Security of Your Home!

-

“No one can build his security upon the nobleness of another person.” … Willa Cather

Willa Cather, in full Wilella Sibert Cather was a American novelist noted for her portrayals of the settlers and frontier life on the American plains & no wonder with a career as writer when USA was going through a civic change in the society i.e. late 1800 to early 1900, that was the most unsecure time she has penned down in her quote! Since long security which is probably most neglected factor in a country like ours was on my mind, especially working in an industry which makes homes & which needs to be secured at its best! Actually three incidences made me  to push ahead to take up this aspect & all three happened right around myself & my own constructed buildings though the cause wasn’t lacuna on my part as an engineer cum builder, yet some where I was part of it as an resident if not builder!

Incidence 1, A: I live in a ten storied building in mid city western part of Pune i.e. Patwardhan Baug which you can call as up market area! The building has been built by my Ex Employee some twenty years back & is of fairly good quality, when CC TV type’s things were not yet in practice. Some twelve years back there was one house breaking incidence in our society & I was chairman then. After that I got the entire entrance lobby fenced up with solid MS grill & a safety door right at entrance. We made a practice to lock the entrance door post mid night & keep the key with the watchman which sits in security cabin at main entrance of the building. There is an intercom system which connects every flat to the watchman cabin & if any resident wants to go out or come in post mid night then he or she has to call from respective flat (or vice versa) to the watchman’s cabin & ask watchman to open the lock of safety door at entrance lobby & then enter in lobby which has got access to the lifts! For last nearly twelve years this is the system our society is following & touchwood till now there is not a single incidence of burglary in our society! Some two years back the society’s body got fixed CC TVs all around the building as well at gate of the building. Few months back at wee hours of night local police came to my home & informed me a guy residing at my next door is laying on road in-front of our building’s gate & some goons have beaten him us. I went down hurriedly did the necessary formalities of taking him to hospital etc. It was a road rage fight case & fortunately the wounds were not severe yet police launched the case & asked for the CC TV footage of gate camera & inquired for the night watchman. Well the footage did show the incidence clearly of few guys coming from a car getting out & beating my neighbor but due to the quality of the camera no face was visible neither the car number. And then the watchman of the society instead trying to defend my neighbor or calling for help just ran away from the scene & never returned, fled from the job, is what the security agency manager later informed us!

B: We have one automatic lift & one manual lift & recently my seventy year old mother got stuck in auto lift with no lights in lift as well no way to communicate with outside. The watchman was sitting at gate & has no clue that some old lady has got stuck in lift. Fortunately she was carrying her cell phone & I was at home so she could call me & I rushed down & somehow opened the lift door & got her out. Our security watchman was old i.e. sixty plus age & he didn’t know how to rescue a person from breakdown lift nor did he have physical strength which was required to open that lift door! There was no intercom arrangement from lift to security or the flats in the lift.

Incidence 2: My office is in a building adjoining to my residence building & here at first floor two offices are there, one is mine & above floors are residences i.e. flats. On ground floor there are six shops & they don’t have any connectivity with main building. We have one gate for entry & exit & in day time we have one watchman & at night two watchmen. One sits outside of gate & another somewhere inside. Here also there is entrance lobby secured with MS Gate which has a locking arrangement & till last month post mid night the MS Gate to lobby used to be locked controlling any person’s entry post mid night & the watchman has keys. Well the complex has 8 CC TV cameras with display monitor of five cameras in lobby as well hard disk storage of the input in society office located in the parking, which is locked. Last week on Sunday morning I got call from one of the residents that one flat in this building at 3^rd floor has broken by burglars. Police came & started investigating & outcome was both the watchmen were clueless how the burglars entered in the complex. Entrance lobby main gate was not locked as per instruction of some flat holder (as per the watchmen) but main gate to the building was locked. The CC TV display monitor in the lobby was smashed by the burglars. At 3^rd floor there are total 3 flats but the only one of which residents has gone out of town has been broke in, rest two flats doors were shut close from outside by the burglars. We have provided MS Safety door to all flats but the lock of MS Safety door was broke apart & same was fate with the latch lock of main door. We provide extra konda (bolt) on safety doors from outside so as when someone is inside nobody should be able to lock the door from outside but for that one has to put lock in that extra konda (bolt) which hasn’t been done by the other two residents who were in their flats at that floor making the burglars possible to lock them from outside. There were no CC TV cameras on every floor staircase lobbies. When police asked for the CC TV footage of ground floor cameras then they came to know the display was on but some battery cell of the recording storage instrument needed to be preplaced which hasn’t been done so no recording was stored though the cameras were on & the cost of that cell was some Rs 50! By the way, nobody from the society has ever bothered to check the recording ever before this happened. When asked why the main entrance lobby wasn’t locked then the reason was there is intercom system but was nonfunctional so it was not possible to communicate with the watchman at night if somebody comes late or wanted to go out, so the MS Safety door of the entrance lobby was kept open! Neither there was maintenance contract of CC TV nor that of intercom system in place by the society. Also for unknown reasons to all residents the outside lights were off for last whole week, nobody bothered to make it on or inquired why the lights around the buildings has been off for a week leave apart taking any action!  By the way, out of the two night watchmen, one was new & another was old, diabetic & has been asking money from every flat holder of the society due to his personal debt!

