Issue No. 191 I July 2017

EDITORIAL

Confusion reigns with the implementation of GST. Although it is touted as the biggest reform measure of independent India, it has left many people wondering what to do with regard to various aspects governing their business and personal life. Those adversely affected are the ones who did not pay any taxes prior to this. Be that as it may, it will make the country more tax compliant and reduce the burden of the middle class who hitherto bore bulk of the burden of tax collections in the country. The effects of GST on the Society's functioning and the impact and implications are under the scanner. As per the rules registered, co-operative societies also come under the ambit of GST, not because of individual maintenance subscription which is less than the threshold limit of Rs. 5,000 per month but because we cross the Rs. 20 lacs turnover limit and for income from maintenance of rented spaces and periodic let out spaces like the community hall, badminton court and lawn. The financial impact of GST on the Society will be to the extent of extra administrative work on account compliance requirements. The members will be apprised of the impact on monthly maintenance during the AGM by which time greater clarity will emerge on not only the GST issue but also on the proposed increase in minimum wages.

We are a nation of all shapes and sizes and we in Yamuna are no exception to it. Some are vertically challenged and some others are horizontally challenged. In order that all residents make a transition to the ideal body structure and fitness, which brings with it the added bonus of good health, an outdoor gym has been installed in the corner of the main park courtesy BJP MP Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi. Mr. P. K. K. Nair liaised actively with her to bring this to fruition. But don't throw caution to the winds. When you start exercising, please don't go from zero to hundred in one outing. Your muscles need to get acclimatised to the new regimen, otherwise, you could end up with a lot of aches and pain. Please phase your exercise schedule so that you ramp up to peak levels over a period of three months. The gym has found many adherents already with many ladies, some men and children seen exercising their muscles.

AAP has announced that all surgeries in Delhi will be done free. While it is a noble gesture, I wonder whether it will ever be practically implementable. With all hospitals overcrowded with paid patients, why would hospitals entertain patients for whose operations the hospitals have to claim payments from the Government, knowing full well that the wheels of bureaucracy do not move without the lubricating effects of liberal amounts of grease. You could visit any hospital, Government or private – the availability of rooms is not there. No surgeries can be undertaken if there are no rooms, as rooms are required for post operative care and recuperation. I have reasonable cause to believe that this initiative will be still-born.

At some time or the other, we have all been victims of the pernicious practices of the private health care providers and the pathetic  state of the public health care system. Some doctors and diagnostic labs have converted medical care into a cynically commercial activity. What is a matter of intrigue is the candour with which some doctors have commented on the several fault lines that plague medical care in India. Instances of malpractice, unnecessary tests and treatments, commissions and kickbacks on referrals to other doctors and diagnostic labs are rampant. Canons of medical ethics are cast aside as blatant advertisements on medical miracles which even God could not have conjured are used to entice gullible patients. Patients on ventilators are kept alive just so the hospital can extract more money although they clearly know that the person will eventually leave the hospital in a hearse. In other cases, because of the sundry and unnecessary tests, indebted families run out of money much before they run out of hope. It is a cruel world made worse by the ones who ply the trade which we ironically call health care.

With the arrival of the festival season a tad early this year, many of the festivities will have to be conducted when the weather is not so conducive. One may have to also bear with rain disruptions as some of the functions are bang in the middle of the monsoon season. However, the sheer joy of celebrating the festivals overcomes any discomfort. Since the success of the variety entertainment programmes rests on the active participation of the residents, I would request them to come forward and volunteer to do things which are their forte. I am giving below the table of the calendar of events for the period August to December 2017 and request residents to plan their holidays avoiding these dates.

In a swift Machiavellian move, Nitish Kumar and Modi pulled the carpet from under Lalu Yadav's feet to unceremoniously unsettle the Mahaghatbandhan in Bihar. It caught the UPA napping and all they could do was to kick and scream from the sidelines. In this entire narrative what has come out clearly is that the Opposition does not have a unifying force. The Congress which hitherto played that role has a Vice President  who cannot inspire a class of juveniles leave alone lead a coalition of disparate parties, united  just to cobble up strength to form the Government. It takes very little for the fabric of unison to be torn asunder and the FIR against Lalu's son was all it needed for Nitish Kumar to pull the plug.

