Monday, June 26, 2017

Are We Awaiting Pune's Grenfell Tower?








“Fire & Gun powder do not sleep together”… Chinese Proverb.

Indeed words of wisdom has always flowed from the land of Zen & no wonder above simple logic which tells us a great deal about planning our buildings makes me respect Chinese philosophy a bit more! Before I explain the importance of this quote let me share something which I came across on Face book by great modern world’s architect James Law. This is about an incidence which shocked country like England, one of the most developed that too in Europe; it’s about Grenfell Tower fire which engulfed entire twenty five storied building in just few hours. The death toll has already reached to thirty odd numbers & eared to touch hundred as many people are still missing. Agreed it’s not first fire in the world’s big cities & we have seen worst yet it was one of the most damage making in history of England & nearly hundred people dying in Europe’s city is like thousand people dying in our country, now you can make out its scale! What is special about this fire is the lesson it gave the so called civilized world that with all modern days safety norms & systems yet it there can be such tragedy! On this background I came across a post on FB by famous architect James Law from Hongkong, which made me share my thoughts on the subject. Below is what James Law wrote about the Grenfell Tower fire, let’s go through it & then we can have a look at what’s scene in our cities here…

What is Wrong with Architecture?
Over the past few days, I was shocked by the news of the Grenfell Tower fire in London where 17 people have died and over 70 persons are still missing as of the time of this posting.
It cannot be without effect to myself as an Architect to reflect on this tragedy and to critique the state of Architecture today in which such a towering inferno could happen but otherwise have been avoided.
I ask myself how could we be living in a time when we have the engineering to fly, the technology to go to space, the science of fire safety, and the wisdom of common sense that we can still allow for death traps such as Grenfell Tower to even exist.
As a citizen I can lay the blame on society and perhaps the governance structures that have allowed such buildings. However as an architect, I have to blame myself and my profession for allowing for such an immoral paradigm of architecture.
Architecture has become obsessed with all that is unhealthy and immoral in the modern world. It has become a system focused on wealth and asset value. It is an instrument to extract financial gain in the urbanized condition, and architecture fundamentally has become a tool beyond the inhabitant.
Architecture has also become polarized and distracted, with its obsessions for beautification, aesthetics and branding over taking its fundamental obligations for safety, health and core values of community to protect and nurture its citizens.
Architecture was once a bright light for society, a beacon of values upon which society could build upon to create peace and stability. Architecture once represented from the creative output of man the optimism that we could build a better world for all.
But all this is gone. It's gone because the managers of Grenfell Tower did not have these fundamental values, and so made decisions in the design, upgrade and management of a building that ultimately became a death trap to so many innocent citizens.
What Grenfell Tower reminds me is that as architects, we have a moral responsibility to primarily safeguard the safety, health and well being of the public above all other considerations of aesthetics, sustainability, and commercial value.
What Grenfell Tower also reminds me is that until Architecture once again hold to higher ideals and core values of humanity, our architecture will become the fundamentally dangerous blocks of our urbanscape, and would have forgone our ultimate opportunity to build a better fabric of mankind.
It's time to wake up…. James Law.

What a sensitive mind this guy has, maybe that’s what makes you special from others in any profession & on this background except one day news on news papers no personality from the field of real estate or related to it has taken any cognizance in our country of this mishap. Well, I am not surprised, as in the country where more than three hundred people die every day in road accidents who cares for some seventy odd people dying in a fire in some country thousands of kilometers away from us! Here in this very State of Maharashtra our Mantralay itself caught fire & was burning for whole day killing few people but damaging entire working of this State for months & the repairs went for years & yet if someone visits the place the fire safety aspect is same or worst than what it was earlier! Now about the Grenfell towers, its neighbors as well survivors of the fire are claiming that they have been writing to authorities about the fire possibilities & lacuna in the fire safety systems but it went to deaf ears. I am not familiar with the fire safety system which manages these aspects in England but I know what deaf ears of system are! And why just deaf ears, we do witness everyday deaf ears along with blind eyes, numb brains, and crippled hands of the body named system. Here when I say system I meant not just so called Govt but everybody associated with the real estate. And I am deliberately saying real estate as if there is safety issue about an airplane then we blame aviation industry & same is about railway or shipping. Even if some industry meets with operational accident like Bhopal Gas leak by Union Carbide then we blame the chemical industry so if we are referring to building fires & safety aspect then every person associated with real in whatsoever capacity is responsible to the tragedy. And that’s why I called the system not just deaf or blind but dead as we have become veteran (read namchin in Marathi) criminals on the front of safety when it comes to the buildings! If somebody is hurt by my allegation then ask yourself just to have a look at some major real estate tragedies taking lives of many or ruining families’ entire future in one moment. If, why “if”,  I am sure most of us have forgotten a building which got fall down like house of cards in Ambegaon, Pune some three years back, killing a youth who was trying to save his new car & twenty families become homeless in few minutes! With all hohallah committees were formed by authorities, announcements were made to find our every illegal building & take action, safety audits will be done of every such building is also declared by the so called system; media highlighted news as well photographs of surveys being done by officers, associations of developers & architects. Safety code of conduct at construction sites were wrote as well various affidavits from structural designers, licensed engineers were made mandatory for plan sanctions & what happened after that? Nobody till today knows how many illegal buildings are there in & around Pune; rather still illegal buildings are being built. There are certificates as well affidavits by engineers & structural designers but each has taken care to save his skin while doing so as concern is not building’s safety but their own safety if mishap occurs! And then there are flood related tragedies causing landslides, site accidents, slab collapse & what not. Yes fire tragedy is yet to occur claiming some two digit & more lives but I am sure that day isn’t far away with this dead system!