Well, one more thing the camera in the lobby was connected to DVR i.e. recording hard disc in my office with other cameras within the office but when checked that hard disk it was found full & the over right key was off, means when the storage capacity of hard disc gets full which usually is of one month recording, the past recording gets deleted automatically making space for new recording. Neither my admin dept people bothered to check it nor the maintenance contract guys did it, so that camera also gone for waste.

Incidence 3: On that very night one more building near our buildings were made target probably by the same burglar’s gang & one of them was having neither CC TV nor any MS Safety gate at entrance lobby. Another building was having MS Safety gate at entrance lobby but due to maintenance amount collection issue there was no night watchman & CC TV wasn’t in operation due to maintenance contact of the system wasn’t there! 

Oh yes, in all this rampage by burglars, the building where I reside as well the one adjoining to ours wasn’t touched; both the buildings has watchman in place right at gate, with CC TV on & entrance lobby securely locked. Our adjoining building has got three watch dogs also in addition which accompanies their watchman for night.

Ok, by now most of the readers have got the essence of my sharing about our attitude towards security of our own home, as even a school going kid can understand the lapses in all above cases after reading my sharing! But then my experience is school going kids are much wiser than most grownups, especially in protecting themselves! Here many will say what police were doing, why we should do all security things when we pay taxes to the govt, what chairman & secretary was doing of the society & blah blah blah but as the quote says ultimately when you call something as your home then it’s your job too, to protect it! As it’s like someone having death insurance & jumping from tenth floor, thinking he won’t die as he has been insured!

I deliberately chose incidences right around myself as even with having so much exposure to building’s systems & security even I too failed (ignored) to look in such details which could have avoided the burglaries or may be made the burglars to postpone their plan of house breaking. As right from checking CCTV systems periodically to not allowing having a watch man who is buried in debt many things could have been done. Speaking about my building’s lift, I got intercom fitted in my auto lift doing expense from my pocket as my family too will be using the lift & I can’t afford someone getting stuck & damaging his or her health in the panic just because my society is not acting fast on such issues. On this, many people will say, this is unfair as society or even the govt is not doing their job why we should suffer by paying for such things as CC TV repairs or Intercom? Well, you are right in asking such but ask every that flat holder whose house has been broken by the burglars & the valuables stolen & then you will realize, he or she alone could have got entire CC TV system fitted leave repairs! I am not supporting lacunas in the system may it be society or police but the are we not expected to be a bit vigilant when our own security is at stake is what I will like to ask all the residents in this city! As all it takes is some curiosity & action to remove the watchman who is not physically fit & always asking for money to the residents, sure he can sell the information for few rupees about lapses in the security of your building to the wrong elements or even turn a blind eye at night to them when they broke in, isn’t it possible?

And even if your builder hasn’t provided any safety measures but spend a bit less on your interiors & use that money for making your home as the building in which your home is located bit secure, is wise way. At the same time, security is an attitude & not just fixing some gadgets; right from a system of keeping record of every person entering & leaving building to keeping the building premise well lit at night, smallest things also does helps to make your home more secure. As well spend some money on the security systems to keep them in working condition, whatever your builder has provided. And this doesn’t need very hi-tech knowledge, as if you come to know your home TV is not working & immediately call the TV guy for repairs, then how can you not know about CC TV of the society is not working? Answer is, you don’t feel need of checking CC TV & that’s why nobody else but your own attitude towards your safety is what going decide security of your home! Like mock drill by police, you can call local police station to check security features of your building & get the necessary things done as per their advise but then we expect police will do on their own! Lets understand this is country of nearly 120 crore people & with lots of disparity among them on wealth front & police cant guard every single home is a bitter fact. They may be having their own reasons or limitations but that doesn’t mean we also neglect our home! And most importantly keep in contact with your neighbors also, sparing some time from Whatsap & FB, it does help as they too can become your watchman.

