Festival Times, Society & Real Estate!

 

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“Diwali (Lakshmi Pujan/Amavasya) is the darkest night of the year. And our ancestors have taught us to overcome darkness with light.
When the moon is not shining, neither the sun, sky is dark; India glitters. Proud of being part of such a wise and one of the finest traditions.
Diwali is practicing "तमसोमा जोतिर्गमय" . . .
Happy Diwali to all. May there be light in your life” . .  Harihar D. Naik

“Festivals promote diversity, they bring neighbors into dialogue, they increase creativity, they offer opportunities for civic pride, they improve our general psychological well-being. In short, they make cities better places to live”... David Binder

Two quotes from two writers living opposite sides of the earth & in totally different cultures, Harihar is a Desi from our own India while David is from the West i.e., USA yet when it comes to festivals the feelings are the same, that’s the beauty of festivals! On the background of last two years this Diwali is like coming out of a dark tunnel on to a bright sun shined road ahead & no wonder everybody is ecstatic (read as traders) as in normal times also the festive season which starts after Pitrupaksh to nearly New Year is considered as best for business. And then nearly two years of World War (what else you can call that period as) with an unseen enemy I think it's only the festivals which can really get the society on track. And then it's this year of the time where Christmas & Diwali both join hands in nearly the same quarter of the year making the season a really global festival. No wonder, news papers are full with advertises (once again) & that’s best way to build the mood for shopping as you open any page of the newspaper you get to see discount figures of sale, you ride on the roads the smiling faces on the billboards look at you selling some product, you open you FB or Insta account & you know what happens, some add popup which you have liked even once (AI magic) & finally you decide to buy something!

Trust me, this time everyone was waiting for Diwali like Chatak pakshi for rains (A phrase about mythical bird which drinks only rainwater from sky) as traders are looking this as an opportunity to cover losses for last two years & the buyers are ready to get their pockets dry happily as after all why you earn if there is no outlet to spend your earnings, right? And builders (read as real estate) are no exception for eagerness towards festive times, though the product of real estate i.e., the home is not something which someone will buy as shopping & not definitely today's buyer! Yet a home is considered as a very auspicious or say ambitious purchase as this is something a one time buy for most of the purchasers! There are new launches of homes, there are ready possession homes, there are in making homes & all are with some offer, making it happily difficult for the home buyer to choose! Yet the basics remains the same, first understand what you want as a home & then check for the offer as a home is something which no one should buy just for an offer & most home buyers are smart enough to realize this yet here comes the magic of advertisement in picture!

Many people ask me, does festivals really makes impact on the sales & I am not even one percent a marketing man yet logic is, festivals uplifts mood of the people & any sale happens usually when you are in a happy or say positive mindset, the only exception to this law is of cigarette & liquor sales! (lol, sorry it was just in humour). When the mood is gloomy or depressed, how can someone go & buy sweets or clothes or a car or a home, though there is a concept like “shopping therapy” for depression but that therapy is not applicable for the purchase of a home! Coming back to real estate right from exhibitions to social media the real problem is what home buyer will like & how to match the two ends i.e., the product & the budget (read as needs) of the home buyer. As on one hand, making costs are skyrocketing including land costs & govt costs (all premiums & fees) at the same time the marketing costs are also increasing by day but when it comes to actual sale of a ready homes the customer expects rock bottom price, is the biggest challenge in front of the real estate. And it’s in the festive times when the mind is happy & ready to actually buy a home, there are best chances that the customer will overlook (hope) the price aspect & decide to go for the deal, this is where festive times can make the difference even on the product like that of the real estate, is what I feel!

