Don’t blame me of absurdity if I intend to compare these
two things and come to a conclusion that both are one and the same thing. While
magic realism is a highly precise art form, Jugad represents the Indian culture
of way of doing things.
For those who are not aware of what Jugad actually means,
let me introduce you to this peculiar Queen of the Road prevalent in Eastern UP
and a few other places in North India. Poor economic condition, population
explosion, poor roads and paucity of public transport are known facts here, may
be that is the reason why Jugad has become so popular and ubiquitous here. Necessity
being the mother of invention, indigenous automobile engineers (read mechanic
in a roadside automobile repair shop) invented their own vehicle – Jugad in
order to overcome these problems.
Assembling the available village amenities, like a generator pump for
irrigation, the tires of a tractor and the steering wheel of an abandoned
ambassador, they produced a Jugad out of these materials.
As the Jugad is not manufactured by a company, there is no
need to pay road tax, or for that matter, sales tax as well, you only have to
fill the diesel tank and the Queen is ready to take everyone for a ride. Be it
a political rally or a marriage ceremony or taking agricultural products to the
bazaar or the mill, Jugad is the multipurpose answer to our transportation
problem.
It may be a little too dangerous, but that’s the way it
is here.
With time, this Jugad has become an allegory of the
Indian way of “arrangement” for anything under the sun.
If someone is sick, but there is no money or time for taking
him to the hospital, the answer to the problem is Jugad (read Hakims and
traditional healers practicing on the roadside)
If there is no electricity in your house, steal it by
connecting some Jugad (read house hold
aluminum wire) to the livewire.
The examples are innumerable and in fact, there is a
popular joke concerning this idea of Jugad. Once, the President of America
visited India and he was really amazed to see the power of Jugad – One solution
to all the problems he faced over the period of his visit. Right from starting
an engine of a car (spoon), to opening the closed gate of the Qutub Minar,
Jugad was a panacea for all dire situations. So while returning, when our prime
minister asked him, ‘Do you want anything in particular as a souvenir from
India?’, the American president was quick to ask for a Jugad. His response led
to pin drop silence in the hall and a few of the bureaucrats managing the event
sweated profusely from the tension.
‘Hey man, what’s wrong? Did I say anything
inappropriate?’, President Sahib asked once again. The over anxious secretary hesitatingly
pointed out, ‘Sir, we can’t provide you a Jugad.’
‘Why?’, asked the President.
After a long pause, the secretary muttered abashedly, ‘Because
the whole country and in fact, this ministry also runs on Jugad only…..’
Jokes apart, this is how the country is running by means
of the cheap, dangerous, unethical alternative named Jugad.
You might be tempted to ask me, ‘Even if we accept the
existence of the concept of Jugad, where does magic realism come into the
picture? In what way does it resemble Jugad?’
To make this clear, I want you to just listen to what
critics who are not aware of what magic realism is, have to complain against
this art form. They accuse magic realism of absurdity or incongruence, such as,
“How can a tree talk? We want
literature, not a fairy tale.”
“How can a boy who serves in a tea shop
(Chai wala) win KBC by mere guesswork and also tell his life story while sitting
in the hot seat? This is un(su)real.”
“How can a face look like a triangle in
a painting?”
My answer is simple: Like life, every
art form has its own limitations. While writing, we can explain what we think, we
may give a vivid description of the event, but we can never recreate the whole
feeling that we have experienced.
While drawing, one can create a visual experience, but he/she
cannot draw or let the viewer feel what the other sensations like smell or
sound was.
Even the most diverse art form – “The Motion Picture”
cannot entirely depict the purpose intended by the creator.
So, in order to communicate his/her idea, the artist/creator
takes the help of surreal things, as quoted above, which is nothing but a JUGAD.
It is as cheap an alternative as Jugad, but I find no
unethical or dangerous issue in this kind of Jugad, compared to the parallel
metaphor prevalent in India.
