Issue No. 195 I November 2017

EDITORIAL

Smog hit the capital with a vengeance. With no let-up in stubble burning from the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, and to a lesser extent UP, we are destined to a gloomy winter. Winter at one time used to be the favourite season for Delhiites when they could bask in the sun and indulge in outdoor activities. Now, the same activities are fraught with danger. Particulate emissions are fifteen times the level prescribed by WHO as safe. With these levels, staying indoors is also not very safe. Consequently the badminton tournament had to be cancelled one day and schools were also shut for a few days. Due to poor visibility, flights and trains are getting delayed and major pile-ups are happening on highways. The governments concerned are pussy-footing on this issue when it is posing serious health problems to most states in the north. We are living in a veritable gas chamber where there is a surfeit of all gases except oxygen! Of late favourable wind speeds have reduced the pollution to less dangerous levels.

The puncture brigade got active once again with three cars in the colony being targeted in quick succession. There is a need to identify and nab the culprits.

Our simian ancestors have taken a shine to the colony with plenty of trees and balconies to swing from. They have become wiser too. They went to somebody's house, opened the fridge and selected the food they wanted to feast on and nobody dared to stop them from partying at the expense of the hapless resident. Srikanth brought a paint ball gun, a game accessory which leaves a painful and stinging blow to the target. After strikes hit home on a couple of monkey's did not have the desired result he targeted the leader of the pack and seems to have worked. In the last three days there have been no monkeys.

There were a sizeable number of children who contested this year's badminton championships. What was noticeable was that their game has improved considerably thanks to some of them taking badminton coaching. The games were fiercely contested and in most cases the margin of victory was very small. I am giving below the names of the winners of this year's competition.

		BADMINTON TOURNAMENT 2017
S.NO	POSITION	NAME	FLAT NO.
		SINGLES UPTO 10 YEARS
1	1	ELINA ADHIKARI	C-108
2	2	NIVETA REDDY	A-309
		SINGLES UPTO 13 YEARS
3	1	RADHIKA VENKATRAMAN	C-005
4	2	SHASHVATH ARUN	G-306
		DOUBLES UPTO 13 YEARS
5	1	RADHIKA VENKATRAMAN/VANSHIKA ARORA	C-005/A-106
6	2	SAI CHAITANYA/M.U. VAIDEHI	G-004/G-305
		SINGLES OVER 13 YEARS
7	1	ASHWIN SATISH	G-106
8	2	ADITI GANAPATHI	E-206
		DOUBLES OVER 13
9	1	ASHWIN SATISH/ABHISHEK MAHESH	G-106/H-304
10	2	SAMIKSHA NAIR/ ADITI GANAPATHI	B-107/E-206

The TT championship also drew a bigger gathering than expected. Many of the players were wielding the TT racquet for the first time but they mastered the art sufficiently in practice sessions to not appear a novice as the tournament got underway. The winner in various categories were as under:

		TT TOURNAMENT 2017
S.NO	POSITION	NAME	FLAT NO.
		SINGLES UPTO 10 YEARS
1	1	MEGH BHATT	A-308
2	2	M.U.VAIDEHI	G-305
		SINGLES UPTO 13 YEARS
3	1	SHASHVATH ARUN	G-306
4	2	ANANYA SATISH	G-106
		SINGLES OVER 13
4	1	KIANA ABRAHAM	A-008
5	2	SHREEJA SRIKANT	C-003

I must thank Prashant Sr, Raju Krishnan and Aparna Krishnan for conducting the badminton and TT tournaments. Notwithstanding the age controversies brewing amongst the children, the games were contested sportingly. Envy and awe were both present in equal measure.

I am a little disconcerted at the attitude of people towards punctuality and basic courtesies. None of the participants came for the quiz competition at the appointed time. I had to call each one of them to come. There were some who did not show up at all and did not bother to inform me in advance. Only Aseem had sent a message in advance to inform me that he would not be able to come due to some emergency. Yet we are ready to criticise the country and talk how we should follow the West in matters of discipline. If we, the educated class, do not set the example, what right do we have to criticise the country? If you ask me or the participants, the quiz competition is perhaps the best event in the Yamuna calendar, yet we find a lack of enthusiasm among residents to come for the event. Parents should at least send the children so that they can equip themselves better for their education and careers.

