Issue No. 207 I November 2018

EDITORIAL     

There are Quiz programmes on TV, in schools, colleges but nothing, absolutely nothing can prepare you for the Quiz that Sumathi puts up for us. There is a palpable sense of excitement about what she would come up with. There are no straightforward questions for which you would find an answer in Quiz books or can search on Google. Herein lies the skill of the Quiz master.   While most of the questions stump me, I still shamelessly come for the Quiz year after year to be rudely woken up to the fact that I barely know anything. Still I enjoy it immensely because it has a teasing and beguiling quality. It makes you feel like you should be knowing the answer, yet you don’t. I must have known only a dozen answers from a list of fifty or more. That is pathetic for sure. I take comfort in the fact that some of the questions even baffled people who run Quiz shows for a profession. However, the contestants were far more well informed than I was.

Be that as it may, traffic snarls delayed the start of the Quiz programme by nearly an hour as many of the contestants were near Yamuna, yet so far. A commute from Savitri to Yamuna was a good forty-five minutes. We still had enough contestants to form five teams of four members each. The  teams in order of marks scored were CLUELESS with 260, INSHALLAH, THE TEAM PLAYED WELL with 235, SIKANDAR with 200, # ME TOO with 175 and HELPLESS with 170. If you remove the first two teams from the reckoning who had professional quizzers in their midst, the teams were pretty much evenly matched. The first prize was won by Clueless featuring Antariksh Das, Anirudh Sundaresan, Savita and Suchitra. The second prize was won by I,TTPW featuring Kunal Savarkar, Mr. Natarajan, K. Srikant and Abhinav Kumar. I would like to thank the other contestants namely Anita, Poornima, Anirudh Suresan, Venkatesh, Seema Chari, Mihir, Madhavi, Anand, Latha Narayanan, Aditi Rastogi, Kirti and Aseem for making it a keen contest.

Since the quiz competition went well beyond the allotted time, the antakshari programme slated for the same day had to be cancelled. The pot luck dinner was held in ideal weather conditions. The food was great and the bonhomie infectious.

The Diwali illumination competition was headed to a truncated event with C&D blocks deciding to not enter the fray. It would have been very disappointing if they had gone ahead with the boycott. This competition is the only one held in the colony which brings the whole community to interact with each other. It fosters team spirit, bonhomie and community bonding. Even between the blocks there is leg pulling and friendly banter, just to up the ante. While C&D could only muster two rangoli’s in the limited time they had, shorn of funds and planning. I admire the spirit they showed in the process. It is not a question of winning or losing, it is just being part of a great tradition not followed anywhere else. The euphoria of winning and the disappointment of losing is only momentary but the bonding that is built as a consequence is everlasting. May this tradition

continue. Even if the older participants and organizers retire from active duty, the younger and fitter residents should carry on and maybe bring about a few adaptations.

A&B Blocks who came up with a Hanuman pageant swept all the first prizes. The categories were Best Theme, Best Rangoli, Best Illumination and Best Overall Impact. G&H whose theme was ‘LGBTQ Rights’ got second prize in all the categories. E&F Blocks whose theme was ‘Stellar Constellations’ shared the second prize with G&H Blocks in all categories except illumination. C&D deserves kudos for coming up with two big rangolis on an impromptu basis, having earlier decided not to participate.

The Society has acquired a light weight wheel chair with safety belts and handles in front and rear to enable patients to be brought down the staircases easily. As you must be aware, our staircases are not conducive to carrying patients on stretchers due to the limited turning radius available. In the light of the above, the new wheel chair will come as a boon to senior citizens and patients. The wheel chair will be placed outside the Community Hall, after a cover to prevent it from getting dirty is made ready. Whosoever takes the chair should return it to the same place and cover the wheel chair. The Society will also be acquiring an oxygen generator to facilitate breathing in case of shortness of breath.

Delhi sweeps the crap air award again. We keep flirting with air quality reading very poor, severe or downright dangerous. To a large extent Yamuna is sheltered from the ill effects of this pollution with tall tree barriers on all sides. The trees not only filter the dust and other pollutants from entering our homes, they also help generate oxygen so vital for our lives. You can literally smell the difference in the air quality when you walk on the pavement outside the apartments and move progressively towards the park where it is significantly better.

The election season is upon us with elections in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telengana, Rajasthan and Manipur. The political parties have given prudence and pragmatism a shove into the broom closet with the dishing out sops which is bound to drain the treasury. It may be good politics but rank bad economics. It just goes to show that all political parties are only interested in warming their chairs in the legislative assembly for the next five years and to hell with the people. I have reasonable cause to believe that whichever party will come to power will end up losing in the hustings in the next state elections as they will be hard pressed to fulfil their promises. We will slip back to a phase of anti-incumbency.

