Vision of Life; by Sanjay: January 2021

Sunday, January 31, 2021

Post Lock-down Real Estate & Home Buying!

Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction... Germany Kent

Germany Kent is an American print and broadcast journalist. Kent is also regarded as a social media etiquette expert. Kent has authored ten nonfiction books including The Hope Handbook Series, best-selling written work The Hope Handbook, and the critically acclaimed book “You Are What You Tweet”, a national bestseller. And with the new year here (actually one month has already passed) not just real estate but all of us need to not just read but live by the philosophy hidden in the words of Ms Germany, especially now when the vaccine is in market & herd immunity against the pandemic is building (hopefully). Lockdown is over, though the pandemic is not but just like World War wounds which took decades to heal for the most European countries, this war also we will be carrying in our minds for much longer time than the lockdown period. There will be calculations for the damage done & predictions but one thing is sure each of us has been hit in some way or other so the silver line is barring few companies ( Netflix, Amazon etc) every segment of the business world has its own wounds to look after & nurse it. Real estate isn’t also exception & that way real estate was in doldrums even before the pandemic hit the world but let’s look from the positive aspect of the lockdown or the pandemic as one thing is sure the dimensions were already changing to buy a home (let focus Pune) & I will say the pandemic helped in gaining speed for this change of dimensions for buying a home!

Speaking about Pune which has been one of the dearest place (read as city) for the migrants from all over the country & even the world,(as someone told me there are over ten thousand Koreans in the city, that’s big number) for not just the jobs or knowledge this city offers to the residents but the life style also, which is an important aspect when you conclude on some place over other options as your home! And Pune was (is too) having it fullest in the form of hundreds of eating (and drinking too) outlets as well shops & malls with multiplexes & drama theaters & not to forget the social events like Ganesh Festival & Savai Gandharva which keeps the citizens entertained all around the year, what more one wants to for living when one is earning some money too in a city! So, agreed Pune was a hot destination for real estate & many industries as when a person is happy with the home then the reflection is bound to be seen as outcome of work front, is what every HR manager has been taught in his or her MBA degree, isn’t it! And so was real estate happy too as more jobs & more colleges’ means more migrants & means more need of the homes. AT the same time the existing genre of flat buyers in early seventies & eighties was also looking for up gradation of their home in the form of redevelopment or change of location of space. All this made real estate in Pune also a deer business for everyone associated with it, including the govt!

Well, with the pandemic fear factor melting slowly once again people will start a fresh & definitely one thing will be there that owning a home will be priority & this I am not saying because it’s my profession but that's a natural course of action in changed times! Take a look at early news headlines in midway of year 20, all those which fled from the city were the ones residing on rental basis in the city & when they came back in mid way of peak of pandemic the way they found it difficult to re-enter in their rental premise (courtesy the respective society's managements), I am sure they must have decided two things either move away from this city for ever or buy a own home & most will go by later option as getting away from Pune permanently is not an easy option, especially if you are from some small place in rural India! As once you are used to this lifestyle, its addiction is worse, is a fact! So this segment which was a rental resident will be a new flat buyers for the real estate though their budget may not allow them to buy a home where they were residing pre-lockdown (or else why would they get in rental in first place) but they will be ready to move a bit away also, yet have a own home!

Then there is work from home culture which is a life changing for many families, as never all five or six members of three genre has been needed to stay at a time for so long in the home & this has made many families to have a slight bigger home with added specifications in the home. And with work from home culture along with online schools & senior citizens not allowed to travel indeed need of additional room than having just big room sizes is being seen. One BHK family is looking for 2 two BHK & 2 BHK families are thinking of 3 BHK home as if husband wife are going to be work from home with kids school also from home then you are bound to need more rooms. This again will have own limitations as salaries are reduced (in most cases) & job security is a concern but life is not going to stop for this, right? So, start looking for options is the right way & upgrade on the basis of number of rooms rather than just location or amenities like swimming pool of club house which are actually useless for a while from now, yet the maintenance costs are there! At the same time do we really need big (I meant very big) room sizes as there always is a debate of what should be the ideal sizes of the rooms i.e. bed room or hall or kitchen. Well, there is no specific definition of such (there is actually in by-laws of PMC but that’s for sake of use) ideal dimensions of the rooms but what I feel is its individual’s perception which decides or say defines ideal, when its room sizes. So, just know what you want as room size because a 10’6” wide & 14’ long can be a good bed room & a 13’ wide & 18’ long also is a bed room only! I am not saying stay in a cramped room but reduction by a feet in all rooms if can give you one additional room then that’s need of the time is what I feel.

