All in the game
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 03, 2004
All in the game
As the newly elected committee member of Shiv parvati Co-operative housing society (CHS) I had a daunting year ahead. I needed to make sure that I fulfil the promises that I had made in the election manifesto.
I was a surprise entrant into Shiv parvati CHS governing body. Sometime before the elections, the co-operative housing society building act of Maharashtra amended its bye-laws. I was told that due to pressure from the government it had to amend its bye-laws.
The one that was amended recently required at least one woman member to be represented in the Governing body in all co-operative housing societies. The outgoing president of Shiv parvati CHS went and presented the case to the guys in MHADA (Maharashtra Housing And Development Authority) who framed the act.
He pleaded that our women are very busy cooking and dishwashing on Sundays and cannot attend the regular Sunday meetings of the governing body.
‘Change the meeting timing’, said the MHADA fellow.
‘Our women have small children who cannot stay away from them’.
‘Allot a crèche facility which should take care of children between 11.00a.m and 1.00p.m or whenever you have your meetings ‘, said the MHADA fellow.
‘Our women cannot talk in English and some cannot draft letters and take decisions, since they got married before passed their 10th std’.
‘All committee meetings in Maharashtra to be held in Marathi - bye law 109 A’ pointed the MHADA fellow. And he continued ...
‘They can put impression of their thumb print if they cannot sign. And as far as decision making is concerned, they can always take the family’s help. What else is a family for? This practice is working very well in Bihar; I hope you know ‘said the MHADA fellow with a smile on his face.
The outgoing president understood that there really was no way out. And so the hunt began.
I was shocked to find half a dozen committee members who surrounded me as I was returning from the swimming pool on Sunday morning. My hair was dripping wet over my T Shirt, making it transparent at all the wrong places. Moreover I was hungry and famished like a Somalian refugee after a one hour swim.
‘Good morning Medam’…Said Ravi Nair .
‘Good morning ‘I said, pretending to be in a hurry.
‘How are you’ asked Godbole, another committee member.
‘I am fine, thank you’ … I said with a plastic smile on my face.
‘Actually we want to talk to you’ said Chawla.
‘Sure’ … I said with perplexed look on my face while I covered the front of my T shirt with the rucksack bag that I was carrying.
Dr.Baldota, another committee member, explained to me the new amendments under the co-operative societies act which mandated women owners to participate in the prestigious Governing body of the society. He said I was one among the four women owners in this building society of 155 residents.
A young and educated one like me may not require ‘family support’ unlike the others.
So I must stand for the elections, they pleaded.
I said I was very busy and may not be able to make time for building society matters.
He said everyone else too had said the same thing.
A third member quoted Dale Carnegie or Stephen Covey or someone like that and said successful people make time for everything.
I wanted to tell him that much as I would like to qualify as successful, the last thing I would want to do is fight elections for the post of a committee member of my building society.
But instead I told them that they could ask the other three women owners and if they declined, I would reconsider as a last option.
Two days later, they came back.
Out of the four women owners in Shiv Parvati CHS two were absentee owners. i.e. their husbands had invested real estate property in their names, but they stayed elsewhere. The third one was the Aunty from the A block. She initially seemed positive, I was told.
However she had said that she would discuss with her Mister and get back to them.
Apparently the Mister did not think that the post of committee member was a respectable one for his wife and so she declined the offer.
It was back to square one. I could have declined. But a sentimental speech by the elderly Dr. Baldota put me in a spot. He said, this was the problem plaguing the country’s womenfolk. Despite reservations in every sector, the women were too busy with their own trivial things and did not want to participate in decision making bodies.
Such sweeping accusations against womankind, stirred my conscience.
I said I was game.
Just a day before the last day to file nominations, the Aunty from A block entered the race. Apparently the Mister had a change of mind.
And so, what would have been a unanimously fought post for the committee membership, now heated up to a tough competition between the two women. The battle lines were drawn between A block and B block.
The psephologists of Shiv parvati came out with an opinion poll and briefed me on the findings. The findings said that I stood a 50 : 50 chance.
