Navarathri @ OMR

Photos by  Mantri Synergy resident Chelakara Viswanath
A spirited group of young residents at Mantri Synergy were at work till wee hours of Tuesday (Oct.16) setting up Navarathri dolls at the clubhouse community hall. Sandeep who has flair for design and decorative art, and Neeraj of OMR Greens (whose theme is projected in kolu) , along with their wives did the landscaping. They were at it till 4 a m, says Ms Karthikaipavai who heads the Navarathri celebrations panel.
Mr Jayamani, his wife, and Mr Soundarajan, did Ganapathy puja, Tuesday morning, to mark the start of the 9-day celebrations.
During Navarathri we have puja, twice daily - 7.30 a m and 6 p m. Those who wish to taste 'sundal' prasadam, from varied households, would do well not to miss the evening session. Which, I believe, includes music and dance sessions on a daily basis.
YouTube 1) Navarathri Kolu @ OMR 1 - 7 mins
 2) Navarathri Kolu @ OMR 2 - 1.15 mins.

Fruit trees on Mantri campus

Former Association chief, Mr Giri Sundaram, and I have this thing in common -  we both are  kinda  nutty when it comes to tree planting.  Months before he became the prez  Mr Sundaram and his wife Revathy joined us in planting trees on Visitors parking lot outside Mantri gates. The Sundarams have an eye for plants, and they can identify most of them. The sapling Mantri's Santa Claus planted  last Christmas was identified  for us by Mr Sundaram. In case you are not familiar, the tall plant coming up on  the Seniors Area lawn is Nagapushpum.

When four of us - Pandey, Rahul, Sourav and I - as founding members of our short-lived Sunday Santhai initiative, hit upon an idea to plant trees on the lawns by the clubhouse swim pool Mr Sundaram not only welcomed the idea, but also suggested we plant fruits saplings that would benefit Mantri's children and their children for decades to come.  He planted a mango, and we have, growing on the lawns by the swim-pool, a guava, a sapota plant and another mango, planted to celebrate Advik,  the second child born at Mantri's to the Ramkumars of H block. Sourav and Rahul scouted for nurseries on ECR to fetch the fruits saplings, hybrid.

Ms Indumathi, former treasurer, planting a guava.

Now that we have a new association management in place, it is time we celebrated their term in office with community tree-planting. In an earlier post, announcing a new team at Mantri's, we suggested that all 20 elected mananging committee members consider planting a sapling each, in two rows along the front-side park, so that we have some shade on the driveway on either side of the park. Would appreciate,  if the Association acts on our suggestion at the earliest, before the end of the current monsoon days.

In case we go for fruit trees, instead of Neem, on  Mantri driveway,  we could get in touch with Prof. Ramasamy of LIBA on the Loyola college campus.  He leads a volunteers group engaged in distribution of saplings of fruit-bearing trees to whoever wants to plant them on their premises. You can read about them in The Hindu. The non-profit group - IIIBFT is also on Facebook.

Needed: A Bangalore-like 'dhamaka' on OMR

After reading about the Ugly Indians,  and seeing their six-minute video of what they did to the pavement close to Oracle office, Bangalore,  I thought, we could as well do with such dhamaka in our neighbourhood on OMR. We have no dearth of  pavements littered with trash ; and, have quite a number of spirited young residents at Mantri Synergy... And  we have it on YouTube, for all to see,  what happened in Bangalore  when a bunch of  professionals there got to work on a trash-littered pavement in the city.

As it happened in Bangalore, a bunch of techies,  presumably  from Oracle,  got togther on a Sunday morning to clean up a patch of pavement on Tavarakere Rd., opposite St.John's Wood apartments complex. Removing  a 100 kg. trash and giving the pavement a coat of whitewash took them two hours. As much of  calories-burning as you do at the gym. And then, at the end of it all, Oracle volunteers had a sense of having done something socially meaningful.