Also about the luxuries of the life, the pandemic has shown us that living by needs is always better than greed as who cares what brand of the jean or the watch you are wearing if you are wearing a mask to cover your face itself all the time, right? So, instead just looking for luxurious specifications if the project is offering more open spaces with trees & has open gym on terrace as well & if it’s a township then option of having some guest rooms common for the outstation visitors along with common workplaces & yes, Wi-Fi also, all these can be good & useful amenities. Agreed challenges in front of the builders are more high as everyone will try to salvage the damage done by the lockdown & even the Govt is not exception & will try to take away as much it can from the pockets of the business fraternity (what else it can do), the present 50% discount in premiums vs. making developers pay the stamp duty of the flats (homes) is classic example of the attitude the govt is thinking with! At the same time more FSI means more premiums & more homes & more revenue, is also what govt thinks & will flood the market with FSI but that means more supply & lesser margins & turnover at slower speed; do mind, all these aspect of real estate. And then there is issue of increased labor costs as our dear State (Maharashtra) opened its gates later than all others, most labor gangs have got engaged in other Metro cities as we can't expect them to be jobless for so long. And now real estate industry in the State is facing acute labor shortage, especially the skilled ones & then this is not an industry which can accommodate to work from home culture as its the home we are building in first place! The developers must consider all such aspects of real estate & yet try to give what the new generation clientele needs for their ideal home & not what as a builder we think is a best home!

I have deliberately used the term “New Generation Home Buyers”, as this is a new generation which has survived in the pandemic & has faced the lockdown bravely & is overcoming the damage it has done & I am sure in the process they have become wiser than earlier & this wisdom will be reflected in everything they buy hereafter & do mind a home is a need but the costliest need, do I need to tell any more to the real estate people!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

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

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-good-home-is-good-deal.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way(Click link below)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

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

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Friday, January 22, 2021

Ye Wala "Down Under" Special Hai!

“Some folks will say ‘Oh, Winning ain’t all!” But I know it is all. At the end of the day no one looks at the loser. So that is why we play to win.”... Vivian Richards

“You don’t play for the crowd, you play for the country.”... Mahendra Singh Dhoni

If you are reading this sharing as a cricket fan then you need not have to be introduced to this name but then even in this country there are people who doesn’t know Amitabh Bachhan & don't know rules of the game names Cricket, for such people (very few they may be) Viv Richards rather Sir Viv Richards is legendary batsman, fielder & part time spin bowler of West Indies & was part of the team when they ruled world cricket for more than a decade. More than that he is a wonderful human being & a great sportsman & that's why to start my sharing I used his quote & there is one more thing; the fourth test match which team India won at the venue of the Gabba i.e. stadium name at Brisbane in Australia, the last team to defeat Oz (i.e. Australia) at this venue was captained by Viv Richards & that was 33 years back, as since then no other visiting team has beaten Australia at Gabba venue! About the man whose quote I used after Sir Viv i.e. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, well, if you don't know this name also, then it’s ok, just keep reading, is all I will say! By the way, the test series in Australia is called Down Under because Australian continent, if you look at the map is down i.e. geographically located below all other continents, so visiting there is called as Down Under!

Well, most of you might be knowing about it now & thanks to FB, Insta & Whatap as so much has been written about this victory that as usual people just reply by thump-sup or smiley to any such forward even die hard cricket fans, but then I am not writing this for cricket fans or followers, I am writing this for myself & those who doesn't know the impact of cricket or any game & its outcome on our life or how the correlation between the two things exists!

