Talking the walk8230;

After a good, strong cup of morning coffee, my husband and I walk around our building which is three storeys high with 20 residential flats....

After a good, strong cup of morning coffee, my husband and I walk around our building which is three storeys high with 20 residential flats. A walk around it takes precisely two minutes. Our doctor8217;s prescription is a daily 40-minute walk, so we go round the building 20 times.

The morning is cool and fresh by Chennai standards. As we walk, a plastic bag wafts across our path. 8220;You must get the residents to separate their garbage. A bin for organic waste and another for plastic,8221; I suggest to my husband. He is the president of the residents8217; association. We have no problems apart from the problems of the association.

8220;You are obsessed with garbage,8221; he shoots back. 8220;Why don8217;t you get the women to do it?8221; I told him that I had already done so, that all of them had heard me out with a lot of interest and praised the suggestion.

8220;And then?8221; asks my husband. No one bothered to act on it, I had to admit.

A resident passes without so much as a good morning. 8220;Why is he upset with you?8221; I ask. My husband reveals that the man had not paid his maintenance charges for the last three months and is obviously feeling guilty.

8220;Put his name up on the notice board as a defaulter,8221; I suggest.

8220;Can8217;t do that,8221; my husband says. 8220;He has promised to pay up. Let8217;s see. Besides, there is another man who has refused to pay altogether. I don8217;t know what to do with him.8221;

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How about taking him to court, I suggest. The suggestion was dismissed out of hand. 8220;It will take years and years to get resolved,8221; he snaps.

The conversation then goes on to maintenance charges. I tell him that people felt they were too high. 8220;Let them have a look at the accounts and see what the other buildings are charging,8221; the husband fumes.

8220;And then there is the issue of water. Residents want water to be released all day and night. Your decision to release water only in the morning has caused a lot of disquiet,8221; I say.

8220;If I were to release water day and night there will not be enough even if we buy a tanker-load every day. A tanker now costs Rs 800 for 8,000 litres. The bill will come up to Rs 24,000 a month. Maintenance charges will shoot up. Then what?8221; asks my husband, very irate now.

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8220;There are other problems like the night watchman who sleeps during the night and the day watchman who dozes during the day and8230;8221; I go on.

8220;I8217;m resigning. I8217;m fed up with all these complaints. Let someone else take over the administration of the building,8221; shouts my husband. Our 20 rounds had come to an end.

It was so tough managing a building I wondered to myself how our poor PM manages the nation!