Let me take you back to the age old story of ‘Thirsty Crow’. Once there was a crow. He was very thirsty. He went here and there in search of water. At last he saw a water pot. He looked inside the pot. There was very little water inside the pot. The crow saw some stones nearby. He thought of a plan. He picked some stones and started putting stones inside the pot one by one. The water level came up. He drank the water and flew away happily. This story was amongst the first few I was told during my childhood. The then moral of the story was ‘‘Where there is will, there is a way’’ but life is all about exploring and evolving constantly. Going with that we human beings are the certainly the most accommodating and we instantly look for solutions. I have been observing people, reasons vary – the pressure of circumstances, peer pressure, family expectations and what not. Everybody loves short-cuts and ‘Jugaad’ for that reason is picking up fast. It is no more a way of life…it is smart strategy. The solution and results matter at last – for my driver, the maid, the friends, the colleagues and almost everyone around. If someone bangs the idea of ethical ways – people just disregard the philosophy and feel that you are not aware of how the world works. How to get the job done is no more a concern, to get the job done is what matters. To share an experience – few days back I had gone to meet my Uncle at Aligarh and on the way back my car broke down. I was around 25 kms from the city. I called my cousin to help and in half an hour’s time he came to the rescue with a mechanic. He checked my car and told me that it needs to be taken to workshop. I told him I can’t spare that much of time as it was already 3 pm and I had an urgent meeting the very next day. He said in Hindi, “To iska koi jugaad ker deta hoon” (“He will do something”- Read it as temporary arrangement) so that I can reach Gurgaon. He connected some wires to the battery and asked me to test if the car is fine. I checked and my car was working perfectly. I thanked him and started my journey to Gurgaon and in around 4 hours I was there at my home in Gurgaon. Next day I went to a nearby service station and got my car repaired. Defining Jugaad ‘Jugaad’ is a word which is used very frequently in day to day life. As per Wikipedia, Jugaad means an innovative fix or a simple work-around, sometimes pejoratively used for solutions that bend rules, or a resource that can be used as such, or a person who can solve a vexatious issue. Both concepts express a need to do what needs to be done, without regard to what is conventionally supposed to be possible. Indovation, Chinovation, Hack, Kludge are some of the words which are used as synonyms to Jugaad. All the concepts express need to do what needs to be done without taking the same old beaten path. And The Thirsty Crow was the first to travel ‘the Jugaad way’ and now I know the current moral of the story is to use possible means, creativity and innovation whichever can help human kind to live a solution driven life.
Networking – A Skill of Winners!
We all have played Mario then Super Mario – the amazing video game. In my case, the center offered many games likes Contra, Spartan, Car Racer etc. but I always liked a game called, ‘Super Mario’. I liked its sound, powers, jumps and lot many things in the game. However I never wished my Super Mario to die but I lost it in most of my attempts. After losing each game I used to restart and play, but lost every time I played. After my ninth standard, I hardly got any time to play the Mario but the question about the end of Mario always made me think. Life went on. Like everyone, I completed my studies and joined corporate world. In profession most of us do not have a God Father so we can say we have to work and learn by experience. We all commit mistakes make more enemies than friends but we always work hard to perform well, to excel. We get promotions and keep on rising on the corporate ladder. Many a times we fail, it is something like maintaining strong & long term relationships and networking. I always; still wonder about the magic of relationship building and networking skills. One fine day, I found Super Mario game from my school stuff and I started playing the same. After reaching the 3rd stage I lost my Mario and stopped playing the game. And that was the moment, it struck me that; it was not Super Mario who died but it is the player who kills Super Mario. Then I started thinking about all those things which I could have saved but lost due to ignorance or ABC reasons. The first thing which came to my mind was my relations, which started well but never nurtured to lifelong. I gave it a long thought and discovered: ‘Our Relationships Are Like Super Mario, They Will Never Die Until We Kill Them’. In a game we never wish the Super Mario to die, similarly no one ever wish the relations to end up with fights/misunderstandings/grudges and what not. If Mario needs to be nurtured with powers to clear different stages of the game, the same way relationships needs to be nurtured with love, care, and most importantly communicating with your friends even when you don’t get chance to meet regularly. With the world becoming faster, people are becoming vulnerable. Life is demanding and hence relationships start taking a second place in the run. Why? Because we are all busy, we have deadlines, targets, bosses etc. And then we want to have an attitude, a lifestyle, money, power and what not. We want everything. And in the chase all we start losing out on is focus. Like in Mario – once you lose the focus, shifts priorities you end up losing Mario. You only save a Mario when you cross all stages with him an earn points. Similarly, if you leave the skill of networking, it is difficult that you emerge a leader and if at all you do, you lose out on points. Most people do not realize when and where they end up breaking a network or a connection. This realization only happens when we need a person who we haven’t connected from a long time. Save the connection – don’t kill the Mario. Besides your network allows you to help people in a better way. It is a trait we must work on as a skill. Effective networking is like saving the Mario and winning the game.
