Jugaad Inc. !!

Hai kya koi Jugaad ?

Arrey yaar tum to bade jugaadu nikaley !

Are daro mat, mere pass bahut jugaad hai !!

Jugaad is everywhere, on Wikis, Harvard Business, Wall Street Journals and ofcourse in the hearts and souls of every Indian. What exactly is Jugaad - a solution to overcome a problem, somehow, anyhow, in the fastest possible manner, by spending least amount of time and energy ! Sounds some heavenly insane stuff, isn't it !

Is Jugaad our biggest asset or the liability ? Have we reached so far because of jugaad or we havent reached where could have because of jugaad. Is jugaad a solution or a full blown problem in itself...

The Birth of Jugaad -due to lack of time or resources or both or due to lack of understanding of the situation at hand, sometimes due to simple arrogance and sometimes out of innocence We the Indians have developed the concept of Jugad (ad-hoc arrangement). We dont want to face the problems today or at least now or we don't want to think about the solution because it might be too expensive today or we might have to work bit hard to resolve the real issue, so in order to save time, money, energy, resources 'today' we think of Jugaad.

The Jugaad usually delivers immediate results, makes the person who carried out the Jugaad a real cool dood in front of his rest of the fellow men, everybody appreciates him/her for presence of mind and for solving the problem instantly without much kharcha (expenditure)  and sardard (headache i.e. hardwork). Slowly the Jugaadu ( the ad-hoc problem solver) becomes the talk of the town and every kid in the town, wants to be like him.

Over a period of time, several centers of Jugaad crops up in every town. Sadhu-baba (holy man) becomes the main Jugaad (back door entry in this case) to the highest court of law. A seemingly innocent Panwala, Chaiwala, popular Bhaiya ji, a not so popular defeated politician, bus-conductor a TC/TT in the great Indian train becomes synonymous to Jugaad. From your first to last ritual the Pandits will recommend some jugaad for everything depending on your convenience and budget. Likewise from getting a birth certificate to import machinery without paying duties, the Babus are well verse of the jugaad to get things done. Looking at the current heads (2 Ps) of our democratically elected government, one can realize how high one can reach with Jugaad and bit of luck, even sky is within reach !

Foreign media, several renown business journals etc have openly endorsed the great India Jugaad. No matter what the government in the center wants us to believe, but the facts are we are world's largest democracy but we are not most successful one, we may become top 3 economy by 2025, but I dont think even by 2100 (yes, you read is correctly, 88 years from hence) we will be in top 30 nations in the world on the basis of Per capita GDP. We tend to believe that we are super kool in mathematics, accounting and economics but our koolness is mostly confined to calculating aXb or tallying the accounts the fastest, unfortunately not much beyond that. We are no doubt one of the most hardworking people in the world, but certainly not the most creative of the lot. We are great at cooking the books of a company to raise money form the market but we are yet to create companies which can change the rules of the market. 

Lets talk about world's most innovative companies, most rapidly growing companies, most respected universities in the field of arts, science, technology or business and we are almost sure of not finding any Indian entity. The reason is simple, we are still searching for the appropriate Jugaaad to make it and to break it into the league :) !

If not for the business Jugaad of Outsourcing, how else could American and European corporations would have made so much more money despite recession ! The value proposition in this Outsourcing jugaad is so much that it managed to survive 2 decades, thankfully.

I tend to believe that God has not created this Earth and its all some great cosmological accident, a.k.a the Big Bang after which it all began. But then I wonder if not for God, how else this massive, beautiful country of ours has survived all these years. Now that's what I call the ultimate Jugaad, Bhagwaan Bharose !!

Bhaktjan - Hey Prabhu is baar kuch jugaad lagwa de, agli baar se dhyaan rakhoonga !

Bhagwan - Oh no, Not Again !!

Phir Bhi Ganga Behati Hai !

