The festival season is drawing to a close and I am glad that guys in my complex have done a great job this year. Despite all odds we celebrated Ganesh Chaturti, Dusshera and Diwali in style.
My favourite was the Ganesh Chaturti celebrations. The sense of sanctity of the idol which was installed in our complex was by far the best I saw this season. In my opinion the main reason was the simplicity and focus on the lord and not the decorations which at many places have become like an arts and crafts exhibition. I also don’t remember seeing eyesore causing banners anywhere around. Even the music played didn’t have too many filmy songs devoid of devotional content.
My wish for next year is that we totally get rid of all filmy songs and instead give an opportunity to the budding talent in our complex, be it children or adults, to sing devotional songs throughout the day.
It’s been three months since our last general body meeting and I could hear hushed voices talking about the next meeting. These were from the major benefactors of these meetings. I know you are speculating who these members might be. Hold that thought coz I am not referring to any members. I am referring to the housekeeping employees who are the beneficiaries of the samosas, sweets and tea left over after the meeting. They felt a meeting was overdue!
It is very easy to call for our general body meeting. The agenda items always remain the same as our darling builder makes sure that nothing ever gets done and on the rare occasion it gets started it remains half done.
One of the perennial items on the agenda is that of the progress made by Mahanagar Gas. Their contractors are a wonderful lot. During monsoon nature doesn’t allow them to work and during other times it is not in their nature to work. The piped gas is sure to remain our pipe dream for a long time!
In the grand scheme of things they say everything in life serves a purpose. I find it so very true every time I enter the elevators. Our lift men are a grim reminder to our children of what happens to people who don’t get good education. Seeing lift men every morning can put the fear of God in them and make them study seriously.
Our security guards are in a class of their own. They are so great in arranging and distributing mail that I often feel they are postmen working under cover as security guards. They can be great talent for the FBI or the CIA.
The maintenance team employed by the builder gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘preventive maintenance’. They work as if their brief is to prevent maintenance. Their sense of intuition is amazing. They are never in sight when most needed and appear every other time.
Initially I used to wonder why buildings in the complex were named after precious stones. Now when I see Blue Diamond the answer is so clear. Blue Diamond is one of the rarest of diamonds and very few jewelers have even seen one let alone possess it. Similarly, our Blue Diamond too is very rare. It falls under the category of work-in-progress forever! I hope I live to see the day it is completed and handed over to its owners.
As for the other stones they too spell luxury. Our builder is very honest. When he promised us luxury apartments all he was trying to say is that this will be a place where even basic amenities will be a luxury.
The fact that we have been duped will be formalized in due course by the share certificates which will be issued to all of us!
Whilst I made a mention of the festivals which were celebrated by the members I forgot to mention about an initiative taken by some of the women who live here. This group had arranged for the 'Art of Living' courses to be conducted for us. It was well intended but I thought a bit unnecessary for people living here.
As I understand the 'Art of Living' basically teaches you breathing control techniques, patience, alertness and a general sense of well being associated with a healthy mind and body. The collateral benefit of staying here is you get to practice all of those for free and they are provided by the agencies which work around this place.
As you leave the complex and go outside the stench of garbage teaches you how to hold your breath for long durations. We don’t need any additional breathing exercises. Walking from the building to the main gate finding your way around randomly dug up areas and bending down to go within the car park makes us very alert and our body supple. Add to that the dodging of water leaking from the lobby ceiling and we will soon have perfectly flexible bodies and alert minds. Waiting for electricians and plumbers to turn up and repair things has taken my patience to levels considered impossible for human beings.
Do we really need to learn the 'Art of Living' when we have almost mastered the 'Art of Suffering'?
My favourite was the Ganesh Chaturti celebrations. The sense of sanctity of the idol which was installed in our complex was by far the best I saw this season. In my opinion the main reason was the simplicity and focus on the lord and not the decorations which at many places have become like an arts and crafts exhibition. I also don’t remember seeing eyesore causing banners anywhere around. Even the music played didn’t have too many filmy songs devoid of devotional content.
My wish for next year is that we totally get rid of all filmy songs and instead give an opportunity to the budding talent in our complex, be it children or adults, to sing devotional songs throughout the day.
