Issue No 97 September 2009

Editorial

September always brings pleasant memories. You say goodbye to the sweaty summer and embrace the balmy weather of autumn. As a kid the first English song I heard was the signature tune from the movie, “Come September”. September also heralds the beginning of the festival season. The plethora of festivals and the fun and gaiety associated with it warms the cockles of one’s heart. Now that we are in the thick of it, let’s savor it.

The Annual General Body Meeting of the Society held on the 13^th turned out to be tepid affair. After the fire and brimstone of the EGM, it seemed like a walk in the park. While the EGM diatribe was not pleasant, the absence of a coherent debate in the AGM spelt indifference. Supine passivity will not lead to change for the better. Yamuna residents must step out of the mould of the cockerel that believes its crowing makes the sun rise and let their valuable suggestions heard in the AGM. The notable aspect of this year’s meeting was the resignation of Mr. C. S. Menon, who after an unprecedented four terms as the President since the formation of the Society, decided to call it a day. His son has bought him a flat in Mumbai so that they can spend more time together. He will divide his time between Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala. Some may disagree with his views and methods, but nobody can deny the indelible mark he left on the affairs of the Society. While he will continue to be in our midst, I would be failing in my duty if I don’t hail him as one of the founding fathers of Yamuna who endeared himself to everybody.

As a consequence of his resignation I was elected as the President for the next term. By anointing me as President, the Society regards me as its privileged interlocutor –one who is called upon to shoulder the responsibility of upholding the prestige and the goodwill of the apartments. I hope I am not found wanting in this task. There is a lot to be done; least of all is the façade which has black stains on the concrete beams, the terrace which is leaking at many places and the road which is beginning to wear off. The big nettle we are grasping with is how to do all the big ticket maintenance work on a shoestring budget. To top it all the Manager, Mrs. Bhagirathi Gopalakrishnan has put in her papers to move to greener pastures. Her absence will leave a temporary vacuum until a new person is appointed and learns the ropes. We request the residents cooperation until the person who takes over comes to speed.

I am aghast to find children these days make a meal of Maggie noodles, chips and sundry other fast food items and skip lunch or dinner. These are not staple food. They are at best dietary diversions and can never be mainstream food items. Empirical evidence has shown that binging on junk food which loads one with calories but no nutrition, can lead to obesity, hyperactivity and irrational behavior.

This year again we have to make do with a mini version of the Diwali Mela in the badminton court on 10^th October. Popular sentiment abhors a vacuum and for two years running, the absence of a mela has been overrun with stories, fables and expectations for freshly arrived Yamunites who haven’t experienced the real thing. The full scale mela had to be forsaken on account of the advisory from the Police that all mela venues should have CCTV’s, X-ray screening equipment etc. to prevent terrorist attacks.

There is a maniacal driver hired by a resident. This one seemed to have learned his trade from a rogue Blueline bus driver. He alternated furiously between the brake and the accelerator, screeching and swerving in the perimeter road of our complex. I tried stopping him but he almost ran over my foot. I have no recollection of the face or the number on the number plate because of the shroud of darkness. Residents are advised to caution their drivers from speeding in the complex.

Quite out of the blue we were greeted to a Ramlila done by the tiny tots in the park on the 28^th. Riya Ramabadhran had made a pygmy sized but well crafted Ravan with his ten heads and weapons of mass destruction. Riya and Aryan (E-201),Tanvi and Sahana ( G-204), Ananya (G-205), Vishakha (H-005), Siddhant (E-302), all had something to say on the epic, Ramayana. Anupam Gatta (G-002) was dressed up as Ram, Ashwin Satish (G-205) was dressed as Lakshman and Rishabh Anand (H-005 ) was Hanuman. Anjali Garg (H-305) was amused with Hanuman’s tail and had a go at it. Other warriors and ladies of the kingdom included Tejaswin and Avantika Shankar(G-106), Aparna(H-208), Saisha(H-206), Aditi and Poorvaja(F-003) Samiksha and Adwita(B107), Yohaan and Kiana (A-008), Gokul and Mani(B-302). When the battle commenced Ram and Lakshman fled the battlefield and it was left to the senior Ram enacted by Ramabadhran to take on Ravan. The villain was not easily vanquished. After the first encounter Ravan stood firm and Ram had to retreat with his bruised ego. Ram then marshalled all his resources and mounted a second assault before Ravan went up in flames.