At Mantri's,  and Rosedale (across the road), we have  a pavement  with trash work cut out for us. Are you reading this, Souray Mohanty, Rahul, and Pandey ? They are founder members of our short-lived Sunday 'santhai' initiative. I can think of a host of other spirited young professionals in our apartments complex who would put on their gloves and mouth-piece for a dhamaka. Life at Mantri's, of late, has gotten a bit  monotonous and uneventful.

As I said, we have a trash heap waiting to be addressed, right in front of Mantri's, and not far from   Rosedale.  We have platoons of spirited young people in the two communities. What we need is someone to  organize the trash-cleaning, and  video the proceedings (see Ugly Indian video) for YouTube. Maybe , the pavement  we clean , Sunday , would start collecting litter agains from Tuesday. As the Oracle techies who cleaned the Bangalore pavement said, their work and painting of wall wouldn't stop people from throwing litter; not until the 60 resident families on Tavarakere Rd. put in place a waste disposal system.
But then, if we do mobilize a group to clean up the pavement in front of Mantri's, and put it on YouTube, the video would go viral, and it might  move some others into action. 

Additions to R and S Shelf

I picked up the other day S V Divvaakar's novel,  The Winner's Price, from the Read & Share Shelf at Mantri's  D block lobby. An interesting fiction set in today's IT era India,  with a story featuring a bunch of IIT alumni. It's, as its  author says, about life beyond the college campus.
It was thoughtful of the book's donor - Kalyani Rangarajan (E-703) - to leave her name and contact number. This helps those of us, book borrowers, thank the donor, and, possibly,  discuss with her/him the book after we are done with it.. Following Ms Rangarajan's cue, I started scribbling my e-mail ID on the books I leave on  the shelf, just in case anyone who picks up one of my books wants to get in touch. Meanwhile, I have left the following titles at our R & S Shelf:      
Rush Limbaugh's  'The Way Things Ought to Be'
Women's Work, a novel by Anee Tolstoi Wallach
Allen Iverson, the legend of an NBA superstar
Michael Jordan's Last Comeback, When Nothing Else Matters
The Hughes Papers by Ealine Davenport
The Greening of America by Charles A Reich
Beloved Infidel by Sheilah Graham
Reel Power by Mark Litwak
B R Chopra's Mahabharatham (in Tamil)
How to Build a Better Vocabulary.

Graffiti in D block lift

We found this penciled graffiti in a D Block lift at Mantri's the other day.. Someone has taken his/her time over this.  I mean, this piece of graffiti couldn't have been done during a trip or two, up and down, in our lift. It takes barely a minute for it to move from basement to the top (12th) floor; and another minute downward.
I wish the graffiti artist at Mantri's comes forward to own up the piece of elevator art. We could do with his services  to paint our driveway pots. It has been quite a while since we held a pot-painting event at Mantri's .

A new team at Mantri's

I wish the newly elected office-bearers - all 20 of them - would consider planting a sapling each - preferably, Neem - in a row (of 10 each) along the railings on either side of  the park. So that a couple of years from now we would have some shade along the driveway. The photo was taken mid-day today.
At Mantri Synergy we had never held elections, though  we have had a change of association management twice within a year. The latest group of office-bearers were declared elected, unopposed, today,  a day ahead of  election - Aug.19.
Declaring the results returning officer Mr G Natarajan said in view of the fact that there is only one nomination received for each post of principal office bearers the following stand elected unopposed     
Sri.S.UMAPATHY H 502 PRESIDENT
Sri.T.P.R.NAIR D 1001 VICE PRESIDENT
Sri.S.R.JAYASANKAR E 105 SECRETARY
Sri.K.KAILASAM A 709 TREASURER
Naming the committe members Mr Natarajan noted nominations were received from only 16 persons for a committee that can have up to 18 members.
If the president can nominate the other two to fill the vacancies, those with insight and proven  experience in handling association affairs could be co-opted. How about inviting  Mr Vasudevan, and Mr Charkraborti  to join the committee? Just a thought..
The 16 members elected unopposed are:   
1.Sri.GURUSAMY PANDIYAN A 603
2.Sri.N.PREMKRISHNA B 504
3.Smt. INDUMATHI SURESH B 706
4.Sri.B.RAJAGOPALAN C 307
5.Sri. C.S.LAKSHMANAN D 501
6.Smt.DEEPA MUKHERJEE D 1101
7.Smt. DEEPA SRIDHAR E 804
8. Sri. T.S.DEVANAND E 1002
9.Sri. V.S.VARADHARAJAN F 402
10.Sri.R.GOPALAN F 603
11.Smt.K.UDAYALAKSHMI F 704
12.Sri.D.A.SRIKANTH F 1204
13.Sri.B.R.GOVINDARAJULU G 1006
14.Sri.K.RAMKUMAR H 205
15.Sri.N.K.SOMAN I 103
16.Sri.V.SUNDARRAJAN I 903