Someone, somewhere once rightly said - Art is the mirror of the society. The medium of art which strongly influenced the Indian society and vice versa, is, no brainers indeed - Cinema !
A melodious songs from a timeless classic of Rajkapur released in 1960 very beautifully written by master Poet Shailendra, goes like this -
होटों पे सच्चाई रहती है, जहाँ दिल मैं सफाई रहती है. हम उस देश के वासी है, जिस देश मैं गंगा बहती है!
महमा जो हमारा होता है, वोह जान से प्यारा होता है ! ज्यादा का नहीं लालच हमको, थोड़े मैं गुजरा होता! बच्चों के लिए जो धरती माँ, सदियों से सभी कुछ सहती है! हम उस देश के वासी हैं, जिस देश मैं गंगा बहती है!
कुछ लोग जो ज्यादा जानते हैं, इंसान को कम पहचानते हैं, यह पूरब है, पूरब वाले हर जान के कीमत जानते हैं! मिल जुल के रहो और प्यार करो, एक चीज यही तो रहती है! हम उस देश के वासी हैं जिस देश मैं गंगा बहती है! The picturization of this song, relevance to the story and music indeed are simply superb. However what is more important is the timelessness and travesty of this song. I think every generation in past 2500 years of history can relate to this song and would have wished to live in a society narrated in the song. This song portrays An immortal wish, dream, value system, which never materialized and perhaps ever will ! To good to be true, the song touches the Indian hearts and souls almost every time it is played (rarely though these days) on the television or perhaps YouTube ! That's plurality of being Indian, a confusion, dilemma, puzzle, enigma. In the context of movie, this song plays a role of fire in ice. Amidst cold blooded hooligans and innocent villagers a modest man reminds everybody of what it means to be being true Indian-Modest, Truthful, Generous, Loving, Happy despite all hardships, Caring towards friends and guest, Sacrificing, Pious . This is what elders in every generation has taught to the younger generations, this is what is written in the books, this is what is being taught by religious leaders, saints, gods and demigods! The truthfulness, the simplicity depicted in this movie and all other movies released in 1950s and 60s appears to be - Too Good to be true, now !! The society, the people shown in Black and White movies of those times, were black and white in their character, in their beliefs and value system. Where are those people ? Is it safe to say that people now are more complicated than people 50 years ago ? Or is it the other way, i.e people are far less complicated now and don't try to hide behind a song, or don’t try to live in a make believe world and are honest and courageous enough to accept the truth! 40 years down the line, Javed Akhtar penned a song, which projected a grey, yet happy state of Indian society -
हम लोगों को समझ सको तो समझो दिलबर जानी जितना भी तुम समझोगे उतनी होगी हैरानी अपनी छतरी तुमको देदें कभी जो बरसे पानी कभी नए पच्केट में बेचें तुमको चीज़ पुरानी
थोड़े अनारी हैं थोड़े खिलाडी रुक रुक्के चलती है अपनी गाडी हमें प्यार चाहिए और कुछ पैसे भी हम ऐसे भी हैं हम हैं वैसे भी
थोड़ी हममें खुशियाँ भी हैं थोड़ी है नादानी थोड़ी हम में सच्चाई है थोड़ी बेईमानी आँखों में कुछ आंसू हैं कुछ सपने हैं आंसू और सपने दोनों ही अपने हैं दिल दुख है लेकिन टूटा तो नहीं है उम्मीद का दामन चूका तो नहीं है
हम लोगों को समझ सको तो समझो दिलबर जानी थोड़ी मजबूरी है लेकिन थोड़ी है मनमानी थोड़ी तू तू मैं मैं है और थोड़ी खीचा तानी हम में काफी बातें हैं जो लगती हैं दीवानी फिर भी दिल है हिन्दुसतनी !!
Another timeless classic, another song to which almost all the generation can relate to, not in a philosophical or superficial manner but as a song which represents them more accurately, which portrays their mixed feelings, emotions about being what we are as we are now !

Both the songs are beautiful in their own way, while former summarizes lessons from thousands of years the later symbolizes past 20 years of liberalization.

What about the benchmarks ... (ps: nothing to do with the creativity and genius of both the writers!) Of Society ? While the former song refers to a wishful thinking, but still it reminds us of what is right. Perhaps an escape from reality but yet reminds us of how we should be ! I think whatever acts of kindness, nobility we see in our society can be attributed to the good songs we used to listen to, poems and books we used to read. We still are good as a society but with some insanely bad habits, especially the most fundamental ones! I always believed that realization is the first step, but mere acceptance and a bit of arrogance that "we are like this", “ Everything is possible and everything is acceptable”, cant lead us to anywhere! To maverick foreigners visiting India, this new found freedom, madness on street might appeal a lot, to NRIs returning/visting India, all of this might appear despicable and to most of us all of this becomes a routine with indifferent attitude. 
Such an attitude puts a break on the growth of society. What starts with acceptance of minor deviations in behaviour, small wrongdoings becomes a habit which society keeps on accepting and slowly and unknowingly, the minor deviations becomes humoungous caused by complex interactions, leading to permanent changes (temporal but over long duration such as couple of decades) in the benchmark of what is right and what is not! For example what might have started as an occasional 'gifts', 'inaam', sweets, slowly become a monster what we now call as bribing, which grow out of proportion in the form of multi billion scams! Similarly what might have started in an attempt to taste the legacy of East India Company and the British Empire, i.e drinking Tea in government offices, slowly became a habit of absconding from offices to drink tea and ultimately leading to whole day being turned into a tea break!