I had a better ‘top of the mind recall’ since I had made my presence felt during the Dandia nights when I played Dandia during Navaratri. Playing Dandia, I am told is a great visibility buster.
However what went against me was my usual attire.
The Jeans and T-shirt that is usually wear did not go well with a committee member image they said.
'All the committee members wear Jeans and T Shirt', I protested.
'That is different. They are all Men.' Said the Psephologist.
'It is a different image make over for women. You don’t see Benazir Bhutto wearing a Jeans and T Shirt or for that matter smoking her Cuban cigar in public.'
‘Do you mean I should cover my head with a dupatta and keep adjusting it every 30 seconds when it attempts to fall down’ …I asked.
‘Just wearing a Dupatta would do … no need to cover it on your head.’ Said my image adviser no. 1.
‘No… no…no…’ interrupted Chawla my image adviser no. 2
‘Don’t cover your head … they may think you are a Muslim, and as you know we do not encourage Muslims to buy an apartment in our society. Muslims live in Kohinoor society…’ he stretched his hand and pointed his finger to the left and said …
I should have guessed it. Last month, it was a holiday for Id –ul -fitr or something like that. It was early afternoon when I woke up and entered the kitchen. I opened the kitchen window and could smell wafts of spicy biriyani from the kitchen window of the opposite building. Simultaneously Cashew nuts were being roasted in desi ghee to be put in the Sevai ka kheer for the feast.
I smiled at the lady who was cooking beneath the kitchen window of the opposite building. She smiled back. Ever since then we have been exchanging smiles, whenever we happen to keep our kitchen windows open.
But I have never looked down the kitchen window. I am told that the previous committee members from Kohinoor CHS as well as Shiv Parvati CHS had got together and raised a 6 foot compound wall in between the two societies for 'safety' purposes about two years ago.
‘You are educated no doubt … but you do not have grassroots experience’ … said Chawla whose daughter had recently made it to the top 16 in the Miss Navi Mumbai beauty peagent …
'All are family people in our society …how will you like it if your children grow up playing with their children...’ I was wondering it was a pointed question to me or a general reference.
Speaking for myself, I was still thinking about having children…and honestly I had not yet given a thought about the religious preferences of the children with whom my children should be playing with …
All this was getting above my head … I said I understood and promised to take corrective action regarding my image and saw them to the door.
Don’t worry, my Jeans and T-Shirts will be dumped for the next few weeks, I said .
And far as the Cuban cigar … I cannot afford it anyway, so it does not matter.
And so it was ‘Salwar Kameez’ all the way for the next few weeks. Only the loose ones with dupatta, mind you. The figure hugging designer Salwar kameez were dumped along with the Jeans and T Shirts.
I took the psephologists findings seriously.
I smiled at everyone in the elevator. I stay in the B2 block. However I took the elevator in the B1, B3, B4, A1, A2, A3 and A4 blocks as well despite the fact that I had no one to visit in any of those blocks. That would increase my visibility factor I was told. And so I smiled at everyone and fondled their children saying ‘cho… chweet' while taking in the elevator.
The D-Day arrived.
The competition was tough, I was told. The ‘Mister’ of the Aunty from A block had taken it up as challenge and had involved himself thoroughly into the campaign for his wife. He was apparently following the best practices from Bihar.
He was a real estate agent by profession. And one was not really sure if his wife’s elevation into the post of Shiv parvati CHS's committee member, would improve his business prospects. Some said that he would get access to insider information of who is selling which house and all that. But I was told leakage of insider information was normal and that was how it was in all other building societies as well.
I secretly prayed that I should lose the election. I tended to sleep late on Sundays and the prospect of attending an 11.00a.m to 1.00p.m meeting on Sunday mornings was not a pleasant one.
Despite my prayers, I won the election by a thin margin. 55 : 54 , was the verdict. The other 46 apartment owners did not bother to exercise their choice. But that did not matter. Even in the lok sabha elections, I was told the average voter turn out in our area was only 34%.