Coming to the event, owing to absentees, some residents in the audience had to be hastily inducted in the teams to get the quiz going. Antariksh Das, our quizmaster this year, did a fine job. Most of the questions revolved around his pet subjects of sports and entertainment. There were four teams in all, namely Alexander the Great, Champions, Underage and Mandir Wahin Banega. MWB, consisting of Kunal Savarkar, Mr. Ramachandran, Anirudh Suresan, and Venkat led throughout and were crowned the champions who humbled the team with the moniker Champions, who came a creditable second. This team consisted of Uma Maheswaran, Raghav and Poornima Narayanan. ATG and Underage were tied for third place. Underage came up with a fantastic rear guard action after remaining scoreless until half-way through the rounds. Antariksh distributed 5-star chocolates to all.

SNIPPETS

There are marriages galore this month. Could see a baby boom in the coming years which will be good for the colony as the children are the life and blood of our complex.

V. Ramanan of C-005, got hitched to Sowmiya in ceremonies that spanned over a week. For Sowmiya, who has been brought up in a mofussil town, the move to a metropolitan city will be a big transformation. Ramanan, who is a man about town and wise in his ways can guide her through this transition. The main ceremonies being on weekdays may have not seen much attendance but the reception on the evening of 2nd November, 2017 had the whole of Yamuna swarming there. The couple, who were well turned out, looked very fetching. We wish them the very best. Balaji and Sheila had pulled out all the stops.

********************

Priya and Ravi Rao's daughter Rajshri (popularly known as Ananya) got married to Anil on 6th November, 2017 at Shankara Vidya Kendra, Vasant Vihar. Anil works for Google in the USA. I have been informed that the ceremony was well attended and the food was finger licking good. In the reception held on the previous night, Ananya looked gorgeous in her sequin laden ghaghra choli. Ananya and Anil shared very good vibes, a bonhomie that comes from familiarity. Priya and Ravi were gracious hosts.

********************

Kamakshi, popularly known as Ramya got married to Akshay on 29th November, 2017 in the Yamuna lawn. The ceremony was an elegant affair. The marriage was attended by Yamuna residents and friends of the family. The decor was very tastefully done in ethnic style. There was nothing hectic, customary of most Indian weddings. It was held in an unhurried and relaxed atmosphere. Gomathi and Suresh were gracious hosts. The couple looked very happy at the proceedings which augurs very well. We wish both Ramya and Akshay a very happy married life.

********************

Subadha and Arun celebrated their thirteenth wedding anniversary in the Community Hall to the strains of bhajans sung by accomplished singers both from inside and outside the complex. The sound of the singing in unison reverberated in the Hall giving a spiritual high. This was followed by dinner in the badminton court. We wish them many years of cosy togetherness.

********************

Anand Sundaresan of G-301 entered the Rotary Golf Championship and came back with flying colours. With his driver working like a dream and a red hot putter to boot, he notched up a score that sent his rivals tumbling down the leader board. He was awarded the trophy and got several other goodies and two free Spice Jet Air Tickets. He gave away the packets of biscuits to the children taking part in the Sports Day. Hail the champion!

		CALENDAR OF EVENTS DECEMBER 2017
DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
9.12.17	4.30 PM	ANNUAL DAY - REFRESHMENTS, PRIZE DISTRIBUTION, VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT AND DINNER FROM FOOD STALLS	MAIN LAWN
24.12.17	6.30 PM	CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL, WINTER RAMP-WALK, DINNER FROM FOOD STALLS	BADMINTON COURT
31.12.17	12 MIDNIGHT	CAKE CUTTING TO USHER IN THE NEW YEAR	COMMUNITY HALL

Issue No. 194 I October 2017

                                           

EDITORIAL

The term of the previous Managing Committee came to an end on 8th October, 2017 and the new committee was elected. Most of the members in the new committee are the same barring three new members who were inducted, namely Mr. R.C. Natarajan, Mrs. Shamala Sarathy and Mrs. Madhavi Samson. We welcome the new members to the Managing Committee. The election of Mrs. Seetha Venkataraman as President was well received. She had to be persuaded to take up the position of this thankless job. Mohan Krishnaswamy, who devotes a lot of time attending to Society issues was elected as the Vice President. The MC following the AGM then chose the other office bearers. They are Mr. Mohan Narayanan as Secretary, Mr. P. K. K. Nair as Joint Secretary and Mrs. Anita Perumbavil as Treasurer. We wish to thank the outgoing Committee members namely Madhu Nair, ex-Secretary, and  Sumathi Chandrasekharan.

The outgoing committee did a great job in getting the long pending regularisation of flats. In this our ex-President Mr. G. Ramabadhran played an important role. Mr. N. L. Ganapathi who resigned mid-way through the term was instrumental in preparing very persuasive legal representations to the Registrar and thus was an important member of the team to take up the matter. Mr. P.K.K. Nair's role was also important in ensuring that the files moved from one table to the other and generally facilitated in the exercise. All the other MC members also put in their might into the exercise in each one personally visiting the Registrar's office and doing all the back office work. It was totally a team effort. The other important achievement of the previous committee was to get the IGL piped gas installed. Several other timely actions were taken so that the residents' concerns were addressed.

We are still battling with a lot of problems due to corroding pipelines which are more than 35 years old leading to seepage issues cropping up constantly. We have to live with this problem and get them solved as and when we encounter them. Unbridled renovation is also one of the causes of seepage. It is advised that whenever anybody wishes to renovate their flat and engage outside contractors they should also keep our resident plumber and electrician as consultants as they are well aware of the routing of the pipes and cables.

A large band of marauding rhesus monkeys has been laying siege in Yamuna, entering homes of residents nonchalantly, sending residents scurrying for cover and making a meal of whatever they can lay their hands on and walking out. How to tackle this menace is a question that is giving headaches to the Managing Committee. The BJP councillor has been approached and it seems the other apartment complexes in the neighbourhood are also plagued by this menace. They are still mulling for solutions including hiring the services of a langur. One resident namely, Mr. R. S. Narayan had however a different take on this. A monkey entered his house and he felt his prayers had been answered and Hanuman had personally come to bless him. Different people, different perspectives!

Restrictions on phone usage may make the children go up in arms against you. Try reasoning with a rebellious child and you may have a cold war at home. As it is, bringing up children in today's world is a challenge. Look at what happened in Ryan's International School. There are dangers lurking in every corner. Parents may find pornography, games etc., trivial compared to the dangerous communities pervading the net, drawing in the children, and pandering to their wishes for playing gruesome games, substance abuse etc. Beware and look out for personality changes, if any, that takes place in your child. Do not wait and seek counselling in case you are not able to confront your children.

The Diwali Rangoli competition was shorn of the glitter and had to be renamed "Rangoli competition" from its earlier avatar "Illumination competition" as there were no prizes for illumination and only one prize each for rangoli by adults and by children under 15 years. This was to answer the demands by residents of different blocks who complained of lack of resources both in terms of hands and money. The ones who wish to keep the tradition alive are getting on in years and their creaking backs and suspect knees do not allow them to do justice to the rangolis and the general refrain was that the children were not stepping up as they had other interests. G&H who led the chorus to tone down, however, pulled out all the stops and went the whole hog. They stuck to the technicality of one adult rangoli but that one rangoli almost extended from one end of the block to the other. No doubt it was a superlative effort and they rightly deserved the first prize in both categories. C&D took the second prize in both categories. E&F had a superb rendition of a traditional lamp with hundreds of small diyas illuminating it and making it a beautiful visual treat.

Diwali itself was a subdued affair due to thankfully less crackers. Kids in Yamuna showed remarkable restraint bursting very few crackers. Despite the Supreme Court ban on sale of crackers, fireworks could be heard from neighbouring colonies albeit less than yesteryears. Consequently, the pollution levels were a tad less, being in severe category compared to hazardous category last year. Do you feel better? It's like saying you got eight slaps instead of ten, so be happy.