			CALENDAR OF EVENTS AUGUST – DECEMBER 2017
DATE	TIME		EVENT	VENUE
14.8.17	6.30 PM		JANMASHTAMI VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME, BREAKING OF DAHI HANDI AND FOOD STALLS	BADMINTON COURT
15.8.17	9.00 AM		INDEPENDENCE DAY FLAG HOISTING,	BADMINTON COURT
			SINGING OF PATRIOTIC SONGS, DISTRIBUTION OF SWEETS
3.9.17	12 NOON		POOKALAM AND ONAM LUNCH	COMMUNITY HALL
	ONWARDS
23.9.17	6.30 PM		DANDIA, MUSIC AND FOOD EVENING	BADMINTON COURT
30.9.17	4.30 PM		RAMLILA AND BURNING OF EFFIGY OF RAVAN	MAIN LAWN
14.10.17	6.00 PM		DIWALI MELA/JUMBLE SALE/JAM SESSION/RIDES/FOOD	BOTH BADMINTON
			FORTUNE TELLING/GAMES AND LOTS MORE	COURTS
8.10.17	9.30 AM		AGM	COMMUNITY HALL
19.10.17	6.30 PM		DIWALI ILLUMINATION COMPETITION	BETWEEN THE BLOCKS
28.10.17	6.30 PM		MOVIE SCREENING AND POT LUCK DINNER	BADMINTON COURT
1-7.11.17	6.30 PM		BADMINTON & TT TOURNAMENTS	BADMINTON COURT
12.11.17	9.30 AM		SPORTS DAY	MAIN LAWN
18.11.17	6.30 PM		QUIZ COMPETITION WITH ANTARIKSH DAS	BADMINTON COURT
2.12.17	4.30 PM		ANNUAL DAY – REFRESHMENTS, PRIZE DISTRIBUTION, VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT AND DINNER	MAIN LAWN
10.12.17	10.30 AM		HERITAGE WALK/NATURE WALK	FROM A BLOCK GATE
24.12.17	6.00 PM		CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL/CAROL SINGING/WINTER RAMP WALK. MUSIC/DANCE/FOOD STALLS	BADMINTON COURT
31.12.17	MIDNIGHT		CAKE CUTTING AND USHERING IN THE NEW YEAR	COMMUNITY HALL

The main lawn sports a verdant look thanks to the  efforts of Mr. S. Krishnaswamy who despite his knee and back problems worked tirelessly to make this happen. We are indeed grateful to him.

SNIPPETS

Riya Ramabadhran has joined BITS, Pilani to do Computer Engineering She pretty much got admission in most engineering colleges but placed her bets on BITS, an institution with pedigree. We wish her good luck.

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Mr. Praveen Kohli has migrated from C-203 to E-003 with his family. No more trudging up two floors. C Block's loss is E-Block's gain.

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Venkat Iyer and Sudha Iyer have moved out of B-303 to Coimbatore to settle down there to lead their post retirement life. We wish them good luck.

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Anisha and Sukam have moved out of H-208 to Gurgaon to be close to their place. of work They stayed in Yamuna for less than a year, so many residents may not be very familiar with them.

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R. Sriram Raju and Sudha Balakrishnan of A-103 have moved to Bangalore after living in Yamuna for seven years. Sriram who was working with Bombardier has been hired by Alsthom to be head of Asia Pacific operations from Bangalore. It is a great career move for him and we wish him good luck. Sudha who was very active in the Diwali Illumination Competition with her illustrations will be sorely missed by A&B Block residents.

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Mr. Lutz Konermann has moved into C-206 from Zurich with his wife Farida Pacha and son Rehan. Lutz holds dual nationality being both Swiss and German. He used to teach film making in Ludwigsburg University in Germany before deciding to make films. He makes both documentary and feature films. He met his partner and wife Farida in Mumbai during one of his film making projects. Farida who is a Gujarati is also a documentary film maker. Lutz loves travelling and sings German songs. Farida, apart from travelling, is also a keen bird watcher. Rehan is joining MMI for his schooling. He loves to play with Lego sets and solve Sudoku puzzles and is also fond of climbing. Rehan speaks German, English and a bit of Gujarati. Yamuna. welcomes them.