Like every NOC there is a farce of fire NOC (no objection certificate from fire dept about building is safe on fire threat front) in real estate, as the norms are age old & not keeping practicality with today’s planning as well needs. With illogical minds some cut paste rules have been formed & everybody accepts it, as one there is no point in applying logic with Govt & second everybody knows once the building is complete nobody is going to care what is happening at site regarding fire safety! For e.g. two stair cases & making it air tight; visit any building & see the way these staircases are planned, these airtight staircases will become smoke chambers actually as they are not maintained & doors are having gaps in most building. What I feel a staircase outside of building line & open from all sides will be best actually but that’s not allowed. Then the biggest joke is fire engine side margins i.e. distances of building line from the boundary walls, these are keeping in mind Snorkel i.e. fire rescue system but to my knowledge its break down since long; thanks god till now no need has arrived yet for the same. Then there is fire rescue area mandatory to be kept as 25% of floor area above eighth floor height; here also when every flat has a terrace why one needs as in the kind of our residential buildings with main construction material is concrete, bricks i.e. makes it impossible for fire to spread from one flat to other, there no need for such. As we don’t have central air conditioning or airtight passages & lobbies with false ceilings. And then why on rescue zone on just eighth floor, what about mid floor rescue how it’s going to serve the purpose for entire building? Fir pumps at ground floor with capacity of head rising till tenth floor is also one more joke as how it can help when the fire is inside. So many things have to be revamped & make the fire NOC really effective is need of time.

The most important & equally neglected aspect is post occupancy maintenance of fire safety arrangements made by the developer. There is no fire safety audit mandatory & I don’t know one residential complex where it’s being done. You can visit any building even high rise, two or three years down its occupancy & you will find it in grave situation of fire safety front. Fire pumps are not being maintained, water sprinklers haven’t been tested since its fixing. The fire hydrant hose pipes & Valves are not in place as well in non-functioning mode. And why just common areas but even inside the flats where fire danger is most because of heavy wooden interiors most people don’t even have a fire extinguisher in their flats! The entire internal concealed wiring which is main reason of fires due to short circuit is hardly checked periodically by skilled wireman.  The scene in commercial buildings especially IT parks which are most susceptible to fires isn’t different, though a shade better than residential buildings. Mock fire drills are never conducted so that the occupants will be aware how to behave in case of fires. Actually a lesson to learn from the Grenfell Tower fire is the basic building material which made the entire building caught fire like a match stick! The so called glazed buildings we have in the name of modern look IT parks are actually death boxes in case of fire, making all the smoke gets clogged inside the building & in addition to it all this gazing & cladding works ends up generating more heat & making rescue operations impossible. Even the developers doesn’t take this aspect seriously as along with giving air conditioners & fancy gadgets in flats nobody thinks of giving fire extinguishers, this shows lack of our vision on safety from fire! This is where James Law’s concerns needs to be seriously taken by entire architect as well engineering fraternity as while planning & executing our planning only we can take care of fire factor at its best! All this shows the negligent attitude of us as a society, regarding our own safety from fire. But then what else can be expected by the people who need a law or get fined for not wearing helmet while driving when their own head is at stake!

