A “bulletproof” jacket made of pulses, which its creator prefers to describe as an “ayurvedic jacket”, was one of the inventions that over 50 innovators presented at a workshop held at National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) .
Makarand Kale has developed it and he uses pulses to stop bullets. “I call it the ayurvedic bulletproof jacket. I made it to prove the strength of ayurveda,” says Kale, a sportsman who has his own sports academy in Sangli.
He created the jacket in 2003, and says the Army has tested it for carbine bullets and AK-47. “We are trying to improve it so that the jacket can obstruct a bullet fired from 1.5 km,” he says.
Kale is planning to file a patent for the jacket that weighs 2.1 kg and costs Rs 22,000 apiece . “The jackets used by our soldiers on the border weigh 9 to 11 kg and costs about Rs 40,000,” he says.