EDITORIAL
April
began with a short holiday to Corbett for 61 people from Yamuna. It was a
holiday much needed to unwind, release the stresses and rejuvenate. The resort,
Rangers Reserve, is a delightfully secluded place surrounded by hills and
valleys right in the midst of a verdant forest. Plenty of wild life and birds -
with the notable exception of tigers -
could be spotted from within the resort. The air was crisp and breathtakingly
fresh, the sky was azure and weather cool and comfortable.
Children
frolicked in the park while the men and the boys played cricket. Kunal and
Abhilash, rival captains and umpires of their respective teams while batting,
gave a master class in cheating. Even a person who was clean bowled was not
given out. The range of excuses given were,"The ball was too fast" or
"I was blinded by the bowler who came in front". It was a parody but
all in good fun. Sloppy fielding and comical tumbles added to the general
mirth. The resort itself is very well designed with the architecture blending
with the surroundings. Barring some
minor glitches in some rooms, the stay was very comfortable and the food sumptuous.
An interesting observation was that the resort was ringed with lemon grass
bushes to keep away mosquitoes, lizards and snakes. I must say it was very
effective. We should therefore, contemplate planting lemon grass in the colony
to keep away the rampant mosquitoes who will soon be swarming in our midst.
A
local guitarist was hired to entertain us one night. He was belting out John
Denver's "Country Roads" while blithely mangling the lyrics.
Fortunately, the girls of the colony, Tanvi, Sahana, Kiana and Ananya borrowed
his guitar and did a much better job.
The
only disappointment was the safari, as we did not spot any carnivores. Suresan
and Anita had a close and scary encounter with two wild elephants who came
close enough to haul their jeep off the road. It is a pity more people from
Yamuna could not make it.
The
cooking competition had to be cancelled as the number of entries were very few.
Instead a movie was screened on 11th April, 2015. There were conflicting views
on which movie should be screened. Finally, we screened "Khubsoorat".
It was a light hearted comedy, shorn of the typical glitz and glamour, songs and item
numbers. The story revolves around a gregarious physiotherapist (played by
Sonam Kapoor), invited to a royal household to rehabilitate the erstwhile
Maharaja from a crippling accident. The snooty, stiff upper lip, regimented
Maharani, runs the palace with an iron hand and stern demeanour. In walks Sonam
who is the antithesis of the Maharani
and lands in troubled waters. Sonam does
not let this deter her and soon enough she wins over the palace staff, the
Maharaja, the Maharaja's daughter and captivates the debonair Maharaja's son played by Pakistani actor,
Fawad Khan. As in all Hindi movies the heroine ends up marrying the hero. The pot
luck dinner that followed the screening was a repast in excellent weather.
Sujatha treated everybody to ice cream but before it arrived the skies opened
up. It was left for us to take shelter in the Community Hall and enjoy the ice
lolly.
In
order to build a compendium of social and cultural markers, it was decided to build
a photographic album of children in the colony. If you look back, many children
who were born in Yamuna, are now married and have children of their own. Would
it not serve the community to capture the faces, their transformation from
children to parents to grand-parents and the key milestones in their life like
their first birthday, weddings etc? Srikant has a few old photos which evokes
nostalgia. More needs to be done. Yamuna is not like any other residential
colony. We are a large family with roots, history and heritage. Many of the moments
have been captured in the Chronicle. We share in each other's joys and
successes. Towards this effort Tarun Balakrishnan took photos of 35 children on
19th April,2015. Those who were not available that day for various reasons will
be covered at their convenience.
There
is a certain magic and awe that you perceive when reading books. Movies and TV serials
may be a visual delight but they do not let your imagination run riot. Reading
books brings to you that endearing quality. Unfortunately, TV, WhatsApp, and
Facebook have grabbed the eyeballs and lured children away from the fascinating
world of books. Renu Garg and Vidya Nair, amongst others are set to change that
with a children's library in Yamuna. Thomas Abraham has designed and executed a
quaint quadrant in the Club House which will house the library. Through
contributions of money and books from many residents, the library, which was in
the planning stage for a long time, has come to fruition. It will be
operational on weekends. The library will be inaugurated on Sunday, 3rd May, 2015
at 6.15 pm. Everyone is invited.
Children
have another reason to feel happy. After the relocation of the see-saw, slides
and jungle gym to the main lawn, new play equipment has been added. The merry
go-round which has recently been installed has become very popular with
children. A bench swing has been added to provide some resting place for adults
and children alike. Since the place is now well lit, it is a hub of activity at
most times.
When
I observe my children's total dependence on mobile phones and computers, I get
worried. Our memory quadrant in the brain is shrinking. We are more and more
dependent on machines to remember what we used to commit to our memory.
Children today do not remember the multiplication tables. They use the
calculator instead. We do not store addresses and telephone numbers in our
brain. We have mobile phones to do them. We scan the Net for information that
used to rest on the tips of our fingers but now rests in the data bases of
search engines. Friends and relatives who are there today will be forgotten
tomorrow. I see this in my children. As a result, with each succeeding
generation, the memory cells in our brain will go into hibernation and
eventually die. This in turn will get replaced by cells that foster new ideas
and change. Consequently the world we live in, will change in ways we cannot
fathom today. If we were to be removed from this world today and somehow
brought back 50 years hence, we would be all at sea. Everything would have
changed including the way we communicate, travel and live. It seems frightening.
