This is about life in emerging residential communities on OMR. Would like to see this emerge as an interactive forum to raise issues, discuss ideas and share info. on the pluses and pitfalls in off-city living.
I admit Dan Pink isn't a name I was familiar with till my neighbour Kalayani Rangarajan made a reference to his work in her e-mail about a seminar on motivation to be held this Friday, at VIT University campus on Vandalur-Kelambakkam Rd., Chennai.. Dr. Rangarajan is dean of VIT Business School, and the seminar - a Corporate Conclave addressed to senior executives - takes off from Dan Pink's proposition on 'what motivates people to better their performance'. Many of us can't be faulted for thinking cash rewards can motivate people to do better. This would be true in case of shop-floor staff engaged in routine, repetitive work - machine operator, meat-packer or beedi-roller.
Money could be an answer in case of a strata of workers. But is it the only motivational factor ? Or is money an answer, at all ? Dan Pink would have us believe money isn't what motivates people. In this regard he talks about three things - autonomy, mastery and purpose.
This, then, is the issue that speakers at the corporate conclave would address. Dan Pink, in his the book - Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - trashes the carrot & stick approach that companies adopt to motivate employees. The practice of giving cash rewards for better performance; of punishing those failing to deliver, says the author, is outdated, unexamined, and is rooted more in corporate folklore than on scientific findings.
Many senior scientists, engineers and other professionals engaged in open-source programme tend not only do a better job of whatever they are good at, but they also give it away free to all-comers. It is not profit, but it is purpose that motivates people to do what they do in their discretionary time. Wikipedia is an example, says Dan, of what can be accomplished if companies re-think the way they run business. Another example he cites in support of his case is the practice adopted at Google, where employees are allowed to spend 20 percent of their Google time (one day in a five-day week) doing their own thing; to work on their pet interests or project. VIT's Corporate Conclave 3 p m - 6 p m March 1 (Friday) VIT campus, Vandalur-Kelambakkam Rd.
Those interested can register their names for participation at this link.
The high-rise - Gem Grove - residential that is close to completion in my Padur neighbourhood was no more than a hazy outline in this morning's mist that virtually blanketed our stretch of OMR. Have uploaded in OMR Resident Facebook a host of other morning mist photos.
Would like to hear from amateur camera enthusiasts who wish to join OMR Greens on a PhotoWalk this weekend along the lake behind ETA Rosedale. Idea is to capture images of the recyclable garbage discarded on the lakeside. An album of such photos would be published in Facebook, as a run up to the OMR Greens Recyclables Retrival Day. Our plan is to mobilize a group of students, equipped with garbage bags, for a lakeside recyclables collection, on a specifed date (say March 10 or 17). Plastic bottles, cardboard, paper etc. so collect would be sold to raddiwalahs. And the proceeds would go the rag-picker families we have identified at Padur. To-do list for OMR Greens: 1) Contact local municipal school for mobilsing student voluntters. 2) Shop for sponsors to pay for gloves and polythene garbage bags. 3) Connect with Hindustan University civil engineering faculty for drafting project report and cost estimates for barbed wire fencing on strategic segments around the lake; and for construction of public toilets, with piped water from the lake, for the benefit of those who now use lakeside bushes. The project report, prepared by the university faculty, would be taken up with relevant authorities.
The evening before formal opening of Nilgiri's at Padur.
Nilgiri's
have opened shop at Padur, but at the crowded market street on a narrow
stretch of OMR. A perfect prescription for peak-hour traffic jam on
OMR. Location of Nilgiri's at Padur main street has evoked mixed
reaction from neighbourhood residents
Apparently, residents at
Mantri Synergy welcome the development. Not many might know that
Nilgiri's was among the retail chains - Spenser's and Reliance were the
others - approached by PropCare for setting up shop at the clubhouse,
at a time when we were less than 50 families in the complex. But then no
retailer wanted to move in till we were at least 100 families.
