EDITORIAL
The
term of the President and the present Managing Committee will be coming to an
end on 28th September, 2014. After serving two terms as President, I can look
back with satisfaction at the work done. Barring the resolution of the
regularisation of the flats, the present and the previous Managing Committee
managed to achieve a lot, thanks to the co-operation of the Members/residents
and staff. In fact in the history of Yamuna there has never been another
instance of decrease in the maintenance charges and that too after an year of
no increase. On behalf of the Managing Committee, I would like to express my
sincere thanks to each and everyone. It has been a eventful journey, but the
mental toll that such a position takes is unfathomable. I have lost most of the
hair on my head during this tenure. The ones to suffer most are the family to
whom one is not able to give enough time. It is time somebody else steps on the
plate and takes on the post of the President.
On
the issue of regularisation of flats, it was observed after scanning all the
files, that there were several gaps/discrepancies in our representations since
the time the Society was formed. There was no link between the members who had
resigned and the new members who were admitted. There were also incomplete
records of the AGMs vide which these members were admitted. There were three
different lists of original members that were submitted to ROCS between 1978
and 1981. It took several hundred man-hours of toil by the office bearers and
Mr. P. Krishnamurthy to bring the records to a level of acceptability by the
ROCS and DDA. We were also in a position to get the files moved through the
hierarchy to the level of the Registrar in case of the ROCS and to the level of
the Principal Secretary in the case of DDA. We also passed two resolutions in
the General Body as desired by ROCS, indemnifying them in case of any
wrongdoing. Just as it seemed like our long cherished dream of getting the
flats regularised was imminent, the High Court ruled that the LG does not have
the powers to grant waiver. This ruling applied to 26 other Societies who had
got waiver under the same provision that we had. The Registrar's plea has been
that if he recommends our case to DDA for regularisation he will held for
contempt of Court. In the meanwhile, the appeals of the 26 Societies is getting
deferred for the last one year. I am giving this update for the benefit of members
who are currently living in the Society and those outside who wanted clarity on
the issue of regularisation. We are planning to move a resolution in the AGM
seeking members' consent to file a writ petition justifying our case for
regularisation by making a distinction between the 26 Societies and ourselves.
In the meanwhile, through the good offices of Srivatsa Krishna, IAS, whose
mother is a member, we are attempting a bureaucratic intervention at a fairly
senior level. It is our fervent hope that some of our actions get us the
desired results.
The
Independence Day celebration was a hit. To start with the Prime Minister's
speech was so awe inspiring that I had goose bumps on my skin. No Prime
Minister since Independence has spoken with so much passion, candour and conviction
than Modi. Vajpayee was a good orator but Modi, apart from being a good orator
has the right vision and he is able to articulate it very effectively. He spoke
of a cleaner India, a more gender sensitive India and a more purposeful and
hard working India. He steered clear of his ideological moorings
In
Yamuna, our own flag hoisting ceremony did not happen on schedule.` Modi's plea
to be punctual obviously did not travel home. The flag was hoisted by the
senior most member at the assembly, Mr. Ravindran, at 9.15, a tardy fifteen
minutes late. The good thing is that a thin crowd soon swelled to be a sizable
number Everybody rose to sing the
National Anthem. It was nice to see the spirit of patriotism. Subhada tutored
students, Adwita, Shashvath, Dhanya, Sahana Savarkar, Radhika, Samiksha, Mani,
Tanvi and Avantika sang two Tamil and two Hindi ditties. This was followed by
Kalyani trained children Shreeja and Poorvaja singing a Tamil song with
Shantanu on the tabla. Kalyani also trained a group of adults consisting of
Ambika, Savita, Sujata, Seema led by her for another Tamil patriotic song. This
was followed by a medley of popular numbers of the patriotic genre,
immortalised through many a Manoj Kumar film. This free for all crooner group
consisted of, amongst others, Bhavani,
Seema, Deepak, Ram, Murli, Bharti, Sudha, Aruna, Aditi, Gomathi, Lavanya,
Savita, Sujata and Rekha. Hope I have not missed out any name!
On
17th August, Sadhana School of Music and Art held a "Milap"(a musical
and dance soiree) at the Badminton Court. It had all the elements of a professional
show, barring entry tickets. We were treated to a visual and audio feast by
students and gurus of Sadhana.