Speaking about Pune the equation is getting crazier as on one side land prices are going haywire due to demand for not just Homes but for Hospitals, Workspaces, Eateries, Education & many such uses making a home very costly affair but at the same time buying capacity of the home buyer is a major concern. Nowadays, a home buyer isn’t satisfied with spending all his or her earnings for one single buy even though that may be for home. This genre wants their lifestyle intact & not to get burdened under the load of EMI for home loan & choose wisely or say take their own time to decide on the right home. And this makes the entire marketing tricky for the builder as what price to quote & this is the reason many builders are turning to giving marketing to Channel Partners or Sole Selling agents. In a way this is again a new opportunity for business but somewhere the dialogue between the builder (read as his team too) & the home buyer is getting lost in this mechanism. And this makes planning of new projects or pitching of new projects harder for the builder as unless you don’t know the mindset of your end customer then how you will make a right product, time to think for the builder fraternity! This is where festive times is an opportunity for the builders to be in touch with the customer as it's in the happy mood the customer will walk in at sites, sales offices or at the main office & you can understand the customer a lot better via your team as well by yourself as a builder with interactions. Do mind, the customer is going to ask for the sun & moon but you are not an astronaut to deliver him that, you are a builder, don’t forget this fact! Use the festive time to make customers come in a positive mindset but use these times to make him aware also about the market realities. As a home buyer also, this is a good time to go for a home as Pune is becoming a hub for entire Central India is a fact & today there are choices but the scene may not be the same for long because of two things. One is, the demand for homes is increasing slowly but definitely & second is, there won’t be many players if you make the smaller players bleed as then only the big guns will remain in the market & you know what happens when there is no competition (Jio has taught us that) in the market? Here many will say why we should care as we will have our home, why we should bother about no competition, & I don’t blame them. But do mind, your home may be serving to you but it’s not on some remote island, as tomorrow your kids will be required to buy their home here in this city & at that time if there is no choice, you only will be at blame just the way we will be at blame for a polluted earth if we only don’t care now for the environment, right? And my suggestion (read as advice) to the aspiring home buyers is, not every deal which matches with your pocket is a right deal for the long term, especially when the product is like home, supposedly to serve you for more than fifty years along with its makers! This doesn’t mean you accept whatever the builder is quoting but what this means is, a home is to be checked on all the aspect such as service, durability, workmanship, planning, future surrounding development of the project, the builder & the price; if the offer (read as the rate) is good considering all these fronts of the deal then only you can say it’s a good offer!

So, builders & home buyers, the real celebration of the festival is striking a balance between greed & need & entering into a win-win deal! That’s why as a builder, promise only what you can fulfil happily & peacefully by yourself or else the Diwali for the home buyer will become Diwala (Bankruptcy) for you, mind it!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

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

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

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 / https://junglebelles.in/

Communication, Real Estate & Builders!

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“Communication is a skill that you can learn. It's like riding a bicycle or typing. If you're willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life” … Brian Tracy

Brian Tracy is a Canadian-American motivational public speaker and self-development author. He is the author of over eighty books that have been translated into dozens of languages. His popular books are Earn What You're Really Worth, Eat That Frog, No Excuses & such! And no wonder as I always say (read as admire) about USA’s marketing skills that it’s the communication & not just the product which makes you successful. Indeed, quality of the product does matter but it has to be backed up with the service & the service starts with right communication. Do mind, I am saying right communication & not just good or bad as these terms keep changing depending on which side of the table you sit, but right & wrong never changes whichever side of the table you may be on! Well, why I required or say felt the urge of taking this subject is present scenario in not just real estate but entire society & on that background real estate (read as builders & all entities related to them) stands more prominently dark when its field of communication!

Not long back, I remember an incident where there was a demand for a rate hike by stone quarry owners for the supply of metal (its stone) & crush sand etc. These are raw people & their representative panel has come to meet us at CREDAI i.e., the social body of real estate developers. I was one of the panel members from the CREDAI side. During the negotiation one of the builders said to those traders that they can reduce payment duration for the supply instead of increasing the rate of the material. Hearing this argument, one of the supplier said, “Maf kara sheth, tumho olakhla nasel mala pan, me tumhala supply karato, pan payment sathi shambhar chakara marayala lawatat tumache loak & ta tas baswun thewatat tumachya  officeat aani tumhi tar bhetat pan nahi na phone uchalt, aani tumhi payment term kami karayachya goshti karar rao!” What he said meant, he was supplier of that builder & said not only his bill payments get delayed but that builder’s staff makes him visit hundred times to his office for payment & make him wait for hours at office the builder never meets the supplier nor take his calls! I am sorry my fellow builders, but when it comes to communication, we are ranked as worst in the entire fraternity of businessmen. It is a shameful fact which is directly related to the brand or say image of the entire builder’s trade, this is why I chose communication as the subject of my sharing!

