M90 Issues – friend’s advice

(This is a continuation from the previous post, so any reader is advised to go down for a browse and land here).

There are certain things you take for granted in life – no stray dogs inside the building compound, no trespassers, and certainly no signage boards. But with SYNAPSE PAIN & SPINE Clinic inside M90 premise, I lost all peace. Now the open gates were an invitation to stray dogs, strangers knocking for consultation and that terrible generator making a hell of a noise.

            I knew that chasing the Chennai Corporation people or Electricity Board was a futile exercise. They had sold their souls a long time back. You sadly hit upon this truth: Chennai is a fuckin corrupt city. Power and influence greases hands; this is daylight robbery and none made answerable. Why? Dr. Karthic Babu Natarajan, Quick Gun Murugan to us, had the ears of the state government. By which time, I lost all respect for him both as a medical practitioner and even a human being – no self-respecting person would build his empire grabbing lands from others. If his motive was money making, why take the trouble to go all over USA or Europe and get those fancy degrees? Or do medical students compromise on ethics, since they spent so much on medical education, prone to using patients as a revenue stream and a business model.

            This building M90 faces the main road and there are lot of commercial establishments eager to set up shop on the road.  M93 went first, usurped by Nathan Dental Clinic five years back, so SYNAPSE had a template and went about replicating it in M90. Of course, they would not have bargained for a nuisance like me to come in their way.

            Last month Suloch of M90/2 came for a monthly vacation and now I had one ally to complain and groan about this new invader. I wrote to Dinamalar and other newspapers besides writing to the Chennai Corporation Commissioner and marking a copy to the Synapse people. For the first time in 12 months I had the balls to mark a copy to them as I went to town complaining on the building violations – remember a 40 ft private gate, private generator, and lots of signage can test the patience of a saint.  But at the same time, I can’t be foolhardy. I stay alone, I am an easy target. These doctors – ex-MP’s daughter and access to top leadership in AIADMK - don’t look like they would serve in a Mother Theresa centre; rather they would slit my throat if I made too much noise and stood in the way.

            So I wrote to Radha Rajan, a famous Besant Nagar resident and animal activist, saying: If something happens to me, straightaway the needle of suspicion should go to these people. Don’t allow them to go scot-free. She advised me: Sathya, these people are garbage (Sakadai in Tamil makes it more compelling and served with a force), so why get caught needlessly: SELL and GO.

            I sought Bala’s advice; he is a street smart guy – he used me on copywriting assignments in a freelance capacity and not pay my bills. But he is a friendly chap and I turned to him in desperation. He echoed Radha’s suggestion – Sathya, sell and go. Buy peace of mind, this tangle is not worth it. It has you running from pillar to post and banging a dead wall feel to it.

            I was outraged, “Bala, this is my home. How can I allow dacoits to enter my front door, I do nothing about it. I will place my life on the line and save this?”

            Bala asked, “What do you have in mind? More petitions to MLA, or councillor or what?”

            I said,” Bala, I plan to have a signage board on my side of the building outer. I will hang a flexi-print banner reading: Save MIG flats from greedy doctor clinics or some such thing.”

            Bala asked, “What will you achieve by this?”

            “Maybe, some newspaper guy or a post on Facebook and given an initial thrust can become viral. If not for anything, this simple banner will earn SYNAPSE a bad image when patients come visiting.”

            I did not stop with this, “Bala, I plan to print 300 copies of a brochure and distribute to friends and strangers on Eliot’s beach and the Ratnagiriswarar temple. I know at least a hundred faces and so there is no trouble reaching out. If the civic authorities won’t take my complaint seriously, I will generate enough word-of-mouth publicity of my own. Let those SYNAPSE bastards know there is a battle on their hands. There will be no easy surrender.”

            Bala being the street-smart man said, “Sathya, I wish you all the best. But when you take on powerful interests, you are just a moment from being run over by a truck. These fellows are thugs, it is for you to decide whether you want to live the rest of your life with a broken spine or maimed hands.”

            Instantly I saw the merit in Bala’s assessment of risks. It sounded nearer home.  After this counsel, I stopped that “flexi-print banner idea” and “distributing brochures to Besant Nagar residents.”

            I sought Manikandan’s help but he also said the same thing: Sathya, one person can’t take on a system. If you get a good price, SELL and GO. Otherwise organize a meeting and involve others in the neighbourhood – Indian democracy does not work on brains or rules but it runs on the strength of the mob.

            So this got me started on this idea: there are 6 MIG buildings. Of the six, two buildings were ravaged by Apollo consultants for personal greed.  Apollo Hospitals already saddled with a dubious reputation for lousy treatment and now its consultant doctors specializing in land-grab in Besant Nagar. So I had at least 36 apartments to approach, make my case, and seek their support.  My rationale was: if two have gone down the drain and we did not wake to stop the intruders now, the rest of the owners too would be at high risk of their own building going to dogs.  So my pitch would be: today I suffer and tomorrow will your turn. So why not support me a little now.

            This idea appealed to me; this is still a Gandhian way of protest. There is no danger of SYNAPSE people hiring thugs to eliminate as I go canvassing; they know the system too well to worry about reputation or morality.  We shall see the “MIG Flat owners” campaign in the next blog post.