 It's not just a bridge that connects two places. It gives access to schools, to medical care. It's a bridge to the outside world, and it performs a social function. With the intimate knowledge of bamboo and other fibers, the Adi work according to age-old principles of design. The Adi also have a close-knit society, and working together brings the community even closer. I must say these bamboo and living-root bridges demonstrate a sensitivity and thoughtfulness that is significant. It's a good example of society addressing a problem by looking at the need and the context, and finding a solution that is in harmony with nature. The existence of the bridge allows people living in such remote and isolated areas to come to the market and trade. And like I said, it gives youngsters a chance to access education, reaches health, care to people in remote villages, and opens up the possibility of tourism and builds a connection to the world outside. Talking about bridges everywhere, they would have allowed people to travel to distant places, and that would certainly broaden their thinking and outlook. Absolutely, and new objects may be introduced into a society by travelers from distant lands. Take the printed book, the world's first printing press used porcelain type, and was invented in the 11th century in China by Bishang. Till then, books used to be copied by hand. Though printing was far more efficient, the demand for printing remained limited, perhaps because few people could read. European travelers returned home from China with stories about the printing press, but society there too was not ready for it. It was around 400 years later when the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg invented his hot metal movable type printing press that it caught on. The rise of literacy and the new middle class led to an increasing demand for books, and soon there were printing presses in all European languages, and what emerged was a thriving publishing industry. I've read that the printing press came to India when European missionaries wanted to bring out religious literature in Indian languages. That's right, this is what led to the designing of types in our languages. By the 19th century, we see many enterprising intellectuals investing in presses. They brought out newspapers, journals, novels, plays, calendars, and political pamphlets in all major Indian languages. This created a community of readers which shared aspirations for freedom from colonial rule. In this way, the existence of the printing press fueled a national movement. So the designing of printing types in Indian languages has such a huge impact on society. Yes, and that was not even the original intention.