Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A Hyderabad-based techie has criticised the functioning of residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) after alleging that his housing society office-bearers reprimanded him for raising security concerns following a theft at his home.
Shravan Venkataraman shared his experience in a series of posts on X, claiming that he was called out by members of his housing society’s RWA after warning fellow residents about security lapses.
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The episode began when items were stolen from Venkataraman’s home. Seeking answers, he asked for CCTV footage in the society’s residents’ group, only to learn that the cameras were not functioning.
“There’s a residents’ group in the society I live in, and there was a theft at my home. I asked for security camera footage in the residents group, and the RWA manager said the security footage is not available as cameras were not working, which they only found out after my complaint,” he wrote.
Concerned by the disclosure, Venkataraman posted a message urging residents to be cautious and take additional precautions.
“I posted in the residents’ group that this is a serious issue and that residents should look out for themselves by installing their own security cameras in their homes,” he said.
However, the following day, he claimed that the society’s president and vice-president summoned him to the clubhouse. Expecting a discussion on the theft investigation, he said he instead found himself being criticised for his message in the residents’ group.
“I went there thinking they were going to resolve my issue, and they might have found who stole the items. Instead, they called me and started shouting at me as to how I could post such complaints on the residents group and how I could post that there’s no security here and that one should look out for themselves,” he alleged.
Venkataraman said that the officials accused him of damaging society’s reputation. He claimed they told him he was “ruining morale in society” by publicly highlighting security shortcomings.
Recalling the encounter, he also shared a remark he said was made by one of the office-bearers. “The vice president was like, ‘Today you say costly Birkin slippers are stolen, tomorrow you’ll say underwear got stolen, or a shirt got stolen, for all that we can’t help or cater finding those items.'”
A furious Venkataraman pushed back against the criticism and later exited the residents’ WhatsApp group.
As another example of what he described as arbitrary enforcement of rules, Venkataraman recounted an incident involving a tenant who was allegedly asked by an elderly resident not to walk her dog near his home. When she refused, saying the road was a public space within the society, the resident later complained to the police that his car had been damaged by the dog, leading to a police visit to her home, he claimed.
The incidents prompted Venkataraman to reflect on what he perceived as a growing problem within some housing societies.
“Primary reason – these pre-boomer generation grew up believing they obey elders without questioning and bow down to arrogance and ego in the name of respect even while being treated like s*** – and now that these pre-boomers have grown up, they are expecting the same from youngsters or anyone they perceive to be younger than them,” he wrote.
He further argued that some residents’ association members attempt to dictate how others should live within their communities.
“Any slight inconvenience to their worldview being caused by anyone or any family in society, they start imposing their views on how one should live in a home they are renting/owning in that society – who can come for a visit, who can’t, who can complain, who can’t, etc,” he said.
Venkataraman, thus, concluded that “these old people who are also in charge of power – in RWA or society associations – go on a power trip whenever anyone challenges them for an actual issue.”
His post resonated with many social media users, several of whom shared similar experiences.
One of the users said they had faced a comparable situation in a gated community in Mumbai’s Kandivali area, where committee members allegedly cornered them after they offered suggestions to address a water-related problem despite having experience as a housing society chairman.
Another user agreed with Venkataraman’s observations and advised prospective homebuyers to research the functioning of housing associations before purchasing a property, arguing that such “power trips” are not uncommon even in smaller residential complexes.
Several others echoed the sentiment, saying they had encountered similar power dynamics in their own housing societies.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