I bumped into a friend after an interval of several years—his son, on a previous occasion, had sat on my lap and doodled with his pen all over my shirt. Suddenly he was introducing this very brat who was like a slender version of the Empire State Building with outsized glasses and a wispy moustache. This lanky skyscraper with spaghetti like arms grabbed my palm as though he was squashing a bug. So much for GM food and oustsized specimens. Of course, he had no recollection of his doodling on my shirt. Closer home also I see this phenomenon in the case of both the Anirudhs, Rohan Nayyar, Vidyut Mohan, Archit, Abhishek Eswaran, Hari Nair, Shashank Venkatesh and some others who are all much taller than their fathers and amongst the girls, Kiana Abraham, Anoushka Nair, Samiksha Nair, Tanvi and Sahana Savarkar, Shreeya and Shreeja Srikant, all much taller than their mothers. Of course, we have a lot of catching up to do with European nations. I recently visited Croatia where the shortest men were around six feet tall and the taller ones were all over six feet three inches tall with some towering behemoths at seven feet or more. I felt like a pygmy in their midst.

The Sports Day was held on 18^th November, 2018 in the main lawn. The weather was awesome and the children were in fine spirits and raring to go. As always the event starts with the tiny tots pitting their wits with their friends in picking the highest number of toffees. This event draws the loudest cheers with each contender having a support base. While there was a good turnout of children, the ladies and gents were few and far between. Contrast this with the situation just a few years ago when we had to conduct heats to accommodate all the ladies participating in the sprints, lemon and spoon race and needle and thread race. The irony was that even the ladies present were not willing to do the sprints or needle and thread race, citing various health or eyesight issues. Coming as it was from ladies much younger than the ones who used to take part in these events, I begin to wonder whether modern life styles have taken a toll on people’s health or whether the spirit is lacking. 

The ones with great athletic prowess won multiple prizes. Equal credit should be given to all those who participated but could not win a prize for their spirit. The concluding event, the ‘tug of war’ is always a gender fight and the winners take away the bragging rights. The men were vastly outnumbered and I too had to join the men to bolster the team. Fat lot it did, though. To say that we were hauled in like a sack of coals would be putting it mildly. We were dragged on the grass and were humiliated while the ladies were jumping and celebrating their victory. The girls too got the better of boys. Estrogen scores over testosterone.

The Society Annual Day is a marquee event which everyone looks forward to. Children and adults alike put up their best effort to come up with performances on stage to delight the audience. There was a suggestion by Ms. Soumya Srikant to light up the colony at night from Diwali onwards to uplift the mood and replace the dreary and sombre look of the place in winter. It seemed like a good idea and rather inexpensive to implement. The results are there for you to see.

	SPONSORS FOR ANNUAL DAY 2018
S.NO	NAME	FLAT NO.	AMOUNT/GIFTS
1	K. SRIDEVI	G 303	RS. 10000
2	M. ANAND	H 101	RS. 5000
3	SAVITA KUMAR IN MEMORY OF LATE N.V. SESHAN	G 105	RS. 5000 WORTH GIFT COUPONS
4	N.A. SESHADRI	D 103	RS.2000
5	P.H.NARAYANAN	C 007	MISCELLANEOUS GIFTS
6	POORNIMA NARAYANAN	B 002	MISCELLANEOUS GIFTS

OBITUARY

Mrs. Radha Warrier of H-203 breathed her last at Moolchand Hospital on 6^th November, 2018. She was a pillar of support to Mr. Warrier and with her passing away he has lost an anchor. Fortunately, both her son and daughter had flown down to Delhi a few days ago and were with her. She was an Economics and English teacher at Bharatya Vidya Bhavan and after her retirement was part of their supervisory board. She also had a stint managing the children’s section of a Times of India publication. She had received the best teacher’s award and was a mentor to many teachers. Yamuna residents convey their heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.

SNIPPETS

Chayan Adhikari has moved out of A-205 to Vasant Kunj to be close to the place of work of his  partner, Anna.

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Mr. Rajesh Sharma and his wife Sangeeta have moved out of  A-004 to GK 2. He moved into Yamuna to redevelop his house in GK 2. Since that work is over he has moved back to his own house.

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Mr. Umamahesvaran Srinivasan’s wife Priti and daughter Vaidehi have moved out of G-305 and relocated to Pondicherry. They moved in October 2018. Since Mr. Umamahesvaran had earlier moved out to take up a teaching assignment at IIM, Indore. The flat is now available for rent.

