Tulip Violet makes the best use of lockdown

The lockdown to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV2 is seeing people across the country get innovative with their time indoors. At Tulip Violet in Sector 69, residents

The lockdown to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV2 is seeing people across the country get innovative with their time indoors. At Tulip Violet in Sector 69, residents are being motivated by the residents’ welfare association (RWA) of the society to share their quarantine experiences through a contest. Residents who upload unique ways of spending their time doing what they love the best will be rewarded when the lockdown ends.

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Quarantine fun

The details of the contest was shared on the society’s Facebook group. “We started the contest #VioletBeatsCorona in late March. So far we have got around 250 entries. The idea was to encourage residents to share their activities and experiences while being under lockdown,” says Puneet Goyal, RWA president.

Goyal adds that the entries were a mixed lot. From recipes to art works, from musical performances to innovative versions of familiar games, the list is long. “One of the residents turned around the old snakes-and-ladder game into a task-oriented one. Suppose, if you hit five, then you may have to do five sit-ups,” says Goyal.

The closed Facebook group dedicated to the society’s residents routinely sees various posts of memes, TikTok videos, home recipes for hand sanitisers and others. In the absence of any physical engagement due to the lockdown, the residents have shifted their interactions online.

Help at hand

The condominium has a special task force to help tackle the various challenges being faced during the lockdown.It consists of eight members, including a resident doctor and public health expert. The force formed around March 20, has been responsible for all the safety measures taken by the society. “Initially the team met every day to plan out steps. Now, the meeting is held on a weekly basis as well as when required,” said Anoop Kumar, RWA secretary.

For instance, upon realising the urgent need of servicing AC units due to the approaching summer, the RWA has taken a unique initiative. Realising that residents calling in maintenance services individually would mean at least a hundred outsiders stepping inside the society, the RWA has decided to call in a team of service personnel, who have been provided accommodation at the society for the duration of their service. “A team of six servicemen for AC repair and servicing have been hired and they are now staying in an apartment at the complex. They are expected to stay here for the next 15 days or so till the maintenance work is complete,” said Goyal.

The society currently has a reduced team of in-house technicians, electricians and plumbers, whose services can be availed by residents at any time. “I used the services of the electrician to do a few repairs around the house. I am glad they were available during this time,” said Rakesh Gupta, a resident.

A few home chefs in the society have came together to form a group that provides home-cooked food to residents based on the number of orders received. The customers usually include elderly residents, who are unable to cook in the absence of maids. The menu is altered on a day-to-day basis and is shared on their WhatsApp group. It usually includes rice, chapatti, sabzi and an array of evening snacks.

“My menu usually includes rice, dal, subzi, chapatti, samosa, lithi chokha, dal bati and others. There are a lot of orders for evening snacks as well. Residents know that the food is made at home and is hygienic and safe,” said Pallavi Sharma, one of the of home chefs. She adds that the price of a vegetarian thali starts at ₹140. The orders are usually collected from the apartments of the home chefs.

Caring for the poor

The society has also put together a ration-distribution drive for the support staff employed at the society. The RWA collected funds from residents for the purpose. A fund amounting to ₹1.5 lakh was created and the ration bought with that money was distributed to families of the tower guards, gardeners, maids and others employed at the society.

“The ration drive saw donations by residents. The fund was used to provide ration to the support staff at the society,” said Aditya Kumar, joint secretary, RWA.

The residency has one departmental store and a vegetable store inside its complex that cater to the close to 3,000 residents, said Sumit Gulati, vice-president of RWA. For the time being, all doorstep deliveries during the day have been stopped. Executives are allowed only till the tower lobby. The society is also maintaining a no-walks-allowed policy but it agrees that there are a few rule breakers. For such residents, the RWA is holding an awareness drive.

“We found that roughly 1% for the condo population was coming out for walks. These were mostly senior citizens. We tried to convince them and made them aware of the situation. A few insisted further and provided medical proof of why they need to walk. For those cases, we have made special provision and allowed them to take walks on the rooftop,” said Goyal.