Obituary The morning of 28th September brought the sad news that Srilata Prabhakar of H-201 was no more. “Sri’, as she was popularly known was a cultural icon. She was the mainstay of India Habitat Centre’s cultural milieu and anybody in the city of Delhi who was remotely connected with any art form, knew her intimately. Her regal demeanour will always be etched in the memory of everybody who knew her. Her loss is irreparable. For her sons Karun and Prashant, she was a font of emotional capital they would have to learn to do without. Both these guys took extremely good care of her when she was incapacitated. They will now have to pick themselves up and move on. The Yamuna family wish to convey their heartfelt condolence and assure them that they have a larger family at hand to call their own.

SNIPPETS

Sugar and Dr. P. J. Manohar Rao of A-101 are synonymous. Not that he has a sweet tooth. That would have made it a double whammy! After a 32 year stint in the Ministry of Food & Agriculture at the Centre as Chief Director (Sugar), he worked as MD of National Federation of Co-op Sugar Factories Ltd for 8 years. He published many technical articles and books. In appreciation of his outstanding publications, he was awarded two Gold Medals and two Doctorate Degrees. In recognition of his professional excellence and outstanding contribution in the development of the Indian Sugar Industry he was conferred an award by His Excellency Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India, on the 26^th of August, 09 at the 70^th Annual Conference of the Sugar Technologists Association, held at Udaipur, Rajasthan.

We are indeed privileged to have such erudite people in Yamuna.

Mr. C. S. Subramanian(Raja), Jyoti and the children have relocated to the US from C-007.While Jyoti was part of the Managing Committee, her children were very active amongst the kids group. They have left their imprint on the lawn behind their flat which they developed very assiduously and tastefully. We wish them luck in their new life.

It is amazing how soon C-007 went to the new residents. The day Raja and his family moved out, Mr. P. H. Narayanan moved in with his wife and daughter from Rajinder Nagar. Mr. Narayanan works for the Swatch group and is Brand Manager for Omega watches. Mr. Narayanan is fond of sports and plays badminton in his spare time. His wife Latha is spiritually inclined and daughter Manasa is studying in class IX in Gyan Bharati School. She is fond of reading and Warli painting. Although I had heard of this style of painting, I didn’t know much else and hence retreated, not wanting to exhibit my ignorance. Until a landline is installed they can be reached on 9810496772. We heartily welcome this family to Yamuna.

Amit Soman and Rashi Gupta of A-302 did not trouble the scorers. They left this month for Chennai within a year of moving into Yamuna.

The Axis Bank head honcho felt that Julius Samson of A-201 was too valuable to waste his talent in a Branch Office in Delhi and asked him to relocate to the financial capital, Mumbai. Wife Madhavi will shuttle between Delhi and Mumbai until such time as daughter, Radhika completes her studies. We will miss this nocturnal, ever smiling individual.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR OCTOBER

Date	Time	Venue	Event
10.10.09	6.30 pm onwards	Badminton Court	Mini Diwali Mela
17.10.09	6.30 pm	All Blocks	Diwali Illumination Competition
24.10.09	7.00 pm	Badminton court	Movie screening & Potluck dinner

YAMUNA’S TREES

Tree of the Month – Parijatham

Botanical name:Arbor tristis ; Harshringar/Parijatham ( Sanskrit ); Pavazhamalli (Tamil)

The Tamil name for this delicate bloom, Pavazhamalli literally translates as “coral hued jasmine“ The flowers start blossoming in profusion just a few days before Navratri in the month of Poratashi( in Tamil) or September /October.

The flowers fall from the tree at night and carpet the ground prettily, a boon for Yamuna-ites wanting to offer fresh flowers in their puja. Offering this flower to Goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Durga is considered auspicious. The Parijatham tree blossoms in the evenings and the night air is rife with the fragrance of these flowers. The tiny flowers have a five- to eight-lobed white corolla with an orange-red centre; they are produced in clusters of two to seven, with individual flowers opening at dusk and finishing at dawn.

The tree is sometimes called the "tree of sorrow", because the flowers lose their brightness during daytime; the scientific name arbor-tristis also means "sad tree". Known as 'Sheuli' in Bengali, Parijatham is the official flower of West Bengal. It also appears in several Hindu myths.