While its good to realize our shades of grey, black and white, attempts must be made to turn the greys and blacks into lesser greys and lighter blacks white, with universal (and not contextual) definitions of rights and wrongs, an attempt to be white and fair beyond the fairness cream for women and now for men !

As Javed saheb has rightly put - दिल दुख है लेकिन टूटा तो नहीं है, उम्मीद का दामन चूका तो नहीं है !

The Times They Are a-Changin

An amazing song written by Bob Dylan written in 1962. A classic, so much relevant once again in 2011. An unusual style of writing, using simple words yet deep meaning and immortal relevance, that's Bob Dylan the master poet. Sometimes a song find mass appeal, relevance across borders and generation far beyond what its creator ever imagined, such is the beauty of a timeless piece of art. This particular song epitomizes the free spirit and voice of masses which Dylan always symbolized. The 2011 Arab world uprising, the Indian Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare and several such attempts by commoners have reinstated the message this song truly conveyed.

This song was covered by several artists in past 40 years but a recent adaptation in the 2009 movie 'Watchmen' is another vivid and interesting take on this song with Superheros in the backdrop.

So here goes the song

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The Times They Are a-Changin
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’
-Bob Dylan
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You must listen to this song on the official Bob Dylan website here

The Road to Salvation

I used to wait,
for somebody
To salvage me.

often wondered,
When nobody turned up.

blaming my destiny,

Only later to realize that,
salvation is not about
Wondering and waiting

for destiny to work its wonders!
But, In working, And,
creating wonderful things, 

Let others wonder about it.


Or is it about detaching and forgiving

everything and Everybody
To look beyond the
ethereal mirage
To know thyself,
in totality

On the way to,
ultimate Nirvana !

--
Nitin

A Brief History of Education Systems in India.

Gone are the days when considering education as business was unethical/incorrect. In the ancient to medieval Indian society, education was a prerogative of the highies and almighties of the society! Education was customized inline with the Varna Vyavastha of then Indian society. The rise and demise of the Bhakti Movement did infused a new line of thinking in the highly aristocratic Indian society. The Bhakti Movement though was short lived and often condemned by the gatekeepers of education of those times. But I think it was very significant movement for several reasons. One the teachings were in the form or short poems and bhajans in the local language. In the language spoken by masses in their day to day lives. The movement was for sure not about formal or scientific education, but perhaps it is/was the world's first (and may be the only) movement which emphasized on Common Sense and Rational thinking. Both these attributes made the Bhakti Movement an eternal movement which still has relevance in the 21st century Modern India.

Between now and the era of Bhakti Movement was the period of rise and fall of the British empire. Under the British regime schools and colleges imparting formal and scientific education were created but with the primary intent of catering to the administrative requirements of British empire. Whatever the intent might have been, in my opinion these schools and colleges made the formal, technical and scientific education available to the masses.The penetration was very low due to several reasons - lack of intent, lack of resources, the common mass was involved either in the independence movement and cared less about getting higher education.

Post independence Pandit Nehru accurately gauged the need of hour and the stress was rightly placed on three critical fronts - Primary education to create a broader base of people who can read and write; Higher education - institutes for higher education, technical education and management education were formed (such as the IITs, IIMs); Practical Education - several institutions imparting job oriented education (such as ITIs) were created in parallel to make the masses employable. For the next 30 years the results of these three pronged approach were complacently satisfactory. Slowly however since the overall education system was still not very dynamic and so lost the relevance and efficacy. On the one hand we faced the problem of brain drain of the highly skilled labors, engineers and doctors while on the other the practical and job oriented education system failed to cater the need of new industries.A deeper analysis revealed that at primary level we were still following the curriculum and text books which were designed in the pre-independence era.

One thing is very clear from the above analysis that the time frame for which a particular system and a curriculum and overall education ecosystem remained relevant shortened. We followed a Varna Vyavastha for thousands of years, followed by a couple of years of religious-socio-education centric Bhakti movement which lasted for couple of hundreds of years, then under the British empire we perhaps developed for the the first formal, more wide reaching and scientific education system and then a Nehruvian education system, which is what we are still following to a very large extent. Guided by some political motives and desire to get media footage the curriculum has been mildly revised in past 30 years at primary level and with the rapid emergence of private colleges backed by the political support and desire to make quick money overnight more than 500 colleges have mushroomed out of nowhere in the past 10 years.