Safety at Highway Construction

Allow artisans talk something on the issue of safety of road workers in Indian roads -especially highways, which has few lanes on either side. Where the issue becomes more visible.

Contractors, clients, consultants, all are now aware that road safety at construction time is important. The migratory daily wager too now. So, he is given a cap and a high vis(ibility) jacket. Boots hurt his feet. They work in groups, some doing the work, some holding a banner, which is custom made, is usually red inked. It says something like, "MAN AT WORK". The cordoned area has men, and some machinery, some big some expensive. You notice then you carefully maneuver or maunder your car not to hit anything.

Army Artisans and FOB collapse

This is in continuation to my previous two posts.

I get a phone call from an Artisan, who lives as far as Salinas. He tells me that after the games got over, the Army quietly unbolted the bridge and took it away for where it may need it the most, like, Leh, Ladakh or some remote part of the country, somewhere, while their another gang, their music band, played its home made and colonially acquired tunes to the amazement, claps and cheers of the people in the stadium to the conclusion of one more successful games.

Army Artisans

The concern over the issue of Footbridge collapse is genuine of the Structural Engineering fraternity, and in my opinion, takes us closer to an open exchange of open ideas (click for chain).

Commonwealth games are beyond halfway, and pre-start a footbridge collapse was a loud hue and cry along with anticipation - for example, here. I took part too (previous post). Also had come news (also Read here) flying in the ears that it took only a couple of days for the Indian Army to bolt up a quick bridge for use.

Commonwealth footbridge collapse

Khota: It collapsed!, The bridge in Delhi, by and for commonwealth.

Tota: Ok.

Khota: But, Tota, do you know why did it collapse ?

Tota: Yes, because, no one followed a proper design procejur!

Khota: You mean, no one designed the bridge?

Tota: Na re Khota, no one followed the procejur!!

Khota: I don't get it Tota. Indians, and not following procejur?

Tota: Khotaaaaa. Not only no procejur I mean, I mean no Design too. Thenga design.

Khota: Oh yes, now I know what you mean. Perhaps, this never would never happen in Queen's land? They do both. Follow procejur and do designs.

Tota: Not sure if it happens only in India. Say Luccki, no one died. Just some twenty odd were injured, some seriously. Well, you can say close to dying. Well, you can say, only injured. Just daily wage laborers. Come on, just a footbridge man not a big bridge.

**

Na re: Vocal expression for, maybe, 'No buddy, come on'

Thenga: Hand signal: Showing 'Thumb' to express that a deal went null and void.

Cleaners

Are these people called Cleaners a part of service industry?

Yes.

Is them a part of the building industry?

No.

Can they be part of the Building Service industry?

Maybe…uh huh.. surely

In Verbatim from Mark Twain

One can find many reference and online copies to old literature. Buying a paper copy is helpful to the eyes. A century and half down the line of Page 73 of Mark Twain’s, “A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court”, has some relevance down here, I feel:

We were off before sunrise, Sandy riding and I limping along behind. In half an hour we came upon a group of ragged poor creatures who had assembled to mend the thing which was regarded as a road. They were as humble as animals to me; and when I proposed to breakfast with them, they were so flattered, so overwhelmed by this extraordinary condescension of mine that at first they were not able to believe that I was in earnest. My lady put up her scornful lip and withdrew to one side; she said in their hearing that she would as soon think of eating with the other cattle—a remark which embarrassed these poor devils merely because it referred to them, and not because it insulted or offended them, for it didn’t. And yet they were not slaves, not chattels. By a sarcasm of law and phrase they were freemen. Seven-tenths of the free population of the country were of just their class and degree: small “independent” farmers, artisans etc.; which is to say, they were the nation, the actual Nation; they were about all of it that was useful, or worth saving, or really respectworthy; and to subtract them would have been to subtract the Nation and leave behind some dregs, some refuse, in the shape of a king, nobility and gentry, idle, unproductive, acquainted mainly with the arts of wasting and destroying, and of no sort of use or value in any rationally constructed world. And yet, by ingenious contrivance, this gilded minority, instead of being in the tail of the procession where it belonged, was marching head up and banners flying, at the other end of it; had elected itself to be a Nation, and these innumerable clams had permitted it so long that they had come at last to accept it as a truth; and not only that, but to believe it right and as it should be. The priests had told their fathers and themselves that this ironical state of things was ordained of God; and so, not reflecting upon how unlike God it would be to amuse himself with sarcasms, and especially such poor transparent ones as this, they had dropped the matter there and become respectfully quiet.

