Indian fables taught me something disturbing about "jugaad"

Doing a little research about the Panchatantra made me realize something: Aesop's fables always have a moral — honesty, hard work, patience. But Indian fables have only one rule: the smart guy wins, and how he wins doesn't matter.

A jackal tricks a lion into jumping into a well? A rabbit manipulates a whole herd of elephants into worshipping a fake moon? Genius. Nobody asks if he lied.

And somehow this became a national philosophy called "jugaad."

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Your Uber driver goes through five one-way streets the wrong way? Smart navigation. Your landlord "adjusted" the meter? Also smart. Your call center agent told you your problem is "being escalated" for the third week? Peak jugaad.

Two thousand years of stories where the clever liar is the hero — and then you wonder why rules are optional.

The British brought bureaucracy. India brought jugaad. One created forms. The other created ways around them. That's why everything works despite nothing working.

It's a really interesting study, Well.