Indian Jugaad

 They say Indian children are uncontrolled, unsupervised, over curious. Go to any international airports in Europe or USA, take a look at small children. White kids are with pacifiers inside mouth, silent and Desi kids looking around, checking the chargers, touching the display boards if nothing pulling moms clothes and nagging for some toffees and noisy. Yes, they are frowned upon. 

But as they grow, they are less noisy, less confident or self-managed compared to westerners, but this curiosity stays. The same curiosity helps us in Jugaad. Yes. this is good one. Give a mixer grinder to a housewife and she uses it also as curry leave drier, milk churner, vegetable cutter, cake mixer and biggest jugaad is 'kitchen towel washing tool'. A pressure cooker becomes a makeshift oven and during COVID time it became a steam inhaler provider also!!! Again, Jugaad.

Jugaad in Hindi or Panjabi, I guess comes from Sanskrit's Yukthi to Jukath or Jukth to Jugath to Jugad to Jugaad. Now, we do jugaad in corporate offices and high end manufacturing set up to smallest village workshop!!

After 3-day Indo-Pak war, many theories came in. Every person in the south west Asia became a defence expert and claimed the victory of one country that his heart was fond of. But once again there was a topic on S-400 from Russia said to be unsuccessful in Russia -Ukraine war but successful in the hands of Indians!!!

Now I am happy that till now only Indian housewives' world in their kitchen where they use every tool and gadget for a different purpose than what it is used for, reached the war rooms!! So, hopefully henceforth they are taken seriously!!! :)

But, why is it in Indian DNA? Is it right? Not always. It makes us successful and losers at different occasions.

Using any tool or situation other than its purpose it a serious process lapse as per Western or Japanese world. If anyone does this in factories they are fired. But by-birth who is into Jugaad mindset, it is genetically difficult. So, we Indians get frowned if we use an airport lounge glossy magazine to use as a support to write something on a piece of paper that we carry. We are seen as offenders. 

Culturally, being from joint families in the olden days, had we not recycled things in every way life was hard and unless someone did it, he or she was not appreciated or labelled 'smart'. This was another reason, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Dwarka to Meghalaya we are the same.

I came to conclude that 'right way' or 'wrong way' are not absolute. But for us, Indians it came from our oldest philosophy of Vedas. During olden school days we were made to recite few Vedic quotes which made no sense then, but now I tressure them. Amongst many of those, one fits the JUGAAD, check it out below: -

"Kriyaa Siddhihi Sathve Bhavathi Mahathannopakarane"

(From Sanskrit: Meaning "accomplishment of work or deed happens by virtues or values and not by extra ordinary tools")