It is widely believed that the sacred orange ochre robes for monks in India are obtained by a dye made from these flowers. This flower has medicinal properties and is widely used in ayurveda. Do you know how many Parijatham trees Yamuna has ? (Seetha Venkataraman)

The Battle for Lanka !

View more pictures/slideshow of Yamuna's own Ramlila right here !

Issue No 96 August 2009

Editorial

In a drought year the odd rain shower is supposed to bring welcome respite. But each of the rain breaks we have had have brought a deluge with clogged overflowing drains, fallen trees, blown roof tops and the latest – a crashing fence of St. George School into Yamuna territory. Alas! Nothing in this country is built to cope with nature’s fury.

Esoteric days have begun to crowd the calendar. Fogies like me are not familiar with the plethora of newbie occasions that today’s youth greet each other with. I was wished, “Happy Friendship Day”, very lovingly by the kids barely reaching my knees, on 2nd August, in the park. I was delighted by their greeting. But this kind of happiness is heartbreakingly ephemeral, as you snap out of it even before you begin to savour it. The reason for that was the high velocity Frisbee game of the older kids which drove the tiny tots to the little knoll skirting the park. Poor things had to settle for playing,” Catch me if you can”, snaking between the palm fronds and the ficuses planted there. Alas!, Innocence has just a fleeting lifespan these days, before the kids hit the teens and all hell breaks loose.

Rakshabandhan this year came on the same day as Avani Avittam, an annual ritual when Brahmins renew their vows amidst the chanting of mantras. I was appalled to hear a teenage girl remark after witnessing this,” What are these half-naked men letting off their steam for”? Or words to that effect. The fact that the girl who uttered this is a South Indian Brahmin herself, spoke of the wide chasm that exists between the present and earlier generation. Our own customs and practices are being consigned to the recesses of our mind and glitzy western occasions like Valentine’s Day, Friendship Day are taking centre stage. I have nothing against the latter, but our young should at least be cognisant of Indian customs and practices.

Imagine, you have a person going at your door bell as though his finger was stuck to it. You rush out of the bathroom, hoping the towel you have hastily thrown around yourself covers most of your essentials. You throw open the door and there’s this misbegotten sociopath who’s wrecked your happiness, landing at your doorstep looking for a guy who lives a storey above you. Not any more. Attractively designed, inexpensive house number stickers arranged by S. Srinivas of A-108 have been affixed on all the Yamuna front doors so that no person comes calling at your door looking for your neighbour, thereby disturbing your beauty sleep or whatever else you are doing.

Janmashtami came on the eve of Independence Day amidst threatening rain clouds. Nandita, Keshav, Kavya,Lippa and Kashish got together to prepare a tableau in front of the tiny tots park. Sahana, Tanvi, Saishaa,Ananya, Vedika, Aradhya, Anoushka and Gauri, were all dressed in attractive costumes holding plates laden with laddu boondi.

We were not so lucky dodging the rain on Independence Day. Overnight showers had left the fountain park soggy because of which the flag hoisting ceremony was hastily moved to the badminton court. No sooner the flag hoisting was done and the children and adults were through with the singing of the National Anthem and other patriotic songs, the sky opened up with a sharp shower. A fairly good attendance ensured that the rains did not take anything away from the solemnity of the occasion. Many of the assembled audience were dressed in the colours of the national flag thereby painting a pretty sight. Pictures of the ceremony have also been posted on the blog.

The festival season is upon us with Onam opening the account on 2^nd September. It is a pity that the spirit of yore is missing these days. I recall occasions when several Pookolams would vie for pride of place and the Onam sadhya was eagerly looked forward to by Malayalis and others alike. The last couple of years have seen this enthusiasm fizzle out. For children bred in the North it may seem cataclysmic if a woman was seen wearing a mundu, wondering where this androgynous specimen has dropped from, much in the same ignoramus way the comment came forth on the Avani Avittam. In order to therefore take us back to our roots and revive the spirit of Onam, a sadhya and pookolam was planned on Sunday, 30^th August. Heavy rain in the morning threatened to derail the arrangements. It cleared sufficiently by afternoon to let the girls and the ladies to pour their heart into the pookolam decoration. Meera, Prema, Shanta, Shanti, Lakshmi, Anuradha, Bhavani, Aruna amongst others chipped in. Amongst the girls Nethra and Kavya led the band of young ones in helping to collect the flowers and put them in order. We had a fair gathering of people to partake in the Onam feast to the strains of Malayalam music. The girls and ladies made a pretty picture in their traditional attire.