I suddenly remembered I had not cast my precious vote. If only I had cast my own vote.
I mean the Aunty from A block would have tied with me and then they would have had to toss the coin. With some luck, I could have still salvaged my Sunday morning sleep.
Tough luck, I said to myself.
However, now that I had taken the plunge, I was determined to make the best out of supreme sacrifice of my Sunday morning sleep in the committee meetings from 11.00 a.m to 1.00 p.m . I was determined to make my mark as the first woman committee member of Shiv Parvati Co-operative housing society.
The first committee meeting was so mundane. I was still trying to understand the workings of a governing body of a co-operative housing society.
We women are late entrants, and as everyone is well aware is because of centuries of subjugation and oppression. But now with this kind of reservation, it was important to show them the difference. I wanted to do a 'Shabana Azmi' and not a 'Lata Mangeshkar'.
And so in the next week meeting on Sunday from 11.00 a.m to 1.00p.m , I put up this proposal of eco- friendly waste management system. (ECO - WMS)
I started by saying this required a Paradigm Shift.
Godbole interrupted and asked me what was meaning of 'Paradigm shift'.
My fellow committee members have not had the privilege of high quality management education. They keep asking me very basic questions.
I am so glad we did not take the societies act bye-law no. 109 A seriously. It demanded that all CHS meetings in Maharashtra were to be held and minuted in Marathi .
I am not sure if I can refer a English – Marathi dictionary to translate ‘Paradigm shift’.
For that matter I was now struggling to translate it even in English for Godbole.
I decided to get to the point.
I explained the definitions of bio-degradable and non-biodegradable wastes and went on to talk about increasing pollution levels and the depletion of Amazon rain forests in America , which was causing global warming . And that is why, despite the Khaitan fan working full speed, it was so hot this Sunday morning in the society meeting room.
The other committee members were yawning . I attributed it to the indirect effect of Global warming. I went on to say that every household should separate its biodegradable waste and non-biodegradable waste and dispose them off in two separate trash cans. I showed them examples of housing societies in Chicago and Colaba who were practicing this method. ( Thanks to Larry Page and Sergei Binn ) .
Another committee member with a cynical look on his face, confessed that he did not know much about Building societies in Chicago , but commented that they charged Rs. 5.00 per sq foot as maintenance charges in those sea facing apartments in Colaba. In comparison there was huge uproar last year when we increased the society maintenance charges from Rs.0.75 to Rs.1.00 .
I requested him not to mix up issues. Eco-friendly waste management was not capital intensive at all. All it required was
1. All residents use two different trash cans, one for the wet and another for the dry garbage .
2. The ‘Kachda wala’ should make sure that he collects the wet and dry garbage in two different bins and not mix them up .
It was as simple as that. No extra costs at all, I said.
I had read about some co-operative housing society in Ahmedabad which used the waste from the septic tanks and the wet garbage to generate electricity for the street lights.
But that was too much to take at this point of time.
I was glad no one asked , if the municipality van which collected garbage would bother to separate the bio-degradable and non – biodegradable waste. What if it mixed up the two. At that point in time I did not have an answer . But I made mental note of checking up the Colaba case study on google. ( Thanks again to Mr. Page and Mr. Binn)
It was almost 1.00 p.m and the committee members wanted to get back to their apartments for a sumptuous Sunday lunch before a long Siesta. None asked any questions.
So the resolution was passed.
A circular was thrust into the letter box of each apartment, asking them to separate the wet and dry garbage into two different trash cans with immediate effect.
Since I was making such sweeping changes, I decided to personally supervise the sweepers who also collected and emptied out the garbage. I made sure that wet , went into the Wet garbage bucket and the dry went into the dry garbage bucket.
The next Sunday , during the governing body meeting, the treasurer thrust before me a bill for Rs. 19.50 /- . It was sent by the Aunty from the A block, asking for reimbursement for the extra trash can that she had to buy from Apna Bazaar , to dispose off her dry garbage.
mmm…dissent from the opposition.
