Colouring Jason

Jason Apartments is situated in Golf Green area of Calcutta. The
building has fifteen floors excluding the ground level. Each floor has
three flats so that there are forty-five flats in all. The day-to-day
affairs of the building are run by the building board. This includes
general security, garbage collection and disposal and proper parking
practices. The building board has a secretary, a treasurer and seven
other members. For any meeting of the building board the quorum is
always one-third the total strength. Thus for a valid, recognized
meeting a total of three members must be present. All members of the
board were present at today's meeting. A meeting like the one held
today is convened every five years. In fact the decision taken today
cannot be taken unless all board members are present. The current
secretary of the building board is Mike Misra. He has assumed office
just six months before and has a term of three years. He chaired
today's very important meeting which took the decision to paint the
exterior of the building and perform necessary external repairs. The
last time such painting was undertaken was five years before and a look
at the outside of the buildings reveals that a few coats of paint would
do a world of good. All members of the building board agreed to have
the building painted. A team of colour contractors from the
organization Colour Calcutta was present. They had already carried out
measurements on the building and factored in other costs as well.
According to their estimates each flat-owner would be required to pay
eight hundred pounds as contribution to the painting fund. A notice
with painting details was drafted by Mike Mishra. His son printed it on
his computer and laser printer. Xerox copies were made and handed over
to the owners of the forty-five flats in the building. Immediately,
there was trouble. The trouble started from two places. One person who
was opposed to the painting was Neil Banerjee. He had been building
board secretary before Mike Misra. He had been removed from his post
for using building board money for renovating his own house. Indeed, he
had covered his flat in imported marble and bought fancy furniture
using the money collected for building maintenance. People knew this
because he had made no attempt to hide the fact that he was misusing
other people's hard-earned money. Neil Banerjee was eager that every
one of Mike Misra's moves be stalled. He was assisted in his endeavours
by Dr. Gope, a person whose life was ruled by his wife. Mrs Gope had,
in her youth, wanted to be Mrs Mike Misra. But Mike had said no. Mrs
Gope had waited for her revenge long enough. Neil Banerjee and Dr Gope
started meeting residents of the building in small groups. Despite his
past record, Neil Banerjee quite shamelessly told the people he met
that Mike Misra was asking for more money than was required. He
impressed upon everyone that no repairs would be made. Mike Misra was
not aware of what Neil Banerjee and Dr Gope were doing. He received
quite a jolt when he called a meeting to draft the work order to be
given to Colour Calcutta, the painting contractors. To his great shock,
less than one third of the members turned up. That is, the meeting did
not have the necessary quorum. After a little investigation, Mike knew
what was happening. The next Sunday Neil Banerjee called a meeting of
the residents in the building lawn. Mike was surprised to find that
people from almost every flat attended the meeting. It was now time to
get into action. Colour Calcutta, which was awaiting the work order was
threatening legal action. Only half the flats had paid the colouring
fees. Mike Misra spoke to his family. His wife had an idea. Mike's
grandson Jerry was good at drawing. With a little help from his
grandmother little Jerry created a poster. It was the picture of a
small, happy house with contented people in it. There was a lawn in
front of the house where children were playing. It was an idyllic
setting that made everyone happy. Below the picture were a few words.
They read, "Jason Apartments is a small, happy family. We are all happy
living here. Shouldn't the outside of our happy abode look happy too?"
The poster was deliberately created to look like a child's work,
perhaps to enhance its universal appeal. Colour Xeroxes of the poster
were created and handed over to one child from each family in the
building. The result was overwhelming. Within the next day's end all
the flats paid their painting dues. A meeting of the building board was
called the next Sunday. With a lawyer's help a work order for the
painting was drafted in the meeting and handed over to the painting
contractors. The five-yearly painting of Jason Apartments began the
very next day.