Ah, it's jugaad

Good Morning armstrong,
 
There are some words that are rather hard to translate. Taken out of their cultural context, they don't make much sense. But let me give this a shot. There's nyaka or hangla in Bangla, sort of implying fussy and a glutton, respectively. Aiyyo or haavu in Malayalam, which are sounds that have found word status as they are uttered during distress and relief, respectively. And there's jugaad in Hindi. 
 
Jugaad is special. It (once again, sort of) means the art of making something new and enigmatic (perhaps even awe-invoking) out of common, familiar things. Oh, and using this creation to achieve stuff the common things on their own would never manage. 
 
How is this relevant? Because in today's piece we've written about a company that made us go "is it a bird, is it a plane..." pretty much in the introduction. Self-styled real estate fintech firm SmartOwner had me scratching my head till it hit me; it's pure jugaad. Jugaad that allows for hiding in plain sight. And the beauty of jugaad is that you needn't subscribe to any one definition of what you are, or, quite simply, you escape the confines of rules that others must follow. Convenient, right?
 
Here are some examples.
 
Crowdfunding is tough in India, especially for startups, what with Sebi mandating a Rs 10 crore ($1.4 million) cap for equity funds.
 
SmartOwner found a workaround.
 
In 2016, a new real estate omnibus law, Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, imposed many conditions on how real estate developers can use the money they get from home buyers. This made finding cheap capital even more difficult for real estate companies.
 
SmartOwner found a workaround.
 
"When you pick apart the various structures SmartOwner has evolved to run its business, it operates almost like a mutual fund. There is an asset management company, an investor and a marketing subsidiary that makes sure the asset is sold to realise the return," Vivek writes in today's story.
 
 
Write in if you have thoughts on the subject. Write in if you don't.

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