Formidable Incompetency

                                                                  

 Knowingly or unknowingly I was dragged into the business of construction in recent times certainly not on  a  commercial purpose, but building my  own flat. How come any one can get involved in building his or her own flat?  It is  supposed to be undertaken by a builder while one  submits  one  self  paying all his or her  savings and  also inevitably  indulge  in huge debts, and  yet remain a nagger  for not getting the best of  one's  money. Either you compromise in terms of location,  lay out, or amenities provided. As my  builder  is relatively small and very enthusiastic about satisfying the customers, he  has  allowed me to coordinate with  masons, plumbers,electricians last but not least false ceiling wallah from U.P.to get the best of services offered. 

I had hundred thousand problems in visualizing how bath rooms look, my bed rooms shape, my kitchen accommodates , standing in middle of logged water midst of  half built walls with  blue tarpaulins wrapped all around the place.  While walls looked leaning, rooms looked darker, whole area designated  as  my future dwelling,  looked no more than a narrow patch..Wondering  how my dining table sofas and cots would fit into this small place, persistently I kept on  visiting the place  As the walls grew higher and higher the place looked bigger and bigger. The tarpaulins blown overnight  with the gale made my rooms brighter.Some how either  by  skiing or  crawling,  I could enter my den regularly with  enthusiasm   to supervise the  work done by men.  Many times though I  tried to prove smarter eventually  meekly agreed  for what they decided because I had no idea of the kind of work, where it begins and where it ends. I admire people who can really generate ideas despite surrounding ambiguity.

 Few ideas  I gave ultimately turned out to be silly suggestions . Few supposedly good suggestions were not carried out properly because they were either misunderstood or forgotten . The forgotten ones noticed on the other day  were  impossible to execute due  cost factor or  the work is at finishing stage.  Small small things where I felt  there is  scope to improve  have gone unattended to  and eventually I had to compromise because rectification might result in wall  breaking.

Then came my ceiling wallah from UP. I did not understand in the first place why ceiling needs to be covered.However as  builder wanted to do it I thought I should allow him to do it.  Electrician comes and drew some  wires from no where and wanted to know how many lights I needed. I was blank as I have no idea  what kind of lighting suits the design. The design catalog was not of much use because my room was  not as big as the room  shown in the catalog and  also since some ill conceived beams have to be  masked the resultant room  would look  odd  in shape. Hence the designs  inspired by the  book  greatly vary  from what they turn out to be. When I inquired  my UP wallah in  my television Hindi how the disaster could be avoided he  says "Jo Aap Kahe". "Jo maine kaha"  was executed differently by the  evening. Either my Hindi was bad or he was dumb. I banged my head to the wall to generate correction  ideas without having to change the supporting frames.

Again electrician showed  up with his usual query  as to  how many lights he should hang  on my head. It was as if  it never occurred to him that I need a fan in  my drawing room. When I  convinced him that I am a human who needs luxury of  air and ventilation  if not always but some times he to  agreed grace me with  one.  He requested  me to tell  him before hand all my electrical requirements in bed rooms  so that he can pull some more wires from some other planet above the concealed roof.

Suddenly some other problem crops in,  as the ceiling is going to be  closed wooden frames are required to be fitted  on the lofts for making  wad robes in future. Call the carpenter. He does not know up to what height he is required  to  make wooden  frames.Call the ceiling wallah again.  Ask him how low he low he wants to lower the roof. Delightfully he told me that he might need one or one and half foot. The varying half foot is left to my wild imagination. Yes done despite.  Next day on inspection  most  frames  looked  crooked  and bent. Wooden   frames gave away as the plywood brought was of inferior quality." I have to change this carpenter" I screamed and  galloped to find a new man.The first one asks for compensation as he worked 'hard'  to make those crooked   frames.  Gleefully I could find a new carpenter for double the money. Till new frames were made ceiling workers drink tea, smoke and play cards.

 I was asked to select the tiles for the bath rooms."Any color would do" I was so much exhausted. " No.. No Madam. Early in the morning it is  better to be in white bath room. It gives you peace... " "I do not know exactly where I'll be.  It all depends on occupancy. However give me that purple one on the bottom which is easy to maintain" "Madam if you select purple tiles  you won't get purple commode " "OK then give me white commode as a contrast.  I'll brush twice a day" I do not know since when we wanted our bathrooms look like bedrooms. Ever since the troubles for a house wife have  been doubled with constant maintenance worry.  Where from we got these construction ideas ? Some times dining tables are situated just next to the toilets due to the place constraint.  I am  not quite sure  whether I can find my way in  my other bathroom when the power fails,  since I have chosen another dark shade for my second bath room with fond hope of easy maintenance.

I was asked to choose vitrified tiles which are sure ways to skid for aged. All the shades are extremely gorgeous but what worries me most is number of times  I have to wipe the floors to make them glitter all the time. One cat paw or dog paw (like games village ) or human foot print can spoil the entire  show. OK Add one more woe to the list. Either pay more to the servant to clean twice or do it your self.  I am sure I have to break my head to ensure that  the worker  lays all the tiles  with proper technique instead of using his intuitive power to measure the ground  level.. The improperly laid tiles look messier than any flooring available on date.

Then comes plumber. Wash basin comes only in the inconvenient corner since water flow there is  good. The geyser doesn't come on the wall  you wanted  because  the pipe line was not laid  there. All was explained to them  before. The problem is,  the  person who understood my concern,  does not turn up and  another plumber was  employed  to finish the job. I was aghast learning that the work done by the previous fellow was found to be  amateurish and faulty. To my disbelief  he looked and talked better. What is the way of finding  his credentials?

Second carpenter promises to get me the plywood of the highest quality on earth which will cost me double the money. Agreed. But do you get the best? God knows.  He promised " Green ply" or "Arrow" But next day "Priyanka"  appears." Both are water proof. They bear the same  No. blah..blah.."  he assured. How  the  hell on earth  I know the number of "Arrow" to compare ? .   Why getting  the work is such an ordeal here? I found an answer. It dawned upon me that I need to learn bit of plumbing, carpentry, flooring work, ceiling work, electrical work and  masonry to ensure that I get best of every body.  

Now I understand what Kalmadi and Co. have faced in games village.We severely fall short of skilled workers. Majority colleges teach maths, science, commerce,   economics or political science to churn out huge number of graduates .Very few institutions exist to teach vocational courses at affordable cost. Even if they exist the infrastructure is pathetic.  Every Indian need not  become an engineer or doctor to make his living. There are thousands who want to pursue what their fathers or fore fathers pursued as an occupation. By training them country will get ample of skilled  work force. It can reduce the burden of creating en number of desk jobs for several thousands who are graduating every year. The majority of  work force in our civil society are unskilled and they profoundly depend on their  intuitive power to execute the work given, which is unscientific and risky in some cases.  All the 75 thousand crores spent for the games and money flowing  like water on correction work should be an eye opener for the country which boasts false  raising status in the world. They cannot build world class  infrastructure with illiterate,  unskilled work force. 

Who carried the marble  stones to build Taj Mahal?  Do you know any body's name?

54 laborers died  building  our stadia. Some body died unsung to make somebody win their medals. What a cruel reality !!