Before I start, will share a whatsap message I posted on my team (Sanjeevani work group)....

In test match to make 300 plus run on fifth day in australia against best speed attack with world no 1 fast bowler & world no 1 off spiner bowling u , no team has achieved it ever & barring rahane n pujara no other indian batsman in d team playing has ever visited autralia before this series..and they did it which no indian team has ever done...
attitude attitude attitude, of never to give up...salute team india for teaching me this basic of life once again at age of 52.. the best part what bought tears in my eyes is indian team signing on a tee shirt & presenting nathen lion for his 100th test, this is india guys, we respect our rivals also for their achievement, this is probably best of sports moment in my 45 years out of 52 where i hv been seeing all types of sports...cricket that too test which i lv most.. thnku thanku god, for making me abe to see these moments... sanjay deshpande ( attached snaps of tv screen)

Above message I shared with my friends also & once again we were in our half pants & in rubber sleepers, diving on ground or shouting names of teammates, playing cricket with a tennis ball on a ground which is a dried farm-land, under blazing sun with temperature souring above 45 degrees, in a small town named khamgaon in vidarbha!

As usual many people will frown by reading all this & will say, this is too much of glorification of a game which is played competitively in hardly ten countries in the world out of some one eighty odd countries. And again there are many who thinks this game (test matches) is such a waste of time with five days pattern & twenty two men (women also play) wasting their time & others along, who watches a test match & do we really need it with T-twenty days (IPL) around! My answer is, its matter of choice as if a five day test match is waste of time then Tour D France (Cycling competition) is also a waste of time or when Sir Edmond Hillary climbed Mount Everest that mountaineering is also a waste of time or even the Olympics which goes on for nearly sixty days is also a waste of time & so does many tournaments of different sports for e.g. Golf, as except those who are interested in it (and can afford to play it) who watches them! So, the answer is, any sport in any form if you are considering as waste then go & check seriously your IQ as well attitude is what I will advise as a sport is not just a time pass but it’s an opportunity presented to you to test your physical & mental endurance by your participation in it & that's why cricket , even in test match form is not a waste of time!

Rather test match format really tests you to your extreme as for five days you are on ground running, bowling, batting, catching or fielding, giving everything you have within to the game. And in the process you have to face extreme weather, you have to be mentally fit to take on the abuse from the spectators as well sledging (taunting from the opposite players), you have to be alert by mind to understand the tactics opposition team & management will be using to get your wicket or to smash your bowling. And you have to be physically fit to stand & deliver despite the weather as you may a Mumbai born boy who is used to humid & warm temperature but then you have to play in Oz or England where mornings are bitter cold & windy & a smallest injury to your fingers hurt like a gun wound! You have to train your body to sustain all the weathering effect & stand there in your fittest form as then only you can give your best & this all makes your realize what you are within, this is why I don't think test cricket is a waste!

And about popularity of this game in our country, it’s because every kid can afford it with whatever infrastructure (financial or social) he or she has in their backyard, that's why the game is of masses, just the way football is in Brazil! And then thanks to the names like Dhoni, Sachin Dravid & now Siraj, Pant, Gill, Sundar, Natrajan, Shardul & many such; you don't need to have a wealthy farther or family to make you able to play it in big way i.e. international level, for your country as if they can do it, then you also can do it! This is why the game is popular & this is why this Down Under tour is special & so is why this win of team India is very special! By now a lot has been already written about the test series win & about contribution of youngsters & how it’s been played against all adversities etc etc & I won’t bother you with those specifics of the team India, also there has been greater wins in the past & celebrations too as how can my genre (40-50 in age) ever forget the 83 World Cup win & again T-20 World Cup & a decade back again the World Cup lifting, indeed they all were wonderful moments of cricketing history yet this is special & different because its outcome is not just some test series win & retaining a trophy named Border – Gawaskar! The greatest outcome of this test series win by me is Hope, Confidence, Attitude & Dedication! As if one has these four elements then nothing is impossible to achieve, this message which also is an outcome of the win of Team India!

