When Jugaad came to the rescue
Our lives have been greatly impacted by JUGAAD, an inventive method of solving apparently complex issues in an easy-to-understand manner. Decades ago, I remember that many people in rural and small towns used the rims of bicycles as antennae to watch television.
Even the most ignorant of the peasants has the common sense to create and adapt. In the Army, JCOs and other ranks are skilled at following instructions from their superiors; especially during training exercises, they manage to do so in one manner or another. Even though he had not completed Class VIII education, our Mahindra jeep’s driver often came up with an idea on the spur of the moment and carried it out well throughout the 1960s.
My doctor daughter arrived from Jalandhar with her younger kid, while her MBBS student son traveled from Dehradun earlier this year. We had two exciting days celebrating Holi. The day everyone was supposed to return to their separate locations was March 27. The future doctor wanted to use the BlaBla carpool network to get a ride early in the morning so he could get to his 9 am class; my daughter had to return to the hospital, so she had to leave at 8 am, and my son was scheduled to leave for work at 8:30 am as normal. Until we handed the young guy off at the Dehradun pick-up location and headed back home, everything seemed to be going as planned.
My daughter informed us that she was unable to locate her vehicle keys. An arduous search turned up nothing. At last, she realized that her son could have accidentally grabbed them from a pocket of his pants. It turned out that the youngster did, in fact, have the keys when she contacted him. We spoke about a few options: my daughter could take the bus, and her son could mail the keys or use a BlaBla automobile that was traveling from Dehradun to Chandigarh. We questioned how the youngster would be able to skip a day of school and yet return to provide the keys.
Feeling frustrated, I went to a neighboring house’s driver and asked for assistance. He advised me to see a Panchkula key maker who handled these kinds of situations. When I arrived, the store was closed. I gave the individual whose phone number was on the signboard a call. All he needed was pictures of both sides of the keys, which were set up right away. A boy arrived at our house on a motorcycle in twenty minutes. He carried a key with him, and I was surprised when he used it to unlock the automobile. He told me that he needed to enter a computer code in order to switch on the automobile. After exactly two minutes, he completed the task, and suddenly the engine started. We exhaled a breath of relief, thrilled by his outstanding performance. I gave the youngster a back pat and told him in jest that he could make a lot more money in the US or Canada. He stroked my feet and took the praise with great pleasure. His astute work reinforced my belief in the efficacy of jugaad.