And let me tell you very clear, this is not because I am perfect in communication or runs any gyan.com or I love to give bad name (read as shame) to the builders which most media & Aam Janata loves to do but I myself have experience of the ways people communicate in our industry & someone needs to tell the facts if we want to improve, that’s why this sharing! We all have land lines, mobiles, emails & then we can actually write a letter, these are the basic ways of communication apart from actual meeting across, right? Please correct me if I have missed anything. And I have come to one basic conclusion while dealing with people in real estate, it's only when other person's interest are involved (read as money) or you have great nuisance value for the other person then your call will be taken, your WhatsApp message will be replied or you will get answer for your email that too in time. If you don’t fall in to any of above two categories, then you will have to call a hundred times on mobile, leave a message to PA (most builders as well professionals have one) or at office to call back, your WhatsApp messages will show as read but you won’t get a reply & email, well lesser I say is better, is the scene which every one of us has experienced while dealing with fellow builder, accept it, at least to your own self!

And joke is, this when you are a builder by yourself & dealing with another fellow builder, so, imagine what it would be if you are a flat holder or a supplier or a vendor or service provider with a builder, you just keep trying to reach other person in hope that someday he (or she) will revert back but that day doesn’t come only unless the builder has some work of his interest with you. And then he will be all guns to reach you & best part is in a public meeting this guy will make a general comment, “kay rao call pan ghet nahi tumhi aamche!” i.e., you are never reachable, while he himself lives by that way only! When a builder says to others that you are never reachable that means when he wants you to be available you should be & this pattern is so common with everybody associated with real estate that it spreads faster than corona virus. Not only the govt officers (sorry my friends from the system) but not taking calls of the builders or professionals & not even reverting them is Birth right of the people in power but you miss their one call & see the reaction! Anyway, I can spare govt officers as they are already loaded with their bosses i.e., political rulers (though the govt officers also must have a system in place to revert the person who is trying to reach them for genuine reason, is what I feel. But what I can’t understand is even the builder’s staff are like samartha gharache shwan, (please don’t ask what it means) in nutshell they leave behind their boss in reverting back only unless their boss orders to revert the vendor or client which again is the case when client’s recovery is involved or any supply is pending from the vendor! Never ever has any builder staff been known to call the vendor & update about his pending bills, if there are any such cases then they must be advertised, really! Neither any staff is known to be in touch with the client to update about the project or asking in general, “Hal kaisa hai janab ka?“ types, as that’s considered a waste of time in real estate, right? And if you think I am making too much of fuss the not-reverting birth right just doesn’t ends at the builders or his staff or govt officers but even the so called successful professionals(read as architect, CA’s, Lawyers & such) they also have taken up the baton  of being non reachable from the builders hand, again my fellow builders, how many times you have complained in closed company about your own consultants, how useless  they are in reverting back, accept to your own self & you will realize how the it tastes when your own bitter pill is swallowed down your throat by some other guy!

Here, in this industry, I have to tell my staff that call someone, leave a message on SMS & WhatsApp that we are trying to reach you & email him too & get a screenshot of your SMS & WhatsApp & save it, so that when the other person claims he didn’t get any call or message I can share the screen shot to him (not that it will make any good, yet), such pathetic is the scene of communication in the real estate! As answer on this is, “sorry, I didn’t read you message”, yeah can understand as the message wasn’t to pick your check is sarcastic reply which comes to my mind hearing such replies & this is how every person dealing with a real estate must be feeling & then we expect respect to this profession, wow! Here people are needed to call & told that have you read the email, oh sorry, its, have you received the email! Every day I meet many people who curse builders & the way they communicate, this includes not just avoiding payment calls but even not accepting delivery of material to signing of documents to anything which the builder doesn’t feel important to him! Guys, you can take the call & say no, I won’t pay for a while or reply to the message saying you can’t meet or just say you will revert back & do revert with whatever answer you want to give, isn’t that a simple way to deal with most problems in life? This is why we as a builder or as a real estate fraternity are not respected in the outer world which is far bigger than what you think because it’s our attitude & actions which gains us respect & not just our bank balance (they too are now gone), high time the real estate should understand this basic of business! Oh yes, one more thing, & it's about cancelling or postponing or reaching late to any in-person meeting. All those who have ever been fortunate (or unfortunate) to meet any builder for a meeting, are well versed with the outcome. Right from cancelling the meeting at the eleventh minute the message or call may even come post meeting’s scheduled time also to reaching the meeting hours later & not being in communication till all this time, is one more characteristic of real estate people!