And this win has given many young, unknown faces, face of Super Hero, which again is like Salim Javed's script of Big B's movies in 80's when angry young men used to correlate their frustration & anguish & their fight with "Jalim Jamana", which has deprived them luxuries of the life & which are meant to for a lucky few. As look at the names who played vital role in this series win & their backgrounds; may it be Siraj, son of a rikshawala in Hyderabad or Shardul Thakur, living in a outer suburb of "Aamchi Mumbai' & lower middle class family, they are idols of the country now. Oh, yes there was Rishabh Pant & Shubham Gill too, who displayed one more quality that is, be fearless & charge on the opponents without thinking (read as worrying) about their might! Who will forget image of a twenty one year old boys dancing down the pitch & throwing world no 1 off-spin bowler in to the stands like they are playing gully cricket or going on the back foot & punching world's no 1 fast bowler for boundary, trust me it must have felt like a slap on face for him! This is what makes the win special as message is clear, this generation is not afraid of taking on any opposition! And do mind, in the country full of people which otherwise are busy in forwarding each other Ram Mandir vs Masjid type messages, today nobody asked Siraj (a Muslim) what's his religion while he is playing for his country & opted to stay in Australia while his beloved father passed away back in this country, as he knew his country needed him as all the regular bowlers are injured, he stood & kept bowling keeping the grief away! Look at Washington Sundar or Shardul Thakur, who were waiting for this very opportunity to prove that when their time comes they don't need any caste or birth or income group certificate to get them in the team but they are here by their skills & efforts & dedication to deliver what they know best i.e. to play! This is why the Down Under win is special, as it gave hope & confidence to millions of youths who blames the system for not being able to fulfill their dreams & then this wasn't some movie like Gully Boy where a slum dweller boy becomes Super Star, this is real life story of gully boys which earned their place to stardom by what they have & these qualities each of us has, so each of us can be there where we want to be, some day, whatsoever system there may be around!

And what these Gully Boyz has displayed, nothing extra-ordinary actually, as most of them where in queue to get in the main playing team & the injuries to the senior players gave them that chance & they grabbed it with both hands. Same way, every one of us gets some chance in the form of opportunity on some day at somewhere, it’s just that we are not ready or prepared to grab it & hold on & then we blame to luck, to system or to anybody for our inability to become the star! This is what these boys told to entire country silently by their actions & this is why the down under win is special! And indeed its contribution & courage showed by the seniors also matters a lot as look at Pujara who remembered me (and many) of a soldier standing along on a border while the enemy is breathing fire & yet hold them while the watch keeps ticking to frustrate the enemy & ran it out of ammunition! And Rahane the make-shift caption like Sunny Deol in Border movie, kept dancing all around & keeping his wounded inexperienced troop's moral high; to watch this all happening in real life, is what makes this down under win special!

To conclude, when the fourth & the decider test match was in the last phase, some twenty over remaining & India was five wickets down, on our college batch group discussion going was what will be the result’ I wrote, guys India will win as they are playing to win & not to save the match! Do mind, even the draw could have made India to keep the trophy with us but a win is what a champion plays for & exactly this is what these gully boys did. My genre has seen some great names in the game & trust me they were & are real great but they also would have hesitated to go for the win had they playing today at Gabba & would have saved the match which would have considered as a moral victory but not this Team India, which believes in only one thing & that's winning & yet not to lose the basic sportsmanship of the game! They played by simple rules of the game, give your fullest, be focused, be positive & enjoy the game, and play to win & if you lose, it’s ok, this isn't the last game, keep doing the same for next game! This message is the outcome of the series Down Under & it’s not for cricket or the sports lover, this message is for every person, even grown-ups & so called successful personalities too & this is why the win is very very special! Thanks team India for making me know how much is there for me to learn about living the life, keep playing & keep enjoying, win usually follows, is I know by now!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

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

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-good-home-is-good-deal.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Real Estate, Team India & Test of Character!

