EDITORIAL
I have observed that the woman of the house who puts in so much sweat and toil does not get the kudos she deserves. Housewives are the most hardworking people on the planet, without any ostensible rewards. They slave from morning to night without any salary, leave or other perquisites that the husband is accustomed to. Housewives are taken for granted by both the husband and children. From the moment they wake up, they have to get the breakfast ready, make sure the children are ready for school, leave them at the bus stand if they are small and then wait over the husband until he leaves for work. If you think that with the family’s departure there is some respite, perish that thought. She has to take care of all the household needs from shopping for grocery, extracting work from the maids, answering endless rings of the doorbell for courier, delivery boys, gas cylinders, plumbers, electrician, presswalla etc. The list is endless. By the time she is through with all this, she has to prepare lunch. Somewhere, during this time she also has to have a bath, get the clothes washed among other things. When that gets done, the children return from school all messed up. They throw their shoes, bags and other accoutrements wherever they feel like and then plonk themselves on the bed and switch on the TV. She has to holler to get them to bathe and eat lunch and put away their stuff since by now the house looks like a hurricane went through it. In case she lies down to get 40 winks of sleep, she is rudely woken by a phone call either by some insurance or credit card agent or the husband calling to say that he has invited some friends over for dinner and that she should rustle up something delicious, look presentable and spruce up the house. She drags herself from the bed uncomplaining and proceeds to work herself to the bone when the husband triumphantly returns from work, takes of his shoes, puts his feet up on the sofa and proceeds to watch the telly while the wife dutifully brings him some tiffin and coffee. By the time she’s done with cooking a meal for the friends she has back spasms but she has to make the house tidy and look good. She somehow manages it and the friends drop in following which she has to attend to all their needs for drinks, snacks and finally dinner. She has to maintain a plastic smile while her back is making her head spin. After the friends leave, she has again some tidying up to do and she is left with just enough energy to make it to the bed only to wake up early the next morning when the chores repeat. While we all look forward to the weekend, a housewife dreads it as it means more work ministering to the husbands and children’s demands. This does not however, apply to working women or those with an army of servants and maids.
Can we all pause and think what we are putting our wife/mother through and plan to at least take the load off her once a month by reversing roles or taking her out? Maybe, we should plan an eat out in the Yamuna lawns once a month when food is ordered out or cooked by the husband and maybe, throw in a bit of tambola, games and entertainment.
Heavy showers on the morning of Independence Day forced us to change the venue to below the Club House. However, it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the assembled crowd who sang patriotic songs with gusto. The flag was unfurled by the youngest boy and girl present at that time to signal that the future belongs to them and that they need to shape the country into a modern and dynamic republic. Anjali and Samarth who unfurled the flag were obviously oblivious of the significance of the moment. Anecdotal and photographic evidence when viewed in posterity will enable them to see it in the light it needs to be viewed. Apart from the usual band of singers was Mrs. Kalyani of C-204, who sang some patriotic Bharatiyar songs, for the very first time.
On Independence Day, the thought of having a Krishna Leela on Janmashtami was mooted. With barely a week to go, Prema took on the challenge. She roped in Hema Malini, Vidya Venkat and Mrs. Chari (Seema’s mother) to choreograph the Mukunda dance on the mini stage in the badminton court. The dancers Riya, Aparna Raju, Aparna Varma, Kiyana, Sahana, Radhika, Julie, Samyukta, Shreya, Shreeja and Samiksha portrayed the ten avatars of Maha Vishnu with Mrs. Chari enacting the dance steps with the respective mudras. The colourful pageant was compered by Tejas of A-103. Vedika, with her flawless diction, related the story of the birth of Krishna. Aparna Raju and Vinay debuted with a Carnatic rendition. Avantika with her dulcet voice and Purvaja exemplified the talent that lies ahead in Yamuna. This was followed by a dance medley in the badminton court with an exuberant bunch of boys consisting of Vinay, Vijay, Aryan, Pradyumn, Anish, Sachin, Mani, Samarth and Shantanu to the tune of Govinda ala re. The grand finale was the cutely dressed Krishna (Samarth) breaking the pot containing the goodies held aloft with a rope by Deepak and Srikanth. Aruna, Bhavani and Meera Varma lent their bit in making the programme a success. Srikanth and Deepak were at hand to set up the equipment and take photographs. Mrs. Meenakshi Thangathurai made the event even sweeter by distributing laddus to all. A fairly large gathering applauded the performers. All photos have been uploaded on the Yamuna Photo Album.
Onam is the most secular festival of India and is celebrated by all communities in Kerala and the Malayali diaspora elsewhere. According to a popular legend, the festival is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam. To bring the Onam fervour to Yamuna, a Pookolam and Onam feast is planned on10thSeptember. Due to steep increase in inputs the cost of the lavish Onam feast will set you back by Rs. 180 per person. However, since it is only once a year that you can savour the finger-licking goodness of an Onam feast, it is worth the expense. Please buy the coupons from the Society Office before 5th September, 2011.
The middle-class, who have been pilloried since Independence for being totally apolitical and apathetic, finally lent their voice through Anna Hazare for his fight against rampant corruption. The surge of support from them threw the political parties off kilter. They finally acquiesced to mull on the Jan Lokpal Bill. Hurrah!
OBITUARY
“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell
just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only
time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time.
For the clock may soon be still."
Unfortunately, be that as it may, since I knew her from the time we were both schoolkids, the suddenness of her death was very shocking. I was overcome with grief like many of her close friends. Apart from being an extremely warm person she was very well accomplished. She was a Doctor in Genetics and one of the foremost in the field the country has produced. Ironically, she was doing research on cell signalling and cancers in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), the very ailment that felled her. She had contributed often to the Chronicle, giving her considerable knowledge about the plants and trees of Yamuna. In fact, I was going to rope her in as a guide for a nature walk this winter. Had she been alive she would have celebrated her birthday two days ago. Alas! It was not to be. May her soul rest in peace. Yamuna residents convey their heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family.
Her family is grateful to the Yamuna community for all the support they got in the hour of crisis.
SNIPPETS
Ganesh Ponnuswamy of E-205, has made a great career move. Unfortunately, that has come with the unwelcome baggage of moving to Hyderabad. He has joined as All India Head of Sales and Marketing for Estello - a leading artificial jewellery brand. His wife, Shahin who was very active in organising the children to enact plays and dance ballets will be sorely missed. The children of Yamuna will also miss the fancy birthday parties of their prince, Shourya.
MIRTH CORNER
"I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with 'lotah' in one hand and 'dhoti' in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on plateform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station.
This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers."
Okhil Chandra Sen wrote this letter to the Sahibganj divisional railway office in 1909.
It is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi.
It was also reproduced under the caption "Travelers' Tales" in the Far Eastern Economic Review.
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Teacher: Who is your Dad?
His Mom shouted: Please ask him simple questions ..!!
2) Doctor: which soap do you use?
Patient: Gopal soap, Gopal paste, Gopal brush..
Doctor: Is Gopal an international company?
Patient: No, Gopal is my room mate...
CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2011
| DATE | TIME | EVENT | VENUE |
| 10.9.11 | 7.30 PM | ONAM FEAST AND POOKOLAM | BADMINTON COURT |
| 17.9.11 | 7.00 PM ONWARDS | LADIES OFF-DAY PICNIC WITH TAMBOLA, OTHER GAMES & DINNER PREPARED BY HUSBANDS OR OUTSOURCED(POT LUCK) | MAIN LAWN |
| 25.9.11 | 9.30 AM | AGM | COMMUNITY HALL |
