Jugad

Hi folks!
I am sure you must be wondering about the title of the blog…Latest you must have heard this word at Shark Tank India….Jugaadu Kamlesh…
Well, believe me…Jugaad is at times needed in foodstyling as well…when there are certain unpredictable hitches/ obstacles/situations that pop up during a shoot.

Jugaad according to English Oxford dictionary means – a flexible approach to solve a problem that uses limited resources in an innovative way. So here are some instances where we did some fantastic jugaad on set.

It was a TVC shoot for a famous dairy brand @ a remote location (bungalow) near Bhugaon. We had to take a shot of Tadka being poured on a boiling dal preparation. Last minute changes in the container(utensil) left us in a tricky situation. We fell short of cooked dal ! And then suddenly I recollected the old story learnt in school. The crow dropping stones in the pot to raise the level of water. I had boiled potatoes with me which I dropped in the big vessel of dal boiling on the burner. And Yeah! The level of dal rose to the desired level without actually adding cooked dal. We did not have time and resources to cook the dal again. This is how the simple workaround helped us.

Another instance, our hero product Pav Bhaji was all set to be clicked. As per the brief the Pav bhaji was to be garnished with coriander leaves…Last minute instruction to garnish with a cube of butter .God bless all shops were closed as it was late night and we did not have it in stock. There came Mr Potato as a rescue man .A peeled potato cube looked absolutely same as a butter cube.And there our problem was solved within no time.

Once we were shooting Thalipeeth and last minute addition of white butter / Loni as garnish was suggested when everything else was ready on the set. There we were stuck again and with eye for detail found 2 ingredients which when mixed together gave the effect of white butter. We mixed Dahi and Semolina(Rava) and there our white butter was ready.

I think such situations check our presence of mind and common sense. We have to be sound headed to overcome the situation in a tactful way.
Can we rightly “Where there is a problem, there is a solution!

**Post the jugaad you used in your life or anywhere in your career field…