If you are not happy or agreeing with what I am blaming, then carry these some small surveys at your end.

1.   Ask ten of your clients who have booked flat at your project & are already living in, what they feel or think about contacting you as owner & what is their experience before possession & after?

2.  Ask your ten suppliers about their experience in contacting you as owner for taking orders & later for their payment?

3.   Run a similar exercise with your labour contractors about contacting you.

4.  Now ask you CA, Architect as well other professional consultants about contacting you. As well what is your experience in communicating with them this also write down

5.  Now, ask your ten employees about contacting you one on one as well as a group for your approvals or for their works & what is their feedback.

6.  Lastly ask your ten friends about contacting you & your response as well you doing the same for them?

7.  Oh, yes, try contacting your ten fellow developers & write down what your feedback is too.

Best way is forming a group for every project & add only necessary people on it on WhatsApp as open communication always helps. As well make a habit of noting down all the calls, messages, emails once at start of the day & once at end of the day while leaving office, at least evert back to the concerned so they will be assured that you care to communicate back!

Guys, please conduct this exercise, it’s very important & do this for WhatsApp, call & email on all three fronts. And then we do have some very senior builders in our fraternity who are extremely particular in communication, (Mr Satish Magar & Mr Suhas Merchant, Mr Shantilal Kataria are such) who despite being busy revert on every message or call or at least ensures the caller or messengers job is being taken care via their team, that’s all is what people need, right? Learning from such people is what I will advise to not just the youngsters but even seniors as I too am still learning if not perfect! Do mind, communication doesn’t mean you are required to go out of way & spare your busy time; communication is a two-way thing & any medium is welcome till there is a dialogue between the two parties & with so many ways at your service all one has to do is just be a bit particular, that’s all! I understand a cell phone is not a land line which can be answered via dedicated person all the time (i.e., operator) but you have a call record & you can revert by going through the same, that’s the very basic of communication & which will be in benefit of your own brand, as an individual as well as a company! To conclude, I will share a small story about being communicative…

THE BRICK

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door!   He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that all about and who are you?  Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"

The young boy was apologetic. "Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop..." With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.

"It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."   Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly

swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.

"Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger.

 

Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message…

"Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!"

 

Guys, these are changing times & you need to be in touch with people who are your clients as well people who are part of your team & that’s in your own benefit, so, don’t underestimate the power of right communication! If even after reading this story, do I need to explain more about being communicative with the outer world, think over as the dent on our posh car may get repaired but what about the dent we will have on our mind, adios!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

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

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

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 / https://junglebelles.in/

Smart City, Tech City & Rain God!

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“Unlike other essential goods, like clothing, shelter, or food, we take cheap or even free water for granted. It often takes a crisis, such as a major drought or flood, to spur investment and policy reforms in improving water security” … Jose Angel Gurria

José Ángel Gurría Treviño, also known as Ángel Gurría, is a Mexican economist and diplomat. From 1 June 2006 to 31 May 2021, he was the secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, UNA. Mexico, though is on the opposite side of the world yet resembles a lot by size & weather with our country & on many fronts we are far better placed than her yet when its water crisis, may it be floods or drought we are on the same page as a country! That's true, the media has the shortest memory beating even Gajani (ask Amir khan what it means) so the flood related to seatbelt & road safety receded fast as the news about India’s Tech City got flooded with real flood! All newspapers carried images of the best of the localities in waist high water & people who have never put their designer footwears in the cars except BMW, PORSCHE or Merc & such had to ride in tractors. Millions (read as aam Janata) were secretly smiling & happy looking at those pics actually as indeed nature is the best equalizer & what better example than flood where some chunk of water makes all the society looks the same, right? But the question is at what cost we pay to learn this basic law of nature & how many more years we will be paying the fees of these lessons which has kept us in the same class of the school names life, is my point of sharing!