BSNL (phone) Bill payment at Mantri's

Those of us so used to paying our phone bills online or through bank so long  find it cumbersome having to go to Kelambakkam telephone exchange to pay at the counter.  Phone subscribers at Mantri Synergy have fiber optic FTTH  landline and broadband connection. For which BSNL does  not yet have a system for online bill payment in place.
To pay bills through banks you need subscriber account number. And the BSNL Accounts department say they are in the process of alloting A/c numbers to FTTH phone subscribers. When I went to Kelambakkam payment counter the other day a staffer said it would take a couple of months for them to create an account for us at Mantri's. BSNL has been saying this for the past six months. The cashier suggested we phone the Accounts Officer for further details  - 044 22500716  (Mr Radha).  If anyone finds additional info., it would help if the person share it by leaving a comment in this blog. 
Meanwhile our phone/broadband man at Mantri's Mr Aashik said, as an interim arrangement, BSNL accounts people at Guindy office can depute a person to collect phone bills from Mantri residents. Telephone revenue inspector Mr Venugopal, they say, would visit Mantri's for bill collection, if we mobilize payment from  at least 10  phone subscribers at any given time. Mr Venugopal's number - 9445013779.
Mr Nambiar, Mantri's first resident, who has been paying his  bills at Kelembakkam  ever since he moved in in Feb. last year, has a suggestion. Why not we have Mr Venugopal come to Mantri's for bill collection on a specified date ( say 15th) every month ? Maybe our association could evolve a bill collection system based on such input.

Swatantra Diwas @ Mantri's

We had the formal flag-hoisting at the main driveway, but it is the individual gestures such as these that add a 'feel'  to the Swatantra Divas.

 

 A security person with the tricolour

A rangoli at the Daycare in our clubhouse.

Sewage in your flush, happens only @ Mantri's

Took this photo,  the morning after the matter was reported to PropCare  (maintenance agency) at Mantri synergy.. And residents , lesser mortals, haven't a clue to why this is happening.  We are, by now, used to our bedroom commode running dry for much of the time because of chronic problem with sewage treatment plant (STP) system. When we do have water in our flush,occasionally, we have odor emanating from chemically treated water recycled from STP..
Since Monday afternoon however, we have at D block had dark murky water with stench flowing through toilet. Looks as if untreated sewage is being flushed into our toilets. I couldn't believe my own eyes and nose when I first noticed the phenomenon yesterday afternoon. How, and why would anyone want to flush sewage into our bedroom toilet. I worked our toilet two or three times over the next 30 minutes before reporting  the matter to our maintenance office.
PropCare chief, and another person I called, said they would look into it right away. In a properly functioning set up you expect things to get sorted out soon; or at least get a status report on the situation. And when nothing of this sort happened till this morning (Tuesday), I took the photo, just in case someone thinks I am hellucinating. Sewage is the last thing you expect to have your toilet flushed with. Wonder whose bright idea it was, and why.
I wish PropCare chief or someone else in his office had called back to tell us what went wrong and, for how long would they expect us to put up with sewage in our flush.

Should 'chaat' be put to vote ?

