose is not rigid, that imagination can stretch the lifespan of things. And isn’t that a kind of intelligence too? To look at what others throw away and see not loss, but potential?
Perhaps waste is not about what is no longer useful. Perhaps it is about what we fail to see.
Here Arving Gupta's philosophy extends far beyond a single toy. He has designed hundreds of science experiments and toys using upcycled materials, from balloon-powered cars made from used pens to matchstick bridges and paper circuits. This approach not only reduces environmental waste but also makes science more accessible to children everywhere. It teaches more than just physics or engineering; it nurtures a mindset of resourcefulness and sustainability. In a world struggling with excessive waste, Arvind Gupta’s work is a reminder that innovation doesn’t always require high five techniques and materials because sometimes, the best solutions are hidden in the bin.
Just like Geppetto, who turned a block of wood - something perished - into Pinocchio - something so real and alive, Arvind Gupta breathes new life into the forgotten.
