After an immense amount of running, convincing, deciphering, shouting and some dehydration, Jugaad was one of the most memorable events that was ever organized
Stepping into Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication opens you up for three years of unforgettable experiences and memories. I remember when the idea of Jugaad was first announced in the classroom – a hunt around the city where a 6-member team gets a total of Rs.100 along with clues to reach a final location without our cellphones or conveyance. All of us had a straight faced “No” as an answer initially, wondering ‘why we would give up our time and energy on a steaming hot day?’
The next thing I knew, I was part of the only all-girls Team Number 12, ready with our first clue in hand. Starting from college, we ran place to place deciphering our clues, hitch-hiking, convincing fruit sellers to lend us at least a minimalistic amount of food for lunch and stopping innumerable drivers to drop us to our destinations or even close spot would do. The activity at each location was designed to be quirky – from blind-folded hop-scotch to fixing bolts and smelling food items. The level of competition swiftly took a leap from “I don’t really care, we will probably take a detour and go and eat something” to “We cannot let the other team win. Buck up everybody!” It was healthy competition of course, but it was about saving face at the same time.
After an immense amount of running, convincing, deciphering, shouting and some dehydration, Jugaad was one of the most memorable events that was ever organized. More than teamwork, analytical thinking and memory of the city, it really instilled the skill of hitch-hiking into us, which I believe can come in handy at any point in life. In the platter of experiences that I carry back with me, ‘Jugaad’ holds a very special place.
Article by: Kangan Kher (Batch of 2019)
Photograph by: Kangan Kher (Batch of 2019)