Akshay Tritiya - an Auspicious Day

An auspicious day, the word Akshay means eternal or imperishable. Initiations made or valuables bought on this day are considered to bring success or good fortune.People tend to invest in gold, property and other valuables on this day. In 2011, the date of Akshaya Trithiya is May 6. As per Hindu astrology and almanac, each second on the Akshaya Trithiya day is auspicious. It is said that there is no need to look for a ‘muhurat’ on the day.Anything started on this day is said to flourish and grow. So why not invest in your new home and see your life flourish with happiness, health, wealth and success?

Ramnath City is Ready – Are you There?

All of us look forward to create a life we want; we want to live out our dreams. However, dreams need to be out of the box; something about which we are often not sure. Not often do we get a chance to fulfill our dream. So, when we do get to make a choice, we should be smart enough to recognize it.

As long as you seek permission to live your life your personal freedom is compromised. You can play it safe, choose safe or be different; different enough to try out something new. A lot of IIM and IIT grads are choosing to ‘travel the less-travelled road.’ This choice is not only available at our career points but also in the various aspects of our life such as choosing our friends, our social life, our surrounding environ. It is not only important to identify your dreams, but also the foresight to recognize the opportunity when it comes your way and to have the courage to follow it.

One of the most important choices we make in life is in choosing our home. A home for most of us is a once-in-a lifetime decision and should be made with lot of considerations. Considerations about the location, architecture, the layout plans, the environmental aspects, the safety factors, the convenience parameters, the luxury components; the list can only get longer. Nothing can be left to chance, as far as our dream home is concerned. We all go through this process – try for the very best that will keep our family safe and happy. Most times we get some and have to let go of others.

Ramnath City is the vision of Ramnath Group which has maintained quality, commitment and confidence, as its trade hallmark. The township is the ‘dream come true’ of people who dared to be different; different in planning a world-class project, with green building components. Different in selecting the best, but as of date, an under-valued site. Different in employing renewable energy, in powering various township facilities. Believing in superior construction, absolute transparency and total commitment to its patrons. Different in creating quality with capital ‘Q’. So, it is not surprising that this is one developer who is not moving away from the scene, once the township is functional. The maintenance of the township has been planned on a world-class model that will be a joint association of maintenance professionals and selected township residents.

What better inheritance can we give our children than a world class life where sustainability is the lifestyle? Since this is the only planet we have, it is a sensible decision to take care of it. The opportunity of a different choice is here. Do you recognize this opportunity?    

Ramnath City is ready. Are you there?

An Integrated Township – the Complete Solution

The attempt to solve urban housing problems has created what can be best described as ‘suburban residential areas.’  Modern urban living can attain lifestyle status only in integrated townships, which are not mere condominiums or apartment complexes.

Thirty years back, when I was growing up in the staff quarters allocated to Central Government officers, I did not have a clue to lifestyle living. We stayed in two BHK flats, that had white-washed walls, huge dome-shaped fans that hung from high ceilings, a kitchen that had a built-in coal ‘chullah’  and a look that resembled factory-line production. The exterior walls got a fresh coat every alternate year, the fans were taken down and oiled annually, and the interior walls were painted once in every five years (fashionably referred to as lime wash). All this, the government paid for. We had the government maintenance system; a complaint had to be registered for a leaking tap, a faulty cable or a loose hinge. Services were pretty good. Within 24 hours the job was done and the complaint closed. We had our own medical facility in the form of doctors and dispensary.

Looking back, I recognize a feeble attempt to employ certain facilities that are features of what we today refer to as ‘integrated townships.’  My friends who stayed in individual houses or the private flat schemes, complained about maintenance issues, non-existent security, and other aspects of daily living. Today, in an attempt to solve the gap between land availability and increasing population of the urban areas, condominiums and apartment complexes have mushroomed across metros and the first and second tier cities of the country.  However, the planning for such residential areas has ignored the most important issue of infrastructure, thus reducing them to mere suburban residencies. With increased purchasing power, changing concepts of lifestyle living and availability of world class facilities, we are not satisfied with mere houses but nurture the dream of homes that are complete in all aspects of desirability, whether aesthetic, functional, or sustainability. The solution today is an integrated township and the good news is that this solution is available and affordable in your city today!

Having said this, the best way to describe an integrated township is ‘a living area that is self-contained in terms of basic infrastructure.’ For example a social infrastructure that includes community life, recreational facilities and medical facilities. Water and electricity supply and management, telecom services and linkages through a proper network of roads are essential requirements. Garbage and waste management, sustainable use of water and energy, shopping, entertainment and food courts complete the picture. Today such an integrated town ship has come up in Nagpur. Are you there?

Go Solar – Let’s take Advantage of the Sun

Have you ever reflected on the fact that we are wasting over two thousand sunshine hours annually? Have you ever thought how much cooking fuel you would save, if you let the Sun do the job?

While in Ahmedabad, I had the good fortune to meet an environmental engineer who had made it his life’s passion to take full benefit of nature’s resources, albeit in a sustainable way. Dr. Girja Sharan, of IIM (A), did not want to waste the ample solar energy that was available in Kachchh. So, he designed, what later came to be stylishly referred to as Sol-Café. Now, Sol-Café was not some French design cutomised for Kachchh roads. These were cafeteria’s, which had solar panels placed strategically, to catch the Sun’s rays at the perfect angle. The cafés made all the delicious snacks for which Gujrati’s are famous. The same principle was adopted, to provide solar kitchens for various schools in the interior of Kachchh. Not only were the schools saving on money, it was also using a renewable source of energy and the outcome was healthy nutritious food. How appetizing is that!

