Tag Archives: ChangeBhai

The Big Question: Are You Cool With Picking Up A ‘Jhaadu’ To Clean Your City?

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'ChangeBhai Mobilizes Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'
‘ChangeBhai Mobilizes Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’

Let us get straight to this question that has been running in our heads since one of the most talked about campaigns was launched recently by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yes. The very very popular and high buzz creating ‘SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN’.

Let’s gather our collective thoughts and start with a small survey involving all of you.

WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER DO TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 'SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN'?

View Results

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While we await results of this poll to be declared on 23rd November, let me at least introduce you to our campaign ‘ChangeBhai mobilizes Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. No, it is not about telling you folks to hold a placard that says ‘I pledge to be a part of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan. (Well, it does make for a good social media campaign but doesn’t work, does it?). Neither are we inviting essays or soliciting votes from you.

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Mobilize (a verb)

/ˈməʊbɪlʌɪz/

make (something) movable or capable of movement.

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The intent of ‘ChangeBhai mobilizes Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ is simple. To mobilize the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan into a movement to achieve the seeming unachievable task ‘To make India litter free’. A movement that is well structured, uses the latest usable technology and will lead to mass participation by the people of our country.

People like you me and everybody who will not pick up a broom and set to clean their city. (or are we wrong? Let’s wait for the poll results in that case)

No photo-ops. No speeches. Let’s reserve them for our film stars and politicians.

Just Action.

Watch this space for details on this campaign. Till then, click here and create a ChangeBhai login ID if you are ready to participate in ‘ChangeBhai mobilizes Swacch Bharat Abhiyan’.

 

What exactly does ChangeBhai do?

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Hi Changemakers!

It gives us super duper immense pleasure to say that a lot of active citizens are using ChangeBhai to upload issues of their neighborhood. A lot of these users are from Mumbai (though we handle issues from all over India : metros, tier-1 & tier-2 cities. Buck up rest of India. Get your issues resolved. Give it a shot at least, we say :)).

PicMonkey Collage

Just wanted to share a few things about how we do what we do.

Firstly, a short note about us. We are a young team of active citizens who have launched this initiative to ‘assist’ the citizens in getting their issues resolved & are not liable to resolve any issues.

Unlike a lot of portals which tell the user to sign petitions or just upload an issue and spread the word around amongst their social media friends to create a buzz around it, we just do this one thing.

GET YOUR ISSUE FIXED. Period.

Ok, now…

Who should not upload issues on ChangeBhai?:

  1. If you have that keeda inside you to prove that ‘everyone and everything else around you wrong’
  2. If you have always nurtured an ambition to migrate to a phoren land just because you think ‘things can never change in India’
  3. If a careful and deep analysis of your social media posts shows that more than 70% of your posts fall under the category of ‘cribby’ or ‘deprecatory’
  4. If the first instinct you have when you come across somebody trying to change things around them is something like this, instead of trying it at least once.

                        Kya faltu velle hai ye.

                        Kuch nahi hoga inse

                       Main isse acchi website bana sakta(i) hoon*

What all to expect when you upload issues on ChangeBhai

    a. Each and every issue uploaded correctly will be put into process and forwarded to the authority no matter how important or minor it is.
    b. We always share the name and the number (mostly mobile) of the staff member with whom we are coordinating to get the issue resolved. In many cases, even the ward office address where he/she sits. You are free to call them too, if you want.
    c. No matter what, you will always get regular updates from us. You will always know at whose end (authority and employee name) the issue is stuck.
    d. First non-automatic email that goes to you will ask you to confirm the location and ask for landmarks. Do respond to that. This is being done because many a times we and the authorities have gone round and round because the map tagging was done inaccurately by the user. This affects our credibility in front of the authorities, so we are just being sure.
    e. In cases where there is a location confusion or the issue is of recurring nature, we give the ground staff’s contact to the user as that works better than going ‘to-and-fro’ between the user and the authority. You will agree that our collective aim should be to get the issue resolved and not get stuck in process formalities.
    f. You will be given a ‘Resolution Tip’ in rare cases where the issue is recurring in nature on what exactly to do and whom to contact to report the issue in the future.

The whole concept is to ‘work together’ and get these issues resolved. We get you the right contacts, we escalate wherever the issue gets stuck etc. Of course, we cannot get all the issues resolved, but we put each and every issue into process and make repeated contact for follow up. To give you a figure, roughly around 20% of the issues get stuck for more than a month.

