COFFEE, TEA OR UNDERWEAR?



· A political party initiates a study of the cost and benefits of FDI in multi brand Retail and thereafter proceeds to frame policy. Soon it finds itself out of office. The new dispensation goes on to do just what the aforesaid party wanted to do and officially declares the FDI policy. What happens thereafter is current history as the BJP not only oppose the policy but threaten to reverse it if returned to power.



· A lady CM loves to portray herself as being obsessed with the well being of the aam admi—the common man. But when a really humble farmer asks her a simple question at a public meet she declares him to be a Maoist and possibly indicates to her minions to thrash the poor man.



· After preaching the virtues of renunciation, simplicity , honesty etc some ‘ Holy’ men and women proceed to kill kids, indulge in all kinds of unspeakable offences , advise politicians on how to topple their enemies , play the role of middlemen in armament deals etc.



· Indians hold two mottos very close to their heart-Cleanliness being next to Godliness is one. The other is SATYAMEVE JAYATE.We all know where our country ranks in the global pecking order on corruption and dirt.



A group of five of us were travelling down a National Highway when we stopped at a wayside tea stall for a break .After having relived ourselves at the feet of the ubiquitous tree—which for all appearances was well visited – we requested the stall owner for tea. As we partook of samosas and chatted up I noticed from the corner of my eyes a phenomenon that shocked me—the man was using a cloth as a tea sieve, a cloth that had the trade mark DORA on it. Having lived in Eastern India I not only smelled a rat but unmistakably identified one . ‘DORA ‘ is a brand of undergarments!! The truth dawned on me as I closely watched what was going on—the man was using a male underwear as a sieve! I decided not to offend my travel mates and quietly went up to the stall owner and asked him what he was doing with an underwear. He looked at me as if it was I who was committing an offence. ‘Sir I bought this underwear yesterday and found it was a size too big for me. I am a poor man and cannot afford to waste my money. Hence…’ I threw up my hands in disgust at this rationalizing . But he remained unfazed ‘Sir it is a brand new underwear’.

Now it seems we are perfectly accustomed to living with contradictions. We can say one thing in public and do the exact opposite in private. If even ‘ Godmen’ do this why deny common people this luxury?

Is all lost? I believe this comfort with contradictions can work for us and indeed is already doing a good job unknown to many of us.

In the world of Innovation the buzzword these days is ‘frugal innovation’. In a resource scarce situation that is evident even in countries once touted as rich, the word is out—we need innovation but with as little money and other resources expended as possible. This in turn leads to a reversal of the innovation process. Hitherto the approach was top-down in which the ‘ rich’ west came up with an innovation, say the X ray machine . Naturally the design and specifications were more suited to the affluent west. When the manufacturers of these expensive machines wished to turn to the less developed countries they had to scale down the machines. But now with the west no longer affluent a reverse type of innovation is beginning to take place where India may emerge as the world leader unless….

Now a machine is sought to be invented by R and D people in India using our traditional frugal jugaad mindset—like using an unused underwear as a tea sieve— and then scaled up for the needs of a humbled west.

To give a more acceptable example of juggaad based frugal innovation I can only refer to a University in Rajasthan adjoining the desert where the class room temperature is maintained at a salubrious 24 degrees WITHOUT THE USE OF ELECTRICTY AND MODERN AIRCONDITIONING .

This feat is achieved by using Indian’s traditional knowledge of air circulation through a maze of ducts!!

India—we can be world leaders in bottom up innovation. The ability to hold two diametrically opposite viewpoints in our mind can be the source of innovation.

Meanwhile when travelling on our highways ask for coffee not tea!



Courtesy

K.R.RAVI

WWW.KRRAVI.COM