Attack is the best form of defence

This is classic animal instinct. The moment you are cornered, just go ahead and attack! This principle is being religiously followed by the MLDL folks. Instead of focusing on their own internal shortcomings, they choose to highlight things which are nowhere related to the core concern and deflect the attention.

For e.g. the moment we talk about leakage, plumbing, clubhouse, podium cleanliness and other issues they point out the changes residents have made to the flats. In principle there is nothing wrong about this stance, especially if some structural damage has been done. But they choose to highlight issues which are in fact design flaws from their end and which residents have tried to rectify at their own cost, as being changes to the original plan! The shaft area was a complete disaster in terms of design. If someone has filled it up for ease of cleaning, MLDL is prompt to point it out and use that as a reason to absolve itself of all wrongdoings. Very slimy indeed!

On the eve of the progress meeting tomorrow, letters have promptly gone to residents reminding them of their 'wrongdoings'. But please be warned MLDL that we are aware of your tactics. And this is just not going to deflect attention from the core issues.

Obsession with parrots

In previous article we had expressed the fear -

“We hope that CEO also doesn’t take the leaf out of the book of her project team, who seem to have attained mastery in constantly repeating like a parrot that miseries faced by residents are due to unauthorised and shoddy structural modification by some of the residents. “

Our apprehensions came true and during the meeting, CEO of Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited, started parroting the same language as her project team. It is an inherent Indian nature that we are so shy of admitting mistakes and instead indulge in mudslinging and counter-offensive to divert the course of discussion. That sullen argument is so assuredly enshrined in the mindset that everybody right from CEO to local project heads keep repeating same thing like parrot. No wonder globally we are being branded as Typical Argumentative Indian (TAI). Stop getting tied up in TAI and instead start taking pride in the job.

When will these guys from Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited stop cutting corners, and start cutting the crap?

When will these guys from Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited stop giving that famous dog-ate-my-homework kindda dodge?

When will these guys stop watering the waterbody and start oiling the cognitive machinery? What about chewing on MENTOS, to switch ON Dimaag ki batti, unless there is some short circuit or overload in Dimaag that it refuses to switch ON , in same way as podium lights in night time. Every night you can see watchman struggling to switch ON the lights. No sooner he switches ON, that circuit breaker trips and podium is gripped in darkness giving much needed privacy to stray dogs for some romanticism.

All homes in Mahindra Eminente, seem to follow the First and the Second of Murphy’s Laws: if something can go wrong, it will; and if something can’t go wrong, it still will.

Every third day following amusing rigmarole goes on in my house –

‘I can hear the water dripping in pipe duct; call Patole, Call Umesh”, my wife yells out to me.

“I’m calling him; I’m calling him”, I yell back, punching in Patole’s mobile number with the practiced ease of long familiarity.

I get to hear- “this number is not reachable” – Patole hiding in some unreachable place. Then I punch the cell number of Umesh and give him my piece of mind and that gentle fellow promises to get all sorted out quickly.

Thank God these DOKOMO guys reduced the call rates , otherwise I would have got major hole in my pocket calling Patoles and Umesh and Viveks and Siddheshs and now another name has got added in the list – Commodore. Anybody knows his telephone number?

Favourite pass time of hierarchy of Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited is passing the buck and busy doing buk-buk on cell phone wasting company’s money- “company ka maal water-body mein daal”.

What kind of checks and balances have been enforced since last meeting on 13^th June. Instead it tilted more towards cheques and imbalances. For a moment even if we presume that system of checks and balances exist by the virtue of MLDL belonging to one of the most respected brands, being a corporate body with sizable amount of public holding, pretending to practice high standards of corporate governance, whose board members are handpicked luminaries of business world, company complies with ISO standards, but at the very next moment when we look around at the work culture on display at Mahindra Eminente we tend to get impression that all those checks and balances have lead not towards improving value quotient but towards a gridlock, worse than what we see everyday on S.V.Road, right outside the poverty stricken gates of Mahindra Eminente.

