Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Jugad- Innovation at its best

It is not a baby she has in the pram,
but her shopping. Innovation!

The power went out, plunging the elevator into darkness. I'm not scared of of ghosts and goules, but the prospect of being trapped in a dark elevator with perfect strangers for an indefinite period was slightly disconcerting. I fumbled for my mobile-phone- the screen would provide a bit of light. But before I could fish it out, the person next to me switched on his flashlight, and the one next to him, and the one next to her..... Everyone had a flashlight, except me.

I looked closer. The flashlights were built into the mobile-phones!

Jugad*!!! Indian Innovation at its best!


_____
drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.


* Jugad- Hindi word implying 'we will somehow find a way'.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rayna - What a fine story about people making the best of a situation :-). Rather than yelling, whining and complaining, everyone thought of a brilliant solution :-). I love it!

Mason Canyon said...

Great drabble. I need one of those cellphones. I can never find a flashlight when I need it and I'm constantly buying those small ones that fit on your keyring.

Mason
Thoughts in Progress

Amey M said...

Great post! I love this spirit of 'Jugaad' which is the real strength of India.

Hart Johnson said...

teehee

What did we do before we carried all these multi-functional gadgets...

L. Diane Wolfe said...

What won't they place in a cell phone?

Ann said...

I just wrote a story about people being stuck in the dark and using mobile phone lights. How very cosmic.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Soon cell phones will do everything but function as a phone!

Tina said...

Yikes. This claustrophobic girl would not have handled that as well as you did. Hurray for Jugadu!

Southpaw said...

That would not be a happy thing. I hope you weren’t stuck in there too long. My phone has a flashlight feature too (I just found it). It makes the face bright white. Cool.

Melissa said...

I agree with Alex.

Oddyoddyo13 said...

Haha, that's probably not the most fun anyone has had all day. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Wow - I've never heard of that option! Cool! :)

Sueann said...

What a great option and one that came in handy that day!!
I would have had a hard time being stuck in an elevator myself! Yikes
Hugs
SueAnn

Laura Eno said...

That sure would be handy! Another great drabble.

Rosalind Adam said...

One of my fears is being trapped in a lift. How amazing that there were so many people around you who were prepared. How long were you there for?

Jen said...

Not a fun place to be. I'm mildly claustrophobic so the prospect of being trapped in an elevator (a dark one especially) is a bit frightening!

Jen

Anuradha Shankar said...

I have one on my mobile too! which is why i am reluctant to give it up, even though the model is now really old !

Natasha said...

@ Margot- there are Indians who expect someone to wait on them always, and there are Indians who somehow find a way. Guess which lot I like more.

@ Mason- I don't even bother. I use the feeble light from my cell- but those torches were great.

@ Amey- it is, isn't it?

@ Karen- purely a solution to a problem it was, though.

@ Hart- carried many more gadgets?

@ Diane- if they think of something else, they will fit it in.

@ Ann- were you chanelling me?

@ Alex- so true.

@ Tina- it was hard, to be honest.

@ Holly- not for long. And this is a proper flashlight, not just a white light lighting up the face

@ Melissa- :)

@ Oddyoddyo13- not at all

@ Jemi- it is actually a flashlight, not an option! Makes sense in India where teh power goes off often

@ slommler- totally. This was good

@ Laura- wouldn't it?

@ Rosalind- and who thought of it at once

@ Jen- totally. It was scary

@ Anu- it is a great feature. I am planning to buy an older model just for that.

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