Housing society meetings can’t devolve into brawls

Aditya Desai

A regular residential society meeting in a western suburb degenerated into a physical fight. The chairman of a building society allegedly bit off a society member's thumb during a heated argument. There has been a case registered a case against the chairman.

An issue was brought up during the meeting by a resident an argument escalated to a scuffle and then, in the physical fight the chairman allegedly bit a tip of the complainant's thumb.

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We have witnessed building society arguments plunge to new lows, and things going south ending in fisticuffs, police complaints and criminal cases are all unfortunately becoming increasingly part of the scenario.

Society committee members themselves need to dial back the aggro. A building society is a single unit and there has to be a spirit of working together for the good of all residents.

Both sides must work in a spirit of give ‘n' take and mutual cooperation. In the end, the aim is quality living for all. One does understand that there will be differences of opinion between residents and officers on the committee. Yet, these need to be resolved through talk.

We need to, first of all, function in an atmosphere of mutual and healthy respect. This may sound utopian to many, laughable too, but that is the only way one can make any kind of headway when it comes to these issues.

There must be a willingness to function in a transparent, proactive manner. The committee is not there merely to serve residents, who should help rather than simply carp and criticise. The committee cannot badger and bully residents, too, and everybody should be treated equally. Ugly fights in society are especially difficult as one has to live in the same complex as the person and perhaps meet him or her frequently.