There is more food for thought. Just imagine that you are leaving for the day and plan to be back by dinner. Late evening, when you return, you have rice, dal, chicken, and kheer – a four course meal warm and ready, with all the goodness of natural ingredients preserved. All these and more can be done with solar energy. Does it not make sense to use Sun’s energy, when we have the luck to have it uninterruptedly for almost eight to nine months in a year?

Solar energy is increasingly used in various ways, as it requires little maintenance and is cost-effective in the long run. Water pumps can be powered by solar energy. Solar energy can be used to heat residential homes; many people use solar energy to heat their water supply; in Florida, people use solar energy to warm the water in the pool. A photovoltaic cell installed on the roof, collects the solar energy and warms the heat transfer fluid, which in turn warms the water.

Here in Nagpur, there is someone who cares enough to make the Earth a more tolerable place. A place, where street lights and pumps, will run on solar power. As individuals, we can also start using solar cookers and solar heaters. The options are unlimited; it just needs some innovative thought and a gambler’s intuition; this is one stake that won’t be a loss.   

Save Water – Secure the Future

Remember that scene from an erstwhile Bollywood movie? A man sits on a khatiyan and takes bath; the water drips down to collect in a pot, kept below. Though unsaid, the water will be reused in the toilets. This, experts say will get worse.

Long back, my work would frequently take me to villages in Kachchh – Tal, Nakhatrana and many like them. In those villages, close to the life of the Kachchhi people, I saw water crisis, as never before. In here, where drinking water was supplied thrice a week, through tankers, you feel bad to waste even half a glass of water. I used to make it a point to carry a small plastic cup, which allowed me to take just enough water to quench my thirst. Stories of village women carrying water across miles of barren land are not new in this country. Scores of movies have been made; we have returned from the dark theatres resolving to do our bit. But have we?

I scold my son, when he keeps the tap open while brushing his teeth. The other day I realized that the tap in the sink was dripping for the last one month and I had not done anything about it. I just needed to call the plumber. But the drip had not become significant enough to be considered a crisis. The natural resources are dripping every day, thanks to our combined carelessness; and the drip is not insignificant any more. It is large enough to make ground water tables go down dangerously and international committees sound warnings about potable water getting scarce in the next 25 years. It is time to take notice and do our bit.

Hence, I was pleasantly surprised when told that a developing township in this city was actually incorporating green designs with an eye to future sustainability. Apart from aesthetical designs that did not overrule the functional pleasantness of natural elements – the right shade and angle of daylight or the airy openness of luxury living –the township was powered with solar powered street lights and instituted with appropriate means for collecting rainwater and recycling treated water. How green was that!

Any crisis can be faced in a unified, planned way. Since the looming scarcity of water is a global crisis, a unified action is needed. Choosing a sustainable lifestyle can be your way of saying yes to a greener life. What better inheritance can we give our children than a world class life where sustainability is the lifestyle?

Keep that Window Open – Welcome the Natural Abundance

Last week, when the skies turned a frightening dark gray, lightening flashed and thunder raged, most of us in our air-conditioned offices did not realize that the much awaited monsoons had arrived. Seasons pass by, flowers bloom, and trees turn bare; we watch them go by, always thinking, ‘one day…’

A friend complained that he no longer felt happy at all the small things that once were pleasurable. The patterns of cloud on an azure blue sky, the wind in the face as he rode his bike, the green glaze of rain-drenched plants, all got shadowed in the more important job of ‘living his life.’ His sorrow was real; but I did not know how to console him.

There was a time when we all loved getting drenched; we invariably fell ill, but that was part of the deal. There was a time when we played in the mud and got dirty; the inevitable reprimand followed, but that too was part of the deal. Nature was a part of life; we did not shut it out. Today nature remains at its place, but we have moved inside; inside our concrete homes, conditioned with an artificial ambience.

Confronted with the real dangers of Global Warming, we are trying to bring our children closer to nature. We encourage them to join treks that scale Himalayan heights, follow trails through forests and raft across white foaming rivers. Why not extend this process by desiring a home that is built in the lap of nature?

Remember those Hollywood movies, when the characters throw open the lovely French windows and walk out into lush lawns? Remember that lovely villa in Come September? The living room extending out to include a green lawn! How lovely it looked, as the breeze played with the curtains and swept it off the floor, bellowing into the room. Watching the movie last weekend, I was struck with a Déjà vu. I had experienced this connect with nature. I had, then, marveled at the high-ceilinged spaciousness, the well-planned design that allowed maximum light and air for ventilation and the way one could seek out the stretch of green.

Suddenly I realized that we were losing our nature connect. We were not making the attempt to incorporate natural abundance in our lives. Since our lives run in a fast forward mode, we have to consciously bring nature back into our lives. Our homes are important to us, because at the end of the day, it is here that we return; our body and soul seeking peace and solace. Will you not like to throw that door open and seek nature?