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Vidyut Mohan of G-206 after earning accolades and prizes for innovative and sustainable technology in the field of environment in India, entered the international Smogathon competition held in Poland, an initiative aiming to fight smog with innovative technology. 

The idea was to get the best projects from across the world to compete for US $  15,000, US $ 10,000 and US$ 5,000 as first, second and third prizes and special implementation prize respectively.  Pitted against the best minds in the world, his patented technology was chosen by the judges as the best in the world and he was awarded the first prize of US $ 15,000.

Vidyut is co-founder of Takachar, a start-up with patented technology which aims to convert  biomass to bio-coal and other byproducts and thus prevent harmful emissions. This also creates rural employment and adds value to the waste. 

Vidyut, a self effacing youngster with a good head on his shoulders is destined for greater heights. We in Yamuna are very proud of his achievements and would like to wish him the best for the future.

		CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR DECEMBER, 2018
DATE	TIME	ITEM	VENUE
1.12.18	4.30 PM	ANNUAL DAY-REFRESHMENTS, PRIZE DISTRIBUTION,	MAIN LAWN
		VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT AND DINNER
24.12.18	6.00 PM	CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL/CAROL SINGING/WINTER RAMP WALK	BADMINTON COURT
		MUSIC/DANCE/FOOD STALLS
29.12.18	10.00 AM	NATURE WALK TO ARAVALLI BIO-DIVERSITY PARK	FROM A BLOCK GATE
31.12.18	MIDNIGHT	CAKE CUTTING AND USHERING IN THE NEW YEAR	COMMUNITY HALL

Issue No. 206 I October 2018

EDITORIAL

The cats in the colony have become a menace. Cats by nature are predatory creatures and live by hunting small game like rats, bandicoots and birds. They also have very good toilet manners in nature as they bury their poop in soil. We have changed the true nature of cats by feeding them. Their cute looks, specially of the kittens and their pleading eyes makes many amongst us go weak in the knees. We feed them and let them live amongst us in the confines of blocks and staircases. When it is time for nature’s call, they defecate in the staircases. Since there is no soil around, they do not have an opportunity to bury their poop in soil. Poop laden staircases don’t paint a pretty picture, leave alone the foul smell and danger of disease spreading. The Society office has received complaints from several residents who have gone on to pinpoint the people feeding the cats. We do not wish to name and shame the feline lovers, but in the interest of community harmony, it is advised that they desist from feeding the cats. Left to nature, cats will survive by feeding on small game. Right now, because we provide them easy meals they do not do the hard work hunting. Rats and bandicoots are cocking a snook at the cats as they know very well that they won’t come after them. A look at the numerous holes in the soil shows that there is a thriving colony of rodents in subterranean labyrinth of tunnels. Once their numbers swell, they will invade our homes. Do you want this to happen? Certainly not, we presume.

At the moment there are four cats in the colony who have delivered litters of between three and four kittens. In about a year they will be ready for breeding. Woe begone, we will be awash with feline litter. The staircases will become a nasty mess. As per the NGO who has indepth knowledge of cats, one of the main reasons for cats defecating in staircases is because they are fed cows or buffalo milk which they are not in a position to digest because thay are lactose intolerant. The same NGO was contacted by an MC member for sterilisation of cats. They have agreed to sterilise two of the feamle cats for free in order to put a momentary arrest to this proliferation. It is an otherwise paid service. Thereafter, those who feed the cats will have to pick up the tab.

Ascetic Jaggi Vasudev, commonly known as Sadhguru is gaining a lot of traction nationally and internationally. These days he comes very often on talk shows in various channels. He is smart, erudite, very articulate and makes a lot of sense. He is a mystic and practices Yoga. He is also a New York Times Best selling author. He is a person who stands for civilised behaviour and individual rights. Contrast this with low level hagiographists like Asaram Bapu and Ram Rahim for whom these hardly seem like qualities in demand.

It does not help that our western neighbour is caught up in a murky world of decadence, terrorism and bravado. Recently, a BSF jawan was shot, tortured and beheaded on the Indian side of the border with tell tale signs that it was the handiwork of Pakistani Rangers, What followed in the media was jingoism. We must realise that any war between the nuclearised neighbours will turn out to be the Armageddon. Let not some foolish reporters queer the pitch with their inflammatory statements. While the Pakistani PM Imran Khan is talking of dialogue, the terrorists and their handlers, the ISI, are fomenting trouble at the border and in Kashmir. He may be another puppet on a string with the strings in the hands of General Bajwa. Even so, when there are some conciliatory statements coming from the other side, we should give peace a try, albeit cautiously. It’s high time we mended our relationship with our nettlesome neighbour, otherwise they will keep haemorrhaging our economic resources through terrorists which keeps our security forces under high stress. What better way than to use our Bollywood star power, which is fodder for the average Pakistani.