“In our personal and professional lives, we are constantly hit with one adversity after the other, most of which we have no control over. But the four things we have total control over is how we react, how we adapt, how we breathe, and how we take action”... Diamond Dallas Page

Dallas Page, better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, fitness instructor, motivational speaker, and actor. And no wonder a wrestler turned motivational speaker only can say such words about adversity & above words are actually most needed by none other than the real estate! And indeed the year 2020 was one of the night merest year for most, on personal as well professional fronts but in the last week of the year end one incidence happened which I feel is a must to share & it’s about Indian cricket Team i.e. Team India! Ok, before coming to real estate, here is something I wrote to my team i.e. my office & site team, will share that....

Sharing 1 (on whatsap so, pardon me as I have kept the language as we use on whatsap)

Dear team,

U must be wondering for laddoos i.e. sweets. Today is a great day not because we are doing good at flat bookings & one more flat at prestige has been booked, that’s there but more is for the historic test match win by team India on Australia that too on the Boxing Day match i.e. a match which starts on next day of Christmas & has always been a pride for Australian team!! And do mind team India has faced humiliating defeat in earlier test matches by getting all down at their lowest ever test match score i.e. mere 36 runs!! And entered in this match without their captain virat kohli who was the maximum run maker in the last test!! Nobody has put money on Indian team but that is what differentiates the winners & normal team! As it's not who says what about ur capacity but what u believe about yourself is what matters in the end & exactly this is what team India did, they remain focused, they believed themselves & they delivered what they had best in them on ground!!
This is what we have to learn from such games; it's not that Australia played badly but its team India which played their best!! This is something we also have to adopt as we must put the bad times behind & keep giving our best & victory will be ours!!...

Sharing 2

Greatest Draw I have witnessed in recent cricket...

It was best of the test cricket, battle of not just bat & ball but its battle of attitudes, it's a fight to get our own best from within...if there was pujara making 77 in some 200 balls, there was rishabh pant making 97 in 112 ball & then 6th pair in the form of ashwin & hanuma vihari playing for 41overs facing some of the best attack in world cricket& when they both were injured physically & Vihari was not in best of his form is young & under pressure to maintain his place in team while ashwin wasn’t even considered as reliable batsman as he is a bowler; what this bunch showed was a combination of aggression, grit, determination, patience & courage, this is what makes present Indian team so special & to be not just of proud but to learn from it! If the earlier test win was historic, this is a historic draw as sometimes a match drawn is better than a match won!! I always love test cricket as that's like life, it makes you face every aspect in the journey & tests you from all dimensions & makes you know yourself better with every day of that five day journey!!
Jio Team India, keep fighting!!...

Well, most readers will know the reference as in this country where movies & cricket are like oxygen & water for human living yet there always are few exceptions, for them, first sharing is about Indian cricket team winning 2^nd test vs. Australia while first test we lost with the lowest ever score in our cricketing history. And the second sharing is we saved the third test fighting against all odds & the test is draw i.e. no team won yet the moral victory is of Indian team!

Now, one will ask what’s big deal, it was a game & games are to lose as well to win so sometimes you win sometimes you lose, what’s it related to real estate or say industry or our life? Indeed , my team (work team) also must have got this question in their minds when I distributed sweets to them for the victory in second test match but they didn’t asked (unfortunately though I am a regular boss, yet in this country you don’t ask questions to your boss, may it be a home or office, is a unsaid, unaccepted fact) yet I know the questions along with many other, in their mind & so there are many people around, even from real estate also who must be wondering about the co-relation between team India’s performance & situation or real estate industry! Let me clear, first, this sharing is indirectly applicable for not just real estate but any profession or business or even normal life also & second, it’s not about performance or win or draw of team India but the attitude they displayed during these two games! As winning a game & drawing another doesn’t necessarily makes you best team or takes you to top of the world but then no battles is ever final, but it’s what we learn from that battle, surely is! This is exactly what I wanted to share as same like team India while real estate enters in to a New Year, the past (very recent past I mean) is like a nightmare with every possible negative thing happening on polices as well turnover as well hurdles front. The future looked even darker with unrest or say unease created due to unsuerity in the perspective buyer’s mind which directly getting reflected on their decision to buy a thing as costly as a home. At the same time the commitment under the hanging swords like RERA to the existing customers keeps hanging on the head along with the constantly ticking interest meters of the finance taken for the ongoing projects! And is this is not enough then there is no clarity if the policies regarding rules controlling the real estate like same development control rules over the State (as usual barring a few pockets) & merging / demerging of villages (I am referring to Pune real estate) so you are not sure whether to get your plans sanctioned & from which authority, & many more such aspects, all combine demoralizing to even the strongest of the developer (financially I meant)!