A lady in C Block (Mantri's)  phoned  to ask if I had any info. on how the chaat corner  under the mango tree came to be opened. She had called Balaji at PropCare, who referred her to the association executive committee..        
The lady knows my non-status; but said she called me for guidance as a friend. If she were aware  that I am a prime 'culprit' , she didn't give me any indication. Was it proper for the association EC to have permitted 'chaat' shop on Mantri premises without securing general body resolution ? A loaded question, that one.
As an apartment owner she felt it was her right to be consulted before putting common area to such use.. She wanted to know the terms on which the chaat shop was allowed; the rent, if any, the shop-owner  agreed to pay  and whether there was a written contract. I suggested such issues were best addressed  to the association secretary or president.
On my part, I told the lady the chaat shop idea was first floated  in this blog several weeks back. And since then a group of us have been chatting about it now and then.The suggestion for chaat corner, instead of a car park (as Mantri's had planned) evoked a positive response from residents. Admittedly, we didn't put it to   vote, because the idea didn't come from the association.
In fact, the association had little to do with the process, though the credit for 'discovering' the chaatwallah must go to Mr Vasudevan, and Mr Krishna. Both of them, though prominent in the association, acted  as individuals enthusiastic about an in-house arrangement for chatpati paapdi and chaat-samosa (served with chena). Shop-owner also promises roti-sabzi and paronta of many varieties.
To be fair to the lady,  when I mentioned I was the culprit, she agreed the idea was good, but her objection was to the manner in which we went about it. If the lady is set on moving the matter at the general body, my hope is that the 'chaat' vote doesn't go her way.

Mantri 'mahila' makes headline

A Dinamani write-up by N Jeeva says Geetha Viswanathan (C block) can cut a blouse to suit your taste, and purse. A 100-rupee blouse would make as much of fashion statement as the one billed Rs.3,000.(didn't know a blouse can make such a big hole in your pocket). Whether you pay Rs.100 or Rs.3,000 customer taste is what fashion designing is all about. Geetha  runs a community college in Adyar that initiates the interested in fashion designing.
The thing about Geetha's school is that it is students who choose their syllabus . If your interest is only in fashioning designer blouse, they run a crash course. If  salwaar-kameez is what you fancy, Geetha wouldn't inflict on you a course on Saari or bridalwear.
Turning on its head a well-worn cliche - 'behind every successful man, lurks a woman' - Geetha concedes her motivational factor was Kasi Viswanathan. She had an opportunity to travel with her husband to some interior parts of India. The experience, she says, facilitated her to acquire nuances of specialist crafts such as aari, Kasoti and Kutch embroidery.
Mr Viswanthan, advocate by training, is a concert musician who now devotes much of his time initiating Mantri children into the joys of music.