Well, lastly something for police, indeed they are trying hard for security of the city but somewhere people are losing faith in police is a fact & people are not feeling themselves safe is not a sign of healthy society. As indeed, the citizens must take their own safety precautions yet CC TV type things are in a way postmortem, isn’t it? How in the first place so many people turns or say dare to turn burglars, is the question the so called system named govt should asked to itself, if at all govt wants to make the people feel safe & then act up on it!

 Fellow citizens living in buildings, do mind, Police, Govt, Society’s Office Bearers, Watchmen, Security Gadgets, all these things are like insurance of your home as all these exists because of you own that home & one needs to pay the policy premiums at least in time for that! And when its home security, the policy premium is just a little bit of attention by yourself in security aspect of your home as well of the buildings in which your home is located but if you are ignorant or thinks someone else will do that for you, then well, you have written your own fate, is all I will say to conclude!

-- 

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html

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

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/#

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Rains, Rivers & Fools!

--

“The river teaches us many things, but its most important teaching is this: Whatever is happening around you, you keep flowing to your own destination following your own way!” … Mehmet Murat ildan.

Mehmet Murat I’ldan, a Turkish author & playwright with interestingly career as an economist, so no wonder even with poetry he hasn’t lost his logical touch about describing river! As what our so called developed State has experienced last fifteen days with rivers, the part in Mehmet’s quote is true the river keeps flowing at her destination & if you try to obstruct her way now you know what can be the consequences! Well there may few still who are ignorant or lucky about the havoc our rivers caused, especially in the Western Parts of this State & I don’t blame them as all the innocent people(most of them) who are victims of disaster caused by rains & rivers they too were ignorant or lucky till very present! I am sorry if I have touched sentiments of masses  but let me put very clear I am heartfelt sorry for every damage the rains & rivers have caused & will be doing my bit for the same but then we can’t just let this disaster pass as nature’s act, do we? Indeed media is full of head-lines as well experts (read environmentalist also) are busy as usual blaming everybody in the system which as usual includes govt (read officers of various depts. i.e. Irrigation to UD to Local Bodies), elected members (read elected municipal members, MLAs & Ministers) & how we can forget the villain No 1 i.e. the Builders, well as per media & all concerned, all above categories are supposedly projected as the main cause of floods & the damage it has made to common man!

And the reasons given for the disastrous floods is, actions of all above three categories which encroached rivers(read natural water channels) for their profits or greed whatever you call it thus causing contraction or reduction of water carrying capacity of the rivers & then it has rained maximum in this century (100 years) so outcome is the rainfall which gets converted in run off (i.e. excess water which doesn’t get percolated in ground & flows on surface) started flowing in every direction where it can get way out, causing the floods. 

In nutshell the present disaster due to rains & rivers can be described in above mentioned simple words but then has this happened over night or even in some months or in a year? No sir, encroachment on natural water bodies has been happening over the decades in every town & city of this so called developed State of ours! And it’s usually under the name of; need of homes or anyways there is no water in rivers or there are no heavy rainfalls now days or to make infrastructure for the city (Metro route from river) or beautification of the city & lastly to make Smart City; in actual we have raped nature in every possible way under above tags! I am extremely sorry to use such slang in my sharing as I have never used it but this is the only word I can use to define our acts regarding rivers as well natural water channels! And here many may call me hypocrite as I myself being civil engg & builder to, thus making me also party to the crime. Indeed I am what I am by profession but then no one has ever said, don’t build homes for the needy ones or don’t beautify the rivers or don’t create infrastructure for the cities or don’t make Smart Cities, yes we are free to develop the cities or towns but, (this but is very important) without touching nature & rivers too are very much part of the nature! Or else nature (read rivers) is also free to behave or say react to our acts of freedom towards it & we all have experienced it time & again!

That way we the humans (especially of this State) are real fools because consider ourselves very smart & only a fool thinks he is smart while every our action proves we are utter fools! Look at the reactions or response when every such nature’s disaster has hit us in past as well the present ones. Apart from smiling selfies by celebrity’s rescue teams, all we do is forming committees & sub committees which consist of same old faces which have been cause to such disasters or were unable to predict ones such or failed to stop it. These same old faces in the committee, generates same old reports of what to do & what not to type documentations  which in present case is marking Blue Lines & Red Lines of river floods or controlling discharge from Dams or creating rain water harvesting awareness. Few days gets pass on & all the age old fools forgets the disaster & the age old committee’s reports gets dumped in some record room to collect dust on it & encroachments in rivers beds continues, rain water harvesting remains for just awareness as all our rulers (read elected members of local bodies & their bosses) keeps concreting every sq inch of the surfaces & the system (read officers) which is supposedly to look after dams & water discharge control get back to please their ministers & bosses by obeying their  priorities which we all know what they are! Even media also forgets this aspect & goes on to search for new head-lines for their readership & all fools lives happily to welcome new disaster! I don’t say all the system (govt) is bad & all the faces are fool, indeed  there are people in this system which keeps fighting their lone wars & try to things wisely but their numbers are less & the system soon throws them out on some desk job is a fact!