And all such back-ground not just some pandemic but even the govt also keep charging on the industry like pace attack of Australian team testing the builders with short pitch deliveries along with spin magic of policies like a googly i.e. zero stamp duty for the customers & builders will pay that stamp duty to the govt if they avail the 50% discount on premiums! Well, well, what you can expect when the policy making squad includes our nemesis like Mr.Deepak Parkeh (sorry with due respect with his intentions & knowledge I said it) & then the very govt expects developers to make the homes affordable to the common man. One interesting thing is when it’s doing something good for real estate(making policies I mean), Mr. Parekh & all such names never suggest or come up with anything about reducing prices of basic material like steel, cement or say finance interest rates for real estate, I wonder why so! Anyways, that’s another aspect of sharing & if all this is not enough then there are local Bhai’s (Netas) ever demanding punters as well Right of Information Act named blackmailers (again keeping due respect to the genuine ones) whose only interest is fill their pockets than unearthing the wrong doings at the sites! Oh, yes then there is a monopolistic system of unending NOC’s & sanctions from many depts. (govt who else) which tests not just patience but every breath of the builder to get through that spell. And lastly there are clients (these are new age clients) which are ready to use their free Wi-Fi & go all guns behind the builder on social media for smallest mistake he makes while communicating with them (again with due respect to the genuine problematic cases by the builders)! And then there is age old poor infrastructure issues right from delay in supply of electric meters to water supply & many such for which the builder is hanged by the clients & the media while fault lies with the system named govt!

And on such background the builder has to face the New Year where he is expected to fulfil his commitments about possession of the projects along with making some money for which he or she is in the business of real estate; isn’t the story line matches with team India’s battle going on recently in Australia! This is why I chose the example of team India’s attitude towards game which the real estate (read as builders) must adopt towards the business, as try to win the match is make some good money (no harm in it) & at the same time show enough grit to survive in the business as that is equally important because if you stay on the crease, only then you can win the match, is simple logic of the game! And for that as a builder one has to follow some basic rules of the trade which most of us has forgotten in last few decades! Don’t rush for any land deal as it’s the last piece of the land on the earth, don’t commit something which is in not your control or capacity (especially about infrastructure like roads or water supply types), try dealing in present & not in future. And most importantly be transparent with your customers & vendors & staff about your way of working & the goal you want to achieve as well keep be particular in communication!

Fortunately by now the vaccine is in market & that’s a big morale booster for the masses yet don’t forget this lock-down & pandemic has made a far bigger impact on the mindsets of the people than physical & though the wounds will heal yet the scars will be there for longer time than any one has expected. The spending will be value for the money & indeed residence of own will be a priority but home buying will be need-base strictly. So, while we buy any land do mind the needs as well budget aspect of the prospective home buyer while we design the project on it, something which we have forgotten to do in the past or say never needed to do in first place! As the govt also has burnt its pocket (reserves of the country) & will try to recover it by two ways, one is by taking out from our pockets by taxes, premiums & sess & at the same time by increasing FSI so more & more avenues will open for the development. But it’s a two way sword as more supply in the market means more options for the home buyers & lesser margin, I am sorry I am not some Warren Buffet to comment something on economy or finance but then when you are on pitch facing attack from both ends then it hardly matters whether you are playing for team India or for your own business team, all that matters is to save the team you are playing for & progress towards the target, isn’t it!