Contrast this with the world 50 years ago and compare it with 100 years ago.
Very little had changed. It's as though time stood still. I am dreading the day
machines become smarter than us and we cease to value human interaction. Folks,
let us take control of our memories and not find alternatives to relegate all
control to the sapient technologies we live with. I do not like the transient
world. It will be devoid of desire, love, empathy, emotion - everything
that we cherish and is deep rooted. I am
glad we live in Yamuna where there is a semblance of sanity and we at least
attempt to live like a family. Many in Yamuna share this view. Kunal and Deepak amongst others who have
lived in other colonies before moving to the colony, find Yamuna an oasis in a
brutal and uncaring metropolis.
Squirting
bodily fluid on walls has become the bane of many a spruced up wall. As part of
the beautification exercise, the paint on the Connaught Place walls had barely
dried than the walls are bearing red paan stains and sundry other 'decorations'
from spitters and expectorators. Walls
in other parts of the city also bear a stench as they are used as convenient lavatories.
Swacch Bharat will not happen unless people change their ways, howsoever
eloquent Prime Minister Modi may sound from the pulpit. Let us begin with
Yamuna. While our colony is much cleaner than the metropolis we live in, we
could do better. I still see litter in the flower beds and sundry sachets lying
around in other places.
For
the umpteenth time I have been promised by the concerned person in IGL that
work on the gas pipeline will commence in Yamuna shortly. Now the promise is
for the month of May, 2015. Let us hope it does not turn out to be another pipe
dream!
SNIPPETS
There have been plenty of to-ings and
fro-ings of late.
Mr.
Rajarshi Das has moved into A-309 with his wife Maumita and son Rajdeep.
Rajarshi is working as the Chief Engineer of ONGC. When he is not designing oil
rigs, he likes to catch up on his reading, travelling, photography and music.
Maumita is trained to be a classical singer and shares her husband's interest
in books. Rajdeep has gone to the IXth class in Blue Bells School. He loves to
play badminton and chess and is learning to play the flute. We could certainly
do with a flautist in the colony. Rajarshi can be reached on 9968282384. We
welcome the Das's to the Yamuna family.
****************
Mr. E. Chandramouli of E-004 has moved back
to Chennai with his wife after a relatively short stay in Yamuna. Maybe,
homesickness for both Chandramouli and his wife had something to do with it.
****************
*****************
After
Mrs. Durga Narayanaswamy moved from
A-005 to F- 003 we have a new occupant in A-005.
****************
Karthik
Ashok, a lawyer by profession has moved into A-005. He is attached to Mr.
Basant, Ex Chief Justice of Kerala High Court. He is from Wyanad and did his
law degree from National Law School, Kochi. He is engaged to be married to
Smrithi, also a lawyer who used to practice in the Supreme Court but now works
for a website which does legal reports. Karthik works seven days a week and has
no spare time to indulge his passion for
watching movies, listening to music and playing cricket. Smrithi loves to read
and write. Aren't we on familiar ground here? Karthik has to end his workaholic
life style after he gets married in June, lest he start on the wrong foot on
the home front. He can be reached on 8447364669.
****************
Radhika
Samson performed an Odissi dance recital in a tribute to late Pandit Ravi
Shankar in Stein Auditorium, Habitat Centre on 20th April, 2015, All grace and felicity of movement, her dance
was a visual delight. Opportunity under the arc lights was also afforded by her
to her students Dakshina Raghavendra, Aparna Krishnan, Kiana Abraham and Radhika
Venkataraman. I have seen them blossom under her tutelage from unsteady
stochastic movers to accomplished dancers. Kudos to her. She is playing a great
role in raising the cultural profile of the colony.
******************
Yamuna
children are earning accolades with a vengeance. It makes us really proud to
see so much talent in the colony.
Samarth
Varma of H-208 was declared 'champion of champions' in Abacus. He topped his
level in Delhi state. He is an all-rounder. He plays all sports, takes part in
all stage performances, has a way with girls and now has shown his heft in
things more cerebral.
***************
Abhinav Kumar of H-103 has let his pen do the talking. His essay
on Atlas Shrugged has made the finals
in the Ayn Rand Foundation's 2014 essay competition.
This is one of the largest essay contest programs in the world. Each
year more than 25,000 participants from more than 100 countries enter the
contest. Abhinav's essay was placed in the top 10 percent of all essays
received.
If that was not enough, his latest paper on Company Law has been
accepted for publication by a prestigious U K journal called the Company
Lawyer. No wonder he has been hired by the largest law firm in India, Amarchand
Mangaldas, a full year before he completes his Law degree.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS - MAY 2015
DATE
|
EVENT
|
TIME
|
VENUE
|
3.5.2015
|
INAUGURATION OF 'READERS'
RENDEZVOUS'
|
6.15 PM
|
CLUB HOUSE
|