In the career of every successful committee member of co-operative housing societies, there have always been challenges. And challenges were meant to be overcome not ignored. I paid Rs.19.50 /- from my pocket. But did not intend to be charitable.
****************
Navaratri was round the corner . It is customary every year that the building society organises a Dandia Raas ( Communal Dance done during the nine nights of the festival)
I got myself nominated to the prize committee for the Navratri Utsavcelebrations.
On all the nine nights, it was customary every year, that we judged three best dandia dancers and awarded them prizes. In my scheme of things, this year we decided to separate the children from adults. The Girls from the Women. The boys from the Men.
And so every night, three prizes were given out for three best dancers among the girls, three best dancers among the boys , three best dancers among the men , three best dancers among the women. The last category was a sensitive issue. To look out for the women above 18 years of age could have been a difficult task but for the ever so helpful google. ( Thanks again to Mr. Page and Mr. Binn).
Government of India publishes its voters list for every constituency in the world wide web. I made sure I had access to this information. (Blog readers …Do not go and indulge in Ego surfing … you need to know the right URL for your constituency to do this. )
Any dissent from the Aunty from the A block and I would have forwarded her the link to the voters list published in the net on < for reasons of confidentiality this URL has been blanked out> .
And in case she was not net savvy as it turns out more often than not, I would show her the print out, which I had printed out in the office printer after working hours. I explained my plans to the fellow members in the prize committee. Being slightly dull witted compared to me, they simply nodded as if saying , If you decide , it will be good enough.
The Navratri celebrations began. And the building society, danced away to glory .
Raas leela was at its peak and everyone was enjoying themselves. Thanks to us ...the new committee members who had added vigour and colour this year.
It was time for prize distribution on the last day before Dassera and all the 27 prize winners from each category ( 108 in all) had assembled for the prize distribution. The prize committee had made sure that there were no repetitions in giving the prizes to the same people every day. Our motto was to reach out to all . So even if you improved your skills night after night during Dandia Raas , you could win your best dancer prize only once .
The aunty from the A block came only on one of the days and was too shy to dance. A prize committee member pulled her in and thrust twoDandia sticks in her hand and cajoled her to dance. After about 5 minutes of clumsily trying to dance, she gave up .
When the prizes for the day were announced, the Aunty from A block got the third prize in the ‘Women above 18 category’. The photographer made sure that her photograph was clicked when she held the Dandia sticks and attempted to dance in the group in that five minutes. He was a smart photographer and had done his job, without me having to tell him much.
If I remained in the committee next year, which looked very probable , unless the reservation bye-law was amended , I was determined to award the photography along with the cool drinks contract to him, next year as well.
A toothless elderly man from A block was called in to distribute the prizes because our special guest invitee for the day , Miss Navi Mumbai second runner up had to cancel her plans in the last minute, because of some urgent work. ( The next day , we saw her photograph in the Navi Mumbai times, in the Dandia Raas function held at the Navi Mumbai Sports association – NBSA. She was dancing away to glory in a backless choli) .
I made a mental note.
Next year, we will have a brand building exercise done before Navaratri , so that Miss Navi Mumbai Runners up as well as the winners would die to be invited to the Shiv-Parvati Dandia Raas function , rather than go to the NBSA dandia Raas function .
But that would be next year.
The toothless old man was fumbling and trembling while giving away the prizes. As I have mentioned earlier, there were 108 in all to give out. The prizes were all wrapped in colourful gift wrappers and the children and adults alike were eagerly waiting for their prizes.
The prize distribution function got over.
The Aunty from the A block along with her Mister , her son and daughter went back home.
We do not monitor our apartments in the building society with CCTV. So I am not sure what their reaction was when their opened their gift wrappers to find four different trash-cans all of four different colours, sizes and varieties for prizes in the Dandia Raas competitions.
************
It takes some Shrewd Strategic orientation to manage dissent in such matters of governance.
I am not sure if Chanakya has already written about all this in his Arthashastra or whatever else he wrote in 350 B.C.
Anyway that was too long ago.
