Around the City in 80 Ways!

After months of anticipation and hard work, Jugaad - a pan Pune survival race of was held on 5th February, 2019. The PR batch's lively initiative finally bore fruit, and the amphitheatre was abuzz with excitement prior to the kick-off of the event. There were twenty participating teams, consisting of five members each. Dressed in white tees with their team numbers emblazoned across the front, each team was assigned one voluntary tagger to ensure that the game was played strictly by the book.

The rules were simple - upon completion of certain pre-decided tasks, each team was given clues that would send them sprawling across the city, searching for the next clue. Members were not permitted access to their phones, and each team was handed a meagre sum of 100 rupees to manage their fares for the whole day. The OG team (consisting of Khushi Narula, Anmol Das, Amar Kate, Yukta Wane and Ajinkya Bhalerao) was the first to successfully solve all their clues and reach the last venue, and earned the title of the ‘Ultimate Jugaadus'.

While some teams were awarded special advantages such as head-starts, extra cash and rides from one venue to another, others scrambled to solve their clues and reach the destinations ahead of other teams. Hitchhiking in rickshaws, tempos and in some cases, even office-goers' cars, they did whatever they could to make ends meet.

A general sentiment shared by most participants was grateful astonishment at the sheer kindness of strangers in Pune. Their willingness to help was a boon for many, since travelling across the city on a shoestring budget is quite the challenge. Sweet gestures like offering to buy refreshments for team members, or going out of their way to help the competitors reach their venue made the experience a memorable one for those involved.

Meher Dhillon (Batch 2020)

Shreya Choudhary (Batch 2021)