Now speaking about rescue operation, our firemen are at par with our soldiers at frontiers & salute to their courage, looking at the way they have to work with age old equipments our fire brigade has! Recently there was lots of publicity in media about first Fire Brigade Museum being opened in Pune. This museum displays the history of Pune fire brigade as well various equipment used to fight fire, pictures, models & panels. Agreed its great way to make common citizens aware about the tough job fire brigade has to do. Though the firemen from Pune’s fire brigade jokes that their existing equipments itself are in historic condition & needs to be kept in the very museum only! And they are not wrong as recently I read a news about fire suits which the firemen needs to wear while extinguishing fire have become old. The news also mentioned that fire department after repeatedly demanding for all these equipments, is still awaiting the fire suits as well helmets & authorities has no time to look in for demands of fire brigade! Well well, when we will fulfill fire brigade’s such very basic demands; after few firemen lost their lives along with some Grenfell tower in the city gets burnt out? And if this is attitude of our dead system towards the fire brigade itself then, who the hell cares about citizens & the buildings they reside in!

With the rampant growth happening in & around this smart city we can’t afford to neglect safety aspect that of the residents in all these building. On this background sensitiveness towards building planning & execution by architects like James Law stands out as growth doesn’t mean just building tall buildings & occupying them to fullest capacity. Growth is giving the citizens safe life style also & this can happen when everybody associated with the growth becomes sensitive & act responsibly for the same! I will conclude with my condolences towards the victims of Grenfell Tower & with the words, “No more Grenfell Tower!”

-- 
Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !
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Thursday, June 15, 2017

Conveyance, a Unique Get-Together!




“Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on”… Robert Kennedy.

Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy was an American politician from Massachusetts. He served as the United States junior senator from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968. Met as same fate like his elder brother Joan Kennedy, Robert was known for his liberal philosophy which is reflected in his above quote! Sad the so called law enforcement system in which he believed couldn’t save his life from assassination! On this background I recollect another quote from Ex. FBI Supremo, J. Edger Hoover, “No law enforcement can prevent the problems arrived from   family”! Now, one will ask suddenly what’s all this about law enforcement;  for such souls, last few days probably three months the real estate is buzzing with only one word RERA i.e. Real Estate Regulatory Act & the RERA Authority which will be controlling this regulatory things! In combination this is the “law & enforcement” for the so called law-less or regulation-less real estate industry! Many, especially my real estate collogues wont like the term law-less for real estate but that’s the way govt, common man & media thinks for the real estate is a fact or else for no other such specific industry oriented Law/Act has been formed centrally in last seventy odd years nor has been pushed through all the States by the “Sarkar” in Delhi. This once again shows how serious & cautious central govt is for bringing “Achhe Din” for owning a home to common man! Whether that’s going to happen coming times only will tell us soon, though real estate has welcomed it (who can afford to not welcome it?) but with caution. Outcome is the day RERA has been implemented i.e. 1st May 17 from that very day all the advertisements or launching of the projects has dried up & so are special editions for covering real estate of major news papers! Month of May is supposed to be the real estate exhibitions period as school holidays are on but this May not a single exhibition has been organized as all were certain that there won’t be any participants. For registration with RERA, time limit has been given of three months i.e. 31st July is dead line & in entire 1st month & one third of June has gone but hardly twenty five odd projects have been registered under RERA all over Maharashtra! That shows cautious approach of real estate towards the RERA.

This sharing is not about RERA as first enough is being discussed all around about it on every forum as well media & I haven’t yet studied it & second reason is I am not afraid of RERA! Agreed we are supposed to respect the laws & not be afraid of them but in our country that’s not the case; unless people are not afraid of the law (read outcome of breaking the law) they doesn’t respect the law is bitter truth & who better than we the Punekar’s knows it. Right from jumping the signal where policeman isn’t there to throwing garbage in river to parking our vehicle under “No Parking” sign or may it be freely entering in “No Entry”, these are just few of the examples of our respect for the law when enforcement isn’t there! As we know nothing will happen & we can get away with breaking the law & when such is attitude of common man in the society, then how come real estate guys will be keeping away from this epidemic type disease of not respecting the law, is a question I will ask! Well let’s keep RERA away as that’s not the topic of our sharing but something else; it’s about story of a conveyance deed! For all those who don’t know conveyance deed let me share in best possible words by entering in flat agreement with the builder you don’t become owner of the flat! That is just a sale agreement but to convey the entire project on the name of the society or apartment condominium is what makes you true owner of your flat along with your share in the land on which the said building is built! Hussshha, I hope tried to put in words which you & I will understand as legal definition of conveyance might be in words totally alien for me at least! By now, thanks to social media & real estate bloggers, people have started to understand importance of conveyance deed & do urge their respective builders for the same which for strange reason is always a matter of dispute! Reasons may be many for e.g. the builder might be developing his project is phases & if part conveyance is done then obviously the society also become land lord needing their signs of every plans revision or many such documents. And in every society there always are few members who may take disadvantage of this authority they got via conveyance. In many case there is some lacunas in title or some bank loan issue or obtaining occupation certificate from the local body like PMC which refrains the builder for executing the conveyance. In many cases there have been some disagreements between the developer & the residents about non fulfillment of commitments which becomes matter of dispute in signing the conveyance & the list goes on!