If I am sarcastic of frustrated, well indeed I am as all we know to deal with a disaster like flooding of rivers is blame each other & ignore the basic cause of the disaster is a bitter fact. Take simple example of Smart Pune & its rivers, as who has stopped concerned govt agencies i.e. Irrigation & PMC to mark red line which indicates flood level in 100 years & blue line which indicates flood level in last 25 years on site throughout the city limits, on both banks of Mula & Mutha! And ban any construction within blue line & only controlled construction activities should be allowed within blue & red lines, is simple norm to ensure the river bed i.e. water carrying channel remains clear!  Definitely no single builder or builder’s organization has such power to stop govt from marking blue or red line, as had they be so then we won’t have kept even river bed free, isn’t it? I am not justifying builders as they too are interested party (few of them) in building on every such piece of land which was part of some river someday yet isn’t the system (read govt) more at fault which bends like the river path, as per these few builders says! And then the ignorance about such disaster of floods starts not just from river bed protection but right from rampant de-forestization happening in the catchment areas of the dams which we have failed to understand or ignored to understand! Because if you read the figures on forest front, indeed tigers have increased but the habitat(read forest cover) has decreased significantly in the State & this we are talking about regular wild forest as who has time to look what’s happening on non protected forests which makes large part of catchment areas of dams or rivers! As tree cover is reducing for last many years the run off towards the dams & rivers is increasing, making our age old calculations of water discharge related to rainfall fail miserably & we blame nature! So the mistake (or crime) starts right from not being able to maintain tree cover all around & not just in some tiger projects & whose responsibility is it, builders? Well, yes, as it’s everyone’s responsibility to make as much tree cover we can as that’s one sure way to catch the rain water not being converted in to the flood!

But then the system which can’t protect the river bed itself, to expect protection of catchment area is a distant dream (read foolishness). I think most important aspect of entire flood control system is land use defining & controlling what has been defined. For hundreds of years the rivers as well streams & such natural water ways are in existence but except making some maps on paper we have never bothered to protect them in actual. 

At the same time repeatedly people (read experts) were screaming on the top of their head for keeping some earth cover exposed in the city (Pune especially) so as the rain water could seep in the ground, reducing runoff as well increasing ground water table but the govt (read public bodies’) which gives news paper ads’ as for rain water harvesting & offers rebate in property tax bills to the citizens for the same, is busy in concretizing every possible open land making rain water impossible to percolate in ground, which is main reason of floods in the cities & towns! But who cares as concrete roads & paver block contracts are more important than floods, isn’t it? And then nobody question govt as can we question God ever? Then comes the responsibility factor of floods & damage it causes as when any disaster (read accident) happens at the site of some private builder or industrialist then immediately police complaints are lodged & the concerned persons (including even labor contractor) are sent behind the bars & even the Hon. Courts’ declines even the bail considering that person (mostly builder) as killing innocent people for his greed, isn’t it? Well, I am not justifying or comparing but now when floods which are caused by man made mistakes only or say ignorance, & hundreds of human lives & thousands of innocent animals lives are lost as well millions rupees worth properties got lost; why not a single person is arrested or booked for this crime, is the question I want to ask, not as a builder or civil engineer but as a common man!

