Jugaad: the fix that should not work

Transcript

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1. 0:00

   TeodorThis is The Long Vowel. I'm Teodor Halvorsen.

2. 0:04

   OdileI'm Odile Marchetti. Our guest runs a monthly repair café in Pune: Kavya Ranade. Kavya, your word.

3. 0:12

   KavyaJugaad. It's a Hindi word, but you will hear it all over India. It's a fix you make with what you have, when the proper part, or the proper money, isn't there.

4. 0:24

   TeodorA workaround.

5. 0:25

   KavyaA workaround with a bit of pride in it. When something is jugaad, it shouldn't work, and it does.

6. 0:33

   OdileGive us one.

7. 0:35

   KavyaThe famous one is a vehicle. In villages in the north, people built carts with the small diesel engine of a water pump. That cart is also called a jugaad. A whole vehicle named after the idea.

8. 0:49

   TeodorDoes it pass an inspection?

9. 0:52

   KavyaNo, and that is part of the word too. Jugaad is clever, but it is not always correct.

10. 0:59

    OdileWhat comes into your repair café?

11. 1:02

    KavyaFans, mixers, phones, a lot of pressure cookers. Last month a grandmother brought a table fan with a broken switch. We had no switch that fit. One of our volunteers used the switch from an old bedside lamp, and a little box from a sweet shop to hold it. It has been running for four weeks.

12. 1:22

    TeodorThat's jugaad.

13. 1:24

    KavyaShe called it jugaad before we did. She was very proud.

14. 1:29

    OdileIs it always a good word?

15. 1:32

    KavyaNot always. Jugaad can also mean a shortcut around the rules: knowing somebody who knows somebody. So at the café we try to keep the first meaning. Be clever, be careful, and then fix it properly when the part arrives.

16. 1:49

    TeodorKavya Ranade, thank you.

17. 1:51

    OdileThat was jugaad. Coming up, a short bonus with words you sent us.

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