Jugaad

The two New Yorkers, Dave Aur Jenny continue to write about their ‘struggles’ in Delhi. In their latest post, they talk about ‘Jugaad” or “make-do” mentality of the Indians and their ingenuity in the face of adversity.

Some examples being “a homemade vehicle made by cobbling together a wooden cart with the kind of diesel water pump farmers use for irrigation; motorcycles chopped in half and welded to carts to create centaur goods haulers. The way families would fit mother, father, and three kids onto a single scooter. The clever repurposing of used water bottles as cooking oil containers. Rope spun from discarded foil packets. Cricket wickets made from precariously balanced stacks of rocks..

But, the New Yorkers say, jugaad is not just about the clever mechanics. Jugaad is the philosophical outlook necessary to make it work, regardless of what “it” is. It’s about solving problems with what you have, not with what you wish you had…Jugaad is how everyone gets by;…..modern tools and technology are appreciated when they’re there, but they are not cardinal requirements for existence. Technology is a comfort, but not a necessity, and a lack of technology doesn’t change the fact that the job’s got to get done.