One Rant

One brunt I heard some time ago from a friend who works in the field. No need to guess the name, for they are a plenty, they discuss a plenty; and the following words got stuck in my head -

“I work in this field because I am frustrated, and I am quite used to it. Frustrated! Because, we spend big money on international conferences; of course in the name of interaction, but when it comes to allocate some money to facilitate at the local level, not even a fraction is shitted. And they say they get no results. Bull shit. Maybe it is not that important and this is how things are. Some say, this is because they think this is the direction the development is supposed to take, and I am used to it.”

Woody Guthrie - I Ain't Got No Home

Lately Bollywood has been influencing me with their techniques. And I have learnt once again that - that is, if for long, you are not able to put some stuff on a story board, you put a song in between. You take it from the open source.

Off Value

Indian masons/artisans are of a great value overseas. Pick a current example - places like Middle East and around, where the Indian hardworking labor and finishing quality is appreciated more than their own home market.

Or maybe the house-owners at home may want to find what the value of this this good Indian masons/artisans is - monetarily as well as culturally.

The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico

My Artisans screwed it up once again. Also, a few odd ten or maybe eleven lost their lives, and for long the fire was being looked to be doused.

While the problem bounces in both political and environmental zones, like a real bouncy rubber ball, putting the American prez’s existence into fix, somewhere it is realized that next time more resources are put into improving the safety case making of such difficult terrain and conditions of working.

Sometimes outliers outweigh the risk.

Chimney deaths unreported

It is either big, or it is sad.

Reference is my previous post, and some valid reactions, as a string, of Structural Engineers which can be found in an online Structural Engineering forum in India, also known as (SEFI).

Chimney collapse

As I am on my laptop doing something else, Zee news gives a breaking news that a chimney some thirty kilometers away from Jhansi has collapsed. Indeed breaking news.

Around fifty to sixty construction site workers, in popular culture known as 'labourers' are buried. There is no Search and Rescue provision around.

I recall John Lennon once saying in his one album ... "Apathy is not the answer".

This is worse.

Cheenk Wala Bhai

Lal Bhai has been sellin Bamboo blinds for almos' last twenty-five years. Summers will ensure better business, so these days I usually don’t find him around at his reception. He must be running around (literally) chasing and fulfilling orders made by his clients. He says, annually he would earn about 50,000 Rupees as profit selling just cheenks (bamboo blinds) of a few types he is good at. This money is enough for him to fend for his family. He is middle aged but his curious eyes will easily escape the protective thick layers of his glasses frame and lenses. He might tell you more, if you befriend him.

His reception and business area is, where his wife keeps her grand, or perhaps grander daughter or son covered by her traditional chunari to keep off the air pollutants or the dust, is a newly done futpath by the Municipal Corporation (City civic authority). He says he is fine here and doesn’t feel any need to move to a shop because he doesn’t need to pay any bills or taxes. Just give local corporation guys or local cops some good heart money for chai-paani. The local cops who used to harass him earlier have also ceased to do so because their interaction has turned into aquaintance over the years. Once in a month, a Municipal Corporation contracted lifting truck will put an act on show that it is removing Lalbhai and likes from the city spaces. However, since this is only an act, half an hour later they will return to the same futpath. All understand. All have to coexist. Lalbhai is cool about it too – he will move away if he eventually has to.

Tell me or this - how cheaper, easier and reliable can enterprise get? Lalbhai makes his deliveries almost in time, delay might be for a day or two maximum. His bamboo chinks, which is bought from him is much more value-for-money than a typical franchisee shop run on top-down business model.

You can try calling him on his mobile phone in India (0) 96382 36396 - informal business.

Karmika - Woman Empowerment (Mason Trainer series - 2)

Karm + ika = Woman worker {Etmy. (Karm = Hindi for Work + ika = suffix making reference to feminine)}

Women empowerment is a big and concerning issue, and recently someone floundered with a recent book, think it was a recent NY Times review, titled “Are Islam and Feminism compatible?” Well, I support the issue of empowerment of women in workplaces, but 'feminism' is a little tougher to understand. Maybe, because I am not a woman myself. Tough, was also to interpret the flood of write ups such as top 100 women achievers, interviews with prominent achievers, columnists, celebrities sexy, which followed 33% reservation, almost certain, of women seats in the Indian Upper parliament- now to make rounds in the lower house.

Perhaps, somewhat related to this sometime back, and more focused on my artisans in the construction sector, that on recommendation and curiousness I went to visit the office of Karmika; an offshoot of SEWA which works with enabling and assisting womenfolk in construction work. Karmika also conducts its own Trainings and runs other programmes, through an established training centre it has in Bopal, Ahmedabad (City is the seventh largest city in India) - till now, numbers in thousands have been trained here in one level or the another. And why not, when their corporate office is at an easy distance from mine! Quite approachable and tradition loving people, I could easily get access to their chief, Smt. Bijal Bane (Smt. is an Indian prefix and Bane a Gujarati suffix for adding respect to names). After I said I came to visit her because of Karmika's good work in our field, and would like to know more, she in all humbleness gave me her space and her time to talk. We talked for some good hours.

