How it Began?
Who wasn’t surprised to find Bhubaneswar top the list of “Smart Cities” in the country! For the natives nestled far away, the occasional visitors, questions that popped up in the minds were: “When did this miracle happen?”, “How didn’t I even get a sniff of it?” . For a state that had always jostled with the stigma of being branded backward, ranked miserably low consistently on the development index, and where lack of opportunities and exposure is the order of life, this was a remarkable feat. For one of the founders, an alumnus of IIT-KGP, this was nothing short of astonishment. It was time to pack up and head back home. Could there ever be a better time!
Expectations of a surreal experience turned out to be bummer. Barring the inflated enthusiasm of the denizens, impressive graffiti, there wasn’t much smartness of be experienced around in a city supposedly on the cusp of a digital transition. Globetrotting exposes you to possibilities, and therefore, words such as “Smart” and “Digital” embody certain minimum benchmarks in the mind of the traveler. The bar is inadvertently set high. There evidently was some lack of discretion in using the attributions here. Far too much was Work-in-Progress. Far too many projects seemed like they were wriggling.
Battling thoughts of leaving for good, recalibrating expectations, he set about hunting for the opportunities that were. It did help to meet a childhood friend who was willing to coast along. The agenda was clear – to identify an area that was an intrinsic part of the future and the digital wave that was about to lift the city, but in its existing state lacked the elements that would position it for the leap. Housing Societies and their issues seemed just the right prospect.
One of the paradigm lifestyle shifts the city had witnessed was that of people beginning to cohabit in apartment buildings in large numbers. It had always been about residing in independently-owned houses earlier. Societal boundaries were organic and defined by localities and not concrete walls. This shift, however, demanded a certain change in the mindsets of people which had not happened, and manifested itself in the form of mismanagement and disharmony running them. This led to the germination of the idea of MySocus – a software product targeted at addressing the cauldron that exists in most housing societies. It is a comprehensive tool, and those willing to wield it effectively can turn their barns into sanctuaries.