Incidentally, Angaadi veg. vendor was at Mantri's before, an year-and-a-half back. Mr Raghavan of Angaadi online veg. mart set up shop on Sunday evenings, for a few weeks, as a stop-gap arrangement. This was the time span between failure of negotiations with Nilgiri's and Spenser's, and the setting up of Sarvamangala Stores in Oct.end, 2011.
It was said Nilgiri's, and other retail chains with brand image, wanted Mantri's to provide rent-free space for a year, and they also laid down other conditions for setting up shop in our complex. At some point of time there was talk of Nilgiri's taking up space in a building under construction at Hindustan University, where IOB has moved in
Small retailers and grocery stores in Padur market area feel threatened, business-wise, with the opening of Nilgiri's right in the middle of their neighbourhood. Political parties opposing FDI in retail, on the plea that allowing in foreign retail chains would kill domestic traders, seem not to realize that it is not Walmart, but Nilgiri's and other domestic retail chains that pose a more immediate threat to neighbourhood shops.
There is no way you can ignore this eyesore, a few minutes drive
from Kelambakkam on way to ECR/Kovalam beach. If you happen to miss
the sight, the stench would draw your attention to it. A steady stream
of people driving past, on a daily basis, do just that - drive past this
ever extending garbage dump.
A couple of residential blocks
are coming up, not far from this spot. The garbage dump is located
within a few minutes drive from the Kelambakkam main street. And yet no
one appears unduly bothered. The response of residents we met during
OMR Greens Kelambakkam Walk was one of helplessness
.Social activist Stalin, alleging that the main culprit is the panchayat body, says his representation signed by a group of residents and submitted to the area police chief and health inspector has evoked no response.
It was a poor show, if you went by the turnout. But then OMR Greens is no mass movement. And numbers don't change people's mindset, about how they view their environment. In OMR , emerging urban communities co-exist with panchayat townships. Both need a mindset change to be able to cope with growing problems relating to waste management, sewage disposal, conservation of drinking water sources, compensating for the loss of green cover, and for the carbon emission generated by cars, AC units, and freezers used by people living in high-rises. OMR Greens reach out to all sections - high-rise communities, old-time residents, panchayat bodies, neighbourhood institutions (Hindustan University) and neighbourhood corporates - to explore possibilities, experiment a cluster approach to waste-to-energy conversion, sewage disposal, tapping solar and wind energy, increasing the green cover. Padur Walk
was meant to create awareness, which, we found, isn't a one-way
street. A 'walk' with placards was to spread the word about the green
agenda. For OMR green members the walk provided an opportunity to get a
sense of their neighbourhood ground realities. Rajaram who moved to
Mantri's many months back said he didn't know there was so much more to
Padur than a stretch of shops on OMR.
A handful of us hanging out on a street corner with placards, as
Viswanath suggested, drew much attention of passers-by; and many of
them stopped by to interact with us. The presence of a young couple with
a child in arms, and bearing placards, evoked public interest.
How many three-year olds, or even young couple, for that matter,
would want to spend their Sunday morning in community work ? I thought
God stopped making such people in Kaliyug . I was wrong.
At
OMR Greens we had this young couple with their 3-year old Sumshita
taking part on the Padur Walk. Rajesh Kanna and wife Mohana Priya, with
baby daughter in arms, had biked their way from Perumbakkam to join us
at Padur.
When our new-found friend Suresh Kumar from Kelambakkam had mentioned that some of his friends wanted to bring their wife and children along for the Walk, I thought he was putting me on. The appearance of the Kannas for our Walk, all the way from their place beyond Sholinganallur, wasn't the only surprise Suresh Kumar had for us.
Producing placards for our events has been an issue for OMR Greens. An Awarness walk without placards is like soda without scotch. and Suresh Kumar came to our rescue. He showed up with a shopping bag full of cardboard placards.
As it turned out, we had more placards than walkers. The first-time participants at an OMR Greens event outnumbered the regulars this time. We made up a double-digit number - four car loads, to be precise - for our field trip to the waste-to-energy conversion plant at Mamallapuram,
Notable among the Kelambakkam participants, for our Padur Walk were Stalin, and Sudhanshu Shekar who turned up for the walk with his father and elder brother, who is on the staff of Hindustan University. The Shekars, native of Patna, have made Kelambakkam.their home. The family runs a paper products unit that makes paper bags, plates and cups.