IMP Note for the Procrastinators : In cases where our operation team has already sent 2 follow up emails for pending information or issue closure confirmation, the issue will be tagged as Fixed/Closed on the 7th day of receiving no information from your side. You may however choose to reopen the issue by sending us an email on now_or_abhi@changebhai.in.

Our process might not be perfect but we are improving with each passing day based on citizens’ feedback and our experiences with the authorities. Knowing how we work and the limitations of working with authorities, do give us constructive inputs. We would love to incorporate them wherever possible. But first: Upload 1 issue on www.ChangeBhai.in at least.

And do pass the word around to encourage others to upload issues if you agree that ‘getting ChangeBhai to bug the authorities with repeated follow ups‘ is better than doing ‘nothing at all’.

Happy change making!

* If you think so, email your web development portfolio to now_or_abhi@changebhai.in. We are looking for php & app developers.

 

Indian Traffic Sense = Non Sense. Proved.

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parking1           parking2

Can you think of anyone, like any-freaking-sane-person to whom these parking spaces (pics above) will appeal? No?! Lemme tell you. To these guys here. Grrrr.

ChangeBhai Issue#A0417,#A0485
ChangeBhai Issue#A0417,#A0485

They will love it. #SlurpSlurp #WhaddaChallenge

The civic sense of us Indians is legendary and traffic sense is not to be left behind either. These terms mentioned below, for example, are clearly alien/french/greek to most Indians.

Right of way. Kyun jaane doon main kisi ko. #MardangiPeKalank.

Excessive honking. Hamara horn. Hamaari marji.

Lane Discipline. Kaun banaya ye @#$%&@#* rule.

Speed Restriction. Nayi gaadi li hai bhai ne.

And the worst of all.

Parking Discipline. Chup be! Time nahi hai faltu.

By the way, the image above was uploaded by a Mumbai user, refer ChangeBhai issue#A0417 “Double parking caravans on main rd”. The issue was resolved by the Changebhai team with a lot of help from Mumbai Traffic Police. Do not forget to check out the lengthy resolution comments below the issue description.

The buggers were shooed away from one spot and they changed their location to another spot closeby. Check ChangeBhai issue#A0485 “Double bus parking still happening”. Thanks to the Mumbai traffic police Constable Wakde for helping us resolve this menace. Work in progress. Phew.

So, if any of you see similar traffic offenses on your way to work or in your neighborhood, you know what to do. No, you don’t?!?

All you need to do is take a picture, log on to www.ChangeBhai.in and report the issue. Supra eazy!

Ok. So, I still have some word limit left for this blog. Joke time. Old joke this one:

Santa parked his truck in ‘No Parking’.

When he returned he saw a note on his truck. “Parking Fine”

Santa writes “Thanks for the compliment”.

How to Give Ganpati Bappa the Best Welcome This Year?

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Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudchya Varshi Laukar Yaa!

(Translation: Glory to the Lord Ganpati! Come again soon next year)

We invite Lord Ganpati to come back to visit us year after year, but shouldn’t we ensure his trip is comfortable and worth it. :)

By the way, the Ganpati Mandals in Mumbai mean serious business this time and to ensure our beloved ‘Bappa’ has a smooth ride on the Visarjan day (September 18), they have given a list of 2113 potholes and a deadline of September 16 to their municipal corporation to fix them. They say if they fail to do so, then all the mandals will use their reserve funds and carry out pothole-repair work. Wah! What spirit!

Image Courtesy: Rediff
Image Courtesy: Rediff

This was about a case of ‘good spirit’. A case study from ChangeBhai’s issue database about ‘not-so-good intent’ below:

Check out these issues uploaded by two ChangeBhai users:

Issue# A0429 ‘Huge Pothole outside SaiPalaceHotel’

Before
Before
After
After

Issue# A0418 ‘new potholes on recently made road’

Before

Before

 We are awaiting post resolution image of issue# A0418 from the user

In both the cases, the roads were newly made and had developed potholes shortly after they were repaired. Of course, we got the potholes repaired but the question is ‘How long will they last?’ Having worked with them closely, we can see that BMC is trying to do what they can at the moment, but the backlog of repairs and resource constraint are two issues which make the problem bigger and bigger with each passing day. Koi Sujhaav?