I better get down to writing a book on ‘Managing dissent in Co-operative Housing Societies’ before some American from Harvard university decides to propound the theory and patent it.
That is all for now.
I was a surprise entrant into Shiv parvati CHS governing body. Sometime before the elections, the co-operative housing society building act of Maharashtra amended its bye-laws. I was told that due to pressure from the government it had to amend its bye-laws.
The one that was amended recently required at least one woman member to be represented in the Governing body in all co-operative housing societies. The outgoing president of Shiv parvati CHS went and presented the case to the guys in MHADA (Maharashtra Housing And Development Authority) who framed the act.
He pleaded that our women are very busy cooking and dishwashing on Sundays and cannot attend the regular Sunday meetings of the governing body.
‘Change the meeting timing’, said the MHADA fellow.
‘Our women have small children who cannot stay away from them’.
‘Allot a crèche facility which should take care of children between 11.00a.m and 1.00p.m or whenever you have your meetings ‘, said the MHADA fellow.
‘Our women cannot talk in English and some cannot draft letters and take decisions, since they got married before passed their 10th std’.
‘All committee meetings in Maharashtra to be held in Marathi - bye law 109 A’ pointed the MHADA fellow. And he continued ...
‘They can put impression of their thumb print if they cannot sign. And as far as decision making is concerned, they can always take the family’s help. What else is a family for? This practice is working very well in Bihar; I hope you know ‘said the MHADA fellow with a smile on his face.
The outgoing president understood that there really was no way out. And so the hunt began.
I was shocked to find half a dozen committee members who surrounded me as I was returning from the swimming pool on Sunday morning. My hair was dripping wet over my T Shirt, making it transparent at all the wrong places. Moreover I was hungry and famished like a Somalian refugee after a one hour swim.
‘Good morning Medam’…Said Ravi Nair .
‘Good morning ‘I said, pretending to be in a hurry.
‘How are you’ asked Godbole, another committee member.
‘I am fine, thank you’ … I said with a plastic smile on my face.
‘Actually we want to talk to you’ said Chawla.
‘Sure’ … I said with perplexed look on my face while I covered the front of my T shirt with the rucksack bag that I was carrying.
Dr.Baldota, another committee member, explained to me the new amendments under the co-operative societies act which mandated women owners to participate in the prestigious Governing body of the society. He said I was one among the four women owners in this building society of 155 residents.
A young and educated one like me may not require ‘family support’ unlike the others.
So I must stand for the elections, they pleaded.
I said I was very busy and may not be able to make time for building society matters.
He said everyone else too had said the same thing.
A third member quoted Dale Carnegie or Stephen Covey or someone like that and said successful people make time for everything.
I wanted to tell him that much as I would like to qualify as successful, the last thing I would want to do is fight elections for the post of a committee member of my building society.
But instead I told them that they could ask the other three women owners and if they declined, I would reconsider as a last option.
Two days later, they came back.
Out of the four women owners in Shiv Parvati CHS two were absentee owners. i.e. their husbands had invested real estate property in their names, but they stayed elsewhere. The third one was the Aunty from the A block. She initially seemed positive, I was told.
However she had said that she would discuss with her Mister and get back to them.
Apparently the Mister did not think that the post of committee member was a respectable one for his wife and so she declined the offer.
It was back to square one. I could have declined. But a sentimental speech by the elderly Dr. Baldota put me in a spot. He said, this was the problem plaguing the country’s womenfolk. Despite reservations in every sector, the women were too busy with their own trivial things and did not want to participate in decision making bodies.
Such sweeping accusations against womankind, stirred my conscience.
I said I was game.
Just a day before the last day to file nominations, the Aunty from A block entered the race. Apparently the Mister had a change of mind.
And so, what would have been a unanimously fought post for the committee membership, now heated up to a tough competition between the two women. The battle lines were drawn between A block and B block.
The psephologists of Shiv parvati came out with an opinion poll and briefed me on the findings. The findings said that I stood a 50 : 50 chance.
