‘Technological jugaad is here to stay’

PANKAJ SEKHSARIA talks to VIBHA VARSHNEY about the book and its findings

What do you see as the future of jugaad in India?

If one looks at the technological jugaad framing that I am proposing in this book, I think it is here for a long time. The contexts and background are not going away anytime soon and they will facilitate and even demand certain ways of doing things, which are often referred to as jugaad. Rather than dismiss it outright or accept it without questioning, the need is for a rigorous academic engagement with its various dimensions—be it historical, social, about language and use, about livelihood and survival or indeed innovation.

What is the current status of

C V Dharmadhikari’s microscope?

As I understand, the instruments have been scrapped. Dharmadhikari, however, has an interesting and important perspective on this now. He said his instrument making goes on in different ways and in different places and that in some senses he had moved on from what was done in the University of Pune.

What did you hope to achieve through the book?

I was and continue to be fascinated by the story of this laboratory and the work it did. I had the opportunity to tell the story

and my intention in this book was to tell it as interestingly as I could. What this story also suggests is that Indian science and technology (S&T) is full of such fascinating accounts of research and lives in science. This book (and my latest one, Nanoscale—Society’s deep impact on science, technology and innovation in

India), is a small contribution in a growing body of work and literature that tells these stories and asks us to take notice.

What I am also trying to do is to locate the modern scientific enterprise within the local social, cultural and economic context. It is important to keep in mind that S&T cannot escape the reality and context within which it exists. S&T policy making, if it has to be effective and relevant, has to account for this very centrally and this is the other important point I am trying to make in the book.