If they can’t make a simple slope and cause water logging everywhere on the podium garden area, how they will take up major infrastructure projects. – Roads will constantly be waterlogged because improper gradient will not allow water to drainage. – thus turning the laws of the gravity and fluid dynamics upside down. We better not whisper Mahindra’s pioneering concept of anti-gravity and fluid dynamics to Newtons and Bernoullis, otherwise those poor guys will start turning into their graves.

Sometimes we tend to think that even the civilisation in Harappa and Mohenjodaro times had more engineering knowledge than what Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited has at its disposal. We tend to wonder if project leaders of MLDL, passed out summa cum laude from awe inspiring institutions of modern times or what they hold is Munnabhai degree.

Subah Ho gayi Mamu….!!!! Wake up!!! Smell the coffee!!!

If coffee is not strong enough to wake you up, then come and stand under the various leakages in the stilt parking area from overhead podium.

What kind of neo engineering is this, that there is a leakage all throughout the concrete expansion joints?

Lets see when the project team decides to lunge ahead and stops parroting.

WOW!! “Minute by hour” account of powwow.

Many days after the much hyped meeting with CEO of Mahindra Lifespaces Developers limited, official minute takers of Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited, could manage to rustle up the minutes of the meeting after strenuously stressing their neurotic cells to recollect the discussion points and produce minutes of the meeting.

Reading through the minutes it looks like these minute-takers were stealing forty winks, while CEO and her army of commodore (Nayar) and captain (Vivek) of the project team were busy dodging verbal and powerpoint attack from residents.

By the time these minute- takers got out of their Jhapki (don’t get confused with Jhappi), minute had turned into an hour. No wonder they missed out on recording some of the important issues which residents had cried hoarse about. So instead of saying minute by minute account, I choose to say “minute by hour” account of powwow.

Read On-

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At the outset Ms Anita Arjundas welcomed all the representatives of residents of Mahindra Eminente wing A & B.

Most of the residents expressed their views on the general state of maintenance of Wings A & B.

The salient points were as follows:-

There has been a change in the layout plan compared to what was shown during selling of the units, new buildings are very close to existing buildings

Children play area is very small and once other building are commissioned it will be further cramped

Water body is non-productive, occupies huge space, consumes lot of water & is maintenance intensive and therefore should be converted into hard or soft scape.

Need to hasten Club House which has already been delayed far too long, when commissioned swimming pool should have a covering to avoid debris

As handing over of flats was delayed considerably hence customers need to be compensated

Knight Frank is not up to the mark

MLDL should send notices to all occupants doing illegal modifications

Leakages in shafts, stilt , water stagnation at podium

Service camp for shower panel, CP fitting, door locks, video phones etc

Foul smell in kitchen outlet

Plant tall trees on the periphery of the podium & plot boundary

Arrest pigeon menace by providing nets

Rodents creating a huge problem

Better lighting at podium

Anita reassured the customers that all maintenance issues will be resolved and no efforts or money will spared on part of MLDL to ensure speedy completion. Whilst addressing the substantive issues she emphasised that most of leakage problem in the shafts and flats have been caused by illegal

modification undertaken by the customer despite clear instructions to the contrary from MLDL. Accordingly, MLDL has issued notices to all erring customers. Whilst responding to a query on compensation for late delivery she stated unambiguously that no such policy exist in the Company, further she said that those customers who have already paid for the club house will be compensated in their maintenance dues. In respect of water body she stated before taking a decision we will discuss the feasibility, pros & cons from a short and long term perspective with the landscape architect in Singapore, relevant authorities and residents/customers.

Whilst addressing the individual points raised by the customer adequately, they were also informed of the plan for defect rectification & maintenance important issues being:-

Customers were once again assured that all the issued raised by them will be sorted out with a sense of urgency. They were requested to kindly write their complaints in the complaint book provided with the Security in each Wing and if required they could contact Mr Umesh Pawar

There being no further points meeting was adjourned.

The issues conspicuous by their absence are:

1. New completion date of Club house is now October 2010. Why another delay? Bhaus have gone for Ganpati vacation, is it?

2. To show the commitment and seriousness , CEO had promised that monthly meeting will take stock of progress and first monthly meeting will be attended by her too, to review the progress made by commodore. (By the way, where is Karkhanis?)

3. Water supply management issues.