QUICK-FIXES (JUGAAD)! #BLOGCHATTERA2ZCHALLENGE

Quick-Fix used to be the clear glue that could fix anything in the past. I think it was replaced by Fevicol, that was rumoured to fix broken hearts, and even had a Bollywood song to glorify it further. Fevicol Se was a popular number from the movie Dabangg 2 which was a Salman Khan blockbuster.

                                                                                             YouTube

The first time I heard of the term 'jugaad' was when P turned two. G, my better half and I had gone birthday shopping for her and we came across a cute dhoti salwar in red and black. We both loved it on sight and picked it up, confident that the little missy would look wonderful in it. It looked something like the orange outfit below, except that it was a single piece, and created much before Etsy was.

Etsy

P's first birthday had been a low key affair because she would have been overwhelmed with a largish crowd. Hence, it was just her paternal grandparents and the two of us who were around to celebrate the occasion.

However, her second birthday was a different matter altogether. As we were posted in Deolali at the moment where G was doing a course, we decided to call all his course mates and a few of his instructors as well.

Newbie parents as we were, we made all the arrangements for the party, except for trying the little one's outfit on. That morning, as I set out to dress her up, I realised to my utter horror, that the dhoti salwar, which was in one piece,  would not fit. It was tight and there I was, struggling for all I was worth to pull it over her head. I persevered, she screamed and finally we both gave up.

We rushed over to a friend's house. She was an accomplished seamstress. She took a good look at the outfit and threw her hands up. "Sorry, I can't do anything. You will have to make her wear something else!"

There was no time to go shopping for another dress. We were in gloom, when suddenly G, as practical as ever, took action. 

"Get me a knife!" (Or was it a pair of scissors?)

As P and I looked on, he took the tiny dhoti salwar, lifted the flap in the middle and made a long cut which separated the dhoti from the salwar. The perfect jugaad, because now I was able to dress P up in two separate sections, covered by the flap in the middle. She looked adorable and both of us heaved a sigh of relief.

Vecteezy

I  have been waxing eloquent over the dogs here in Johannesburg. This morning, I discovered two instances of jugaad in the kitchen. The small refrigerator had a stone pestle-grinder placed before it so that Archie would not be able to nuzzle the door open. 

The second was a stick wedged through the latch of a shelf which is used to store plastic vessels and large black garbage bags, the latter being V's prized possessions.

Back home in India, anything that gets done using a short cut is called a quick fix or a jugaad. I do not even need to spell out how often the word is used as that would need a whole new post to itself. Besides it is a concept, well flogged and repetitive.

However, in the modern day, the biggest quick fix that I have discovered is Chat GPT. It is like a Big Brother watching over you, ready to hold out a hand to you in case of need. Writing a proposal, a school essay, a short story, a paper, suggestions on anything under the sun and above it, a jugaad when you are feeling lazy, sad, happy, excited… Chat GPT does it all. I have seen people writing formal letters, recommendations and testimonials in a split second. It is like magic, and every specimen is supposed to be unique, based on the way the request is framed. Chat GPT can help persons to type, for example "jobs for a professional who has a passion for oratory and writing blog posts".

mystylus.ai

As a writer, I cannot seem to get my head around the concept, though. Yes, it does make life easier, and if used well, it does save time and effort. However, I do wonder where that leaves creativity and individuality. An author's writing style? The old idea that practice makes perfect? Or the lethargy that may ensue from relying on a chatbot to create interesting content?

Custom-Writing.org

Students are also using Chat GPT for their projects and their academics. I can understand why they do so, but it is vital to explain to them the right way of using it, of not merely copying and pasting, but to enhance their ideas and make it their own. Using it as a blue print or a guideline is different from blindly copying everything without understanding head or tail of it. 

Facebook

As the adorable Judy Garland said, "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

Pinterest

There used to be a magazine called 'Mad' sometime in the distant past, distinctly funny and irreverent. I still remember chuckling over a particular cartoon that had come in it. It spoke of the human species getting so dependent on gadgets like cars, wheelchairs and the like  that they would stop using their limbs to move around. (In those days, mobiles and computers were not even a twinkle in the eyes of their creators.) The end result was that the human race began to lose the use of their legs, and they turned into legless wonders wobbling around on a vast circumference, much like the Russian Matryoshka dolls.  

Unsplash

Imagine the human brain getting atrophied in the same manner due to disuse just because chatbots are there to do all the thinking and imagining for them? Frightening thought, isn't it?

I am participating in the #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge2025.

https://deepties.blogspot.com/2025/04/quick-fixes-jugaad-blogchattera2zchalle.html