Jugaad is the asli spirit of Innovation

Now that GM looks likely to be owned by the American taxpayer, and that all the fuss around the $2000 Tata Nano is dying down, I was gratified to read that the Economist has not forgotten about Jugaad - the original low-cost auto design from Asia

A year or so ago, when somebody asked me to describe the soul of India, I gave them the phrase "jugaad". Jugaad means nothing works like it should, there is no infrastructure, there is no blueprint for success. But you have a pressing NEED: to get from point A to point B. So you just make it happen, however you can.

Like this taxi...


Or this tractor...


And here are some more 'jugaadu' shots from the Indian highways, courtesy of the Flickr Jugaad group

(thank you also to the Power of Ideas blog)

It's just a reminder that as long as anything costs Rs 1 in India, somebody will be ready to improvise a solution that works half as well, for a quarter of the cost.

No matter how ridiculous it looks.