Part - I

Not long before, during the regime of our honorable Prime Minister Mr. H. D. Devegoda, an American statesman visited the country. The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with the other side of the country, what euphemistically is called the real India. He was escorted by a Driver (of course with a car) and an official guide. As the car left the capital roads for the glorious cities of Meerut and Bulandshahar, the statesman had the time of his life. Four hours of non-stop drive, and they reached Baghpat. Then the inevitable happened and the driver said, "Sir, the accelerator wire has broken and the radiator is also leaking." What else is expected from a 1980 model Ambassador? "What now, thought Mr. Smith, I don't see any mechanic also, I guess I shall have to bother Mr. Devegoda again." But, the guide who almost read his mind said in his heavy South Indian accent, "Dant burry, sir, I shall do some Jugaad." Mr. Smith could not understand the last word, but how could the US bureaucrat ask a meaning from a rustic guide? He kept mum and just nodded. The Guide instructed the driver to pull the chalk and control the speed through it. Then using turmeric, a natural coagulant, he plugged the radiator leaks. Mr. Smith could not fathom the new arrangement, but needless to say, he was impressed.

Gradually, such episodes became routine in his ten-day visit of the "real India". Every time there was a problem, the guide used to do some or the other Jugaad. When Mr. Smith could not sleep in a village of Haldwani as the village was not electrified, the Guard put a Kaanta on the electric wire passing by and a table fan from a tent house did the rest. When Mr. Smith wanted to watch the Formula One race in a village in Darbhanga, they made a dish antenna out of cycle rim within an hour, and when he wanted to move across the fast flowing Ganga in Bengal, the local fishermen made Jugaadu boats with whatever bamboo, jute and cane were available.

In nutshell, every time Mr. Smith faced a crisis, they did some or the other Jugaad. By the time he returned to Delhi, he was on cloud nine. He knew for sure this discovery of Jugaad would be spoken in the same breath with Archimedes. Now, the million dollar question! How do you acquire this extremely advanced technology from India? He went back and told Mr. Clinton, "Mr. President, now I realize why the media speak so highly of India? They are 100 years ahead of us. You make a wish and they do something called Jugaad, and your wish is fulfilled. I strongly recommend the acquisition of this new technology before the Chinese and Russians even hear of it." After a serious discussion at length in the oval office, Mr. Clinton rang up Mr. Devegoda and said, "You ask for the price and we will give it, but we want Jugaad." Any guesses what was the historic reply of Mr. Devegoda. "Arre bhai... how can I give you Jugaad... between you and me, you know actually my Government itself is running on Jugaad."

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* Contributed by -
Vishal Gaurav, MBA (2nd year),
Sachin Kumar Singh, MCA (2nd year),
International Management Institute, Delhi.