SFV-2016 - The Year That Was

Let us sign off 2016 with a bird’s eye view of what came about during the period. I promise, the review shall not carry shades of an annual report of the MC.

The year has been eventful by and large, and enchanting too. It witnessed an exodus of several families from their erstwhile comfortably-settled houses to the new, and hopefully better, homes in SFV. Few owners had reservations on that if my interaction with them is anything to go by. 

Even the investing community which initially was wary of its returns either because of not getting a tenant, or a good re-sale price, is less skeptical now. Let’s hope demonetization, with its predicted downslide in real estate prices, will not shatter their long-term aspirations. Umeed par duniya kayam, they say (the world is better off on hopes). 

The original inhabitants, not the animal kingdom encompassing our complex-area too, but those who set foot in Forest View first, were a handful as on 31 Dec 2015.  But they paved the way and emboldened others to take a call on relocation. And the late settlers are thankful to them to no little extent for the infrastructure in place. 

I am not sure if Shankaran Ramachandran of Oak was the very first, unless someone stakes claims that he had moved a day or an hour early. Anyway, together they braved all the inconveniences that are attendant with the early birds to a complex - no water, erratic electric supply, no shops nearby, freer flow of reptiles, and ever so many other shortcomings. Undaunted, they brought about improvements slowly but steadily. The antagonists could argue that they did these primarily to serve their own interests. So what? At the end of the day, we all benefit by those. As of now around 200 families have moved in. Which means there is a movement of around 800 humans in the complex, given that each family consists of four members on an average. 

The year also saw Sobha hand over Cedar and Ebony apartments. I am not sure about Pine, if the hand-over was done in 2015 or 2016. Thus, the influx can only be expected to increase manifold in the months to come. And when Alder also gets ready in 2017 our community will be all the more resplendent. More the merrier. We all look forward to it, and welcome in advance the new-residents-to-be.

The SFV community owes a great deal to the members of the MC for an admirable job they did setting in motion several steps - developing a software for easy payment of maintenance fee biannually, pitching Food World, Tata Sky, Airtel, negotiating weekly vegetable-vendor arrangements in the premises, establishing communication networks like ADDA, Hike, SFV Resident Groups, formulating norms and guidelines that serve best the interests of community living, and not make it a free for all (thought one can’t speak with certainty that these are being adhered to). Well the list is endless, and ongoing. Three cheers to the MC. Well begun is half done. Midcourse correction is always a recourse.

By its very nature, the activities of some sub-committees get more visibility like the cultural wing - Ekatva, Onam, Karnataka Rajyotsava… received overwhelming accolades. Others, for no fault of theirs, just fall into the They Also Serve Who Stand and Wait  category - the team that developed the Maintenance fee software, the waste segregation team, the newspaper collection and forest conservation team; not to speak of Vivek …(?) who developed a Ready Reckoner and its revisions. It is a different thing that some residents mistook it for the handiwork of my friend Vivek Jain. But he lost no time in disowning it. Incidentally he is equally active on other fronts.  

Not lagging behind have been the valiant efforts of Jagadeesh and Vijesh, supervisors entrusted to fulfil Sobha’s warranty obligations - thus far, no further. Operating within guidelines and constraints, they both did a commendable job in bending but not breaking the rules, thus satisfying both Sobha and residents in one go. Kudos, my friends, wherever you are now posted. 

And Chandra Kumar? With his imposing figure, he may appear a man to be kept at an arm’s length. But appearances are deceptive. Underneath his tough exterior you find him a person with a good heart. Very few might know that he contributed his mite to India’s first nuclear test-fire from Pokhran. It was done with utmost secrecy, not even USA, Israel, China or Pakistan whose network to sniff around is best, had no inkling. Every morning, along with others he too would go 250 feet (or more?) below the ground where the scientists developed the capsule, to perform his assigned duties, whatever those might be. This is all what he shared with me one day as I waited for the cab at the Gate.

Speaking of Gate, whenever I passed through it, the security staff would greet me with a smile and were courteous. Also when I telephone them of no water, or electricity in my apartment, they were prompt to get the message across, rather than redirect me. We had thus thanked ourselves for this exclusive prerogative. But that impression was short-lived until my morning-walk friend casually mentioned in some context that he was fortunate to be treated the best by the Security force, which the third friend tagging along, corroborated as true for him as well. Though I felt deprived of what I had harboured close to my heart, I was happy for the Security staff and appreciated their knack to give each resident that exclusive feeling. Our compliments to the team. 

These said, life is not, nor intended to be, a cakewalk. And life in SFV is no less. One might encounter difficulties in the parking lot allotments, the car wash, the laundry set up, milk supply, the drive against beehives, with the bees getting the better of humans by switching over balconies for their new habitat…  None of these is insurmountable given the will and patience.

Before I sound being on a sermon spree, let us, SFV-ians, pray and hope to augur 2017 in a spirit of live and let live. Let us resolve that we shall leave the gym items the way we saw them and not just scatter them around, children shall not convert the lift walls into a drawing board to let loose their imaginations with inscriptions and line-drawings, those who still hold dearly the cart or the basket of Food World would return them, and carry with them bags in 2017, residents atop would refrain from aiming the litter to the ground floor dustbin, and the bird-lovers would not feed birds with leftovers of the night in a two-in-one bid - disposal cum compassion.   

May the year 2017 bring all of us happiness, prosperity and plentiful.

V V Sundaram

Maple 3195

29 Dec 2016