Because not a single govt dept comes forward to take responsibility of the floods (read disaster) or cause of it which is encroachment in natural water channels but every dept or organization is busy in showing how they have been effective in disaster management which is a post action, what about disaster stopping management instead? I think most important lesson if we need to learn from the floods is define the clear responsibilities in flood stopping controls as neither irrigation dept which otherwise is so efficient in cutting the water supply of the cities nor the “mai bapp” PMC (read local body) has shown any enthusiasm in accepting the responsibility for the floods which otherwise they keep on showing down each other! So, if at all the govt (read big bosses in Mantralay) is serious towards the lives of common man & is keen to protect the same then whose responsibility is it must be fixed so at least to save the skin (if not face) that dept will see that the natural water channels are marked & are protected the way they are marked. Same is with forest dept which is mostly busy in promoting their “Save Tiger” agenda should take responsibility of protecting every tree under their jurisdiction as well increase the numbers of trees, mainly in catchment areas of rivers as basins respectively! Lastly the Police force also must take responsibility of protecting or say giving protection to the departments which are supposed to protect rivers as most of the time the illegal encroachments in all these natural water ways dares to do so because they know “kanoon ke haat lambe to hai par takatwar nahi hai” , sorry couldn’t help to take support of Bollywood, it means “hands of the law (read police) here may be long to get hold of illegal elements but isn’t strong enough to break their neck or even hold their neck”! At the same time with due respect the rivers needs protection from judicially also as for years the law suits (even by the environmentalists) against illegal structures or encroachments in the rivers remains lingering which in a way boon for all such illegal elements only! And that’s why all the illegal elements (here every one is party to the crime) dares not to make the law or to break the law & encroach on rivers (I refrained myself again using the R word) as they know nothing will happen!

But then we forget another popular Bollywood dialogue, “Uski aankhe sub dekhti hai aur uski laathi jub chalti hai tub aawaj nahi hota, aagaj hota hai” well, for non Bollywood guys it means, “God ignores nothing & he delivers justice even if the men fails to do it & when he does then he do it silently but effectively!” I believed in this philosophy once again & keeping all sorry feelings for the flood victims, what we experienced in the recent floods was in a way nature’s justice! Only unfortunate fact is the victims of god’s justices are not necessarily the criminals always, as the nature god (read as river here) doesn’t discriminate humans by their post or religion or caste, she is blind in true sense punishing everybody which comes in her path & yet keep flowing to her destination leaving behind signs of her verdict against entire mankind which is fool enough not to learn this lesson even after such harsh punishment!

Silver line in the disaster of these floods was, news of one Dy Collector Surekha Mane donating her prize money for flood relief & then there was a dog which kept waiting for his lost owner for nearly a week at same spot, showing heart touching display of loyalty, as well there are thousands of hands coming ahead in every possible way to help the flood victims; all such stories makes us believe that despite our foolishness, all is not lost yet!  

-- 

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html

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

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/#

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Rains & Your Home!

-- 

“Innocent droplets of rain
Make almost all events
Quite natural…. Visar Zhiti.

Born in Albania & with a career of Clerk in Secret Service, yet Visar is known for his poetry which is full of nature & with the rains which we are witnessing his above words I find most apt for the subject i.e. rain effect on buildings!  We the humans are really a funny lot, when it’s not raining we pray to god & what not for rains & when it starts raining again we are praying to the same gods for controlling the damage by the rains for which we are actually responsible in most times. Well, this year’s rains in Pune have been stunning, outstanding, excessive, record breaking & what not & it’s still on. In my nearly thirty years in Pune this is one of the maximum raining in terms of days as well quantity with which sky is pouring down water! And obviously last nearly whole week the news papers, social media is full of covering rain hit roads, rivers, colonies everything but the cause behind all this damage! As indeed we can’t control down pouring by nature god but the same god only has given us brain which he wants us to use to protect ourselves from such natural calamity but most of the time we end up using this brain for wrong things & blames god for destruction due to his rains!

Well, the cause behind this rain damage is separate subject of sharing but for now what I felt necessary is what we can or we should do while we are stuck up with heavy rains like at present. Rain or water hits us on three fronts; one is electrical front, second is water leakage in homes & third is making structures like retaining walls or compound walls weak & collapse! As these are main issues for urban life as in rural there are many more problems such as floods, landslides, getting cut off from outer world but as we are lucky to live in urban area like Smart City Pune, our issues (related to building only) are bit easier to deal with!

To start with electrical front, most flat holders are totally ignorant about electrical safety even in normal routine & when it rains then this ignorance can cost seriously! As even if the builder has given you complete home with electric supply meters (mseb i.e. msedcl) yet in such rains it’s important to get the electric mains from meter board to individual flats checked along with the meter board wiring. This can be done by some licensed electrical contractor or consultant because over the years the wiring may get lose at points as well the electric main carrying pipes can get damaged exposing the cables as well allowing rain water to drip in causing short circuit. Ideally before monsoon all such checking of building’s external wiring works is a must, even that of street light wiring around the building as external wires may got damaged due to weathering action & the copper part can get exposed to rain water means short circuit & accident possibilities. Also do check that meter boards are well protected from rains & always in dry state!  The problem is post possession most flat holders’ gets their homes decorated spending lacs of rupees but rarely do they spend on common things like common wiring! Also there has to be a master drawing of all wiring works so as the external agency can easily maintain the same.