Mantri's sewage disposal issue, a band-aid solution

Having spent much of Friday without water, my first thought on waking up this morning was, 'Would there be water in bathroom tap ?'  There was. PropCare had arranged to transport overnight as much as 35 truckloads of  STP treated water out of Mantri Synergy.  That each truck costs us Rs.800 is another issue that is waiting to explode.  Mantri's, I understand,  have run up arrears in payment so much that  truck owners have served us an ultimatum.
Back to the STP issue , two motors in the plant  burnt out around 11 a m, Friday. As Ujjal Mukherjee (E-803) put it, we don't have proper drainage system, and as Mantri's sewage treatment plant (STP) has limited processing capacity, sewage overflow burns the circuit. This happened Friday (yesterday) morning. To cut back on pressure building up in our sewage tank  PropCare turned  off water pipeline to apartments.
Mantri residents spent rest of the day, and  well into late evening, without water, while the maintenance staff coped with 1)  repair of the burnt out  motors; and 2) hiring trucks to take away water from STP tank. By 6 p m the trucks started moving; and after the exit  of six or seven trucks the water pipeline to apartments was opened (around 9 p m). Sewage trucks moved through the night, causing added disturbance to H block residents (because of trucks getting filled in their backyard).
Irony is, we pay Rs.600 per truck  for clean water we fill into sumps, while it costs us Rs.800 per truck to transport STP water out of Mantri's.
STP's handling capacity can be increased if we have an additional storage tank. Space is said to be a constraint in creating additional storage capacity.  Till Mantri's had with them leased space from the farm next door excess water from STP flowed  into a sewage pond in the leased space. Now that Mantri's have handed over this space, we are left with no option but to pay Rs.800 a truck for its driver to discharge our sewage somewhere out of our sight. The other option we adopted -  letting  out sewage  into the main road. evoked protest  morcha against Mantri's by Padur residents.
A way out the mess is in laying a pipeline along the road to the Padur panchayat sewage system. Does anyone know how the panchayat handle sewage disposal in their area ? This is an area where we, at Mantri's, along with other emerging neighbourhood communities - Rosedale, Akshaya, Ouranya Bay, X-S Real, the Gem Group, the Jains and the Poorvanka's - need to draw up an integrated sewage and solid disposal strategy, in co-ordination with Padur Panchayat. Who would take the lead ?
Meanwhile, would anyone know whatever  happened to a proposal, taken up by the previous PropCare chief Sivaram, for laying a sewage pipeline connecting Mantri's with the integrated sewage disposal system involving the Hindustan University and Padur panchayat ? We have reason to believe Mantri's didn't actively follow up the  proposal because of the cost involved. Shouldn't corporate Mantri be asked to pay for the pipeline? Isn't it time we revived the pipeline proposal ? Couldn't we make this a joint venture pipeline, along with Rosedale and others ?More questions would arise before we find the answer.

At our Chennai backyard

An untrained eye can't spot the row of birds in flight in necklace formation. We see them every morning  over our backyard on OMR, Chennai, headed  towards Kovalam sea-front.
You need better camera, and a proficient lens-man to capture this morning scene with all details in sharp focus. This one, posted for SkyWatch, is shot by a novice, with an amateur camera.

OMR sunrise

Early morning sun looks yellow, mellow before it starts turning on the heat  (104 F), so much that I feel our air-conditioners falls short on cooling effect. Besides, we have a three-hour power shutdown - 12-3 p m - at Mantri Synergy nowadays.

Trash heaps, a blot on OMR-ECR landscape

 None of the 50 village panchayats  under  Tirupporur Panchayat Union have addressed the problem of solid  waste management, says a report in The Hindu. Absence of landfill sites, and lack of manpower plus

 infrastructure to handle garbage disposal compund the problem.

 Upshot is an unseemly mushrooming of roadside scrap heaps along OMR, such as this one, which has come up bang in front of Mantri Synergy.. Real estate developers and neighbourhood residents, far from exploring a solution, contribute to the garbage dump. Padur panchayat couldn't care less about the mounting trash heap on our roadside.
Real estate developers  have failed the community insofar as they neither put in place effective  waste collection and sewage disposal within their complex, nor gave much thought to an integrated approach to waste and sewage disposal problem  in the Padur-Kelambakkam area. Developers of Mantri Synergy,  who first planned for garbage chute system, dropped the idea,  but failed to come up with a credible waste management system to serve our 750-unit residential complex. Our suggestion for vermicompost plant was ignored, citing lack of space. Mantri marketing people appeared more interested in selling every available sq.ft. of open area as car parking slots.
Mantri apartment owners association is now lumbered with the waste disposal problem. Executive committee could consider household biogas units for conveting kitchen waste into cooking gas. Its feasibility could be examined. We could take a trip to in Venus Colony, Alwarpet, where apartment owners association has been working for the past 5 years a system of waste management that even gives them marginal returns from sale of organic manure.
Household biogas units would however not address the wider issue of solid waste management. Residents associations of Mantri's, X-S Real, Rosedale, the Ouranya Bay, the Akshyaya and other communities would need to come together, along with Padur panchayat, to draw up a joint waste collection and disposal strategy.
The civic infrastructure - waste and sewage disposal, and water supply - has become too big and serious an issue to be left for Panchayat alone to tackle. Mutual co-operation and co-ordiantion among the gated communities, and with Padur panchayat are essential for our common welfare.
And then there is scope for the Ugly Indian type of community work, if only public-spirited residents from all neighbourhood  communities can club-up to make it happen.
Waste disposal at kalashetra, Thiruvanmiyur

Taxi/auto on call at Padur,OMR

 When we move in at Mantri's an year back we reliedfor taxi hire only on Mr Linganathan (8825389400) whose MTS agency takes care of house-keeping. He still operates taxi service, though we have other options such as Fast Track.

