New laws bring new jugaad opportunities

Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures, and the recent plastic ban in Maharashtra and the rise in minimum wage for restaurant workers in California will certainly put the jugaad skills of two important economies to the test.

However, the new trend in San Francisco to make fine dining restaurants more viable by getting their customers to do their own fetching and carrying may not be all that clever an idea in the long run.

Foisting self-service on customers willing to fork out more money for pricey dishes and wines in a swanky setting does not seem like a recipe for success even if it obviates hiring expensive staff. Sadly, hiring super efficient Indian staff — renowned for their multitasking ability — is not an option in the US.


Delving back into the past for inspiration is very aucourant, so the move by a Pune restaurant to use steel tiffin carriers instead of plastic or thermocol containers is both eco-friendly and timely — i.e., the dabbawala principle. That should become the norm for home delivery services not only in India but around the world.

Besides reducing wastage, it will give afillip to make new forms of reusable containers — steel pizza cases and burger boxes, among other items — and, most importantly, reintroduce the habit of reusing and recycling that was once the hallmark of the thrifty Indian household.