I had a better ‘top of the mind recall’ since I had made my presence felt during the Dandia nights when I played Dandia during Navaratri. Playing Dandia, I am told is a great visibility buster.
However what went against me was my usual attire.
The Jeans and T-shirt that is usually wear did not go well with a committee member image they said.
'All the committee members wear Jeans and T Shirt', I protested.
'That is different. They are all Men.' Said the Psephologist.
'It is a different image make over for women. You don’t see Benazir Bhutto wearing a Jeans and T Shirt or for that matter smoking her Cuban cigar in public.'
‘Do you mean I should cover my head with a dupatta and keep adjusting it every 30 seconds when it attempts to fall down’ …I asked.
‘Just wearing a Dupatta would do … no need to cover it on your head.’ Said my image adviser no. 1.
‘No… no…no…’ interrupted Chawla my image adviser no. 2
‘Don’t cover your head … they may think you are a Muslim, and as you know we do not encourage Muslims to buy an apartment in our society. Muslims live in Kohinoor society…’ he stretched his hand and pointed his finger to the left and said …
I should have guessed it. Last month, it was a holiday for Id –ul -fitr or something like that. It was early afternoon when I woke up and entered the kitchen. I opened the kitchen window and could smell wafts of spicy biriyani from the kitchen window of the opposite building. Simultaneously Cashew nuts were being roasted in desi ghee to be put in the Sevai ka kheer for the feast.
I smiled at the lady who was cooking beneath the kitchen window of the opposite building. She smiled back. Ever since then we have been exchanging smiles, whenever we happen to keep our kitchen windows open.
But I have never looked down the kitchen window. I am told that the previous committee members from Kohinoor CHS as well as Shiv Parvati CHS had got together and raised a 6 foot compound wall in between the two societies for 'safety' purposes about two years ago.
‘You are educated no doubt … but you do not have grassroots experience’ … said Chawla whose daughter had recently made it to the top 16 in the Miss Navi Mumbai beauty peagent …
'All are family people in our society …how will you like it if your children grow up playing with their children...’ I was wondering it was a pointed question to me or a general reference.
Speaking for myself, I was still thinking about having children…and honestly I had not yet given a thought about the religious preferences of the children with whom my children should be playing with …
All this was getting above my head … I said I understood and promised to take corrective action regarding my image and saw them to the door.
Don’t worry, my Jeans and T-Shirts will be dumped for the next few weeks, I said .
And far as the Cuban cigar … I cannot afford it anyway, so it does not matter.
And so it was ‘Salwar Kameez’ all the way for the next few weeks. Only the loose ones with dupatta, mind you. The figure hugging designer Salwar kameez were dumped along with the Jeans and T Shirts.
I took the psephologists findings seriously.
I smiled at everyone in the elevator. I stay in the B2 block. However I took the elevator in the B1, B3, B4, A1, A2, A3 and A4 blocks as well despite the fact that I had no one to visit in any of those blocks. That would increase my visibility factor I was told. And so I smiled at everyone and fondled their children saying ‘cho… chweet' while taking in the elevator.
The D-Day arrived.
The competition was tough, I was told. The ‘Mister’ of the Aunty from A block had taken it up as challenge and had involved himself thoroughly into the campaign for his wife. He was apparently following the best practices from Bihar.
He was a real estate agent by profession. And one was not really sure if his wife’s elevation into the post of Shiv parvati CHS's committee member, would improve his business prospects. Some said that he would get access to insider information of who is selling which house and all that. But I was told leakage of insider information was normal and that was how it was in all other building societies as well.
I secretly prayed that I should lose the election. I tended to sleep late on Sundays and the prospect of attending an 11.00a.m to 1.00p.m meeting on Sunday mornings was not a pleasant one.
Despite my prayers, I won the election by a thin margin. 55 : 54 , was the verdict. The other 46 apartment owners did not bother to exercise their choice. But that did not matter. Even in the lok sabha elections, I was told the average voter turn out in our area was only 34%.
I suddenly remembered I had not cast my precious vote. If only I had cast my own vote.