It’s been three months since our last general body meeting and I could hear hushed voices talking about the next meeting. These were from the major benefactors of these meetings. I know you are speculating who these members might be. Hold that thought coz I am not referring to any members. I am referring to the housekeeping employees who are the beneficiaries of the samosas, sweets and tea left over after the meeting. They felt a meeting was overdue!
It is very easy to call for our general body meeting. The agenda items always remain the same as our darling builder makes sure that nothing ever gets done and on the rare occasion it gets started it remains half done.
One of the perennial items on the agenda is that of the progress made by Mahanagar Gas. Their contractors are a wonderful lot. During monsoon nature doesn’t allow them to work and during other times it is not in their nature to work. The piped gas is sure to remain our pipe dream for a long time!
In the grand scheme of things they say everything in life serves a purpose. I find it so very true every time I enter the elevators. Our lift men are a grim reminder to our children of what happens to people who don’t get good education. Seeing lift men every morning can put the fear of God in them and make them study seriously.
Our security guards are in a class of their own. They are so great in arranging and distributing mail that I often feel they are postmen working under cover as security guards. They can be great talent for the FBI or the CIA.
The maintenance team employed by the builder gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘preventive maintenance’. They work as if their brief is to prevent maintenance. Their sense of intuition is amazing. They are never in sight when most needed and appear every other time.
Initially I used to wonder why buildings in the complex were named after precious stones. Now when I see Blue Diamond the answer is so clear. Blue Diamond is one of the rarest of diamonds and very few jewelers have even seen one let alone possess it. Similarly, our Blue Diamond too is very rare. It falls under the category of work-in-progress forever! I hope I live to see the day it is completed and handed over to its owners.
As for the other stones they too spell luxury. Our builder is very honest. When he promised us luxury apartments all he was trying to say is that this will be a place where even basic amenities will be a luxury.
The fact that we have been duped will be formalized in due course by the share certificates which will be issued to all of us!
Whilst I made a mention of the festivals which were celebrated by the members I forgot to mention about an initiative taken by some of the women who live here. This group had arranged for the 'Art of Living' courses to be conducted for us. It was well intended but I thought a bit unnecessary for people living here.
As I understand the 'Art of Living' basically teaches you breathing control techniques, patience, alertness and a general sense of well being associated with a healthy mind and body. The collateral benefit of staying here is you get to practice all of those for free and they are provided by the agencies which work around this place.
As you leave the complex and go outside the stench of garbage teaches you how to hold your breath for long durations. We don’t need any additional breathing exercises. Walking from the building to the main gate finding your way around randomly dug up areas and bending down to go within the car park makes us very alert and our body supple. Add to that the dodging of water leaking from the lobby ceiling and we will soon have perfectly flexible bodies and alert minds. Waiting for electricians and plumbers to turn up and repair things has taken my patience to levels considered impossible for human beings.
Do we really need to learn the 'Art of Living' when we have almost mastered the 'Art of Suffering'?
6 comments:
I was very happy reading the blog, actually the sarcastic way of putting things in perfection, but would appreciate if you could also suggest and help change a few things around.
I hear you loud n clear DJ. As I see it there is hardly any dearth of ideas or suggestions. Forget any major improvements even a simple safety suggestion of putting a mirror at Ruby entrance made over a year back for avoiding blind spots while driving in and out has been ignored by the builder.
Its painful to see committee members work so hard from one side and total inaction from the builder from the other side.
Glad though that you liked the post. Writing is just my way of giving vent to my frustrations:)
I would again like to tell you that I like your way of putting things hence have forwarded it to atleast 150 residents from our complex both phases put together, but I still feel that the time has for us to realise that we need to do things for ourselves rather than depending on our dear builder.
hey DJ thanx a ton for the forwards. i hope more like minded people will come forward and like u suggested lets get things done with our initiative.
im always worried about some kid running into a car near the ramp or two cars colliding so i wud like the mirror thing to be done by us first.
I have received this blog a long time back and was just re-reading it to refresh the contents.. I really appretiate the way in which you have written.. I was fortunate to be an audience to your "AGM" blog too.. Please keep writing and make me a part of your mailing list.
Best wishes...
Bhushan
thanks bhushan. will keep you posted.
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