Swami Arunachalananda
Kavnai Kuti-Construction Phase
January - May 2018
The labourers and supervisor erected a tin shed for themselves on the plot of land and started bringing contruction material in January 2018.
A Borewell was drilled on the land at the spot marked by Mr Raut in December, but even after going to the depth of 300ft and with
cost mounting till Rs 25K, no water was visible! The drilling had continued till 10 pm but all were disappointed and the effort had
to be discontinued. By the grace of Sri Ramakrishna-Maa Sarada, couple of days later a villager dropped a pebble in the drilled hole
to check water and heard the pebble hitting water surface! The depth was measured at which water was accumulated in the drilled hole
and all were happy that water had come up till just 100-120 ft below the surface! Later in the month of May, a submersible pump was
fixed in the borewell with cable and starting unit.
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The rain-water accumulated in foundation pits was used for construction purpose as the borewell water was meagre. Intital plan was to complete major portion of the building by mid-Feb so as to celebrate Sri Ramakrishna Tithi Puja (17th Feb) in Kuti; but cold weather, lack of good water source, sand scarcity in market, alcohol-drinking and monetory mess by the workers etc. delayed the project. Still Sri Ramakrishna Tithi Puja was celebrated by singing Gurugita and Arati; Siddhayoga devotees from Ghoti alongwith friends and family members from Nashik participated. For levelling the land, rocks and murum - brought by levelling a hillock from the neighboring land of Santaji Patil - were spread over it; in place of hillock a small field was thus created and the neighbors were also benefitted by the operation.
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To get electricity at the Kuti site, Sarpanch and Gramsewak of Kavnai were approached with the necessary documents required by State Electricity Board; but it was getting delayed and they were saying Nashik head-office should be approached. Meanwhile Kushal Chaudhary luckily met Mr Rane (M.S.E.B. Ghoti Head) in a social function and he narrated about the Kuti to Mr Rane. Mr Rane agreed to provide necessary connection and also asked the contractor, who actually layes to poles and cable, to charge the amount reasonably. This simplified the task a lot. In April 2018 the contractor brought few laborers and they erected three poles and pulled the cable over it. Thus electricity arrived at the site. After some time the MSEB meter was also fixed.
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In the March 2018, the construction team vanished from the site with full payment and leaving the job half-done! Not only the allocated budget for construction was exhausted but also the reserved funds! The remaining basic construction work like setting up doors, window frames, lentils, inner and outer plastering etc. was somehow completed with help of Prashat Deole bringing in laborers from Nashik; only one member of the original team, 'Chiva', stayed longer and helped in many tasks. Financially help was provided by Umesh, Mangesh's Father, and some friends. Next, plumbing work was finished except fitting of basin, bathroom cocks, upper water tank connection etc. Also the work of cutting channels into walls for electrical fitting was done.
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July - December 2018
During the rainy season of 2017, it was observed that due to heavy rainfall in the region, the plot was submerged under water at many
places and the surrounding area, approach road etc. were full of mud and water. The situation was similar in 2018, still the work of
tiles fixing and kitchen 'Ota' was accomplished by Prashant Deole with the help of Lahanu Banger (village mason) work. Lahanu and Kushal
did the terrace parafit wall work and also some chemical plastering on roof to avoid leakage; but the work was done in haste and
in rain and hence the leakage problem continued. At the end of rainy season, the room walls were full of leakage rain water marks!
Later the task of electrical fittings and MSEB meter fixing on outside wall was completed. The remaining work of bathroom and kitchen
plumbing fixtures, water tank connection, soakpit building etc. was also completed.
In Navaratri, Kushal painted the Kuti from both inside and outside. Thus in December 2018 - exactly after a year from Sri Sarada
Devi Tithi Puja day 2017, on which the bhoomi-pujan was done - the Kuti bulding was almost complete and fully functioning!
The 2018 Sri Sarada Devi Tithi Puja was done privately in the Kuti itself!
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More Pics: Construction Phase Video : Kuti Roof Top (8 July 2018)
During entire 2018, many challenges appeared during construction of the Kuti building and at times no solution seemed visible but by the Grace of Holy Trio, faith in them remained intact; help came from various unexpected sources and finally the job was completed by their Grace!
Further Development
In order to fix the roof-leakage issue, before the rainy season of 2019, a small layer of chemical mixed cement was applied to the roof.
Also poles were erected on the roof and metal sheets were fixed; the gap between metal sheets and roof was covered with net (West and
back side). Still due to very heavy rains and strong winds leakage was observed through West-side wall and roof; hence before the
rainy season of 2020, the gap between upper metal sheets and roof was sealed from three sides with metal sheets and West side wall was
also covered with a small shed erected on that side.
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----------- Om Tat Sat -----------