Equally important is proper care of lift rooms & the door as well windows of lift rooms. They should be well protected from rains to avoid any entry of water in lift room which can damage the circuit of lift machinery. Also the lift pit which goes nearly 6 feet underground has to be checked regularly for any signs of water oozing up from ground. In many buildings lift entrances at higher floors are also exposed to rains due to wind & can enter in lift shafts. Weather shades must be provided at such points, these things society can get it done actually but residents rarely cares! At all the time lift machinery must be protected from the rain water is what one should keep in mind. Same is applicable for other electrical appliances like generator or CC TV’s & such facilities. All it needs is little bit of spending & proper timely checking but that seems to be most expensive thing in our society, that’s why this sharing!

One aspect which isn’t directly related to the rains yet matter of concern for many is terrace leakages. This is main reason why people are afraid of buying terrace flats i.e. top floor flats. Here most important thing is not allowing water to be stagnant  means proper slopes & draining must be there as stagnant water is bound to find way which mostly is downwards through the slabs or walls. At the same time rain water down take lines must be checked & cleaned before monsoon as often it got choked with dust or dry leafs & what not & when rain comes the lines are choked! One more reason of terrace leakage is the terrace surface gets damage due to post possession things like solar water heater system fitting or Dish TV or such work on finished water proof terrace surface. The terrace surface must be kept undamaged because the waterproofing is an impervious layer & any breakage or damage at one place allows water to seep below this surface which then can travel anywhere, mostly in the flat below.

Out of all the rain caused things the most annoying is Seepage from walls & from windows sides making internal walls look shabby & wet & damp. Do mind there is difference between seepage & leakage as seepage is seasonal & occurs only during heavy rains while leakage can be all around the year & from terrace slab or toilets or wet areas above. We do test toilet floors & terraces (top terrace too) for water proofing but vertical surfaces i.e. outer walls we can’t make waterproof. Though we (read good builders, yes there are many yet) take every precaution such as applying double coat plaster, using river sand only (crush sand plaster forms cracks more than river sand), admixtures (plasticizes) for plaster to make it water resistant, curing for minimum fifteen days, wash the sand to remove clay content & many such. But the building is combination of frame structure i.e. RCC & Block walls yet we seal all the joints with chicken (mild steel) mesh to avoid expansion cracks before plaster. Despite all such precautions surface cracks occurs & so does some seepage when it rains like this season. Also temperature difference in one single day is nearly 20 degrees in summers in Pune, causing thermal stresses in walls plasters which is main reason of developing surface cracks. One more important thing is every building must be painted with using primer coat (sort of water repellent liquid material) after three to four years, post possession & this nearly reduces seepage as well surface crack issues by 90% is my experience! Again unfortunately residents never do that but keep following builder for seepage repair which is actually not a patch work solution ever!

Of late one major aspect is safety of your complex's compound walls as we witnessed some real nasty accidents (well it may not be an accident but still). The builder may or may not have built the compound walls as per technical per norms but over the years post possession development along the compound walls may have made them a bit unsafe such as some big trees roots or excavation of adjoining project on outside of walls. So it’s very important rather a must thing to check your project's compound walls via any certified engineer as well see that no hutments (labor huts) have been made from outside along your compound walls! Also if there are retaining walls as boundary wall for your complex or within the complex then check its structural stability as well the weep holes in such walls which has been kept to drain off the water! This also can be done by the certified engineer. 

I think issue is how we look at our own home as well the building as many a times the problems like seepage or surface cracks or even accidents due to electric short circuit which are rain generated can be avoided with a little post possession timely care but that’s the main problem, isn’t it? So at least from this season let’s work on our respective fronts & face the rains with smile & not with frown!  

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html

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

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/#

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Too Fast, Too Furious!

-

“I could have stayed in family business but I did not want to retire at 21”… V. Siddhartha, Founder of CCD.

“Growing up means learning what life is. When you're little, you have a set of ideals, standards, criteria, plans, outlooks, and you think that you have to sit around and wait for them to happen to you and then life will work. But life isn't like that, for anybody; you can't fall in love with a standard, you have to fall in love with a person. You can't live in a criterion; you have to live your life. You can't wait for your plans to materialize, because they may never materialize the way you think they will. You can't wait to watch your ideals and standards walk up to you, because you can't know what's yours until you have it. I always say, always take the first chance in case you never get a second one, but growing up takes that even one step further, growing up means that you have to hold on to what you have, when you have it, because what you have- that's yours- and all the ideals and criteria you have set in your head, those aren't yours, because those haven't happened to you.” …  C. JoyBell C.