And ya, tab tak,koshish jaari rakhte hain . Do upload similar issues on www.ChangeBhai.in to ensure Bappa’s trip is totally worth it, this time. :) Ganpati Bappa Morya!!

Facebook. Check. Twitter. Check. ChangeBhai. Aaaaa…

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Image Courtesy: SimplyZesty
Image Courtesy: SimplyZesty

Explaining Social Media vis-à-vis ChangeBhai.

facebook  : I like Change

twitter : I want to bring a #Change

instagram : Here’s a picture of the word Change

youtube : Do check out my video ‘How To Spell Change’

linkedin : I am good at bringing a Change

google + logo: Let all my friends be a part of a Change

ChangeBhai :The issue I reported yesterday got Fixed. I Acted & brought a Change!

Bhaiyon..beheno..we all know who’s worse than a person who cribs about the issues around him all the time. A person who gets pissed off with him but doesn’t do anything himself.

I know we really really wish but, these issues that plague our country will never ever take offence and leave if we don’t pay attention to them. 😉 Do ‘pay attention’ to these issues, report them on www.ChangeBhai.in and take a ‘real’ step forward.

For the uninitiated, ChangeBhai is not a social awareness website. It is an online ‘Social Issues Reporting Utility’ to get a fixed set of public issues resolved. It will take less time to upload an issue than it took you to read this post. Try it!

And do share this post.

Garbage, Crows, Murder and Mumbai.

Civic gyaan, , , , , ,

Do you know what a ‘Group Of Crows’ is called?

A MURDER.

😐 No joke this, Boss. Google Kar lo. “English is a very phunny language”, as Amitabh Bachchan said in some movie. Namak Halal, me thinks.

Do you know where you can see maximum ‘Murders in Daylight’?

MUMBAI.

No. Am not referring to the underworld problems that this city faced in the not-so-distant past. Am referring to the ‘Crows partying on messy garbage bins’ issue which all Mumbaikars are so incredibly exposed to, that they have absolutely no problem ‘Living With It’.

But, not this user. Check  issue# A0450, Garbage with crows feeding. Do check the comment section to know the entire story. For those, who are in a hurry, here is the picture of the issue.

ChangeBhai Issue# A0450, Garbage with crows feeding

ChangeBhai Issue# A0450, Garbage with crows feeding

The user would witness this gross scene everyday on his way to work. After he reported it to ChangeBhai, we immediately flung into action. MCGM shared their side of the story, which was (yawn if you want):

‘We pick up garbage between 9 am-10 am but the nearby slum dwellers and restaurants throw garbage late in the night, which can be seen by office goers (including the user) before 9 am. Hum kya karein, aap batao??’

This issue# A0450 was strikingly similar to a lot of other garbage issues that we receive on a day to day basis. Check this one for example, issue#A0412, Garbage strews outside bins.

In all these cases, MCGM authority after expressing their helplessness asked us for suggestion on what to do about it. They also add that enforcing a fine does not work with the slum dwellers for obvious reasons.

After long discussions, here is what we suggested and got implemented:

Issue#A0412: MCGM placed a guard on their payroll near the bin to warn the slum people and ask them to throw the garbage in the bin and not outside it.

Issue#A0450: MCGM is placing 3 additional bins of 0.5 tonne capacity each in this densely populated area as it required minimum 2 tonne capacity bins to accommodate the garbage here.

What would you suggest we should have done in such cases?

A. Let the crows party #4BajGayeLekinPartyAbhiBaakiHai

B. Enforce penalties #JebDheeli

C. Do what we did #LageRaho

Do upload issues of your aas-padoss on www.ChangeBhai.in if you want to ‘pull the plug’ on such murders.

Note: As we always say,  most civic authorities including MCGM are willing to resolve our issues if we work ‘with them’ instead of ‘against them’.  Try it, we say, if you disagree.

LEAKED!: How Will GERMANY Stop MESSI.

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messi changebhai

Weather forecast* says it is going to rain heavily this coming Sunday post midnight (chalo Monday le lo), which is when the much anticipated FIFA World Cup 2014 Final is going to be played between the much deserving Germany and every (chalo most le lo) Indian’s favourite Argentina.