I recall, our talk focused on the role of women in construction - how good and bad they are doing - current dynamics. I also came to know, how the traditional apprenticeship culture has not been traditionally supportive of normal women who do normal work. And currently the culture is left pretty much to improvidence. The course of our talk went on, and the role of big time governments and big sized corporates came in the picture too. Upper level women, great women achievers - leaders, etc.

PolisWala and Sahib

We both were intoxicated. It was the vapor around. While, I got high on thoughts of righting a blog, he continued to scrape sandpaper on the furniture he was going to shine-polis for me. Sunil is a freelance polis-wala who will charge you exorbitant money if you are not careful. Rupees 2200 is all he asked for a one and a half day job he completed with his assistant.

In addition to his rightful labor, the cost of two chemicals which means the thinner and the polishing chemical, a nitrocellulose based material locally manufactured in the local industrial areas, and other contingencies could not be more than half of what he asked me earlier for. Thankfully, protective gloves, boots or masks don’t figure in the picture.

The locally industrial areas manufactured vapor producing half litre nitrocellulose tin box shows a badly designed cross ‘X’ with ‘HARMFUL’ written next to it. Think the brand is called Taralac. Perhaps, this all was the information that the box gave. I got reminded of COSHH I learnt about in the UK, and how the gov’ment regulates the use of such harmful substances, so I felt pity for Sunil and asked him if he knows the job he does, and if it is bad for his health. He replies in a pitiful and a draggy tone about how he has been doing this work for last sixteen years and has always felt intoxicated while doing it. His eyes rolled unsure why we are talking this as he continued to polish the table leg.

And I think to myself- wow what a nice rare job he does because it gives him a high he doesn’t mind.

Sunil tells me of burning sensation in his hands sometimes because many a times the chemical is harder than usual. Sometimes his eyes get yellowy. Then he tells me the importance of studying and teaching his chillen well in a nice ambitious city like Ahmedabad. He is hopeful and starts to put a pitying tone to extract that extra money.

The Sounds of Silence (when constructing)

‘Ahmedabad’ city, has been misspelled in the Indian census, therefore Google has it as ‘Ahmadabad’. Otherwise, affectionately known as ‘Amdavad’ I would like to give it a mod name - ‘A-bad’. Perhaps post Gandhi scene which quintessentially starts from here, the city is recently experiencing a greater migration wave, with immigrants from the rest of the country finding relatively better opportunities cum prosperity here.

Within the midst of overpowering apartments, the new part of the city has some bunglo’s too.

Nice sun is shining even though it is winter – the rich bunglo’ owner and his equally rich neighbor are basking under its shade, only to be separated by a compound wall. A contractor, who perhaps aspires to be similarly affluent, has his elbow resting on the compound wall, as he is talking to one of the owners. He attempts speaking in style, efforts to dress presentable, and is nodding to everything possible or impossible which probably the owner wants. A bathroom he has been contracted to redo. He gives further employment to his subcontractor, who in turn would get a band of laborers - normally from his own village - in popular culture known as – ‘gang of labourers’ - to work under the same shining sun.

The construction work would go on. The gang making merciless noises by randomly banging and ringing their hammers for the whole day, persistently and patiently, taking a month to redo the bathroom. While the skilled gets 250 rupees for a day, the unskilled gets 110 - they both get kayami-work (Gujarati for ‘longer-term work’; pronounced Kuh-aya-me). The subcontractor from their own village makes a little more, and the main contractor we were earlier talking about some real good. Maybe it makes sense, because he is an unsaid bathroom design consultant too.

The image here shows the exterior of the bathroom they would deliver in the end. Yes, this is the finished product. Presently, there is a graphic appeal to it, but the neighbor isn’t amused. He dare not comment to his uncaring neighbor about the bad alignment of windows, and quality that is left. Commenting - which will make him endure the same sounds of construction once again.

Wonder Grass

One can see how the endless possibilities ‘Wonder Grass’ is making possible with Bamboo. Starting from - churning expressive and creative ideas to executing them on site. As well as regularly rolling out posts on their Blog-Page. Scrolling lower and deeper into the pages gets exciting if one gives the posts some duly deserved time.

Whether it is a high-end expression or an earthy thing out of bamboo to design, Wondergrass’s outreach programmes for masons artisans, and school kids, undoubtedly gives it more substance. Its kind hearted founder, Vaibhav Kaale, a friend perpetual, has a habit of simplifying things for his local audience. I over-heard once, in one presentation he gave, he would metaphor his ‘bamboo addiction’ to that of a ‘child’s crave for a chocolate’. I do not disagree, for a weed sure is to give that high.

Keep up the good work.