Greetings fellow residents!
It has been a while since I wrote on this blog but did not want to miss the opportunity to greet all of you through this platform as well as share my thoughts on the year that went by and what is in store for 2018.
2017 was a happening year for us in a lot of ways. The current executive body took charge on July 9' 2017 and we had several issues on hand.
The fund position was really bad. We started off with a meager Rs 2570. There were lots of defaults on payments and everyone would look at our neighbors - look at their festivities and wonder when we would have something similar. It was not possible, as with the regular amount collected, we could hardly pay the salaries of sweeper and security.
We had to take some drastic measures including but not limited to increasing maintenance charges, chasing everyone who had a due in their names, reconciling all accounts. I know we may have inadvertently alienated a few very good residents on account of being brutal with our processes, but trust me, we had to do it. I am really thankful to Mr Jyoti Kumar and Mrs Anuradha Kumar who spent a lot of time and effort in getting this together. This was a job for which getting motivated was really difficult as there was no incentive, only criticism from people. But we had a goal in mind and we decided to stick to it, no matter what!
We wanted to somehow engage all residents in a happy and productive manner, so we had the first celebration of Independence Day' 2017. We were fortunate to have phase B residents participate as well. If you missed being part of that amazing day, you can re-live the moments by going through
this post.
Now that we had something in place, we wanted to make it bigger and thought of celebrating on a bigger scale. Durga Puja was on our minds, but we did not have enough people and funds to pull it off. So, the next big thing on our mind was celebrating the new year in a befitting manner.
Through the months leading up to December' 2017, we kept up religiously carrying out the duties of being portfolio holders, carrying out activities, like:
1. Fixing elevator issues, doing a fresh monthly AMC
2. Fixing outdoor pipeline issues
3. Getting LED lights fixed on every floor - changing fixtures, to conserve electricity
4. Fixing light on the roof
5. Discussing with promoter on regular basis for pending work completion
6. Listening to all complaints on WhatsApp channels and addressing them in real time
7. Setting up this blog to communicate openly regarding association activities
8. Getting basic infrastructure items like a set of chairs, ladder, notice board and stationary items
Few things that we wanted to achieve but could not include:
1. Getting maintenance charges from shop owners on account of their water usage and electricity usage of ground floor toilet
2. Merger with phase B residency
3. Getting the dues to zero, although we have achieved a lot!
In any case, we wanted to end the year with a bang and decided to have the 31st December' 2017 evening party.
When we came up with the idea, the immediate challenge we faced was - getting people to participate. Although we had some fund from Phase A, we did not want to use it, due to two reasons:
1. Everyone would not be able to participate in any case, so why use common fund contributed by everyone?
2. We wanted to have Phase B residents participate as well.
So, we devised a coupon system with Rs 250 per head. We kept guest coupons as well, so people could enjoy with friends and family as they deem fit.
Initially, the response was not encouraging. I remember Jyoti Ji telling me - "Will we have more than 10 people?" I responded - "We will do it, even if we have 5 people." And we stuck to it.
The residents, however, did not disappoint me at all. We had very good coupon distribution in both phase A and B.
We got some nice decoration in place as well for the event and thanks to the ladies, we had very innovative games for children.
In terms of events, we had:
1. Hi-tea and snacks
2. Couple of games for children
3. Poem recital and songs by children
4. Antakshari - where we had a women vs men (or you can say girls vs boys) challenger. We had the women in a spot but they bailed out with "Thande thande pani se nahana chahiye..."
5. Solo performance - folk, Bollywood and Bengali songs by Sumit Mondal. He actually kept the audience engaged throughout the evening.
6. Dinner
7. Impromptu dance
8. Fireworks (thanks to our President Mr Ashok Aggarwal) leading up to the New Year 2018!
I am sharing some photographs, which I am hoping you would like. There are more in the WhatsApp group, but these are selected few. If you wish to have some photographs featured, please email me.
For 2018, I have several thoughts.
1. We wish to keep the festivities going as I have realized everyone enjoys a lot and it leads to good gelling and teaming.
2. We would continue carrying out maintenance related activities and get the fund position stronger, to be ready for any calamities.
3. We are open to new ideas and can work on them on a priority basis. For example, we identify the need for round the clock security for a complex like ours and CCTV installation might be helpful. We have already got the quotations and planning to do it, subject to the agreement of most residents. I know I cannot get a 100% consensus on any issue. :)
4. We have to work with our promoter to get several of his pending works completed.
All of us are busy and hence regular meetings are not always possible. So, request all residents to be active on the WhatsApp platform and voice your opinion. Personally, I love all the jokes and videos and posts you share, but I value your opinion more than anything else.
Let's make 2018 memorable!
Signing off,
Chiranjib
PS. Did I miss anything? Write to me at chiranjibmazumdar1@gmail.com
