And ideas which do make their way to the blog-site are usually derived from the radical, not from the subtle or the slight or the trifling, as the romantic of mind would like to think.
So picture me, walking around a compound, to reach the other side of a building, with the noon Bangalore sun beating on my back like a thousand hot iron knives, rendering even my faithful cap hopeless in the face of the heated onslaught.
It wasn't quite the distance that infuriated me, a mere half kilometre of excess walking made no difference to my youthful 16 (almost 17) year old body.
The building in question was my school. To give you a clear picture; the campus has a gate to the east, the beaten path, the side from where we students enter everyday in our hordes. And on the other side (the west obviously), there lie two grand gates, formidable, reminding late-comers (who are expected to enter from that side) what they are up against.
On working days, entering through the West Gate, or the front gate, is illegal, unless of course, you happen to be late.
With reason too. It helps to distinguish between the punctual and the not so punctual lot, makes it easier to pull them up, serve the consequences.
In the summer however, the school ceases to function, higher authorities occasionally dropping by. Only coaching classes conducted by another institution continue to function within the campus. A rather informal affair, with a handful of students, a couple of teachers who teach and nothing else, a soldier or two from the squadron of gardeners, watchmen and other miscellaneous workers.
The heavy traffic, which I mentioned above, forced me to come up on the school from the western side. The heat was blistering, and tiredness had begun to creep in. The paramount relief I experienced when I remembered that since coaching was no big deal to the school, assuming as I did that rules would be relaxed, I thought I could walk in through the "wrong" gate.
The watchman is precisely the chap you would imagine if the word "watchman" flashed in your mind. Sun-burnt skin, pot-belly, gruff voice, proud demeanour and all in all pretty much a bloke who would look dominating but whose reality was in stark contrast to his appearance. What he did possess though, was a real loyalty to his job, always on the watch.
And on seeing me enter the front gate, despite knowing full well, by recognition of my features as well as uniform that I belong to the school, he directed me to the eastern side, which left me seething.
And there was the basis of the idea of the blog. Rules!!
The whole idea behind rules is to make things easier without unduly inflicting harming on anyone in the process. Rules, on paper, always must have a sound logical backing. A time for usage, based on situation rather than applying them universally.
For a moment if we assumed that the stodgy watchman had let me pass, what would be the consequence. The "late-comer" rule applied for school hours, this was a completely different organisation. There would be no consequences by virtue of the more flexible rules of the coaching class.
Hence, the logical backing behind the rule broke down. And if viewed in a wider perspective, we must ask ourselves, must we always follow rules. Must we always follow the guidelines, idealistic ones at that which do not necessarily conform to all situations.
Undue, arduous processes often are undertaken simply for them to be in keeping with laws. The logic behind the rule breaking down is apparently not reason enough to by-pass rules.
Lets see it this way. Rules are guidelines, simply. A path, a route, by no means a destination. The objective is not, or rather, should never be, merely to follow rules. The task on hand, as I already stated, must be done as quickly, as effectively as possible, meting out the results and as far as possible without offending, injuring or endangering anyone.
With this basis I could quite grudgingly even admit that walking in lines on school corridors is indeed justifiable. But what about other rules, often unwritten but overstated. Societal norms. Quite obviously and glaringly illogical and unnecessary bureaucratic procedures. Can they be avoided.
Jugaad, is an over-used, sometimes abused Indian word. Jugaad is the art of being clever on the job, twisting boundaries, improvisations. Which usually do not end up causing harm to anything or anyone, helps in quicker completion of work, but often leads to a insignificant amount of flouting norms.
Wiki says "Jugaad colloquially means a creative idea, or a quick workaround to get through commercial, logistic or law issues. As such, the Jugaad movement has gathered a community of enthusiasts, believing it to be the proof of Indian bubbling creativity, or a cost-effective way to solve the issues of everyday life."
In a recent survey, 81% of Indian businessmen surveyed claimed that Jugaad is the key to their success.
Then as such, the undue importance placed on rules, regulations, is not really justified. It might be an emotional issue, sometimes we may not really know the reason behind the rule and blindly conform to it.
But logic, should in my opinion always reign supreme, with all due respect to all the conformists to society out there. If the least harmful and the most effective way is the illegal way, by slight twisting of regulations, by jugaad, then justified it should be.
But for now, I can only accept fate and walk an extra 500 yards. Until Jugaad can be legalised and well cataloged. When sanity rules over every situation rather than universal guidelines.
If rules were a path in the woods of human morality, then jugaad would be walking on the edge to minimise the distance through a curve. I would do it every time, if allowed.