Indians, and India loving people across the globe, are celebrating India's 63rd Republic Day today-- the 26th day of January, 2012.

We, here at BricksnMortar Edesk, extend heartiest wishes and celebratory nuances to all the Indians and India loving people across the globe on this occasion. Being proud of our mother country and the Indianness is something we cherish to wear on our sleeves.

We would like to share this beautiful and touching rendition of India's National Anthem-- "Jan, Gann, Mann" by means of this post that although was created coinciding with last year's republic day by one of India's premier advertising and media houses-- Mudra Group for another premier media barons- Reliance MediaWorks/ BIG Cinemas. The rendition's been produced by Chrome Pictures.

Though there have been umpteen renditions and adaptations made of India's National Anthem, the uniqueness of this particular rendition is that its been created differently by means and souls of 'special children'. The uniqueness of concept, production and presentation makes it a soul-touching and proud rendition for one and all who connects with it through their hearts.

As afaqs(dot)com puts it, "The presentation is a unique one, as it has been entirely shot in sign language. Children with hearing and speech disabilities have acted in it, thus sending out the message that despite impairment, one has the right to sing the national Anthem in his/her own special way. 'Patriotism knows no language' is the central theme of the film. the film has special kids present the National Anthem in sign language and through gestures."

"The film was shot in Mumbai's Don Bosco School. It features nearly 500 children, from eight Mumbai-based special schools. The schools held rehearsals for nine days, leading to the final shoot. Sangeeta Gala, a mute-training and lip reading specialist teacher, taught the children how to express the national anthem in sign language." One may check out the full transcript of this description clicking here.

We now leave you all with a direct link of this beautiful rendition. Enjoy it.. and do not bother much if you find your cheeks drenched with tears of heartfelt emotions. We experienced the same too, and most likely you would too!



Happy Republic Day once again. Rejoice the feeling of Indianness.

One quick note... Do watch this marvelous rendition till the very last of it. 
DO NOT MISS THE FLUTTER OF FLAG IN THE VERY LAST OF THE VIDEO. 
Its worth a watch, and is simply priceless!

---

Click this home-line image to get updated useful content from this blog

Query received from Mr. Sandip S. Mohite, a resident of Goa, India via the comments section of the earlier posted article here on bricks-n-mortar.com, titled: "Brick Masonry work | "Why bricks be soaked in water before placing them?"

His query is shared herewith so that other interested people reading this blog may also have insight in this respect and may participate in an e-discussion on this topic, if deem so. The query being..

Image source: brickmasonry.in

Is it compulsory to soak Steam Cured Fly-Ash Bricks in water before using it?
These Fly-Ash Bricks are not porous like clay bricks, they are machine made & hydraulic pressed, even water absorption of fly-ash bricks is between 8% to 13%, still is it required to soak the bricks in water?

Please guide me regarding the same & do we have any I.S. Code for Fly-Ash Bricks? Please confirm.

Thanks with regards.
Sandip S. Mohite
Goa
Posted as 'Anonymous' to BRICKS-n-MORTAR.com at Thursday, January 19, 2012 11:15:00 AM GMT+05:30

BricksnMortar Edesk replies...

Dear Mr. Mohite,

The primary purpose of soaking the masonry building blocks is to negate the possibility of them blotting and sucking out the moisture/ water from the mortar that is used to bind them. No matter if they are clay bricks, or fly ash bricks, or autoclave aerated concrete blocks, or hollow/solid concrete blocks-- all of them should ideally be soaked in water. This ensures that the masonry units do not suck / steal away the requisite water from the cement-sand mortar, and thereby not make the mortar brittle/ weak and the strength of the mortar joints be weakened as cement would not provide the requisite strength in that case.

But, one thing that should be handled CAREFULLY is the TIME OF SOAKING for different kind of masonry units, which shall primarily be guided by the respective absorption factors (%age weight increase when water is absorbed by these masonry units). The soaking process should be timed so that the minimum levels of absorption are achieved and NOT the maximum levels since the weight of individual units would increase in the latter case, thereby making their handling by workmen relatively difficult as compared to dry ones.

Soaking of man-made masonry units has one more advantage--

Often when a greenfield (new; from scratch) project site is in the pipeline stage, just ready to hit the ground so as to take a physical shape, it takes enormous time for the managing and executing agencies to get the works rolling with the planned momentum.

Just imagine-- what may usually happen if despite the plans being there in place on papers (in theory), the actual progress isn’t still taking off in the required direction?

Simple-- The blame-game starts in such a situation with one agency accusing the others for the delays; the delays in turn becoming compounded; and the project cash flow going negative! :-(

The essential key to avoid such a gloomy picture at any stage of any project, perhaps more importantly in the beginning stage of the project, is effective planning and monitoring, together with an all-aligned site organization.And since starting the site marks the physical execution of the project, it becomes imperative to take notice of the key points beforehand so that the project site is organized well to perform efficiently and economically.

6 Key Point Strategy to Remember & Implement

Like any important work, the early stage planning and orientation tools always help in chalking out the success path of the subsequent periods.

The 6 key point strategy to remember and implement is:

1.  Making a clear picture of what to do

Knowing the tender documents, contract documents & content, project requirements, plans, budgets, site organization, schedules and everything related to chalk out a clear picture of the project comes handy to get acquainted with the project. This helps in reducing the buffer time, which often gets wasted at the start of a project.

2.  Earmarking an effective site organization

No matter if you are amongst the Client, the Consultant or the Contractor, it always helps to have an effective and balanced project as well as back-office teams created to suit the specific nature of the project and the project-site. A balanced and motivated team can do wonders in any sort of conditions.

3.  Dividing the site into manageable sections

A site has different needs and functions from time to time. Creating functional and manageable core teams ensure that monitoring and aligning/realigning of the teams as well as the project activities are always under control. Such teams can be enhanced with or merged to garner more strength and skill as the project goes beyond initial embryonic stage.

4.  Project-specific Micro & Macro planning

Once the project has followed the macro plans, micro scheduling of activities should follow immediately by respective teams, but in concurrence with each and every correlated team. Such schedules and plans should be regularly monitored and updated vis-à-vis the actual progress and availability of resources. This helps in reflecting the bottlenecks and delays to the managers, who can thereafter take remedial measures without affecting the overall progress much.

5.  Time management

It is unavoidable at any project to have automatic balance between the pressure of work and the remaining time in hand. But this bottleneck can be resolved stage by stage with effective time management. The art to learn and master is to prioritize the important activities first than the secondary ones, and planning to cater to the important ones foremost. All successful managers thrive on this very craft of time management on the first place beside of course other trade and/or personal qualities.

6.  Authority and Responsibility

Delegation of suitable authority and responsibility to every functional member of the team is the last, but definitely not the least of the key requirements of a successful site organization. This helps in clear-cut roles that all the team members are required to perform in the organization.

In a nutshell...

As they say, a successful and effect start predominantly leads to a remarkable and desired results. By doing better planning and following the same at site with necessary corrective measures, the projects can become more economical and financially viable.

This not only helps the parent companies, but also helps every team member of the project team professionally, personally, financially and morally.

And, the one key member which gains the most out of this practice of strategic planning, is surely the Project itself.

---

Click this home-line image to get updated useful content from this blog