I wanted to explore this idea of the Indian social entrepreneurship mindset further. Following the course, I travelled through the West of India, from the foothills of the Himalayas in Rishikesh, to the tech hubs of Bangalore. In each place I visited, I never failed to meet someone that was passionately innovating to positively impact communities. Concepts such as Jugaad innovation, which I’ d studied in lecture theatres back in London, I witnessed first-hand.
Jugaad is a Hindi-Urdu word referring to simple, creative, and innovative solutions using limited resources. In the context of management, Jugaad( or‘ frugal’) innovation in countries such as India has led to changes in product design globally, where practices adopted in the face of low resources has demonstrated efficiency yet to be found in other, more resource-abundant communities. It can be as simple as adopting solar-powered lamps to eliminate reliance on dangerous kerosene, or TATA’ s‘ cheapest car in the world’. Jugaad ' s roots in India( not only in reference to its name) are undeniable. Authors of a book on the same subject refer to it as the Indian Way of Life:“ It is a common phenomenon observed on the streets of India … like fixing things with safety pins, turning cycles into a mobile shop of necessities, selling clothes by displaying it on the trees and many more.”
In Mumbai, the traditional notion of‘ slums’ is challenged through the work of Reality Tours and Travels, a social enterprise that provides experiences to locals and tourists alike, a business that has grown from initially running tours in the Dharavi slum, coordinated by residents themselves. These Dharavi tours challenge the perspectives of tourists and locals alike as to the realities of life in the slum( home to over one million people, 20,000 businesses, and numerous communities), which, in turn, fund social projects to support Dharavi dwellers through the profits of slum tourism.
Girl’ s football team in Dharavi, supported by Reality Gives