Homemade Nanos

After attending to his work in Tosham town in Haryana's Bhiwani district, farmer Rajbir Singh is waiting at a bus stop to return to Sagwan, his village 10 km away. The only way he can do this is by hopping aboard a Jugaad. Soon enough, one comes along, sputtering like an irrigation pump, which is exactly what its 'engine' is. The Jugaad rejoices in running on a diesel generator set. Rajbir Singh is matter-of-fact: "It's the poor man's mode of conveyance. Since there's no public transport available to our villages, we are completely dependent on Jugaads."

Dependent on seemingly undependable vehicles? They have inefficient steering and no one will insure them but they are the lifeline for a majority of Indians living beyond the reach of metalled roads. With few options available, this neglected majority made its own, alternative arrangements. They have colourful names - Jugaad, Maruta, Chhakda, Peter Rehra, for instance - and these 'miracles' give mobility a new name and new face. Some say they are "micro Nanos", like IIM Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta, who is executive vice-chairperson of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), which documents and gives awards to the work of grassroots innovators. Gupta says, "There are thousands of them. Gujarat alone has about 30,000 varieties of vehicles, which are low-cost, innovative and with wide applications."

These homespun sets of wheels have a huge reach - vast swathes of the country, including parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, UP and remote Rajasthani hamlets. The vehicles work to the same basic principle - cheap to run and constructed out of cannibalized parts. The Jugaad is a case in point. It needs just one 10-14 horsepower diesel generator, the shaft of an old jeep, a steering wheel, old tyres and some wooden planks for seats. It is nothing more than a motorized bullock cart and costs just Rs 35,000-40,000. Throw in a speedometer, self-starter, stereo and digital clock and prices climb to Rs 90,000. Add a few gears and brakes and the Jugaad can coast along at a dizzying 45 kmph.

 The Maruta is not much different. Darshan Singh, who has spent 20 of his 80 years assembling Marutas in his backyard in Jethuwal village near Amritsar, says it's in great demand. The Maruta transports cargo, farm produce, cattle, schoolchildren, marriage parties, pilgrims and much more besides. Marutas, which debuted soon after the Maruti 800's launch in the 1980s, are also called Gharuka and Peter Rehra, the name of a local engine brand.

Most of these clones are colourfully-bedecked and reflect the local ethos. In Chhakda country, which stretches across Saurashtra and rural Ahmedabad, it's common to see a flash of colour whizzing by as a moustachioed man rides the Enfield Bullet motorbike attached to a heavilydecorated vehicle. Unsurprisingly, the Chhakda would be overflowing with people. Narendra Patel, who owns a Chhakda, says about 300 Chhakdas run on the 30-km stretch between Sanand and Nal Sarovar, close to where the Nano mother plant is taking shape. "It's the cheapest and easiest mode of transport," he says. Hanumant Pandya of Kheecha village in Ahmedabad district uses a Chhakda for his regular commute to work and adds, "It's fun travelling on it, with 25-30 people clinging to every inch of space available."

But there's more to these rough-and-ready Nanos than a folksy charm. Their socio-economic significance is undeniable. Parents in remote areas of Bharatpur are only able to send their daughters to school because the Jugaads ply every day. There are thought to be roughly 6,000 Jugaads in Rajasthan. Almost nothing else will run in the hardscrabble areas the Jugaad plies.Off the road, the Jugaad's engine is used to run the tubewell, fodder-cutting machine, sugarcane juice extracting machine and more. Gupta of the National Innovation Foundation says such remarkable innovations exist "in other parts of the world too (but) the special factors in India may be the availability of roadside mechanics, rural workshops and the fabrication skills of people from the Vishwakarma caste". With telling emphasis, he says, "It's fascinating to see people who have so little, have so much creativity."

Some of this creativity has been recorded by the Foundation. It has documented the work of many farmers and artisans, who either tinkered with existing machines or created new ones for agricultural and other operations. These include Mansukhbhai Jagani's bicyclemounted sprayer and Bachubhai Savajibhai Thesia's tractor without a steering wheel, both from Gujarat, as also Rajasthani Choudhary Kamruddin's multipurpose bicycle, which allows him to drill wood and metal, sharpen tools, wind motors and saw wood. Meanwhile, Chandan Kumar, the 17-year-old son of a car mechanic in Azamgarh, UP, has used spare parts to assemble a two-seater, open-air car called Fame, costing no more than Rs 25,000. He used a scooter's 150cc engine and added four gears, a bonnet, a horn, a hand brake and indicators. Fame, which runs 45-50 km on every litre of fuel, achieves a maximum speed of 80 kmph. But Fame looks set to go places the Jugaad and Chhakda may not, with experts at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research suggesting it could be modified for use as a golf cart priced between Rs 50,000-60,000.That's one tenth of the current price of golf carts.

The Fame and all the other, more humble mobile 'miracles' are just a few of the many examples of our instinct for 'jugaad' or improvisation. The Nano was born on a drawing board in a corporate world. But look beyond the boardrooms and there's a vast bank of ideas among India's gritty millions, whose daily survival depends on smart thinking.

With reports from Avanindra Mishra in Jaipur, Deepa Gupta in Meerut, Deepender Deswal in Bhiwani, Kumar Manish in Ahmedabad, Yudhvir Rana in Amritsar and Binay Singh in Varanasi