Sadhana School of Arts and Music's Annual Milaap function was held in the Badminton Court to a full house on 21st October, 2017. There was a guitar recital by the students of Sadhana followed by a tabla recital. Then came the visual ambrosia of a medley of Odissi dances which had many dancers from Yamuna. I notice a marked improvement over last year in their movements and eye expressions. They are moving more fluidly and showing the right expressions. It just shows the time and energy Radhika and Ramanan are bestowing on their students. Many of them can go on to perform on the big stage in the future. The grand finale was a superb Hindustani music recital by Shubham Modi. The audience sat spell-bound.for over an hour as he took us through the entire range of alaap with his improvisation. It was magical. He was splendidly accompanied by  Saurabh Seshan on tabla and Ejaz Khan on sarangi. We in Yamuna are indeed privileged to get a free pass to witness concert level performances.

The Yamuna Apartment Consumer Co-operative Stores Ltd reached the end of their tether and shut shop. With that, a long innings of the Stores which has been there almost since inception at different locations within the complex has come to an end. It is a sad end to a next door convenience store where all the original members were share holders. They have been limping for a while with very limited stocks and items. The end seemed ominous for a while. The fact is, this format of business where there is only part-time involvement of members cannot survive. One is at the mercy of the staff. Integrity is at a premium these days and to expect lowly paid staff not to indulge in skulduggery is to expect a miracle. They are faced with a huge list of supplier creditors. It is going to be a big challenge to address them with no money in the kitty. Only a businessman with his skin in the game can run such an outfit.

The Society has taken possession of the Stores space and has opened bid for members interested in getting into an operational tie-up with an established grocery retailer to run the Stores as a new outfit and bring convenience back to the residents, particularly for South Indian items. We may have to wait for a few months before we get a suitable party.

OBITUARY

Mr. Rajamani (A-103) passed away on the morning of  14th October, 2017 at his home. His daughter Lavanya was by his side. His other daughter Rajeshwari came from the US a couple of days later. He was ailing for some time but the end came rather unexpectedly. May his soul rest in peace. Yamuna residents convey their heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family.

SNIPPETS

Padmavathy of A-110 has gone on full scholarship Masters programme in Life Science to University of Grenoble in France. It's great to see Yamuna kids blossoming out and seeking their future in foreign lands. To land up in this Alpine town across the mountain from Lake Geneva adds to its mystique.

*******************

A-302 has new occupants. Pushkar Mani has moved in with his wife Aanchal and their toddler son Vihaan from Jamshedpur. Pushkar works for Desein Indore as Sr. Marketing Manager. His interests include playing football and TT and also loves listening to pop music. He doesn't have to look far for that as Aanchal is a good singer apart from being an exponent of Kathak. You will get to see her perform at the Annual Day function. She also loves to play badminton. We welcome them to the Yamuna family.

********************

Kalyani and Chandramouli of C-204 have become proud grandparents. Their son, Srinath and his wife Priya were blessed with a baby boy on 27th October, 2017. Congratulations to the parents and grandparents.

Letter to the editor:

Two of my articles on Periyar EV Ramaswamy have appeared in the Wire. I am giving the links. Residents of Yamuna may like to read them when they find time.

Best, 

P A Krishnan-H/205

https://thewire.in/179688/periyar-ev-ramasamy-dravida-nadu-brahmins-dmk/

https://thewire.in/185309/periyar-colonialism-freedom-brahminism-hegemony-casteism/

		CALENDAR OF EVENTS NOVEMBER 2017
DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
5-11.11.17	6.30 PM	BADMINTON & TT CHAMPIONSHIP	BADMINTON COURT/
			BELOW CLUB HOUSE
12.11.17	10.00 AM	ANNUAL SPORTS DAY FOR ALL AGE GROUPS	MAIN LAWN
26.11.17	6.30 PM	QUIZ COMPETITION WITH ANTARIKSH	BADMINTON COURT