Ab ‘jugaad’ nahi chalega.

Have we become victims of our own methodologies?

Jugaad /dʒuːˈɡɑːd/ जुगाड़

A flexible approach to problem-solving that uses limited resources in an innovative way.

We’ve got a blatant, in your face humanitarian crisis unfolding at the moment and there’s absolutely no shying away from it.

I see many inspirational anecdotes of determination by individuals, and while the stories are inspiring and rather extraordinary, when I look closely I only see a horrible dystopian story of citizens who have to jump through absurd hoops to protect themselves and their basic rights.

But is this what has become of India — our India?

What happened and how did we even get here? I’ve realized that maybe the current state of our reality is most likely a result of our cultural comfort with ‘jugaad’ as a methodology.

I believe we’ve gotten a tad too comfortable with our “chalta hai” attitude and now here we are. Let alone manage, how to behave during a pandemic or calamity requires common sense, planning, processes and a whole lot more but these are the exact things we shy away from on a daily basis.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. “ — Aristotle

I mean, how else do you justify the chaos we thrive upon on a daily basis.

We don’t even follow lanes while driving, we park irresponsibly and treat our surroundings as dustbins. We bribe authorities for the most basic of needs simply because that’s just how you “get things done”.

I believe this “chalta hai” attitude over time has made us careless, irresponsible and rather inconvenient without even realizing it.

Without judgement, just try and think about what makes an individual not want to wear a mask or socially distance in public, go to crowded places, join religious melas and political rallies during a skyrocketing pandemic.

Why do we as a society only seem to wake up and get our shit together when it’s already a bit too late?

Can we for the love of god stop winging everything and glorifying such hacks? Do we not care about the toll it’s taking on the mental health of most individuals in the country today?

How dare we not care about doctors, health-care and frontline workers who’ve been tirelessly working when individuals like you and I wouldn’t even show up if we were put in their shoes.

How about for a change we embrace the hustle of doing things the hard way, i.e. the right way? How about understanding, respecting and following certain rules of the game and not always thinking of the easy way out.

If we bring method to our madness, I believe it’s fair to expect an overall better response to a humanitarian crisis — not just from the government but citizens alike.

Because if change is what we really want — let’s be it.