And by the time I started scribbling pointers for the Tech City Bengaluru floods, in just two ours on a Sunday eve, our very own Smart City (Pune, of course, who else!) got flooded with media dancing to prove how useless we are as a city or civic body & how the urbanization has destroyed the entire city & nature etc etc. Well, first all the media survives on the advertisement revenues of the very same urbanization is first thing & second, to blame development or urbanization or the builders for floods & damages they bring along is like blaming a healthy growing boy for the expenses of the food it consumes! Confused, ok, when we blame urbanization for the disasters like flooding then actually urbanization is best sign of development as from all over the country & world people are coming to settle at Pune (and Bengaluru) & its these people who creates employment & trade in the city which makes lives of millions a shade better & obviously everybody related to these migration & trade will need a home which we blame as urbanization! Problem is not with homes (read as real estate) , the problem is with the way they are allowed to develop & that’s not the job of any single builder or group of the builders but the entire society which makes the system we call govt, is my point of sharing!

Coming back to rains, flash floods (is it really) & water clogging in the cities, let’s see what happened in Bengaluru & Pune as urbanization is bound to increase at these two centres & so are such incidences, whether to call them as natural incidences or allow them to become disaster, is the aspect of my sharing! Geographically both cities are on Deccan Plateau but Bengaluru is nearly on centre making the region (read as city) mostly plain while Pune has a slight upper hand as its on foothills of Western Ghats with hills & slopes running towards downstream of three rivers as well it has five dams on upstream of these rivers all of which ensures proper management of rainfall however heavy it may be on the upstream of Pune, an advantage which Bengaluru lacks. What this means is, with heavy rainfall Bengaluru being on plain land to clear or say drain the rainwater becomes a problem as water flows only by gravity (read as rainwater) & for that you need slopes, is simple logic. While the entire Pune is slopes so it’s easy to drain the rain water naturally with time, those who remember the Panshet Flood (or disaster) will understand as the entire city was under water but the floods were gone in merely a day actually. And on the other hand, these sloped grounds of Pune creates another problem for water management of Pune region & that is, damage this flowing water can do! The slope of the roads & the momentum the rainwater gets due to these slopes are like a mini tsunami & this is where the underground rainwater drains fail as the water in speed doesn’t wait to get collected in the rain water system or chambers at most places & we think we are failure in making rain water drains, which is not the case! 

Ok, we have identified the problem, what next? First accept that this is a problem created over d years and we won't find a solution overnight but a systematic (and dedicated) approach is a must. 

 

1. To start with, lets video shoot of all the serious spots during rains, if we can do aerial drone shoot then better as it will be documentation for ever as well will help us in tracking the inflow of the rain water at all these spots which will later help us to arrange its outflow or say draining out arrangement. This has been effectively done in cities like Singapore and Kualalampur like Equatorial cities with vast urbanization & daily rainfall. Also, in cities like Los Angeles (USA) & in Valencia (Spain) rain water tracking surveys have been done to deal with flash flood problems occurring repeatedly.

 

2. Let’s get out of the conventional idea of closed Rain water drain lines & think about open drains/channels to carry the run-off! I know many experts (in Pune we have ample of them) may frown over my suggestion but take a look at our history of rainy season & these so called rain water lines have always failed the city because they are never going to solve problem in tropical country like ours as except some 30 days of good rains all 330 days they run dry and with our civic sense as well population keeps getting clogged by every possible garbage which even god's can't control or clean, is a fact we should tell to media & people. Take a look at what we have found in the rain water pipelines, including carcass of domestic animals to plastic bottles, everything's there except the rain water, accept this fact that not even God, leave apart PMC can do anything about this aspect of our civic sense (senselessness, is what I meant)! Or till then we can use treated water of ETP/STP to wash or say keep the Rain water drains free flowing every day so the drains can be free to carry rain waters, is one suggestion. As well make a rain water dept with separate setup to look after existing networks as well to create a new network for rain water drains! (this is suggested by one of my frd in PMC only).

 

3. Let’s work on creating surface drains/ channels for letting the flash flood or runoff towards nearby streams, nallahs, rivers (all existing natural drains) which are ample in Pune due to our geography as well start increasing water carrying capacity of these natural drains with proper lining/ safety walls at PMC’s cost as most of the societies won't spending so much or won’t be in capacity to do so.  The advantage is these open drains can be easily cleaned or kept clean (if we can keep them free from encroachments or other use) as well even if rainfall is heavy, they can carry added water unlike closed rain water drains which backs of the water, creating more chaos, we have witnessed often!