Navratri, the nine day wonder that evokes poetry in me, is the period in the calendar that I cherish. I have a weakness for all things beautiful and there is nothing more beautiful than the female form clad in a silk sari. This Navratri, somebody posted on WhatsApp a message that went viral and stated as under :

Below are the Sanskrit names of the Tithi days valid for 2018. For each of these days the Rasa, Mood, Bhav, Emotion, Deity and colour has been provided. Oct 10 Pratipada YELLOW, Oct 11 Dwitiya GREEN, Oct 12 Tritiya GREY, Oct 13 Chaturthi ORANGE, Oct 14 Panchami WHITE, Oct 15 Shasti RED, Oct 16 Saptami BLUE, Oct 17 Ashtami PINK and Oct 18 Navami PURPLE. This message sent all the ladies scurrying to the nearest Nalli and Rasi stores and lo and behold most of them wore the saris of the colour as prescribed in the Sanskrit texts. My sympathies are with  those who had to fork out serious money for this wardrobe makeover. I thank God my wife did not fall prey to these blandishments.

The Annual Day will be on 8^th December, 2018. By the time the Chronicle will be out, there will be barely a month left for the participants to rehearse their plays, skits, dances, songs and sundry other items. Please start planning the items that some of you would like to put up and let me have the names of the items, names of the participants and the duration of each item to plan out the evening.

The # Me Too movement has sent shivers down many a spine. As of now people in media and show biz have mainly fallen prey to this, although this malaise is rampant in all walks of life. Whosoever with shady moral values and coercive power as a boss or provider and wielded power both physical and material, looked at women as objects of lust. Until now, women were reluctant to air their plight for fear of ostracisation by society at large but changing times, women’s empowerment and media heft have given them the courage to speak out. It is only the tip of the iceberg and I suspect many big names will get dragged into the mire. There is reason to believe that there will also be some cases where accusations will be made to settle personal scores. This is where media has to exercise restraint and do due diligence before besmirching the reputation of somebody who is actually not guilty.

Mrs. Seetha Venkataraman has stepped down as President of Yamuna owing to health concerns. I have reasonable cause to believe that her condition may have got exacerbated by the recent chain mails. I wish to place on record the Managing Committee’s gratitude for the tireless work she had been doing in the committee all these years handling administrative matters amongst others. The post of a President is a very thankless one. If things run smoothly no credit is given, but even if one lapse takes place, things are magnified several times over. At this rate nobody would like to take the onerous responsibility of a President.

Mohan Krishnaswamy has been elected as the President and Raju Krishnan, the Vice President. Both these members have demonstrated good commitment levels to run the affairs of the Society efficiently. All residents are requested to extend their full co-operation to them so that the Society activities can run without a hitch. The General Body meeting went off smoothly and the members present supported the MC by passing all the resolutions unanimously.

The IPCC report compiled by experts from the University of Washington, WHO and Climate Tracker has stated that global temperatures could go up by 1.5⁰ C as early as 2030. The worst affected regions are likely to be India and Pakistan.  As it is, even now, the unbridled attempt to tamper with nature is the cause of cataclysmic events globally. The unprecedented floods in Kerala, hurricanes in Indonesia, China, Philipines and the USA underline this concern. The droughts and floods that will plague us in the years to come could trigger water wars. This elixir of life could become so scarce that it may lead to mass migration from water deficit regions to places where it may not yet be a concern  This will then cause social and political unrest. Jokes apart, the only happy person on the planet may be a dead person! In the light of the aforementioned, the concern raised by Vatsala Zutshi about water conservation in the discussion forum of Apna Complex gains credence.

Children these days resort to speaking in Hinglish, an amorphous blend of English and Hindi which has its own saltiness and local relevance. It's not because most urban Indians consider English foreign. It's just that Hinglish is a user friendly patois. I do not favour the jettisoning of Queen's English in favour of the desi hybrid lingo. As Hinglish inexorably creeps into the lingua franca of Gen Next, their communication skills in  Queen's English will suffer.  Guard against the wanton use of Hinglish by the children as it will prevent them from articulating their thoughts lucidly to an audience not proficient in Hindi.