The cab driver who gave us this contact card said customers at Mantri's and elsewhere at Padur can call the head ofice at 24732020/28889999. The card's flipside (see photo) gives rates and other details.
Some of us at Mantri's have a working arrangement with a couple of Auto-drivers on call. I usually call Sudhakar (9962190790) or Yesu (9840958159). Both live in Padur and usually park their three-wheelers at Hindustan University. .They don't give me concession, but I have come to rely on these two, if only because I am not cut out for arguing with auto-drivers with penchant for over-charging vulnerable customers.

Ladies prefer a male tailor

Women at  Mantri Synergy can have this cloth sent to them from Surat in three days. And Anuja (H-205) can get it for them. It's pure cotton, she says. But then they have to get it stitched themselves . Each chudidar set ordered  comes  with a photo of the design  for reference by tailors.
Most women buying chudidar sets have their own tailor. And I have known women going miles, even to other towns, to have their outfit stitched,  though tailors are found in every neighbourhood. Anuja at Mantri's, I understand,  gets her tailoring done from a  professional at Adyar.

My wife gets her blouses stitched from a tailor at Vidyaranyapuram, Mysore, though the chap never delivers on time. At times, the cloth she hands in for stitching during a Mysore visit doesn't get done until our subsequent trip. Her elder sister, at Kotturpuram , relies on Murugesan, a tailor at Mylapore.
This is something neither my wife nor her sister would explain. Why do they, and most other women I know go to a male tailor ? It is because ladies prefer a male tailors those specializing   in chudidar and other women's outfit are mostly men. Mrs Geetha Viswanathan (C-block) can correct me if  this isn't so. She can tell us if more men than women sign up for tailoring courses in her school of fashion technolgy , Adyar.
Anyway, Anuja has a friend in fashion textiles in Surat, who has sent a consignment of chudidar sets. And she would be happy to share what she has with others at Mantri, and also take orders for delivery from Surat,  to be made in three days. A chudidar set costs a little over Rs.500 and one could choose from a catalogue of over 80 designs.
Anuja - Apt. H-205, Mantri Synergy - can be contacted at 044 29856074

Spray & pray mosquito repellent

Spray it on suspected mosquito hideouts in your bedroom , and pray they don't wake up before you do in the morning. Eric Rodrigues who markets a herbal-based spray says it  doesn't kill mosquitoes; the spray merely puts them in coma,  for 10 to 12 hours.  Eric would suggest you spray the bedroom, say 30 minutes before bed-time, so that mosquitoes in your room are already in coma by the time you turn in.
Spray it in spurts with a press of your finger. Three or four sprays under the bed, behind curtain, cupboard, bedside table, under sofa etc. - would hopefully work on mosquitoes in the room. Pay attention to nooks and corners in bathroom attached to your bedroom, says Mr Rodrigues, who stays in Kotturpuram, and uses herbal spray.