A highlight of the walk came at the end when we had a brief, but meaningful, interaction on OMR Greens agenda with Padur panchayat president, Mr M Chinnakutty, at his residence.
I have heard Padur residents get water supplied from a lake in their backyard.
Truckloads of water Mantri Synergy residents used to get before
borewells were activated was, presumably, sourced from this lake.
Beneficiaries would find a visit to the lake educative. For me, a
lakeside walk early this morning was thought-provoking.
Tell-tale movement of persons, close to the lake suggest the following::
1)
There is a crying need for a row of public toilets, watered from
the lake, for the benefit of those now using lakeside bushes for the
purpose.
2) The water body needs to be fenced off , to make it inaccessible to public.
3)
The muddy pathway that runs along the lake is so littered with snails
that we could do with a signpost, saying, 'Snails Crossing: Tread/Drive
Carefully'.
They are seen in scores moving about on the muddy road, in early mornings. Snails dislike sunlight. When it comes to pace the fastest of snails, they say, move 50 yards per hour.
The need for fencing off the lake can't be overstated. State govt. water supply undertaking has a pumping station that was put up five years back under a community drinking water supply scheme funded by the Asian Development Bank. Lake-fencing, and provision of public toilets, which might not have been necessary factors when the drinking water scheme was launched, in 2008, now assume a critical dimension.
Suggestion: Engineering students/faculty in neighbourhood institutions such as Hindustan University and Mohd. Sathak Engineering College can take up Padur lake improvement as a class project. The project report they come up with can become a campaign theme for OMR Greens for mobilizing public support for implementation of the lake conservation scheme.
Was pleasantly surprised to see this newspaper ad. announcing a TED event in my OMR neighbourhood. In fact,it is being organised at Hindustan University, located next door to our apartments complex at Padur. So close, and yet beyond my reach, tariff-wise - as all TED events usually are. But then we would have access to the TED talks when they are uploaded on the Net eventually. If you are registered with TED website, you get e-mail notification whenever they upload a set of TED talks. Speakers listed for Hindustan University TED event include corporate seniors, creative artistes, choreographer, cameraman, dancer, disaster management expert, human resettlement specialist, and art director and set designer Thota Tharani who has worked in over 100 movies , including Nayagan, Sivaji and Dasavathaaram.
They would address a select audience in an auditorium with limited seating. The day-long programme, Sat.Feb.16, starts at 9 a m, and seating is on the first-come, first-served basis. A TED speech usually lasts 18 minutes, and though there are shorter TED talks, of 6 to 8 min. duration.
Invitees are categorized as students, academics and corporates, presumably, with varying registration fee. E-mail tedx@hindustanuniv.ac.in , or call Venu Menon -8056047466; Ravi Kiran - 9994286098.
ETA Rosedale towering over its Padur neighbourhood.
We would like to hear from high rise communities in Padur neighbourhood - ETA Rosedale, Akshaya, Ouranya Bay and the like. (e-mail us: gvktn@yahoo.com) OMR Greens is planning a Padur Walk this Sunday (Feb.17), following a positive response from local residents to our Kelambakkam Walk. We reckon a green initiative, by high-rise community residents at Padur can only promote neighbourly relations with our neighbourhood old-timers.Putting it plainly, it's a PR exercise, for our mutual benefit.
OMR Greens have been there before - trash-busting at Padur market street.
Our first outing didn't evoke much enthusiasm among local residents.
People watched us, mopping up trash from their pavement, with
curiosity, amusement, and skepticism. Not one of then came forward to
give us a hand. Of course, panchayat president, Mr Chinnakutty,
arranged for street-cleaners to cart away the trash we collected.
From our perspective it was worth the trouble. Video clips we uploaded on YouTube were noticed by other OMR communities at Sholinganallur,Thoraipakkam and elsewhere. Nearer home, for OMR Greens, the Padur trash-bust marked the start of our association with Hindustan University. A representative group students and the faculty joined in our street cleaning exercise.