On this background we recently completed one of our projects in Baner named Sadafulee & this was built in three phases. Like many other cases we have our commitments as well expectations from the flat holders. As the project was in phases we very clearly by taking occupants of first two phases in confidence told we will execute conveyance after completion of third phase which we did receive in committed time. There were certain disputes about clauses as well few pending works (which we have disagreements about). There was war of tongues & at certain points even Police was involved from both the sides, a first of this kind experience for me in my twenty seven years real estate working! Up to here all was going just like thousands of pending conveyance matters happening around; but then both sides realized the futileness of this attitude! And one fine day we i.e. myself along with my project partners & Chairman, Secretary of the said society sat across & decided that if any law agency can resolve the disputes then it lies amongst our own self  only! From that moment we were friends again; we shortlisted the points of conflicts & one by one discussed them with a clear mindset that we have to sort them & sort them now! The target was clear that both sides want conveyance, so if society wants some xxx amount against maintenance of the unsold flats then let’s pay it. At the same time few works which society felt are incomplete then we clearly put it these can be done & those can’t & won’t be done, that’s it! Both parties took one step back & two steps forwards & in next week we signed the conveyance & registered it with smiles!

The story doesn’t ends here rather it starts here & that’s the real fun; as after registration of conveyance execution Ravindra Patange, the secretary of said society called me & said they will be arranging a dinner in which we can hand over them the conveyance documents. This gave me one idea which I am sure no developer or society has ever done as why not to arrange a get together of all flat holders along with land lords & consultants & our staff & in that get together we will hand over the document to the society? And I said we will do all the needful arrangements at our cost as I felt that’s our responsibility (I won’t hide but not to forget few unsold units there, this marketing thought too was there a bit). On phone only we fixed a date, time & venue & arranged a dinner & next day email invite was sent to all flat holders as well on whatsap. Going a step ahead & as per the social culture of our company we invited Dr. Anuradha Shashtrabudhhe, who runs an NGO named Dnyandevi under which she operates a child care help line for kids from every segment of the society, as guest of honor. She not only accepted our invite but spellbound the audience by sharing her experiences while dealing with present issues of child psychology & urged the audience to give more & quality time to their kids, whatever age group they may be in! We handed over the conveyance deed to the Chairman, Secretary at the hands of Dr. Anuradha after heartfelt sharing’ from the Sadafulee residents about their experiences while dealing with us as well their feelings about their home. Residents were so excited that many have come from outstations specially for the event & one flat holder said when he told his friends that his builder has organized a get together for handing over of conveyance deed then they didn’t believed & he has to show them our invite for the event on whats-ap! In addition to conveyance deed we handed over a pen drive to the society loaded with every document related to the project i.e. right from scanned sanction plans to NA order to Completion certificate to Lift noc & all such. Icing on the cake was the society members have called local PMC elected member Mr. Amol Balwadkar also & we felicitated him in the get together. He said he has never witnessed such cordial relations between flat holders & the builder as every time he has been called by some society then it’s to solve the dispute with builder or to attend complaints about pending works by their builder!

