Jugaad: Indigenous ideas invented instantly

KANPUR: How adept are we in a jugaad arrangement? It can be understood by the promptness with which we accomplish some simpler alternative at the given time. Just as it is said that a dying person required even a minute's assistance for saving his life so as we gather our lost optimism by available scanty sources in the tricky task. This is what we used to describe as jugaad.

This very expression jugaad can be a Hindi word but it is widely required term by the people who do not get easily distressed with approaching dilemma, danger or mess. ‘Jugaad’ brings an immediate solution to tricky problems and serves our purposeful aspirations. As every people sticking to this type of ingenuity seldom appear nervous or disheartened. Some say it a trick, others call it an instant click and still more people term it imaginative skill with available resources.

Thus, it is an ingenious way of getting around a problem or a bottleneck. It is also a way of inventing and making out solution instantly. It is the way we think, the way we invent, and the way we walk. It means a clever solution born out of the trouble. That is what we experienced when a huge cycle moved from Meerut to Lucknow in the Samajwadi Party rally. Covering Rampur, Ayodhya, Faizabad, Lucknow, nearby districts and around 15000 Km, Sher Mohammed Khan, a rickshaw puller campaigned in his special style. This became possible only because of an assemblage of the bicycle parts through jugaad technique. His unique bicycle measured about twelve feet long and six feet tall. He began preparing the tyres, the rims, the spokes, the chassis, and the handle by his own method. By joining two rims of a rickshaw he made a big wheel. He used similar jugaad for the tyres. His son Soni Khan even provided his assistance in pulling cycle through a rope following his injury on the way.

A loader was carrying several large-sized wide pieces of marbles. In order to avoid direct cracks in the sheets, the driver divided the number of pieces and kept an equal number of thick marble sheets by the elevated sidewalls of the vehicle. He also placed wooden long sticks in the wide gap between two opposite sides in order to balance them at vehicle’s speedy movement on the road. This accurate skill was not only useful for safe delivery but also reduced the chances of breakage or crack or damage.

Another instance is also not less impressive. Moving on speedily on a motorcycle the cable man asked his assistant to fit durable wheels on the large wooden ladder’s one end so that there would be no irritation in dragging the stepladder easily up to the destination by sitting on bike’s back seat. Weak and lean in old age an old grandmother with some problem in her right leg was not finding it easier to move about in another room. So her grandson got her seated on the back carrier of the Avon cycle and took her to adjoining room so that she could feel warmness in ample sunshine coming into it.

At a Lending Library, there was only one hole to return the book. The students used to wait for books and the throng disallowed anyone to get the required books. A student approached the hole with a burning cigarette to forward it to the counter clerk sitting on the chair inside and the crowd made ample space to pass him thereby he instantly succeeded in receiving a book.

The cash crunch has brought enough troubles to the people particularly buying the daily needs. So, the housewives have started completing their left over fasts. As paucity of money has destroyed their monetary might, it was good for them to shun foods in day-time during these turbulent times. They appear to have got an opportunity of repenting their mistakes after the demonetization which has paved way for Bhooke Pet Bhajan. Is it not a kind of the adjustment?

It can be said that jugaad can be arranged in every sphere of life. Every difficulty could be surmounted by use of experience and skill. We are certainly much ahead of the time. That’s why a very famous leader Lalu Prasad Yadav once said that “We are such people who apply balm to the flying bird (Hum To Udati Chhidiya Ko Haldi Lagaate Hein)." He must have been indicating of the jugaad by such popular usage in Bihar region.

Unable to drag the snag-ridden two-wheeler to the distantly located repairing shop, the weary owner asked a motorcyclist in his neighbourhood to push the motionless vehicle by his one foot all the way to the shop. By this effective force, the scooter kept on moving and rapidly reached the repairing shop in such a manual method otherwise it would have to carry loading it on the rickshaw. Is it not a handy jugaad? Unique jugaad of the modern-day is that there are several mobile users who use net connection by opening their hotspot device. This makes the availability of the net easier to the nearby android mobile holders who by this direct connection continue to use the net link without any restraint.