Which means it’s going to rain ‘potholes’ whole night on Indian roads when it will be raining ‘goals’ back in Brazil . Arrgggghhhh. It is going to be very MESSI on Monday morning when all of us are supposed to go to work. Darn!

This is how Germany plans to stop Messi apparently.
This is how Germany plans to stop Messi apparently.

Taking a cue from The Guardian and ESPN’s football journalist Michael Cox’s top secret hush hush strategy (picture above) of ‘How Will Germany Stop Messi?’, I make my strategy on how will I reach my office on Monday morning. Apni apni strategy bana lo doston. Kaam aayegi.

Using historical data of the last 10 years to mark the spots where the possibility of ‘pothole formation’ and ‘garbage collection’ will be maximum post the showers, I am ready with my PLAN to reach office. Here it is:

This is how I plan to reach my office after the match.
This is how I plan to reach my office after the match.

Any guesses who is going to lose ‘IN’ the Germany vs. Argentina FIFA world cup 2014 final. Ahem..if i may say..Ger..mm..mannyyy?

Am not guessing…rehne do…Baad mein joote padenge! @Blog Admin: Am I allowed to edit this blog after the match 😉

Any guesses who is going to lose ‘DURING’ the Germany vs. Argentina FIFA world cup 2014 final. Ju and Mi, eh?

 * This article assumes the weather forecast to hold true. *snigger*  :-) ROFL-LOL-LMFAO-all-in-one #ThisIsIndia

Moral of the ‘article’: Report Potholes & Garbage issues on www.ChangeBhai.in and avoid making the plan mentioned above for the rest of your life. Enjoy the match! :-)

Things That Piss Us Off.

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changebhai-blog

#Potholes #ChildLabour #Garbage

True That. Period.

Note: Even I am guilty of that and so, ‘No Comments’ at all this time. Just a moment of silence for all my fellow hypocrites and a high-five…

….In the face…

……with a chair.

😐

ChangeBhai | SPOT-REPORT-CHANGE
www.ChangeBhai.in  | CB on FaceBook   |   CB on Twitter

 

Election Results Are Out.

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Once upon a time, there was a jungle named ‘La La Land (LLL)’.  The story is from one of those times when nothing was going right in the jungle. Humans were entering LLL at their own whims and fancies. There was a lot of internal rift going on. Jungle infrastructure was going from bad to worse.

The LLLians decided that it was time to select the King of the jungle in the hope that he will resolve all their issues. Elections were held. Monkeys spread awareness about the need to vote for their prospective King. The chief candidates in the fray were: The Lion, Tiger, Elephant and a Deer. More than 70% of LLLians participated in the selection process which was declared a huge success.

Election results were declared. The Lion won. Oh sorry..The Tiger won…Hang on..The Elephant won.  No..no..The Deer won. I apologise for my poor memory that I don’t remember clearly but yes, the deer won.. probably..I guess. There was a huge celebration. The Monkeys partied like nobody’s business. Meanwhile, LLLians went back to their usual routine. One year passed. Nothing really changed.

Nothing really changed.

Nothing really changed because the problems of the jungle had become too big to be resolved by the King alone. Things would have changed if all the LLLians did their small bit in helping the King solve the jungle’s problems. Only then La La Land would have been a better place to live.  Right now, it did not really matter whether it was the lion, the tiger, the elephant or the deer who won.

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As much as we want it to be true, the fact is that neither Modi nor Rahul nor Kejriwal can wave a magic wand and bring about a significant change in the near future if we do not play our part in it. They will bring a change but nothing close to what we have been expecting.

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Don’t just wait for the election results. Visit www.ChangeBhai.in and ‘play your part’.

ChangeBhai | SPOT-REPORT-CHANGE
www.ChangeBhai.in  | CB on FaceBook   |   CB on Twitter

Time Travel, Anyone?

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Ladies and Gentlemen. Boys and Girls. This is what we call ‘going BACK in time’. Literally.  Just look at this picture and tell me if I am wrong.

comparison

Call this a sad case of irony or whatever, but the truth is, that despite the fantastic economic growth, India is doing really bad in urban governance. For more than a decade, India has enjoyed unprecedented growth that in many ways is comparable to that of The United States of America years ago. However, the same cannot be said of our infrastructure.

Come on India, we know you can do better. :) Report some of these issues to the authorities through ChangeBhai and help India move forward.