In my sharing to the audience I said, “with due respect for RERA this get together is tight slap on the acts like RERA as what more transparency can be shared between the builder as well flat holders where both come on one platform & conveyance deed is executed with smiles on all faces!” The RERA has been bought in with all hohallah for making builders more transparent like they are some criminals. Agreed there have been many instances of real estate clients being cheated by the builders but then what about thousands of people buying flats in the hundreds of illegal constructions without demanding or verifying any of the necessary documents, just because rates of such flats are lower than the legal ones! Any business gets the reputation whatever it has, not by the turnover or profit it makes but by the kind of relations & trust it develops among the concerned parties. The real estate for years has been painted as bad child of the Industry, but let’s not forget it’s because of the people in real estate only & they are or were on both sides of the table! Transparency in the business works effectively only when its respected by the other side of the table & this is why Sadafulee conveyance deed get together is very very special, because we have been transparent as a builder & that’s been respected by our flat holders & the outcome is we don’t need RERA to make our customers happy & at peace! I repeat the kind of information which has been asked by RERA is not a problem neither the audits & commitments nor the punishment it threatens with, as its not by making some Acts or Laws but by the attitude of the buyer & seller towards the deal & trust they develop in each other is what decides fate of the industry! No act or law can stop ill elements as even when death penalty is there still murders’ happens around is a fact! In real estate also we are not afraid of RERA but what we want is a system which will allow the business to flourish & grow & no business can flourish by just protecting one side of the business, high time to remind our govt this bitter fact!

One more thing, RERA or MOFA is not the challenge for real estate but the changing mindset as well understanding exact demands of real estate clients is the main challenge which  real estate industry has to face & high time for the developers to acknowledge this fact. The Sadafulee get together is one sure way to get connected with your clients & strengthen the bond as well carving your image in their minds. Because if you can make your customers happy, then the market sentiments may change but the love & affection which your customers have for your company won’t ever change; what more a builder could ask for than this outcome! I am thankful to Sadafulee residents for teaching me this big lesson of marketing, practically free of cost; a rare thing in today’s world where everything comes at some cost!




Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU


Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !
 (Click the links below)



http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below) 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org


Think Green, Think Life


www.sanjeevanideve.com

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Real Estate; Making A Team Out Of Staff!





“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future”… George Bernard Shaw.

No need to give introduction to this name as probably one of the greatest writers in English literature Shaw knows how to make use of the words best! In any industry when you are a boss then month of May is nightmare, as its increment month for most of the companies! First thing is its human tendency that however wealthy  you might be yet when it’s to depart with your wealth then you become very calculative & second is you can’t stand to expectations of others from you when its giving, not even your own team, accept these two facts.  And then speaking about real estate the days are already…., well we all know it! But that can’t be the excuse when it comes to increment or facing your own team who is with you during all the ups & down. Speaking about real estate there is RERA for customers & then vendors, consultants as well contractors are in their respective business or profession so they do enjoy the good times when its high tide in real estate but one segment is often neglected that is employees in real estate. In first place not many will chose to become an employee of a builder (commonly referred term so using) as the builder may have got all the lime light but not true about his or her employees. Especially when it’s mid segment builder or a partnership firm. In my twenty seven years of real estate exposure I have rarely come across some builder’s employee who is IIT or IIM pass out or even from reputed B-school rank holder. That doesn’t mean the lot I have seen is dumb or below par rather many of them are street smart & learns very fast whatever you throw at them. What I meant is the so called crème d crème of academics never considers real estate as their first choice for making job career! And that makes real estate a tricky industry as to work with lesser intellects is a fact. The main reason of this situation is most real estate companies even those of big names with public limited tag are in reality are one man show. There are VP’s, Directors & GM’s, but all are of just obedient servants with the fancy tag. Very rarely the decisions which matters are collectively taken by considering opinions from all these posts but only by the boss i.e. the builder! And the result is what we are seeing today, not many real estate companies has successfully running over the generations, rather many of them vanishes during tenure of their entrepreneur only! The builder himself decides which land to buy, what to build there & at what rate it should be sold even what discount should be given! Naturally rarely in real estate firms’ things like HR & any such team building related things happens. As it’s solely the builder who decides the future of his servants, sorry for putting it harsh as a team has to be build out of the servants or else they just remain servants! When I see most of the real estate firms & their employees then I feel that they are still in “Bahubali”, (a recent super hit mythological movie about kings, queens & kingdom) era as whatever the person in the chair (read builder) of King or Queen decides, that becomes the rule or policy for the company!