The latter half of the month will see the celebration of Durga Pooja and Navratri culminating with Dussehra. The annual Dandiya dance is planned on Dussehra day. Residents are requested to come to the badminton court in traditional attire and with their own Dandiya sticks. There will be several food stalls to cater to all tastes. The evening will culminate with Antakshari.

SNIPPETS

Pedagogy, it seems comes naturally to Renu Viswanath of A-305. She’s has been conferred the Best Teacher Award by The Mother’s International School. Promoted as a consequence, she has begun teaching secondary school students instead of the primary classes she was teaching hitherto. She has got her work cut out.

Quite in the same vein, albeit as a student, Riya Ramabadhran of E-201 has been chosen as the Head Girl of the Primary Wing of The Mother’s International School, for her all round accomplishments.

Both these individuals deserve kudos for their achievement.

Arun Elassery of H-206 has always been a trailblazer. This IIT graduate stunned quite a few by his decision to educate his three children at home shunning formal education. He has now taken another of his maverick decisions to move into a 700 sq yards plot in Bangalore with a 300 sq yard built up area and the balance 400 sq yard plot area to provide for all the grain, vegetables and fruits to sustain a family of five. Sounds improbable, but you cannot write off anybody who thinks out of the box. They can surprise you. We wish them luck.

The flat they are vacating as a consequence, is going to be occupied by Manoj Subramanian and family who are moving from C-205.

YAMUNA'S TREES

Maulsari or Spanish Cherry

(Botanical name: Mimusops elengi Family: Sapotaceae (Sapota/ Mahua family)

Common name: Spanish cherry • Hindi: Maulsari Urdu: Kirakuli • Tamil: Makizhamboo • Malayalam: Ilanni • Bengali: Bakul • Marathi: Bakuli • Konkani: Omval • Kannada: Ranjal • Gujarati: Barsoli

Maulsari or Spanish cherry is a lovely green medium sized tree of the Indian subcontinent. With its small shiny, thick, narrow, pointed leaves, straight trunk and spreading branches, it is a prized ornamental specimen because it provides dense shade during summer and from March to July, fills the night air with the delicious heady aroma of its tiny cream coloured flowers. The tree is reputedly evergreen and finds place in many planned gardens of Delhi, but is rarely found as an avenue tree.

You can see several of these trees in Chanakya Puri, Rajpath and Humayun’s Tomb. Yamuna has several maulsari trees bordering the entrance of the main lawn. A photograph of the adult tree and a close up of its flowers are in the Yamuna blog.

Flowers are small, star-shaped, yellowish white in color, with a crown of petals rising from the center. Its oval leaves are wavy at the margin and are about 5-15 cm long and 3-6 cm wide. In the late evenings the flowers are deeply fragrant . In the morning the flowers tend to fall to the ground and if you have a dense row of trees you are likely to see a “carpet of maulsari flowers”. People often collect the flowers for pot pourri as they retain their fragrance for many days . The flowers are offered in temples and shrines throughout the country. It appears in Indian mythology as Vakula – ‘one that blossoms when sprinkled with nectar’. Its tiny green, and later brown, gnome shaped fruits are sweetish berries and can be eaten fresh .

Medicinal uses: Various parts of the tree have medicinal properties. Its flowers are used to distil an ittar (Urdu for ‘perfume’). It is used as a mouth freshener. Rinsing your mouth with an extract/ solution of maulsari/ bakul helps in strengthening the teeth, prevents bad breath and helps keep the gums healthy. The reddish heartwood is strong and is extensively used in heavy construction.

(Shanthi Chandrashekaran, with inputs from Rajeev Masodkar

For Lovers of the English Language....

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.' It's easy to understand. . .

UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP...When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so......it is time to shut UP!

)

CALENDAR OF EVENTS – SEPTEMBER 2009

13.9.09 10 am AGM in the quadrangle adjoining the Society office

28.9.09 6.30 pm onwards Dandiya Ras followed by Antakshari. A variety of food stalls will sell their delicacies to take of your dinner needs.

HAPPY B’DAY, LORD KRISHNA!

Mount Govardhan

Yamuna’s little gopis

Click here for more pictures on Janmashtami

ONAM SADHYA

More pictures on the Onam Sadhya here !