For the home buyers also this is testing time as if on one side they have to care for their career, future planning of their kids as well ever increasing expenses then on second side this is best of the times to buy home as everybody wants them to buy one, even the govt! Just do mind, when there are many options then to chose is more difficult than when there are fewer options as you have to choose wisely now! To conclude, I will recall reading a wonderful comment by historian Michael Woods about our country, “History is full of Empires of the Sword, but India alone created an Empire of Spirit”! Well, real estate, the team India has shown how to live by this quote, it’s time for us to show we too know to fight with the Spirit for the good cause & what better cause there can be than of a good home for everybody!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

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

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-good-home-is-good-deal.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Amur Falcon, Guests of Nature & Human Hosts!

“In the nature every specie has its own way to live but only the humans live by making others life miserable”... Me.

Lol, above words are by me only (who else can be so sarcastic!) though these words are not an outcome of frustration (fortunately) but amusement whenever I get to observe our race’s (read as human) behavior towards other species! And recently once again I got to witness though the reason was not wrong (this time), without stretching your curiosity, its about Amur Falcon's sighting in a town Lonavala near Pune which is more known as hill station! Indeed Pune is famous for its nature & wild life lover's & of late the money as well stability has made many well settled people to become birder & many youngsters are also part of this league ! Nothing wrong rather I always think it’s a boon as the money spent to buy fancy cameras & other gears is finally going for nature conservation only. And then due to access to this money only, the so called birders' & wild lifers' can visit many places which common man or the tourist won't ever think about venturing in to! And when the place is so nearby & the object is something like Amur Falcon which hasn’t been ever seen in these part of the country then no wonder it has become talk of not just Pune but entire central India. As wild lifers (birders) flew in flock faster than any prey or hunter birds to capture this bird at Lonavala. For those who are thinking that internet (FB/ Insta) has go mad with images of this bird & Kestrel i.e. another prey bird in the same habitat, well Amur Falcon is a resident bird of China Siberia border (Mongolia) & travels nearly some twenty thousand plus kilometres every years in winters to Africa & on route it stops in India in Nagaland! That makes Amur Falcon unique as no other prey bird travels to such distance every year! In the process, thousands of Amur Falcons every year visits Nagaland in India & if you want to see this bird then you have to go to Nagaland which is nearly three thousand plus kilometres from Pune or Central India! Now you can imagine why all these people are rushing to Lonavala to click Amur Falcons as it’s cheap & habitat is grass land which isn’t the case with Nagaland which is thickly wooded to make photography difficult especially that of the birds!

Now, one will ask what’s big deal, just one bird & why so much hohallaha like it’s something coming from Mars! Again I don’t blame to all such question raisers as when its nature & wild life, there are only two categories in this country (even world), one is, which really cares & wants to do something for the wild life & other is which just don’t care as they are ignorant & thinks that the wild life conservation is baby of affluently rich people who has done with their all needs or of the people who are crazy in their head (scientist types) & again I won’t blame the other category people for their this logic as they are right in a way! As in those who calls themselves as wild lifers are two categories, one who really cares & wants to do something for wild life conservation & second more recently evolved specie is of well settled personalities from the city life for whom this is new in thing as well get away from their so called successful city or urban life! But that’s ok unless & until their hobby or get away is beneficial for the wild life no harm if they encash it with some publicity of social media & takes pride in getting labelled as wild lifer!

