Monthly Archives: January 2019

Frugal innovation – a teachable moment

I guess we are at an age when all our teeth are not our own and, as sometime happens in those cases, minor emergencies like a loose crown can befall you at the most unlikely times and places. Friday at lunch on campus at IIT Bombay, I suddenly realized one of the crowns had loosened. Being away from home in US, and the weekend approaching, I called our family dentist in Mumbai and was informed by the receptionist that “Saab Monday ayega wapas (sir will come back Monday)”.

Mildly upset that I would have to walk around with an exposed nerve and a crown that I might likely loose, I griped to one of my colleagues. She suggested that I look up a new dental chain, Sabka  Dentist, to see if they might have a local office that could attend to my tooth. I pulled up their site on my phone and fortunately there was an office just outside the IIT gates. I called them and a cheerful receptionist answered. Yes, I could walk-in right now she assured me, and they would see what could be done. Continue reading