I mean the Aunty from A block would have tied with me and then they would have had to toss the coin. With some luck, I could have still salvaged my Sunday morning sleep.
Tough luck, I said to myself.
However, now that I had taken the plunge, I was determined to make the best out of supreme sacrifice of my Sunday morning sleep in the committee meetings from 11.00 a.m to 1.00 p.m . I was determined to make my mark as the first woman committee member of Shiv Parvati Co-operative housing society.
The first committee meeting was so mundane. I was still trying to understand the workings of a governing body of a co-operative housing society.
We women are late entrants, and as everyone is well aware is because of centuries of subjugation and oppression. But now with this kind of reservation, it was important to show them the difference. I wanted to do a 'Shabana Azmi' and not a 'Lata Mangeshkar'.
And so in the next week meeting on Sunday from 11.00 a.m to 1.00p.m , I put up this proposal of eco- friendly waste management system. (ECO - WMS)
I started by saying this required a Paradigm Shift.
Godbole interrupted and asked me what was meaning of 'Paradigm shift'.
My fellow committee members have not had the privilege of high quality management education. They keep asking me very basic questions.
I am so glad we did not take the societies act bye-law no. 109 A seriously. It demanded that all CHS meetings in Maharashtra were to be held and minuted in Marathi .
I am not sure if I can refer a English – Marathi dictionary to translate ‘Paradigm shift’.
For that matter I was now struggling to translate it even in English for Godbole.
I decided to get to the point.
I explained the definitions of bio-degradable and non-biodegradable wastes and went on to talk about increasing pollution levels and the depletion of Amazon rain forests in America , which was causing global warming . And that is why, despite the Khaitan fan working full speed, it was so hot this Sunday morning in the society meeting room.
The other committee members were yawning . I attributed it to the indirect effect of Global warming. I went on to say that every household should separate its biodegradable waste and non-biodegradable waste and dispose them off in two separate trash cans. I showed them examples of housing societies in Chicago and Colaba who were practicing this method. ( Thanks to Larry Page and Sergei Binn ) .
Another committee member with a cynical look on his face, confessed that he did not know much about Building societies in Chicago , but commented that they charged Rs. 5.00 per sq foot as maintenance charges in those sea facing apartments in Colaba. In comparison there was huge uproar last year when we increased the society maintenance charges from Rs.0.75 to Rs.1.00 .
I requested him not to mix up issues. Eco-friendly waste management was not capital intensive at all. All it required was
1. All residents use two different trash cans, one for the wet and another for the dry garbage .
2. The ‘Kachda wala’ should make sure that he collects the wet and dry garbage in two different bins and not mix them up .
It was as simple as that. No extra costs at all, I said.
I had read about some co-operative housing society in Ahmedabad which used the waste from the septic tanks and the wet garbage to generate electricity for the street lights.
But that was too much to take at this point of time.
I was glad no one asked , if the municipality van which collected garbage would bother to separate the bio-degradable and non – biodegradable waste. What if it mixed up the two. At that point in time I did not have an answer . But I made mental note of checking up the Colaba case study on google. ( Thanks again to Mr. Page and Mr. Binn)
It was almost 1.00 p.m and the committee members wanted to get back to their apartments for a sumptuous Sunday lunch before a long Siesta. None asked any questions.
So the resolution was passed.
A circular was thrust into the letter box of each apartment, asking them to separate the wet and dry garbage into two different trash cans with immediate effect.
Since I was making such sweeping changes, I decided to personally supervise the sweepers who also collected and emptied out the garbage. I made sure that wet , went into the Wet garbage bucket and the dry went into the dry garbage bucket.
The next Sunday , during the governing body meeting, the treasurer thrust before me a bill for Rs. 19.50 /- . It was sent by the Aunty from the A block, asking for reimbursement for the extra trash can that she had to buy from Apna Bazaar , to dispose off her dry garbage.
mmm…dissent from the opposition.
In the career of every successful committee member of co-operative housing societies, there have always been challenges. And challenges were meant to be overcome not ignored. I paid Rs.19.50 /- from my pocket. But did not intend to be charitable.