Problem with this second category of the wild lifers is they want to click the wild life & show-case it more than to conserve it & in the process agreed tourism & allied activities does helps people around wild life gets their earning but the over enthusiasm to get the better shots does bothers the actual wild life i.e. the habitat including the object, may it be a Tiger or Amur Falcon, this is my cause of concern & sharing! As the moment news spread about sighting of the Amur Falcon in Lonavala in a habitat which is grassland patch among hills & part of backwater of a dam which is under control of Tata Group & not under forest dept or any govt dept, the place is flooded by wild lifers of both categories. And agreed nobody wanted to harm the Falcons or other birds but the way we invaded the place it may be harmful for the birds over there in the long term. As first it’s a grass land with lots of wild flowers & shrubs things & all sorts of vehicular moment is happening there to capture the best shot, damaging the grass itself because of this moment! Then more people means more garbage & thrash attracting birds like crows & kite & stray dogs to thrive on this garbage which in turn will be a big threat to not just falcons but their prey base, driving them away from the place which they must have chosen as a safe base! This has to be controlled & managed in proper way is the only concern as no harm in admiring the falcon in our area & give it popularity by clicking its shots (and in process get yourself also popular) but if we want this bird & many other make this habitat as their home & visit here every year then we only should make their stay comfortable, right? As the migratory birds or animals are like guests in our home which we love & want them to visit us again & again & that will happen only by we treating them in nice way so that they should feel to visit us again, is the simple logic! And on that front we are useless as a host for not just the Amur Falcons but for any specie, is what I wanted to point out. Because it’s not about falcons & the grass land & Lonavala but there are such thousands of spots in our State & the country which has been gone to dogs (literally) because of our carless & ignorant attitude towards our guests which are in a way form of the nature itself! We don’t know how to treat our guest & take care of their stay with us thus we either drive them away or make them extinct many a times. Classic example is in our Pune city (shall I call Smart City) where the rivers Mula & Mutha used to have many migratory birds as visitors & we polluted the rivers to such an extent that now there are no such visitors we get! And this list is endless right from kawdi paat (an eastern suburb of Pune) where many birds used to come & pollution of water body has driven them away. Under the name of beautification we changed the biodiversity of Pashan Lake, another wonderful holiday home for migratory birds & now they have deserted it! And then we have such hundreds of spots around every town & city in the form of water bodies or grass lands or hills which have been used as a vacation spot by many species of birds every year which we didn’t protected properly & are now abandoned by all these wonderful visitors!

I think instead of playing the usual blame game; let’s focus on how we can undo the damage done to such patches of land which are actually habitats for many species around. As the sighting as well publicity the Amur Falcon has got is actually a ray of hope in the darkness around, that still we have got some places available which make our nature’s guests happy & they are willing to come & stay with us for a while! It’s not about whose job is it to protect such lands, it may be a forest dept or Tata employees or wild lifers or common citizens, as for the birds we as human are one specie only! Joke is the birds & other animals can understand & acknowledge we the humans as one specie but we ourselves haven’t understood it & keeps differentiating among ourselves & fighting within us only thus making our home (read as earth messy) a non welcoming place for our guests like Amu Falcon, hope we will achieve the wisdom like the birds has, some day; amen, with this note!

Below is something I posted along on my flicker account with images of Amur Falcon & which was the inspiration behind above sharing!

Sanjay Deshpande

"If you listen to birds, every day will have a song in it"... Kyo Maclear

Kyo, is author of the famous book, Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation & no wonder that's why she can write so fondly about the birds! Well, many wonder how I suddenly started birding or got interested in birds, simple, for me birding is just one face of wildlife as what's wild life without birds chirping & alarm calls! Indeed the birds, all types of them are very much part of wild life, it's just that they don't have a glamour like a tiger nor has got size like the elephant which can display it to attract tourists yet without birds any habitat is incomplete & that's why when I started clicking birds for me its wildlife only! And indeed it’s difficult to locate a bird & to click it by identifying it as they are fast, they are small (in comparison to the mammals) & they can fly so they can be anywhere & that's what makes sighting & to click a bird more interesting. For me bird photography is not just using a big lens & taking a close-up but capturing its habitat, its space as then only we can conserve that bird by knowing its needs!

Recently a small flock of Amur Falcons is being sighted in town Lonavala near Pune & is a rare thing because it's not a bird you get to see in this part of the country. May be on its travel from Mongolia to Africa it has decided to take a stop & has liked the habitat which is grass land along back water of bhushi dam among hills which are fortunately still green! Jungle Belles, an organization run by Aarti, Anuj & Hemangi arranged our trip to the location & here are few clicks, mostly of females. They are bigger in size & seem to be bolder than the males. Will share more of the male Amur falcon images soon (hopefully)! For anything you can contact JB at...

junglebelles.pune@gmail.com

team Sanjeevani is proudly associated with jungle belles & wildlife conservation... sanjay deshpande

Watch some moments in the wilderness of Amur falcon at the link below & share if liked...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157717697861306