Now with such legacy how we can expect to develop talent or new ideas or innovations from the real estate employees as all these are supposedly to be done only by the builder himself! I think what situation real estate has reached i.e. run out of new ideas the main reason is the rulers of this industry only as they have developed a culture where we produce not the team members but the slaves of our own self who are best in carrying builder’s orders or call it as whims & they do it obediently! And then if you see the background of the most staffers with the builders they are from small towns or middle class family & with average education! For them survival is most important priority & they are smart enough to understand if they want to survive in a builder’s owned company then the builder is God, is the first rule here! This may not be true for all the real estate firms as I know a few who have a better work culture but such companies are as I say just a  few & even here final word is of the builder. I haven’t ever come across a case where an important policy decision such as building plan or advertise theme, has been taken by the staff or some key person from the staff which is not from family of the builder! Many will say what’s wrong if the builder himself has got all his money at stake then it’s natural that he should take all vital decisions! Well, my view is if a person owns a ship that doesn’t mean he can maneuver the ship also! Any business’s final aim is to make profits but at the same time how many businessmen/women that business has created is also major criterion of the success of that business or the industry & on that account real estate scores pretty poor is a fact! And that’s why migration from real estate to other industries is very less as other industries doesn’t counts experience in real estate much.

Then comes taking care of the people who works with you, here also real estate has poor rating as most of the people in real estate are not eligible for even home loans as well don’t have basic facilities like PF or insurance. The real estate makes the builder rich or poor is different aspect but it seldom makes its employees rich is another fact. This is one main reason of corruption in real estate though it’s a private enterprise as when you deprive a person from what he deserves then he finds the avenues to fulfill his desires! As a team leader the builder should take equal effort on his staff as then only it becomes a team. Make them read, show them path of self development & it doesn’t take much of the money to do so. We at Sanjeevani has some simple ways, I am great fan of movies & I make my entire staff go to the movies which I feel can make difference in developing them. Right from Disney cartoons to Dangal, I make them see many movies. I love reading & I have made a small library at office for my collection & it’s open to my staff also & I urge them to read as much they can. Whatever interesting article in news paper I come across I share it with my team. I write to my staff very often & the writing is rarely about work but about life’s experiences. Some seven years back there was acute shortage of vegetables & rates have gone nearly three times of normal, then I tied up with a vegetable vendor & made him to come to our office & whatever vegetables my staff buys, the company bares fifty percent charges of the vegetables & the scheme is on till today! Every permanent employee of our staff is insured for any illness or accident up to Rs one lac & the company pays the premiums for the same. I am not mentioning this how great we are doing but sharing such small acts makes a team out of staff is what I feel & we can take it to further at any length! Sure many companies might be doing many good things with their staff but unless we share new things & adopt we won’t do better is what I feel!

Real estate is going through a transformation phase as margins have reduced & clients are becoming very selective. Supply will not be as less as it used to be earlier & selling every single unit is going to be a challenge though not impossible. At such times every team member of the firm needs to perform better & it’s not possible unless as a leader you make them do so. Right from peon to driver to marketing manager every person counts as for the customer every person he come across is face of the company only! And this feeling needs to be shared by the builder with his team, as management is not just science but it’s an emotion making every individual feel his or her importance for the company.
On all this background increment is nightmare for every owner & you need to take your teams in confidence about what you expect form them & make them understand the situation your business is in. Here is something I shared with my team about increment we gave. Figures are not important feelings are, so please go through…



1st June 17

"You get a reputation for stability if you are stable for years"... Mark Zuckerberg.

Dear Sanjeevani Team,

I am great fan of people like Zuckerberg not because they are rich, famous & build great business but in the simplicity as well clarity of their thoughts! And these things don’t come to you without knowledge which is their main asset as well strength! In the above quote Zuckerberg has said about stability & I feel he has said it in sarcasm as he is one person who will take stability as no growth! But I will go with plain meaning as in today's market of real estate being stable in itself is great progress! If you remember last year in May I have shared my concerns about not so "Achhe Din" in real estate ahead & unfortunately I was correct. We have survived only as we stick to basics as like in China War our Indian Army used to tell jawans, "Ek Goli Ek Jaan" i.e. one bullet one life, use the ammunition with such preciousness! Same is at our front, it’s a war as with Demonetization & RERA & GST already arrived, and nobody knows what will happen ahead. The sales are down & imagine we have stock of nearly Rs. Fifty Crores, half of our yearly turnover, a rare thing for us!

I don't blame any of you for not being able to sale as even industry like IT which is blue eyed field for most, is on job cutting & in every industry there is unrest. At such times to sale our product which is costliest is going to be more tough for us but not impossible. Rather this is the time when we need to improvise on all fronts of our industry. The marketing team should think of new avenues to reach customers & in cheapest ways. The engineering team should focus on finding vendors & contractors which will deliver in time with quality but keeping tap on spending for the same. All other departments should support these two departments in their best way & most important keep existing customers happy & satisfied & keep connected to us as they are our best brand ambassadors! And you may ask what I should do as your leader; well, I will do my best to keep you motivated as well able to think something different & make you deliver your best!