The Ramlila act in the badminton court drew a full house. If memory serves me right we have not had such a big audience after the last Diwali mela. The shadow play choreographed and presented by Shreeja was outstanding. She got a well deserved standing ovation from the crowd. The concept, the execution and the commentary were all top class. Shashvath and Ananya’s commentary was exceptional. Ananya’s diction and dialogue delivery had a touch of class. I came to know later that she is called to speak at all school events. Maybe, to be a proffessional compere is her calling. The cast of the play were Varun, Saiansh, Aditya, Nivetha, Adhya, Aryan, Elina, Arya, Adwita, Ananya, Sahana Iyer, Shashvath, Akshara, Rehaan, Krishna, Kiaan and Athira. Before the floor could be thrown open the dandiya , Bhavna Harish, Vanshika Arora, Anoushka Nair, Sahana V. Iyer, Radhika Venkataraman and Kiana Abraham, all students of Sadhana, choreographed and arranged a delightful rendering of the dandia to Ram Bhajan composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar. Then the ladies and girls in all their festive finery took over the dance floor and showed us all the moves while the men gaped in the audience. I don’t understand the reluctance of boys and men to hit the dance floor. Maybe they have a complex that they would not be able to measure up to the fairer sex. Prominent on the dance floor were Rekha Raghav, Anu Nair, Seema Chari, Poornima Satish, Sujatha Sundaresan, Falguni Pathak, Gomathi Iyer, Meera Venkat amongst others. The girls who let their dancing feet do the talking were Adwita Nair, Anoushka Nair, Ananya Satish, Vanshika Arora and Elina. Please pardon me if I  have inadvertantly missed out any name.

Among the many items in the calendar of events, the Quiz programme is one of my favourites. The Quiz conducted by Sumathi will be held on Saturday, 3^rd November, 2018. Prizes for the Quiz will be distributed on the occasion of Annual Day. To ensure a sizable attendance, we are bundling it with two other events on that day. After the Quiz—which will start at 6.30 pm — there will be Group Antakshari with attractive hampers as prizes. The group Antakshari to be conducted by Aseem, Bhavani and Sumathi will pit the men against the women and children against the adults. This binary of men vs women brings out all the emotional passion to make it an interesting event. The opportunity of testosterone bashing, drives women to a frenzy as tug-of-war does. We will then round it all off with pot luck dinner. Please co-ordinate with other residents so that we have the right mix of food items. November is also tournament time. Those who wish to display their badminton and TT prowess should give their names and ages to Prashant Sr. of H-201 for both singles and doubles. The draw of lots will be done on 8^th November, 2018.

The rangoli and illumination competition on 7^th November, 2018 will be held on the lines of last year. At the behest of the senior ladies, It was agreed a year ago that due to aching knees and bad backs, the prize defining rangoli will be restricted to one rangoli per set of blocks. I now see a lot of young mothers for whom somatic disabilities should be a far cry and hence bending their backs a trifle more should just be a breeze. I therefore expect the glory of yore on terra firma. To contain costs we will limit the candles and diyas and allow decorative and staircase lights to supplement the illumination. Will any set of blocks have the cojones and skill to put it past G&H this time?

Wish you all a Happy Diwali.

OBITUARY

It was a very tragic moment for Yamuna when Mr. K. V. N. Swamy breathed no more. He was one of the founders of Yamuna. The Society was formed in his house in Karol Bagh in 1956 and he steered the workings of the Society until the complex we live in became a reality. 

He passed away in Batra Hospital on 4^th October, 2018. All Yamuna members immensely value his contribution to the Society and he leaves us bereft of a great legacy. May his soul rest in peace. The members of the Society convey their heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family. A puja and lunch was organised by the family on  to honour the departed soul.

SNIPPETS

Mr. K. Krishnamurthy of C-103, a FIDE rated chess player lifted the trophy in the Silchar Open International FIDE rating Chess tournament in the veteran’s category. If children from Yamuna require coaching in chess they cannot find a better person. He has won several trophies and is master of the sixty-four squares.

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The three brothers joint family of Sahu’s vacated Flat No. E-302.

		CALENDAR OF EVENTS IN NOVEMBER 2018
DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
3.11.18	6.30 PM	TEAM QUIZ WITH SUMATHI CHANDRASHEKARAN, ANTAKSHARI FACILITATED BY ASEEM KUMAR AND BHAVANI, POT LUCK DINNER	BADMINTON COURT
7.11.18	6.30 PM	DIWALI ILLUMINATION COMPETITION	BETWEEN THE BLOCKS
11-18.11.18	6.30 PM	BADMINTON & TT TOURNAMENTS	BADMINTON COURT
17.11.18	9.30 AM	SPORTS DAY	MAIN LAWN