 

4. Most important make a policy (and implement it) to keep open earth cover to absorb the rain water in the ground, use existing rain water drain chambers as charging point by making bore wells in them (Gera Developers has done it), this will help in reducing the runoff (runoff is rain water which actually flows or collected on ground once the water falls from sky as rain). Every society must have water charging points in their premise as well an arrangement of making all the rain water in the respective premise being collected at these charging points so only the excess rainwater will be let out on roads as runoff & again a system to see that this is being followed!

 

5. As the Pune city is on & around hills, a major problem is runoff flowing down in all directions from the hills which needs to be controlled especially when this flowing water meets the roads. This can be done by series of bund walls along the slopes of hills as well creating water bodies at foothills. Major hurdle is space & permissions, well you want to save the city or play a blame game, you have to define, right? Identify all the spots at least in govt lands & make as many lakes we can create to accumulate rainwater & percolate it in ground. This has been done in Florida State in the USA.

 

6. Create a series of bore wells or ground water charging bores along both sides of roads which are getting water logged regularly. This will help reduce the quantity of rain water at such spots.

 

And finally, a system dedicated to execute, monitor & improve all above aspects of managing rain water must be in place which is missing at present! To conclude all I will say is, lets accept the fact, we may be the Tech Capitol or the Smartest City but we can’t control quantum of rains falling down from the sky (thankfully) but we can definitely find a way to deal with this rainfall & that is what will decide what we are, a Smart or a Dumb city!

-

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

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

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

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 / https://junglebelles.in/

Cyrus, Mete & still Counting!

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“Some of us would take our time, if we knew that we are rushing to our deaths.” … Mokokoma Mokhonoana

"American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good..." John F Kennedy

First quote is by Mokokoma who studies human beings, and after some of his observations, he either writes or draws. He shares his observations through aphorisms, essays, books, and cartoons. He strives to make people think; sometimes, that leaves them laughing. His work is an attempt to link our beliefs, actions, institutions, ignorance, and arrogance, with human suffering. Second quote is by America’s most loved President Mr. Kennedy & though the first quotes speak about accident & death while the second quote speaks about roads, yet we all know how these three things are closely related in our country, right? As you must have guessed from the quotes the subject of my sharing yet let me tell you, “IT IS Not ABOUT IMPORTANCE OF WEARING SEAT BELTS ON REAR SEAT OR ANY SEAT WHILE DRIVING” as enough bombarding has been done to all of you from every possible media about the seat belt. It’s not just about seat belt wearing importance which has taken away life of not just some Cyrus Mystery or Vinayak Mete (Political Leader) in very recent but of many celebrities which has died in the accidents on Indian roads including Dr Khurjekar (Spine Surgeon) as well Bhakti Barve (Marathi Actress) & thousands of unknown -known faces around us & we haven’t learnt anything from it so I am not going to write about seat belts but as Mokokhoma has said about our attitude of rushing toward our death, especially on roads while travelling!

First & foremost (sorry for the figures) every year nearly 1,50,000 humans die in road accidents & equal or more numbers get injured for life, in this country& the numbers are growing by every passing year & nearly 70% of them are on highways or roads connecting to the cities. This is sheer because you can’t speed up on the city roads or else the figures would have doubled for sure! Seat belt or not is not the issue, as take example of the recent deaths, Vinayak Mete’s SUV (For Endeavour, I presume) who is a political leader met with accident on Mumbai Pune expressway at early hours of morning & he has started from his home town at late night. No special committee is required what must have happened as at that hour of night (or day) the driver must have dozed of & at 140 km/hr, a fraction of the second is enough to make you a fatal judgement of error which the driver did! “Najar Hati Durghatana Ghati”, i.e., if your eyes divert from the road ahead while driving you meet with accident, a slogan which most of us have grownup reading on highways & on the rear side of trucks we overtake yet we hardly pay any attention, at least Mr Mete & his driver hasn’t, for sure!

Now about Mr Cyrus’s accident, the guy owns Jet Plane & a Helicopter & can hire one at any time at his will yet he chose to travel by road. His vehicle was a GLC Merc which is considered as the safest car on the roads & he met with his accident at noon 3.30 pm which is the least traffic time on any Indian road but! But his car was being driven by not a professional driver but his own family friend Mrs Aneetha who is fifty-five-year-old & a doctor by profession. No, I am not blaming her as woman for her driving skills rather many women I know drive far better than men (at least than me for sure) what I am pointing at is, Mr Mystery’s Merc was said to be travelling at same speed as Mr Mete’s car i.e., at 135 km/ hr & at that speed to manoeuvre the car in the emergency isn’t a thing which some amateur driver can do which Doc Aneetha was, is my point. It’s said that Mr Cyrus’s Merc collided with a bridge divider as at that spot suddenly three laned highway becomes two laned because of the narrow width of the bridge & at that speed Doc Aneetha must not have been able to keep her car in right lane & collided with the bridge railing, is logic behind the accident in this case. “Najar Nahi Hati Firbhi Durghatana Ghati’ i.e., the eyes of the driver were on the road but the body couldn’t follow the command of the brain in the right time to react to what the eyes have seen & accident happened!

