Issue No. 169 I September 2015

EDITORIAL

The General Body meeting was held in the Community Hall on 27th September, 2015. Mr. Ramabadhran conducted the meeting with great composure and equanimity. He outlined the progress made on several fronts. All the resolutions were carried through with comfortable majority. Mrs. Poornima Narayanan was elected as the new Managing Committee Member in place of Mrs. Bharti Ramakrishnan. Bharti's contribution as Secretary was appreciated and placed on record. There are talkers and there are doers. Ram comes in the latter category. He really walks the talk. He was principally instrumental in creating and populating the Yamuna portal with data with help from Sumathi Chandrashekaran and Mercy Nair. Many more initiatives have been taken up. Watch this space for news on this subject in future issues of the Chronicle. Ram thanked the Managing Committee and the staff for their amazing contribution during the year gone by. He was all praise for Seetha Venkataraman for single handedly managing the affairs of the office on a day to day basis. Mr. Ganapathy's contribution to the regularisation process cannot be overstated. He was aided by Ram, Seetha, Mr. P.K. K. Nair, and Mr. Krishnamurthy.  The Managing Committee is also grateful to Mr. P. D. Gopalakrishnan, Chitra Balasubramaniam, Alka Arora, Poornima Narayanan and Raju Parameswaran for volunteering with the compilation of data in connection with the regularisation process.

I was shocked to read that a person in a premier engineering institute was driven to commit suicide by intolerable and inhumane ragging. Rape, murder, brutal ragging, reservation stir by Patidars, wife bashing by an elected representative of AAP etc. – this kind of violence and mayhem  can make persons of sterner stuff quail in their boots. What are the times we are living in? Terrorism cuts a wider swathe. Mobs go berserk over seemingly innocuous issues, leave alone provocative ones. All you need is a rumour to trigger this frenzy. Where and how do they find the time to indulge in all this? It seems like apocalypse now. All the ills of the world are  caused by the so called 'evolved' human beings. Their proclivity towards greed, graft, envy, ego, selfishness, and intolerance etc proves Charles Darwin wrong. The theory of evolution should be turned on its head. Animals kill only when they are hungry. We kill for no reason at all. Animals do not destroy the environment which we do wantonly. Animals follow a social order which they do not breach whereas human beings break the social order and laws all the time. Thumbs up to the animals, thumbs down to the humans! It's humans who need to be caged in zoos and not animals. I might sound very provocative but my faith in human beings has been shaken irrevocably.

Obesity is becoming a major health concern with a host of lifestyle diseases impinging on quality of life when one reaches middle age. Obesity is to be tackled at childhood as once a person becomes an adult, getting rid of the excess kilos is a very trying proposition. Doing exercises when your mobility is impaired adds to one's woes. Nobody realises that the quantum of food required by the body peaks at the age of 20 years when the growth spurt ends both vertically and horizontally. Thereafter food intake is required only at maintenance level. Most people continue to consume the same quantum of food after 20, which only goes to increase one's bulk. After 20 years, one's food intake should reduce to half or even less to avoid the proverbial paunch and overall girth build-up.

Janmashtami celebrations went off without any major glitches. Caught in the midst of mid-term examinations, many of the usual participants in dance programmes did not take part. Yet on the mini stage in the Badminton Court, the eager audience was served delightful renderings of dance and song items. Little Sahana Iyer opened the programme with a Marathi dance item. Her performance had all the elements which you would expect from a professional dancer. She moved on the stage with great felicity, craftily adjusting her steps to the size of the stage, subtly and gracefully shifting her eyes and head.  I have reasonable cause to believe that she will become a very famous dancer one day. This was followed by a group dance consisting of Sahana Iyer, Vanshika, Bhavna, Anushka, Aarya and Anjali. There was more from Sahana. She came to do another delightful solo piece.

Bhavani and Sumathi then regaled the audience with a medley of songs eulogising Lord Krishna. The songs blended seamlessly and kept the audience enthralled. We are really blessed to have two such accomplished singers whose melodious voices are infused with subtle, lilting nuances. They were accompanied on the tabla by Anirudh Sundaresan who matched their singing note for note with great finesse. The children were not done yet and a group consisting of Adwita, Shashvath, Sivasree, Sahana Savarkar, Samiksha, Radhika, Mani and Tanvi,trained by Shubhada, sang some  bhajans. The grand finale involved the breaking of the Dahi Handi for which both Kian and Lakshay were dressed as baby Krishna. A few blows later it fell to the ground spilling out goodies for the children. As usual, Mr. Thangathurai and family generously  distributed prasad to the assembled audience.

Most Indians salivate at the sight of chaat papdi. However, my indulgence in the fare from ubiquitous street vendors has caused me much grief with the 'runs',  hours after I have ingested the ambrosia of all foods. Therefore, I have now decided to succumb to my craving only at weddings or in sanitised environments where the stall holders wear gloves and use mineral water. The chaat-papdi meets many layers of tastes, textures, and flavours – soft and firm, warm and savoury, tart and piquant, hot and crunchy, rough and crispy. All the sensations you can possibly imagine, rolled into one. Even Mr. Bhotlu who was present at a recent colony wedding reception was all praise for the chaat papdi that he was eating. My favourite chaat joint  at the Food Court of Select City Walk Mall has unfortunately closed down. The reason I used to drive  my wife and daughters to SCW was to wolf down some chaat while they cleaned me of all the money shopping. Now I have an excuse not to go there.

People who feel depressed and less confident about themselves seek divine help. These are the people who get exploited by fly-by-night Gurus who have an eye on your wallet if you are a man and your chastity, if you are a woman They string them along with promises and ask them to perform bizarre rituals to make them forget their blues. This charade continues endlessly and the self appointed Guru  profits from it There is no dearth of adherents to this cult phenomenon. There are endless stories  of rape and exploitation that emerge from the cloistered chambers of ashrams that dot the landscape. Whither your intelligence and common sense, I say? Salvation does not arrive from ethereal realms. I have known some in my acquaintance who have fallen for this trap. We are the masters of our destiny and no one else, so let us pick ourselves up and give purpose to our life.

The other day a lady guru was shown on TV prancing around in mini-skirts. News reports have emerged that among several nefarious activities, she exploits men sexually. Apparently she too has a sizable following, one among them being a famous ghazal singer. It astounds me as to how even well educated and famous people fall for the faux charms of these gurus Why can't they call their bluff when anybody with average intelligence can? People from the most unimaginably impoverished conditions cope with whatever life throws at them  with greater equanimity and resilience and they resurrect without resentment. Depression is a middle class and upper class affliction.

SNIPPETS

Tejaswin Shankar never ceases to amaze me. His exploits in track and field events have become legendary. He has notched up another victory in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa leaping to a personal best of 2.14 metres. He is our hero of the month.

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C-207 has a new occupant who is not entirely new to Yamuna. His sister Prema lives in B-005. Ramesh Iyer recently retired from a PSU. His hobbies include reading, travelling, playing bridge and solving Sudoku puzzles. Revathy is a retired IAAS officer and currently employed as Director, Finance and Operations with Engender Health, an international NGO working in the health sector. Her interests include reading and going out with friends. Ramesh can be reached on 9820351947.

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Karthik Easwar of D-201 who wed Sneha in Bangalore earlier this month had a reception at the Yamuna lawns on 19th September, 2015. While it was raining intermittently throughout the day, the rain gods relented just in time for the reception to go ahead unhindered. The Easwars would have heaved a sigh of relief. The couple looked their radiant best on the stage which was beautifully lit up. There was a wide array of food options. Yamuna was very well represented and everybody had a jolly good time. We wish the Los Angeles bound couple a great wedded life.

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The much awaited Rangmanch Pravesh Odissi recital by Dakshina Raghavendra is scheduled for 7 pm on 24th October, 2015 at India International Centre. Dakshina has been learning Odissi under Radhika Samson for the last five years. Radhika brings influences of her gurus Dilip Mohapatra and Sujata Mohapatra in Dakshina's renderings. All are invited to this dance recital.

MIRTH COLUMN

Perception: Women Vs Men

Women friends chatting in office.
Woman 1: I had a fine evening, how was yours?
Woman 2: it was a disaster. My husband came home, ate his dinner in three minutes and fell asleep in two minutes. How was yours?
Woman 1: Oh it was amazing! My husband came home and took me out to a romantic dinner. After dinner we walked for an hour. When we came home he lit the candles around the house and afterwards we talked for an hour.

It was like a fairytale!

At the same time, their husbands are talking at work.
Husband 1: How was your evening?
Husband 2: Great. I came home, dinner was on the table, I ate and fell asleep. It was great! What about you?
Husband 1: It was horrible. I came home, there was no dinner because they'd cut the electricity since I hadn't paid the bill; so I had to take my wife out to dinner which was so expensive that I didn't have money left for a cab. We had to walk home which took an hour; and when we got home, remember there was no electricity, so I had to light candles all over the house! I was so aggravated that I couldn't fall asleep and my wife was jabbering away for another hour!

Wife : Shall I prepare Sambhar or Rasam today .

Husband : First make it, we will name it later ☺😋

A frustrated husband in front of his laptop:

Dear Google, please do not behave like my wife...

Please allow me to complete my sentence before you start guessing and suggesting.

A man brings his best buddy home for dinner unannounced at 5:30 pm after work.

His wife begins screaming at him and his friend just sits and listens in.

"My hair and makeup are not done, the house is a mess, the dishes are not done, I'm still in my pyjamas and I can't be bothered with cooking tonight ! Why the hell did you bring him home ?" Husband answers: "Because he's thinking of getting married"

Employee: Sir, you are like a lion in the office! What about at home??

Boss: I am a lion at home too, But Goddess Durga sits on the lion there !

A man gifted his wife a diamond necklace for their anniversary and wife didn't speak to him for 6 months.

Was the necklace fake?

Nooooo! That was the deal !

A couple was having dinner at a fancy restaurant. As the food was served, the husband said, "The food looks delicious, let's eat."

Wife: Honey.....you say a prayer before eating at home.

Husband: That's at home sweetheart......here the chef knows how to cook.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR OCTOBER, 2015

DATE	EVENT	TIME	VENUE
2.10.15	CLEANLINESS DRIVE ON GANDHI JAYANTHI DAY	7.30 AM-9.30 AM	PLEASE ASSEMBLE AT THE BADMINTON COURT
10.10.15	MOVIE SCREENING AND POT LUCK DINNER	6.30 PM	BADMINTON COURT
17.10.15	DANDIA, MUSIC AND FOOD STALLS	6.30 PM	BADMINTON COURT
22.10.15	RAM LEELA AND BURNING OF THE EFFIGIES OF RAVANA AND HIS KIN	4.00 PM	MAIN LAWN
30.10.15	QUIZ COMPETITION WITH SUMATHI	6.30 PM	BADMINTON COURT