****************
Navaratri was round the corner . It is customary every year that the building society organises a Dandia Raas ( Communal Dance done during the nine nights of the festival)
I got myself nominated to the prize committee for the Navratri Utsavcelebrations.
On all the nine nights, it was customary every year, that we judged three best dandia dancers and awarded them prizes. In my scheme of things, this year we decided to separate the children from adults. The Girls from the Women. The boys from the Men.
And so every night, three prizes were given out for three best dancers among the girls, three best dancers among the boys , three best dancers among the men , three best dancers among the women. The last category was a sensitive issue. To look out for the women above 18 years of age could have been a difficult task but for the ever so helpful google. ( Thanks again to Mr. Page and Mr. Binn).
Government of India publishes its voters list for every constituency in the world wide web. I made sure I had access to this information. (Blog readers …Do not go and indulge in Ego surfing … you need to know the right URL for your constituency to do this. )
Any dissent from the Aunty from the A block and I would have forwarded her the link to the voters list published in the net on < for reasons of confidentiality this URL has been blanked out> .
And in case she was not net savvy as it turns out more often than not, I would show her the print out, which I had printed out in the office printer after working hours. I explained my plans to the fellow members in the prize committee. Being slightly dull witted compared to me, they simply nodded as if saying , If you decide , it will be good enough.
The Navratri celebrations began. And the building society, danced away to glory .
Raas leela was at its peak and everyone was enjoying themselves. Thanks to us ...the new committee members who had added vigour and colour this year.
It was time for prize distribution on the last day before Dassera and all the 27 prize winners from each category ( 108 in all) had assembled for the prize distribution. The prize committee had made sure that there were no repetitions in giving the prizes to the same people every day. Our motto was to reach out to all . So even if you improved your skills night after night during Dandia Raas , you could win your best dancer prize only once .
The aunty from the A block came only on one of the days and was too shy to dance. A prize committee member pulled her in and thrust twoDandia sticks in her hand and cajoled her to dance. After about 5 minutes of clumsily trying to dance, she gave up .
When the prizes for the day were announced, the Aunty from A block got the third prize in the ‘Women above 18 category’. The photographer made sure that her photograph was clicked when she held the Dandia sticks and attempted to dance in the group in that five minutes. He was a smart photographer and had done his job, without me having to tell him much.
If I remained in the committee next year, which looked very probable , unless the reservation bye-law was amended , I was determined to award the photography along with the cool drinks contract to him, next year as well.
A toothless elderly man from A block was called in to distribute the prizes because our special guest invitee for the day , Miss Navi Mumbai second runner up had to cancel her plans in the last minute, because of some urgent work. ( The next day , we saw her photograph in the Navi Mumbai times, in the Dandia Raas function held at the Navi Mumbai Sports association – NBSA. She was dancing away to glory in a backless choli) .
I made a mental note.
Next year, we will have a brand building exercise done before Navaratri , so that Miss Navi Mumbai Runners up as well as the winners would die to be invited to the Shiv-Parvati Dandia Raas function , rather than go to the NBSA dandia Raas function .
But that would be next year.
The toothless old man was fumbling and trembling while giving away the prizes. As I have mentioned earlier, there were 108 in all to give out. The prizes were all wrapped in colourful gift wrappers and the children and adults alike were eagerly waiting for their prizes.
The prize distribution function got over.
The Aunty from the A block along with her Mister , her son and daughter went back home.
We do not monitor our apartments in the building society with CCTV. So I am not sure what their reaction was when their opened their gift wrappers to find four different trash-cans all of four different colours, sizes and varieties for prizes in the Dandia Raas competitions.
************
It takes some Shrewd Strategic orientation to manage dissent in such matters of governance.
I am not sure if Chanakya has already written about all this in his Arthashastra or whatever else he wrote in 350 B.C.
Anyway that was too long ago.
I better get down to writing a book on ‘Managing dissent in Co-operative Housing Societies’ before some American from Harvard university decides to propound the theory and patent it.
That is all for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment