Brian, one of my friends I bought the land with, and I have been traveling to Denkanikottai for the last two weekends, calling several masons, hardware shops, real estate brokers in an attempt to get a gate fixed at the farm. But nothing worked, as most contractors made payment to the masons and labourers on Saturday, which is called 'salary day' by the locals. And Sunday was the day when these salary earners enjoyed the fruits of their labour by eating, drinking and making merry! Unfortunately for the two of us, with a regular job to keep, those were the only days available for getting this work done.
After a lot of searching, we found a mason in the adjoining village who was willing to fix the gate on a day we prefer. Knowing the locals' penchant for ditching in the last minute, we refrained from celebrating before the actual work begins. So early morning on March 30th, we started towards our farm, had breakfast at Atibele, the last town before we hit Tamil Nadu and reached the the village of Mr. Palani Mastri. Surprisingly, he was there and waiting for us. We took him to our farm, where he took some measurements, and then dropped him back at his place.
We then gave him some advance for procuring material for the base and left to Denkanikottai to get the gate, which had been ready for close to 2 weeks. On way back, we picked up the two helpers and loaded the material in the Tata Ace we hired for carrying the gate, and reached the farm by about 10am with all the stuff needed for fixing the gate.
It took the mason almost the entire day to get the pits dug, place the gates and align them and pour the concrete into the pits. A major part of the work was walking over 100 meters to get the water, which was needed to soften the hard soil so that they can dig a deep enough pit and also for mixing the concrete.
Another major time consumer was aligning the gates once they were placed in their respective pits. The issue was that the ground was slanting so the pits have to be of different depth to align the gates. Also, since we were not erecting cement pillars to which the gates will be attached but were placing iron pillar to which the gates were prefixed, the aligning job was further complicated.
But the most irritating work, that consumed a lot of time was a result of bad planning by the mason. Towards early evening, the mason realised that the quantity of cement and jelly was not sufficient. So he decided that he will come the next day and finish the rest. Brian and I knew what 'next day' meant, so we insisted that we close it within the same day, even if he charges extra for working late. So at about 5.30 pm I went back to the nearest town to replenish cement and jelly.
Funnily, the mixing and pouring of concrete into the pit, once the gates were properly aligned and held in their places using wooden poles, was the easiest of the jobs; took less than an hour in all.
By the time the gates were fixed it was almost 7pm. A good 10 hours. But then, now we could lock the place ... not that it needs one yet!
Next step ... water!
After a lot of searching, we found a mason in the adjoining village who was willing to fix the gate on a day we prefer. Knowing the locals' penchant for ditching in the last minute, we refrained from celebrating before the actual work begins. So early morning on March 30th, we started towards our farm, had breakfast at Atibele, the last town before we hit Tamil Nadu and reached the the village of Mr. Palani Mastri. Surprisingly, he was there and waiting for us. We took him to our farm, where he took some measurements, and then dropped him back at his place.
We then gave him some advance for procuring material for the base and left to Denkanikottai to get the gate, which had been ready for close to 2 weeks. On way back, we picked up the two helpers and loaded the material in the Tata Ace we hired for carrying the gate, and reached the farm by about 10am with all the stuff needed for fixing the gate.
It took the mason almost the entire day to get the pits dug, place the gates and align them and pour the concrete into the pits. A major part of the work was walking over 100 meters to get the water, which was needed to soften the hard soil so that they can dig a deep enough pit and also for mixing the concrete.
Another major time consumer was aligning the gates once they were placed in their respective pits. The issue was that the ground was slanting so the pits have to be of different depth to align the gates. Also, since we were not erecting cement pillars to which the gates will be attached but were placing iron pillar to which the gates were prefixed, the aligning job was further complicated.
But the most irritating work, that consumed a lot of time was a result of bad planning by the mason. Towards early evening, the mason realised that the quantity of cement and jelly was not sufficient. So he decided that he will come the next day and finish the rest. Brian and I knew what 'next day' meant, so we insisted that we close it within the same day, even if he charges extra for working late. So at about 5.30 pm I went back to the nearest town to replenish cement and jelly.
Funnily, the mixing and pouring of concrete into the pit, once the gates were properly aligned and held in their places using wooden poles, was the easiest of the jobs; took less than an hour in all.
By the time the gates were fixed it was almost 7pm. A good 10 hours. But then, now we could lock the place ... not that it needs one yet!
one thing i did realize (after watching those two helpers work thru the day in the heat) is that i'm terribly unfit.. City lifestyle is a slow killer
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