Well, by now the name of the author of the first quote is known to entire country, V.Siddhartha, founder of CCD i.e. Cafe Coffee Day, largest coffee drinking joints chain which wrote a new success story in modern India. Unfortunately when he was very much alive, Siddhartha’s name was not known to many but his departure surely made him more known to masses for wrong reasons. About second quote which is by Ms.Joybell, she has authored books of poetry and literature that delve mainly into the mysterious, the philosophical and the esoteric. Many of her writings are considered as a source of inspiration to many across the world! While first quote shows the hunger for growth, the second quote teaches us what growth means in actual or say totality! Of-late while as a country we are making progress or say trying to make our mark on world market surprisingly there are series of failures on not just national level but local level also in trade or say business, ending tragically founders of the trades! Well, I am not a business expert or a finance guy, neither I am a marketing person yet I run a small business of my own & I felt like penning down my views not for the experts or bosses in the business world but for many who are yet making their way in world of business or yet studying & dream of making big in business some day!  For all such young minds if they open any news paper or watch any news channel, what they get to know? Some Nirav Modi or Mallya ditched banks & financers & ran away leaving behind billion rupees empire which actually is worthless? Or, a million rupees worth brand like Rotomac Pen with which most youths have wrote their management papers, its owner Mr. Vikram Kothari gets bank corrupt & ends his business journey in jail & how can we forget reading the name of none other than Ambani Jr. i.e. Anil Ambani who saved from going in jail by his big brother (not all are lucky to have big bro like Mukesh Ambani) or the real estate current affairs which has seen many big names getting behind the bars which once were looked after as business idols & the latest name is of V. Siddhartha, a person who made thing like coffee so big that it took head on world level giant Starbucks, ending his life due to the burden of debts!

And above are just few names which has made front line of media as end of some tradesman or business-man in jail or by suicide is not new for the society. You keep reading such news everyday in news papers but mostly they are small shop keepers or merchants or agent or share brokers from some town or locality unknown to you. Many of these names ends their lives along with their family members also & we always prefer to ignore their tragedies saying, these must be fools & may not be knowing “the business mantra” in first place, that’s why they failed! But what about above names which are just few of the eminent list, many of them were in Forbes List of Billionaires, how can we say that these names were also fools & didn’t know business mantra? Had they not been successful in past or else how they rise to such big empire of their own in respective fields? This is the exact reason I wanted to share my views because all such news may make millions of youngsters (and their family members, read parents) think that doing business is bad thing in this country, so better ask for reservation quota in jobs under the name of natives (bhumi putra) or caste or religion & get in govt or private service, which is safest way to live! Well with population of one twenty cores & increasing, no country will ever able to create that much govt jobs, because if nobody in this country is going to start any business (barring few Adonis or Ambones) how the private jobs will be generated is the question, our rulers must think of! And then any country grows or prospers not by got jobs but by industries, trade, service, financing, retail, hospitality, tourism, IT & many such businesses & the jobs created by all these trades & we need people to start & then keep running these businesses in first place! 

Actually with nearly one twenty core population as potential clients there is huge scope for every type of business but unfortunately with all recent such examples  of failures, the impact on the minds of thousands of youths is exactly reveres when its entrepreneurship. As look at all above & many such names, what message we are giving to the society that any big empire of business is mostly build on wrong (read bad) act’s foundation & eventually dooms! And indeed what has been done by the names above isn’t right as the outcome is billions of rupees which is public money actually has been lost or say drained away but were these people started their venture with a mindset of a criminal who are set to rob a bank or any such institute, is the question I will ask to masses? I am not justifying any wrong deeds by Malaya or Nirav Modi or any such person but if some such person is making a wrong thing in his business where all the so called enforcement agencies were at all these times, because no such crime has been done (can be done) in overnight isn’t it? For decades all above names were respected or favored faces by investors, depositors, banks & even their clients & we only make them rise to their celebrity status, isn’t it a fact? At the same time these names can be distributed in two categories, one which were ready to make money or say make it big by any way wrong or right, legal or illegal it doesn't mattered to them. This category was & is wrong & must be curbed in time but what about people like V Siddhartha or few names in real estate, who were from simple middle class family which comes with a backbone of terms like morals & values? For decades they delivered what they have committed to their clients as well investors but somewhere their calculations went wrong & here is where the both categories comes on same track & here is what we need to make the youths understand the attitude towards the business or trade they will be doing!