Issue No. 190 I June 2017

EDITORIAL

In the Champion's Trophy, our team got humbled by a rejuvenated and charged up Pakistani team. To the spectator, many decisions on the field and in the selection seemed inexplicable. While many persons are talking about match fixing, It seems unfathomable that the players would stoop so low considering all of them are multi millionaires in dollar terms and would not jeopardise their career and reputation to sleaze. Be that as it may, the manner in which they lost, calls for a lot of introspection.

Will it be the end of the road for Mahender Singh Dhoni? Among other things, Dhoni has also lost the captaincy of his IPL team Pune Supergiants. It could also have been the last fling of his armoury at the Champion's trophy. Probably, to some, he is past his 'sell by' date. To me he is still lightning fast with his stumping and amongst the fastest runners between the wickets even if his batting has lost much of its potency. How did Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the laid back boy from Jharkhand who became the free-spirited dervish of International cricket slowly fade from the limelight? While, at his peak he gave a new meaning to attacking batting and lightning stumping, younger Trojans have taken over his mantle. His cool demeanour under the most trying and testing situations left rival captains frustrated. Let's raise a salute to him.

Most people are in mortal dread of a person who wears a white smock, totes a fiendishly whiny electric drill and is known as a dentist. I am no exception to the rule. On a recent visit I was weighing the option of two procedures, one, a more permanent fix which involved the extensive use of the drill in question and the other a less permanent one with a less intrusive procedure. No marks for guessing which one I chose.

Travelling on company account hands you the privilege of flying business class and staying in 5 star hotels. However, there is a downside to it. While the airfare and hotel bills are taken care of by the company, the tips you pay the staff is to your account. Everyone is so unctuous as though you were the first rainfall after a drought. The check in clerk is so sugary sweet that people like me who are not the Nawabi born keep looking over the shoulder to see who is the person he is addressing. The bellboy leads you to the lift as if you were some matinee idol. You end up giving him a decent tip lest he give you the supercilious sneer. You check out after paying Rs. 20,000 per day for your room with taxes and sundry expenses and you think you got even because you took away the complimentary mini shampoo, mini conditioner and tooth brush! By the time you are done with all the handouts to the bell hop, doorman, taxi driver and sundry other people, you realise you are down a few hundred bucks which you cannot claim from the company. Now that I am in my sunset years and need to save up for a future without a salary, I got down to do a back of the envelop calculation on the tips I must have paid over the last thirty years. I was  astounded to realise that it was a few lacs of rupees. To think that one paid gratification to the guy who opened the door of your taxi which you could have very well done yourself makes you feel cheated. Well I deserved it, I guess. My friends in Yamuna who are much younger than I am and travel extensively should take a note of this and exercise restraint lest they find after retirement that a big chunk of what should have been their savings is in somebody else's pocket.

If you are going to DDA, you have to be weatherproofed for disappointment. However, off late the agents have become wiser to the requirements of documents and as such free-hold activities have become a breeze, so long as you have all the required papers. It is suggested that all those who get their flats converted to free-hold should give a photocopy of the set of documents to the office so that the society can take cognizance of the same and accordingly plan to pay the lease rental only for the remainder of members.

The incidence of rapes in UP have multiplied by gargantuan proportion It is believed rape videos are selling at Rs. 20 apiece in most UP towns which is probably the cause of this proliferation.  Why a woman trying to protect her modesty in the face of grave threat to her body and life by male predators can turn on people, boggles the mind. Are these people normal? Many girls have left school and are sacrificing their education as a consequence. How can the government and social organisations be silent to this? Only prurient interest keeps this business alive. I am disgusted and enraged. While Yogi Adityanath has talked about zero tolerance on crime against women, this is a decades old malaise where the law enforcement agencies have themselves been found to be culpable. It is going to be a humungous task to clean the stables.

