Indra’s Drishtikona (Viewpoint)

Transformation Life is not my

Posted : February 20, 2006 at 6:38 pm [IST]

Transformation

Life is not my house

We can’t do much and rouse

How long can you run fast?

How long the dreams last?

How long you live in past?

But let me tell you my experience.

Between Private Service Providers and Branded Ones

I had a task to perform this time without help from any one. As such, once you are out of office, no one comes to help you, not even the near ones. And I found a solution that I find the best for anyone in my situation

My Salt lake residence in photographs was painted from out side in early part of 1997. The painting was overdue. As an engineer, I was concerned. The climatic conditions of Kolkata-the heavy rains and smog will spoil the base causing cracks and resulting damping. I saw a sign of that when I was here during the marriage of Devesh at Durgapur in 2003. It was Rakesh, my eldest son and brother-in-law of Devesh who pointed out the dangerous sipping and damp.

I had seen the ads of the reputed paint manufacturers, at least two- Asian Paints and Berger. I talked about their reliability in my friend circle. They were for it but they also cautioned that it would be costlier. I contacted Asian paints through Internet. They were quick in response, but couldn’t quote, as there was no one in Salt Lake to show them the work and get the measurement done.

While traveling to Calcutta, I got the phone number of Berger too. I called them too to get a competitive bid. In the mean time, one of my well wishers wanted to help me. She sent one person to me. I found him as one whom I got the job in HM. He had come with one contractor who was to execute the work. He showed a lot of interest. I explained and asked him for a quote too. Though it took some time, but I could select Asian Paints. I did some cost cutting also by using some costlier paint on more exposed areas and the cheaper one for the rest. It will be an experiment for future too. The private contractor, who came with my acquaintance, had quoted 30% higher. And there would not have been any guarantee too.

Asian Paints have done a good job. I had not to supervise. They followed the steps of the cleaning, the washing, the primer coat, the first coat and then the second coat religiously. This is where the private ones cheat. The branded ones must find some ways to make it cheaper. You feel bad that the labour cost is about 100% of the cost of materials for the painting that I thought was pretty costly. The company must work on improving productivity too and cut down the required to complete the task. The contractor charged Rs 140 ($3) per day for the mason and Rs 85 ($2) for the helper. I don’t know how much he actually pays to them.

I had to stay many days without proper food, but today I am satisfied as the work is done.

Was it not a right decision, but at Rs 56,000?

- Indra

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