NEW DELHI: No one knows how we get it. Or where we get it from. But Indians have it in extra large doses and it’s ingrained in our thinking. 

 

Give us a problem and we are almost sure to find a solution of our own, in our own way. Bharatbhai Patel of Rajkot in Gujarat does this everyday. Serving up to 30 kg of dhoklas to customers, Patel uses a trick that works wonders in making his dhoklas fluffy and tasty. The secret is the digestive Eno which is used to make dhoklas lighter. Like Patel millions of Indians use creative means to solve problems on their own. In the process they generate ideas which sometimes turn into profitable businesses.

The spectacle of 30-40 people packed into an unwieldy vehicle ambling along in many parts of north India can be a slightly unnerving experience for city dwellers. The vehicle — if one could call it that—appears to defy most automotive design principles and virtually cocks a snook at passenger safety and comfort. But it has been serving the one purpose it was created for—cheap and accessible transport where none existed. Suraj Bhan is one of the 15-odd fabricators of this vehicle in Todabhim in Dausa district of Rajasthan. Here it’s called the Jugaad, a name inspired, perhaps, by the concept that led to its creation. The Jugaad is made up of a wooden chassis, a locally made engine or a water pump-set attached to the wheels and the steering wheel of a discarded jeep or a truck. Bhan, a former electrician, sources engine parts from Agra and assembles them at his Todabhim workshop. “We sometimes even use a Mahindra engine if it’s going to be used for extra load,” he says. Bhan has been making and selling Jugaads for over 10 years now, and business has been good so far. The Jugaad needs very little maintenance and comes for Rs 65,000 a piece though Bhan says rising input costs have pushed prices up to nearly a lakh per unit now. 

 

It is estimated that Todabhim alone produces up to 1,500 ‘Jugaads’ a year, which is only one of many such vehicles running across north India and Gujarat, produced by minimally qualified people like Bhan. “When there’s a problem where a large number of people are trying to find a solution with existing materials and resources, we refer to it as jugaad in India. In jugaad, materials are recycled and rejuvenated by giving them new forms of life and function,” says Prof Anil Gupta of IIM Ahmedabad, who’s also executive vice-chairperson at the National Innovation Foundation (NIF). Along with Sristi and the Honeybee Network, NIF has helped some of these innovations take on a formal shape and even file patents in domestic and global markets. Says Gupta, “Despite the formal system not being of help these solutions provide evidence that people won’t wait and will find their own solutions even if they are sub-optimal.”

The spectacle of 30-40 people packed into an unwieldy vehicle ambling along in many parts of north India can be a slightly unnerving experience for city dwellers. The vehicle — if one could call it that—appears to defy most automotive design principles and virtually cocks a snook at passenger safety and comfort. But it has been serving the one purpose it was created for—cheap and accessible transport where none existed. 

 

Suraj Bhan is one of the 15-odd fabricators of this vehicle in Todabhim in Dausa district of Rajasthan. Here it’s called the Jugaad, a name inspired, perhaps, by the concept that led to its creation. The Jugaad is made up of a wooden chassis, a locally made engine or a water pump-set attached to the wheels and the steering wheel of a discarded jeep or a truck. Bhan, a former electrician, sources engine parts from Agra and assembles them at his Todabhim workshop. “We sometimes even use a Mahindra engine if it’s going to be used for extra load,” he says. Bhan has been making and selling Jugaads for over 10 years now, and business has been good so far. The Jugaad needs very little maintenance and comes for Rs 65,000 a piece though Bhan says rising input costs have pushed prices up to nearly a lakh per unit now. 

 

It is estimated that Todabhim alone produces up to 1,500 ‘Jugaads’ a year, which is only one of many such vehicles running across north India and Gujarat, produced by minimally qualified people like Bhan. “When there’s a problem where a large number of people are trying to find a solution with existing materials and resources, we refer to it as jugaad in India. In jugaad, materials are recycled and rejuvenated by giving them new forms of life and function,” says Prof Anil Gupta of IIM Ahmedabad, who’s also executive vice-chairperson at the National Innovation Foundation (NIF). Along with Sristi and the Honeybee Network, NIF has helped some of these innovations take on a formal shape and even file patents in domestic and global markets. Says Gupta, “Despite the formal system not being of help these solutions provide evidence that people won’t wait and will find their own solutions even if they are sub-optimal.”