I know increment is something which each of us expects & will be never satisfied with as that's human tendency & I too am no exception when it comes to earnings! Yet as a team member each of you should understand the situation & this is time where to remain stable is our first priority & earnings will follow. It’s only with your dedication to the job we could remain unharmed even in worst crisis of real estate & sure we will ahead also. But remember one thing, here after the scene will be same in real estate. As gone are double rate increase of the flats in a year's time as well pre-launch bookings; here after the real estate market will be very selective & only those who stick to commitments will survive & we will be just like all other industries where business is done on margins. All over when we are seeing job cuttings, as your leader I too have to face toughest question, less people & more salary hike or lesser hike & no job cuts? Well, you know what I chose as I believe in going ahead with entire team because business is not just about earning more money but progressing together even if it is inch by inch! And one more thing I personally don't like to judge efficiency of any of team members on behalf of sale or production as it's a service we are in & our customers are the best judge for it which they will by responding in booking our homes or scraping us away; our choice what we want to achieve! So be it & lets enter in a new financial year together & that's our main strength, mind it! All wishes!

Sanjay Deshpande 

To conclude I will say what we do as a builder is what going to become image of our industry. And no industry has survived with the image of just money makers, if we are unable to make our own team members happy then the clients now are smart enough to understand what their fate will be with such company!

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !
 (Click the links below)



http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)
 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life


www.sanjeevanideve.com

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Connecting People to Nature!









“I really wonder what gives us the right to wreck this poor planet of ours.”  Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Kurt who was an American author as well a mechanical engineer by profession & World War 2 veteran; no wonder he has seen life from all dimensions that’s what made him pen down his feelings about environment is so simple words! And on World Environment Day I think these are the perfect warning words to share my views on the subject as yes we are wrecking, destroying, killing whatever we call, this very planet of ours is fact! World Environment Day (WED) occurs on 5th June every year, & is celebrated by United Nations as its drive to make people aware about the environment as well their responsibilities to conserve or protect the environment. First held in 1974, it has undertaken campaigns for raising awareness on emerging environmental issues from marine pollution and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. Each year, WED has a new theme that major corporations, NGOs, communities, governments and celebrities worldwide & use different concepts, events for protection as well aware about environmental cause the theme is on. WED with participation from over 143 countries annually celebrating has become now a global movement though as in our country for most it’s just like another Western Day on lines of Father’s Day or Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day! As come WED & many suddenly realize their love for nature & social media like twitter, FB, Whatsap gets flooded with nature  loving messages (mostly forwards) courtesy free 4G packages as well Wi-Fi! But hardly have I ever seen sharing of a personal or self made act of any effort of nature conservation, which is more important. On all such background this year’s WED’s theme is, “Connecting People to Nature’. I think this is very wise step as well most needed as in today’s selfish world which we tag ourselves only with the things which we feel are ours or we are interested in the matters related to our surface needs. So first step is getting connected to the nature as then only we will think doing something about it! Now before coming to the concept of the theme of WED let’s see what’s scene around our Smart Pune city on environment front.

What we see around is every day some tree has been cut under the name of building construction or road widening or some urban infrastructure need or polluted river or vanishing sight of sparrows! Just few decades back when I have come to this city the first lines of my letter to my mother which I wrote were, “This city doesn’t have summer” & it was mid May, can we say it today? Agreed we need to cut the tree for many things under the name of development but what about planting new ones & making them grow? Till few years back, air conditioners were the commodity only for riches & now with ever rising mercury AC’s are common sights even in one bhk flats! In addition we have millions of vehicles exhausts covering our surrounding with carbon monoxide & every such heat effect gas. Public transport has direct link to environment & in this city people don’t travel by public transport due to its poor service & the service doesn’t get improved due to many reasons, main two are no will of our rulers as well that of society to use the public transport! As we are so fussy about our time saving that we are not ready to wait even few minutes or to walk few more meters to use public transport. This is where we should understand importance of connecting people to the nature as when I accept to wait for PMPML bus spending my some time as well agrees to walk to the bus stop from my home or work place, then I am getting connected to the nature only! As by doing so I am somewhere helping our environment to get a shade better by helping in reducing pollution!