Amongst
the Yamuna residents, Dakshina Raghavendra sang two very complex western
numbers requiring considerable skill, Vidya Venkat danced to a Kathak number,
Rekha Raghavendra and Deepa Nair showed considerable poise and confidence
singing a Hindustani number with Shantanu on the tabla. These debutants on the Yamuna
stage have a very bright future ahead of them.
Amongst
the Gurus, Shubham Modi was outstanding. The status of guru normally comes with
a certain gravitas, evidenced by grey hair, receding hairline and a formal
bearing of self esteem. Hence, when Shubham walked up to the stage with
youthful, barely out his teens look, carrying the onus of a guru at Sadhana, I
viewed him as an interloper on that hallowed turf. I was delighted to be proved
wrong when he made his music do the talking. I have seen several Hindustani
musical performances by maestros. I can say without a shadow of doubt that
Shubham is up there with the best. He was blessed with a galaxy of talented
artists to accompany him, namely Gaurav Chiplunkar on the harmonium, Devesh
Pande on Tanpura and Pranav Ramji on Tabla. The curtain came down on the event
with the grand finale by Abhishek Shankar (the guitar guru) singing an Eric
Clapton number.
The cultural
fiesta surfeit continued the next day. It was Janmashtami and like last year
our talented children wanted to show their spurs. The
invocation song was sung by Kalyani, Bhavani and Aruna. Swagatam Krishna, a dance ballet,
featured Adwita Nair, Vanshika Arora, Bhawana Harish, Priya, Radhika
Venkatraman and Kiana Abraham. They displayed dance skills way beyond their
nascent tutelage. The medley of events continued with Ghanashyam Sundara (Marathi Song) sung by Ananya Anirudh Verma,
Navya Sinha, Sahana Venkatesh Iyer, Vanshika Arora, Vanshika, Mannat, Bhawana
Harish, Priya, Radhika Venkatraman, Kiana Abraham, Aaria Anirudh Verma,
Anoushka Nair, Adwita Nair and Dakshina Raghavendra. Moving to a Western take
on Lord Krishna, Priya, Radhika Venkatraman and Kiana Abraham danced to the Beatle
George Harrison number, My Sweet Lord.
This was followed by a solo Odissi dance number by Sahana Iyer. Sahana shows a
maturity far beyond her years. Her balance in the dance sequence is incredible.
She has a bright future ahead of her. Another of Radhika's disciples, the
comely Dakshina did an Odissi number to A.R. Rehman's Alaipayyude. Unfortunately, half way through the dance, one electrical
phase illuminating the stage went kaput. Hasty change of the sound system to
another power source ensured that the programme continued, albeit with limited
lighting. Fortunately, everybody put up with the disruption sportingly. Kurukshetra was an all guitar recital by
Priya, Radhika Venkatraman, Kiana Abraham and Sahana Iyer. A Pandit Ravi Shankar number where all the
Odissi performers graced the stage was a visual treat.
All the aforementioned events were
choreographed by the gurus at Sadhana. From an arts and culture perspective,
Sadhana is the best thing that has happened to Yamuna. We are indeed grateful
to Radhika, Ramanan and Pranav for their work ethic. Ramanan, as the show host
did a commendable job. To round off their contribution for the evening, Kalyani
and Bhavani lent their mellifluous voices to
Meera Bhajan. The grand finale was a peppy dance number choreographed by
Anu Nair and Prema Manoj.and featured Adwita, Ananya, Anushka, Sahaana
Savarkar, Saishaa, Samiksha, Tanvi, Kiana, Mani, Aryan, Aparna Varma, Aparna
Krishnan, Shreeja, Shreeya , with Samarth as the plucky and quintessential Krishna
who went on to break the Dahi Handi and steal the goods!
The ever generous Mr.Thangathurai and
his wife Meenakshi were at hand to distribute laddoos as prasad to the
assembled throng.
Mosquitoes
are not quite the pest they have been in previous years, thanks to a failed
monsoon. The dipterous insect has not wreaked havoc on the populace with
dengue, chikungunia and the like. Isn't it ironic that what's good for one
cause is bad for another? Savour these stingless times but pray for higher
precipitation in the coming months to ward off water shortage.