In business everyone including above list has started small but with riding on high tide of luck ( in our country that’s more important) or say opportunity they rise high in less time, especially in fields like real estate or infra or jewelry & they start thinking they can make it even bigger as they have got the success mantra now! But unlike in developed countries like USA or Germany or Switzerland where success in business comes only by hard work, high quality technology & innovation; in underdeveloped countries these criteria for success takes back seat. But how influential you are with right people (read govt) & how luck favors you, are the important aspects here for success in any business is a bitter fact! I am not dishonoring many fellow countrymen who have made it big by walking on right track; I am just referring to the names which have been in news for wrong reasons! And then if you look at the way things happened with these names, it’s clear that they get carried away with the success than the path they have chosen for it! And outcome is when failure came all of them chose to run away from the failure than facing it bravely i.e. few fled from the country avoiding arrests, few went behind the bar, few were lucky to be saved by big brother or even govt (Jet Airways) & few like V Siddhartha, chose the worst path i.e. ending their own life!  I think here is where we need to teach or guide our youngsters that doing any business is indeed a good thing but every good thing comes at some price & unfortunately we do prepare students in our engineering or business schools to be successful but we don’t prepare them for the failures! And that’s why may it big names like above or smaller merchant or for that even farmers, the only ways we are used to choose when we can’t get success is either break the law or end our life! I think high time for all of us as society to redefine our definition success as making it to Forbes List, being invited on big forums to speak as successful leader, getting followed by media, fancy cars, signing celebrity faces as brand-ambassador for our products & live life king size certainly is part of success but that’s not success is what names like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Zukerberg or Jeff Barros will tell you & why them even we have Azim Premjis’ & Ratan Tatas’ & many others  but mostly we as country lack business idols which will teach us how to be humble & balance headed with success & how to face failures & rise from fall! Here our law enforcement agencies also must take this aspect in consideration that nobody is bigger than any law & when its public money then every rupee must be accounted for yet when some businessman falters from his or her course just do mind that he or she is not hard core criminal & their intention was not to rob the people! In any crime most important aspect is motive behind that crime, so while investigating financial frauds (if any) the focus must be on this aspect & if the motive is not cheating, then instead digging the grave deeper, try to pull out the respective businessman out of it; that’s the way you strengthen the society!

And the start should be right from school education where we need to introduce stories of great people from every field, even sports & how they handled their failures & yet rise to the top in the end! At the same time we need to cultivate the concepts of good & bad via stories of Panchatantra & Isapniti (just one of the ways) which does helps us in making our concepts clear regarding such aspects of life(even business). Most important thing we need to tell the youths is don’t be afraid of dreams & desire to grow as well expand but at the same time being small & self content is also not bad. Whatever you will be doing but one needs to be happy & at peace as that’s what real success meant! If you are driving Tata Indica or Santro (with due respect to Tata & Hyundai) then you should aim to have a Merc or BMW of your own some day, but if in that journey you are losing the pleasure of driving then it hardly matters which car you are driving, isn’t it? So go ahead guys, make your own way to your dream, assure that you are at peace & enjoying the journey & while driving towards your success named destination just see that you don’t enter in to wrong lane of life & incase by ignorance you do enter in wrong lane then do not be afraid to face the punishment as life always gives you a chance to drive back on your course, take it!

On all this background I wrote something to my Team as well to my Sons on whatsap; sharing the same to conclude…

Dear Team & Rohit, Rohan…

One more goes down.. CCD owner V.Siddhartha , one of the most famous retail brands in recent times in our country ends his life due to pressure of debt as well not being able to manage business which has grown too fast!!  An eye opener for every entrepreneur or businessman especially real estate fellows, that growth is good but not at such cost that u cant sustain the burden of ur own growth! Actual reasons will surface in ccd matter but prim fascia its financial mismanagement & not being able to handle pressure coming out of it! While we expand our business one simple thing i hv learn from all these examples, i must know how much water i am swimming in & how far i hv come from shore & keep some energy to swim back to the shore safely! ...

i am no expert in business or finance but what  i see around is our all engg or B’schools rarely tells us how to be on track in business mainly when the business is running good  & thats why mostly its the first genre  business-men like nirav modi or siddhartha are the ones who succumbed to such outcome in their own ways but the men or women where family businesses with 3rd or 4th genre in running, rarely has meet such end!! here the importance of right advise which at times may sound out fashioned or  bit slow works again which must be taught repeatedly.. is what i feel!! no harm in growing rather that must be target when we work but not losing everything in the end, so dont give-up growing but only by way of hardwork, honesty, innovation & excellence; never "Too Fast, Too Furious" is d gist!!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html

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

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/#

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com