Three days of  nook & corner spraying would do. From Day 4 you need to spray only a few times in the air.  A 100 Ml bottle, they say, should give you 350-400 sprays; and last for about six weeks  in a two-bedroom apartment.
The 'chota'  bottle in the photo is  for application on body (spray and rub over exposed limbs). You can carry it for use on children in park or play area. The herbal spray is a concoction of neem and a few other natural oils. Those marketing the spray say the herbal oil mix  is the result of research done by Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow. They supply oil that is  bottled in Bangalore by the trading company. The spray, they say,  has established a market presence in Bangalore.
Chennai is their next stop.  I offered to share info. in this blog, if they give  sample bottles for Mantri residents. The company has sent five sample sets (for three-day trial). Call me at D-901 (29856055), if you wish to give the herbal spray a chance.  If it works,  call company representative  Mr Eric Rodrigues at 9382157641 
Company website: StrategiLab

A Tamil blogger at Mantri Synergy

S V Saibaba (F-802) who has moved in at Mantri Synergy recently is a retired bank executive (we have quite a few in the complex) with interest in gardening, movies, books and blogging. Which makes two of us, bloggers in the complex. Mr Saibaba  is one better, in fact - he blogs in Tamil as well.
As someone who shares  his interest in reading, I would invite him to join our online book club - Mantri Synergy Book Group.
Mr Saibaba's Tamil blogposts make fascinating reading and cover varied subjects such as the significance of dots in  Kolum ; the games Sangam Tamils played (he lists 36); Visalini, a 10-year-old Tamil girl who holds a Guinnes record; and how cyclone Thane came to be so named.
Saibaba's blogs:
En Iniya Tamizh Ulagum
Knowledge Sharing

A webpost for Snehal Mantri

Dear Ms Snehal Mantri,
Rahul (D-1204) and I (D-901)  took a walk around  Mantri complex last evening, talking trees. We are  aware of your concern for trees. As you put it, in The Hindu (Property Plus Chennai), dated Jan.12,2008,  When MDPL took over the land on OMR at Chennai, the entire area looked so green we had second thoughts about building Mantri Synergy there.
The Hindu report said, "Mantri Developers (MDPL) transplanted an entire grove of trees scattered through their site on the OMR, to the periphery of the site".

Our Sunday walk - Rahul's and mine - was to get an idea of the number of trees that are still standing . By your own account, Ms Mantri, the tree count when your company took over was 24 mango, 140 teak, and 165 coconut trees.

I'm sure,  Ms Mantri,  you would be just as mad as I was when you see this patch (photo) where, not many weeks ago,  stood three coconut trees in a row.. Mantri's slaughtered them to pave way for car-park space. You can't bring back the trees they killed. But Mantri's need to be made accountable. Could consider compensating us for the loss of trees on our campus.

This is the lone mango that has survived  a grove of 24 mango trees Mantri's inherited from previous landowners. To celebrate the lone mango we request Mantri's to do a spot of landscaping around the tree,  put in a couple of benches and a picnic table, so that retires seniors such as myself can make it a daytime hangout for gupshap. In the evening the place can double up as as chaat/samosa  corner, and,  possibly, Avin milk parlour. Our children at Mantri's love flavoured milk.

Rahul and I walked past this well preserved green patch around 'Wish Well'. I, however, wish our landscape architect Mr Sekhar James had listened to our plea for planting tulsi as a hedge. We could have also done with herbal plants for the well being of residents.
It might interest you to learn that we treat plants as people -  have given them  names  - Nityadhya (planted by Nitya and Adhya on Children's Day), Sidharth and Nikhil (named after my grandsons),  Aadit Chakraborti (the first child born at Mantri's) NASA Srinivas (schoolboy who did internship at the US Space center). We have saplings named Nambiar (first Mantri resident) and Ujjal (who plays Santa at our Christmas). The next time you visit us, we would plant a sapling named after Snehal Mantri.

The last time you were at Mantri Synergy they wouldn't have taken you to this spot near  the tennis court ,  where the row of  transplanted teak includes these two with only their stumps standing. And then, near STP, they covered the roots of two teak with cement concrete, leaving the trees to suffocate and starve themselves to death.

We blogged about this , took it up personally,  more than once,  and eventually threatened  direct action before Mantri project team decided to  dig up breathing space around the teaks you see in the photo. We are now on damage control mode;  and a couple of tree-friendly security men have voluteered to nurish the teaks back to health.
Must thank Mr D Venkatesan (A-209) who sent us the link to The Hindu report carrying Ms. Snehal Mantri's statement.