EDITORIAL
It’s been seventy-one years on 15th
August, 2018 since India became independent from the yoke of the British
Empire. Can we say we are proud of the progress we have made since then?
Certainly not. Political compulsions, caste dynamics, religious bigotry, linguistic
concerns, river water disputes, reservations, women’s safety etc has made India
almost ungovernable. Only some private enterprises and software industries have
prospered despite the impediments. Nevertheless, we live in hope.
Yamuna’s flag hoisting ceremony on 15th
August, 2018 commenced on time, since, for a change we had a sizable audience
who were not caught up in holiday morning blues. The flag was raised by the
oldest and the youngest persons present. Professor Narendra Nath of F-004,
Professor of Physics with several patents to his credit, had witnessed the
first Independence Day function at Red Fort on 15th August, 1947.
Seventy-one summers later, he along with Baby Kaira, daughter of Raj Nathan and
Priyanka, hoisted the tricolour. As the flower petals descended to the ground
every person holding a small flag in their hand sang the national anthem in
unison. I had goose bumps on my arms.
Subhada Arun, who has made the
Independence Day function her speciality, got her wards to sing several patriotic
songs. They started with a Bengali song followed by a Hindi number and then
switched over to Tamil. That is national integration in the true spirit. I am
sure she will add more languages to enrich her ouvre. Laddoos and eclairs were
distributed to everybody present. Nobody can keep the Yamuna ladies out of the
frame. The gang of nine consisting of Subhada, Seema, Sumathi, Gomathi,
Sujatha, Purnima Satish, Aruna and Anu then belted out a few more patriotic
songs until patriotism was spilling out of my ears.
A dog strayed into the colony a few days ago and made its
home here for about five days. Any attempt to chase it away was viewed by the
hound as our attempt to play with it. I too gave it a shot but it kept dodging
me and prancing around. Finally, the Pied Piper of Yamuna got into the act to
do the needful. After successfully seeing off the simian menace, Srikant has
built a reputation for chasing off
intruding animals. He petted and played with the dog until it took a fancy for
him. After that it was smooth sailing. He, along with Venkat of E-101, virtually
led it by the nose outside the colony. People who have dog phobia breathed a
sigh of relief.
The TV soaps in regional channels show over-the-top
bejewelled women full of make-up and finest silks and georgettes even when
waking up from bed which makes one wonder what is natural in these serials. It
looks so contrived. The men though are normally dressed. I have reasonable
cause to believe that the clothes and accoutrements are funded by jewellery,
cosmetic and sari companies to give a boost to their sales. This could be the
only conceivable reason for this level of artifice.
Imran Khan has become the 20th Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Cricket in the subcontinent confers demigod status on its heroes. Thus, Imran
who does not have a political lineage has been given the reigns of an almost
ungovernable country. Democracy has not thrived in Pakistan and no
democratically elected Prime Minister has ever completed his term. Either their
term has been cut short through assassination or through coups or legally terminated.
What fate awaits Imran Khan, only time will tell. He has a headstart though,
being backed by the all powerful military. So long as he plays by their rules
he would get their tacit support, but the moment he challenges their authority,
he is doomed. He will be just a marionette on a string. The army needs a pliant
leader who does as they say. This is a very convenient arrangement. As long as
the country does well they can take the credit but the moment the country
flounders, they can lay the blame at the PM’s door. The charismatic Imran has
been a gutsy and inspirational cricket captain of Pakistan and there is hope on
both sides of the border that he may change the narrative. Let’s wait and
watch.
Lutz Konnermann of C-206 painstakingly set up the screen,
projector, the sound system and all the praphernalia in the Community Hall on 4th
August for the screening of the award winning Spanish language movie, “Biutiful”,
written and directed by celebrated Mexican film maker Alejandro González
Iñárritu. At the start, the number of residents who came to watch the movie
were just a handful. Because of the depressing narrative they all left one by one
and the screening was aborted.
The movie had a darkly comic poignant tale, in the sense that
it narrated the hard scrabble life of a struggler in the dimly lit alleys of
the poorer quarters of Barcelona. The seedy neighbourhood is a den of crime
with drug pushers, prostitutes and criminals dodging the cops. I did not stay
on till the end to watch what I was told a beautiful ending. