Yippeeee !

Finally ! Finally we have found a chap to clear away all the rubble, waste, plastic etc. and clean up the entire garden !

On Saturday Smita and I went to Aanandi. I immediately noticed that the angles and wire-mesh on the wall adjoining the PMC nallah, were missing ! Also, there were small gaps created in the wall ! ‘Now what ?’ I wearily thought and called Arunkaka and got to know from him that previously his workers had affixed the angles simply by nailing them into the wall, assuming that this was the side wall and nobody would do anything (!), but somebody stole it ! So they had made those gaps in the wall to cement in the angles this time around ! Each time we go there, some new incident awaits us ! Since there was not much we could do about this issue, we just went about our work after this phone call. We called one construction supplier chap to come and survey the site and give us an estimate regarding time and cost for cleaning work. We waited and we waited and we waited and he didn’t arrive at all nor did he receive our calls ! So we just plucked as many leaves of the fallen mango tree as possible and then left, dejected. On Sunday Smita and I were joined by Ashish but none of us was motivated to work since we were worried that we weren’t getting anybody to clean up and unless that work is done, digging the lang, airing it and planting cannot begin…and monsoon will soon begin. So we simply watered the plants. We noticed that the gaps in the wall now contained the angles which were cemented in.

Then we went to the terrace. Going to the terrace is a mini-adventure. On the first floor, there is a small opening in the ceiling where there is a hatch. When you open it, there is a narrow landing (where only one person can stand at a time) with a door that is locked. You place a ladder (we have a bamboo-one) to the hatch and climb up. When your head touches the hatch, you push it open. It gets fixed to hooks in the side-walls. Then you climb on the landing and balancing yourself you open the lock and enter the terrace ! So, this is how we went to the terrace. :) We removed some kadipatta seeds (I have planted them in a pot at home…let’s see…) and generally looked around. There is a carpet of leaves and we discussed that either we should remove them and use them for compost or we could lay thick plastic sheets under them and plant vegetables in them…vegetables grow very well in a pile of dead leaves…especially chillies, tomatoes, brinjals. Let’s see.

Then as we came down and sat in the garden, I said, “It is really most frustrating not to find somebody to do the cleaning work. We are not equipped to do it and so we are searching for somebody. We will pay them. Yet nobody responds to our calls ! Why ?” Suddenly Smita and Ashish remembered that for a recent landscaping assignment they had enquired with this chap who is a little more expensive than others, but seems quite sorted. So we called him and to our surprise, he arrived within a short while. This chap means business. He looked around, we discussed in detail and then gave us an estimate of time and cost (which we found to be on the higher side). We said we would let him know by end of the day so that if we gave the green signal, he could begin work immediately on Monday. After he left, we made a cost-estimate and found that he was quoting only slightly higher.

Then I called and discussed the whole thing with Mama. He cautioned us about how these people find ways to con people and asked us to make sure that he didn’t con us. I assured Mama that this work had to be done and we would take care that all of it got done without us being conned. Also, we would negotiate the price with him.

Then we called him again, negotiated the price and settled at a figure acceptable to both. We met him in the evening to make a semi-formal document that contained a checklist of the tasks we agreed upon and the price and mode of payment.

So now there will two sets of workers working at Aanandi – one set of Arunkaka’s working for the plumbing etc. and wire mesh work and one set commissioned by us ! It is going to be one big circus !

Then Smita, Ashish and I made a time-table of people who would supervise the work. Smita, Ashish, Pradeep, Amruta, Saurabh and I will take turns at visiting the site and give feedback to others.

There is this huge miscommunication about the stolen angles and wire mesh. When Pradeep had gone to Aanandi to supervise on Wednesday morning, TU (=tenant uncle) told him that only one angle was stolen and he noticed it and made the workers remove the remaining angles and wire mesh and keep it inside and then cement them in the wall to prevent theft. But what Arunkaka had told me on Saturday was that all of it got stolen and they had to replace the entire thing. This morning when I called Yuvraj, the in-charge of Arunkaka’s workers, he had something else to report ! He said that the first time, 2-3 angles and a little wire mesh was stolen. Then the second time (when they were cemented in) somebody cut off and stole one angle !! There is too much confusion. On Saturday Pradeep and I have decided to meet Yuvraj, Arunkaka and TU all at the same time and get it sorted. I want to launch a police complaint. It is too much if angles get stolen each time we put them up !

This morning when I called Yuvraj, I also warned him to take away all the rubbish he’s throwing in the garden from his work…the other day he simply threw broken window glasses into a very well-cleaned patch. I also asked him upto where they are going to put up the wire mesh and he replied, only up to the Chikoo tree ! I said, that will not do ! The wire mesh should be put up along the entire wall adjoining the nallah and also near the triangular patch behind the tall coconut tree. I said I’ll talk to Arunkaka and he said he’ll talk with his immediate supervisor and then we can talk with Arunkaka. So there’s that issue to sort out as well.

Now, on to a more pleasant topic – the cleaning work :) - the work began on Monday and will end on Saturday. Since Monday, turn-by-turn, we are going to Aanandi and coming back very satisfied. He is working in an extremely systematic and organised manner. He is very thorough. My turn was on Monday morning and directly on Saturday morning and evening. So when I reach there on Saturday, I expect to be very pleasantly surprised :) I shall write a detailed post of the stages of work and also upload photos of each stage after the whole work is complete.

So, Yipppeeeeeeeeee :)