So, in both the cases the seat belt factor comes later, as had some basics of driving (rather travelling) would have been looked after by all the people involved in the respective accidents, which includes the govt also, the need of the seat belt itself wouldn’t have arisen in the first place is my point of sharing! This doesn’t mean seat belts are not necessary but this means seat belts are like CCTV in the home, they are good to dictate robbery or theft but what should be done to avoid the theft in the first place that matters more for e.g., a watchman in place of not letting the home empty or a dog or an alarm anything, this is my point of sharing!  Now about preventive measures, well if you are expecting the govt will do everything for you then you are a big fool or a blind-believer of miracles & I am not both! As usual post this accident, there was flood of the posts on Insta, FB, WhatsApp, Newspapers & memes also about set belts but all these people by themselves must be driving a two-wheeler without headgear or helmet & laughs at the rear seat passenger wearing seat belt or argue with traffic police who fines them for not wearing a seat belt while driving, this also do consider while you read such posts!

The country where people are needed to warn about for not spitting on roads or public area or has to be fined for not wearing masks when pandemic is not over yet, where people make processions against helmet wearing law, how do you expect the govt will be perfect in doing its job for ensuring road safety of the travellers, is my point of sharing!  First of all, why even the wealthiest personalities have to use private vehicles rather than relying on public transport, the govt has to answer this question. Because in cities like London or New York even billionaires travel by Metro or Cab or take flight to their out-station destinations but on all these fronts our public transport system is pathetic along with service & maintenance is a fact! Apart from cost involved, the timings of the flights keep shuffling as per whims of air companies, making your schedule go for a toss, is one main reason of wealthy men preferring personal cars even for outstation trips & then connectivity is an issue too. Speaking about railways, barring Rajdhani Express series trains is not convenient as their tickets are never available is another aspect of that travel. What govt is going to do about this aspect, is my point of sharing! And about road travels lesser we speak about road conditions its better is the scene as in this country on expressway trucks can come in wrong lane, domestic animals can cross the expressway at their speed & will only aeroplane doesn’t land on the roads is good thing so, the merging lanes is way down on the list of reasons of road accidents!

Here, I will share my personal experience of road travel (there are many actually), I was travelling to Ranthambore in a hired Innova on Delhi-Agra expressway & the car was at 120 km/ hr. I warned the driver not to speed above 90 km/ hr as I don’t have to catch any flight i.e., we are not in hurry or else I will make you get down from the car & I will drive! The driver gave me a nasty look but obeyed & slowed down to 80 km/ hr (even below what I asked for), as I was the one who was paying & just few meters after that a pack of Monkeys came running from other lane & jumped from right in front of our Innova to cross the road, the driver exclaimed, “Oh Terri” & somehow avoided colliding with the monkeys as well as the speed was 80km/ hr the car still maintained on its course! He sheepishly looked at me in the rear mirror, I just returned his gaze, he has understood, I hope so! Well, in this incident we were lucky not to have another Shoemaker driving behind us or else he would have collided with us from behind & here is where the rear seat’s safety belts would have come in picture, which I was wearing btw! I have been laughed (read as, criticized) by my fellow passengers for constantly telling driver not to speed-up, for my fussiness about wearing seat belt all the time & for not accepting early morning start of travels or post mid night travels on road, but then today people laugh at someone for wearing mask also, that’s ok, your choice! And even after taking all this care an accident can happen & you can die but that will be sheer an accident is, you don’t rush towards your death as Mokokoma has said in his quote!

Lastly, had Mr John Kennedy been alive I would have told him, Sir, America has not only built good roads it has taught its citizens good habits also for driving & that is the reason America is a rich country as in USA, the rich can remain alive too, post becoming rich!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

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