Then comes actually helping environment by planting a tree & making it survive as its easy to post a message about tree conservation or scowl others (read builders) about reducing tree cover but how many of us has actually planted a tree & made it survive? I am sure not even one percent of people who shares environment day messages have done it or else we wouldn’t have been required to discuss this topic in first place! We have followed a unique tradition at our end ie to make our flat holders plant tree in the building they have booked a flat. We put a name board of the family near that tree & make them adopt it; this way I can proudly say in last ten years we have planted & made survive at-least five hundred tress & all of native species & fruit-flower bearing which will make biodiversity chain complete! As what we see is just reduced tree cover in city what we don’t see is the damage it has done to entire biodiversity in & around the city. Not many years back there were many birds, butterflies, frogs & even monkeys used to be regular sight in the city suburbs. Now tell me on the roads of our Smart City when you have last seen a butterfly or bird like even bulbul leave apart Asian Paradise Fly Catcher, which also been seen in suburbs in past. I remember those evenings where post rains the entire surrounding used to get filled with frogs calls, so soothing was that sound! Many will say what’s big deal in it; have we not IT parks, Malls, Banks, Industries, Townships to make our life happy? Indeed these all make our life easy & Pune has changed a lot in last few decades but ask our own self, does the life gets complete with just banks, malls & IT Parks? Trees, Frogs, Butterflies, Sparrows & many other species are equal part of our life & if they get vanished then we lose entire link of a life cycle!

On this background WED’s theme has great importance i.e. ‘Connecting people with nature” as here people means you & me only, who can undo the damage we have done to the nature. And for that first understand what nature is as then only we can save it. Well it’s very difficult to define nature in words as it has made of so many things & has multiple dimensions. In holistic words we can define nature is made up of five elements i.e. Water, Fire, Earth, Sky & Air & all this surrounds us. So in a way everything in this world is part of nature & connected to the same but some fools like us forgets that connection & has to make efforts to reconnect with nature. And now look what we are doing to these five elements which make nature; we pollute the water sources like river & oceans with all drainage, chemicals & make life of species like fish miserable with our pollution attack & on top of it we kill whatever remaining fishes for our needs! We dump this earth with every possible garbage as well thrash at the same time we destroy habitats for all other species making them extinct & then run “Save Tiger” like moments to show our love for nature. We remove soil cover & make concrete roads leaving no place for mud or ponds so no frog can survive here! On air front we burn fire crackers & we produce millions of private vehicles instead of improving public transport & we build industries, all of these things emit toxic gases & thus we pollute the very same air which we only breathe! We consume every source of fire i.e. natural resources of coal & oil without caring that one day this all will end & then what? And lastly we even haven’t spared the sky as now to have a sight of stars in the sky we have to go out of our city, as all we look up & we see haze & smog, such is the condition we have made of our sky by every mean of pollution!

I think when we say, “Get connected to nature” then we need to understand our responsibility of our own self towards nature. Because reading after my above sharing people will ask, does connect to nature means stop development? No, it means making nature part of that development! Right from controlling human population which is major cause of nature destruction to allowing endangered species to survive we have to work on many fronts. First of foremost is don’t allow our need to turn in greed as then we eat up what other deserve. And let’s remember nature is not just humans but every species asset, so as most developed specie like a class monitor it’s our responsibility to see everyone has his share of nature on earth! And it’s not difficult a bit as all we have to do is be more sensitive towards whatever we do in our daily routine. May it be using public transport, watering a tree, throwing away a cold drink can or closing a tap; smallest acts like these when followed by millions becomes big conservation movement.

So let’s think about larger picture of a world where industries as well IT parks will grow along with clean rivers & serene mountains. A world where the kids won’t have required to go to a zoo to see a butterfly but can play with it in the backyards. A world where highways will be built but big trees will shadow those highways all along. A world where there will be sky scrapers with forests in the neighborhood & lots of places for frogs to sing their rain song. It’s in this world there will be bright star lit sky which can be seen from anywhere & there will be clear blue sky with sweet sound of chirping of birds & not the horns of vehicles! To build such world where every tree, every sparrow has equal share of the nature along with humans, is what gives us right to celebrate WED & every one of us has a role to play in this task. I think to understand this truth is first step for getting connected to nature as then only we have understood to celebrate World Environment Day or else all what will remain is Environment Day but Environment will be gone forever!
-- 

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1415&v=blgni8HSfDU

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani !
 (Click the links below)



http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)
 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life


www.sanjeevanideve.com