The main lawn was infested by weeds. A sturdy and wild grass variety had taken over many parts of the lawn thereby muscling out the selection variety of grass which is what lawns are made of. A contractor was appointed to deweed the lawn and plant fresh grass. This has been done. It will take a while for the grass to spread its cover over the bare areas and become dense. We could be seeing a lush lawn by Dussehra. Consequently, for Sports Day and Annual Day we will be treading on a green carpet.

The implementation of GST with effect from 1st July, 2017 is a mega reformist measure taken by the Government. This will remove many of the inefficiencies that plague the productivity of the Indian manufacturing sector. In the initial months there is likely to be some chaos as many will be forced to move from a non taxation regime to a taxation regime and compliance issues will stymie the best efforts of many in the unorganised sector. However, over a period of time the gains of GST will start trickling through and prices of most things will come down.

The monsoon has arrived a tad early and beset us with the same problems of stagnation and seepage. Please guard against vector borne diseases like malaria, dengue, chickungunia etc by ensuring that there is no stagnant water in the coolers and other places which act as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The Society has cleaned all the terrace drains so that no water stagnates there and seeps into the flats in the top floor.

OBITUARY

Mr. Ajoy Choudhury, member of E-001 and the chief architect of the Design Group which designed Yamuna Apartments breathed his last on 2nd June, 2017 at the Escorts Heart Institute. We are indeed grateful to him for having designed such a magnificent edifice which is a cynosure for all architecture students. We convey our heartfelt condolence to all his family members. May his soul rest in peace. 

SNIPPETS

The first two snippets relate to events that happened in May but could not be featured in the May Chronicle.

V.E. Gayathri has moved out of E-003. She is headed to the The Hague in the Netherlands to add to her academic heft in the legal profession by enrolling for a Masters Degree in Law. That she has chosen the Hague as her place of choice to pursue her masters may be with the intention of eventually joining the International Court of Justice which is housed there.

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Mrs.Durga Narayanaswamy of F-003 decided to relieve the misery of the chowkidars whose time in the Guard house is a living hell in searing heat of the summer when temperatures can reach over 45⁰ C. She donated a desert cooler each for the A & H block Guard houses. The guards are obviously grateful to her for this largesse.

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Yohaan Abraham A-008 is not just another neighbourhood kid. He is an ace badminton player. This attractive southpaw will not be seen gracing our badminton court for a few years as he has chosen to do his Bachelor's in Design from the Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore. We wish him good luck.

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Another handy badminton player from B-202, Sumyouktha Shankar, with cerebral heft in equal measure has cracked the Xth Class Board Exams. She scored a perfect 10 GPA in all subjects except English. Way to go, girl. Congratulations!

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Another daughter of Yamuna has flown the nest. Aishwarya Nair of H-002 got married to Prathyush in Guruvayoorappan Temple in Mayur Vihar in blazing heat on 4th June, 2017. With a massive crowd milling around the mini sanctum sanctorum, barely anybody could actually witness the wedding ceremony. Adorned from head to waist in exquisite gold jewellery, she looked like a princess.Mercifully,the actual function got over in a jiffy and everybody could move to the cool comfort of the Hall. The snacks, beverages and the lunch spread was extensive and delectable. Yamuna was very well represented. Everybody had a jolly good time and for Yamuna residents it was another opportunity to intermingle. As a precursor to the wedding there was mehndi and sangeet in a hall in GK2 for some fun and gaiety. Aishwarya's friends danced delightfully to some choreographed numbers. Asha, you have pulled off a humdinger of a wedding. Prathyush has whisked Aishwarya off to a secret destination in Mauritius for their honeymoon.

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Member of A-205, T.S. Ramji's son Raghav, got married to Kavita, his erstwhile colleague at Ashok Leyland, in Bhopal on 8th June, 2017. At a charming reception held in Kota House in Delhi on 12th June, 2017 several Yamuna residents were present. Kavita will be joining Raghav in Germany where he currently works. Meena and Ramji were gracious hosts.

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Mr. Amitabh Adhikary has moved into C-108 from Kolkata. He is working in the HR department with the Aditya Birla Group. Among other things he is fond of reading and writing for journals on HR matters. His wife Reshmi Ghosh was a Biology and Environmental Science teacher. She has interests in interior decoration and socialising. Their daughter, Elina studies in Class V in Tagore International School.