We have since met the Hindustan University director, Mr Ashok Verghese, who evinced critical interest in our activities, and offered to designate a faculty group to work with OMR Greens in drafting a plan of action for the next 6 to 12 months. Upcoming Padur Walk is our first outing since our meeting with Hindustan University director.
The Padur Walk, starting from Mantri Synergy, would stop by at Hindustan campus gate, Rosedale complex across the road, before proceeding to Padur. We make our way through side streets in the neighbourhood to wind up in front of the Padur Panchayat office.
After the walk we have lined up a field trip to Mamallapuram organic waste recycling plant. Some Mantri residents have voluteered to drive us in their cars to the waste-to-energy conversion plant. We should be back at Mantri's for lunch. The Mamallapuram plant, run by Hand-in-Hand, a Kanchupuram-based NGO, has a 100 cubic meter bio-methanation unit with capacity to handle 800 kg. kitchen/food waste.
The local authorities recently re-tarred this Padur-Kelambakkam stretch on OMR. But the job is left unfinished by contractors who litter the pavement with roadwork debris. Who would make the pavement, whatever is left of it, pedestrian useable ? Shouldn't the contractors be made accountable for cleaning up the mess they leave after doing the roadwork ? Or should the roadside clean-up job be given to another contractor ?
Most food items we buy carry an expiry date . That is the cut off
date, after which the producer can’t be blamed if the food item you
buy turns unfit for human consumption. Publication of the expiry date
is statutory, and in many food labels you also find a ‘Best-before’
date of consumption. Which, according to Green activist Michael Bloch,
means, simply, that the item (according to the manufacturer) tastes
best before that date. “I have no problem with swallowing stuff that is
past the best before date and (so far) I’ve never had a single case of
food poisoning”, Bloch says in Green Living Tips
website. He adds: “I often wonder if the ‘best before’ date is a ruse
from the food industry to have us chucking out more and then buying
more”.
The green activist’s tips for cutting down our food waste:
1) Check your fridge weekly and bring foods that will expire soon to the front
2) Ditto for your food cupboards.
3) Bulk buying can save you money, but it can cost you more, if you buy
too much of items with a short use-by date or the ones that lose favor
with your family.
4) It’s not unusual to find packets of chips with just a handful left,
or just a swallow of orange juice left in the container.It usually sits
there until it’s thrown out.
5) Supermarkets are designed to get you buying more that what you originally came in for.
6) Don’t shop from memory….cannot remember all the things you
need….results in buying too much of some items and not enough of some
others – and waste sometimes occurs.
7) Leaving packets open, refrigerating stuff that doesn’t require it and vice versa speeds up food spoilage.
8) Some meals you make seem to generate more waste than others. That’s
fine if leftovers can be eaten the next day…or else, you need to slowly
reduce the amount you cook.
9) Use the Internet….whatever it is you have too much of in the food
cupboard that’s likely to be tossed out …you could find a squillion
recipes for online!
10) Even after following the foregoing points you might end up with some waste – and also unavoidables such as veg. peelings. Compost or worm farm kitchen waste.
Those of us who take OMR to work or for business commute know how long it takes to clear Sholinganallur traffic junction. Think of residents living in and around this place. They get trapped in knots of traffic for atleast 20 mins. on the first and last laps of their daily commute, says a report in The Hindu. Sabari Terrace resident Harsha Koda says traffic inflow via Medavakkam-OMR link road, from Tambaram-Velachery main road can be halved, if it is channeled through the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which has connection to OMR at Karapakkam.
Mr Koda who is secretary of Sabari Terrace Apt. Owners Association, however pointed out that a trench dug across the SEZ road blocks traffic to OMR. Residents have reason to suspect that trench is there to block motorists from taking the SEZ road that by-passes the Medavakkam toll plaza.. The way out is for TNRDC - the road development coompany - to set up a toll booth on SEZ road, to tap Karapakkam-Madhya Kailash traffic. They could recover the cost in a year or two.