With
the number of pet dogs increasing in the colony, one is witnessing an increased
presence of uncleared dog poop. I have been given to understand that some
Societies have introduced a fine of Rs. 1000 on dog owners found guilty of not
clearing their pets' poop. Even the Municipality in Delhi is planning to take
punitive measures. In the European Union, the United States and several other
countries, pet owners carry doggy poop bags with them to scoop the poop and
dispose it off hygienically. I would plead with the dog owners in the colony to
show some respect to the other residents and do likewise. I feel imposing a
fine will be a draconian measure and hope wiser counsels will prevail to keep
our environment clean. Dogs will defecate as their constitutional compulsion.
It is for the owners to show more civic sense not only as a courtesy to fellow
residents but in the interest of keeping our environs clean.
The
summer solstice was over two months ago but there is no let up in the heat.
With every passing day we are breaking diurnal temperature records. We only
hope the coming months will bring in salubrious conditions. Rains in the last
days of the month may bring some respite.
There
are some people who do not lose an opportunity to indulge in largesse. Namagiri
of C-001 has donated a 4 ton AC for the Community Hall. It will come as a
welcome relief for people who have to choose alternate venues during the torrid
summer months for conducting their religious or social functions. It will also
ensure that the Community Hall, which remains idle during summer months, can be
more usefully deployed. The Society expresses its sincere gratitude to
Namagiri.
Onam
heralds the homecoming of legendary King Mahabali and is the biggest festival
for Keralites. To celebrate Onam, a Pookalam and Onam sadya have been planned
at the Community Hall from 7 pm on 6th September, 2014. All the residents,
their friends and relatives who wish to partake in the ambrosial Onam feast
should buy their dinner coupons from the Society Office @ Rs. 200 per head
latest by 3rd September, 2014. As far as possible, please assemble in
traditional attire to reflect the spirit of Onam.
SNIPPETS
Sahana Savarkar of C-208 Is a
linguist. She has equal felicity in English and French. She demonstrated this
talent by bagging the first prize in French Poetry recitation competition at
DPS International School vying against forty other students. Way to go, girl!
******************
Mr. C. Chandramouli of E-004 fell for
the charms of Jayalakshmi and decided to tie the knot in Chennai on 27th
August, 2014. With that, Chandramouli's
freedom will rest in his wife's hands. Jayalakshmi is working with IBM
and is likely to get approval for working from home, which should make her
shift to Delhi possible.
******************
Dr. Vijay Shankar has moved into E-304
from Lajpat Nagar. Vijay is working as an Anaesthetist in Apollo Hospitals. Doctors
usually come in pairs and this applies here as well. He is married to Dr.
Sharada Vinod who is doing her MD in General Medicine from AIIMS. Vijay is a
music buff and likes to listen to western classical and rock music. He is also
a movie buff. Sharada loves to dance to Bollywood music and has learnt Carnatic
music. She will get enough opportunity in Yamuna to display her skills. Vijay
can be reached on 8130556353. Vijay happens to be a cousin of Vidya Nair. We
welcome this couple to Yamuna.
******************
Mr. S. K. Topno has moved into G-202
from DDA Flats, Kalkaji. He works with State Bank of Hyderabad. He likes to
read and listen to music in his spare time. His wife Meeta is a home-maker and
loves to cook. Their son Rahul works in an IT company called Entity Data. Their
daughter Rachel worked for a year after completing BSc Physics from St.
Stephen's College but now wants do a Masters. She is fond of singing Western
music. She will surely get an opportunity to showcase her talent on the Yamuna
stage. Mr. Topno can be reached on 8826549077.
MIRTH CORNER
A woman awakes during the night to find that her
husband is not in bed. She goes downstairs to look for him. She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front
of him. He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall. She watches as he wipes a tear from his
eye.."What's the matter, dear?" she whispers as she steps into the
room. "Why are you down here at this time of night?" The husband
looks up from his coffee, "Do you remember 20 years ago when we were
dating, and you were only 18"?. "Yes I do." she replies. The
husband pauses. "Do you remember when your father caught us in the garden?"
"Yes, I remember" said the wife.The husband continued, " He
showed the shotgun in my face and said, 'Either you marry my daughter, or
I'll send you to jail for 20 years." He wiped another tear and said,
"I would have been released today" !!!!!
CALENDAR OF EVENTS - SEPTEMBER 2014
|
DATE
|
EVENT
|
TIME
|
VENUE
|
|
6.9.14
|
POOKALAM AND ONAM DINNER
|
7.00 PM
|
COMMUNITY HALL
|
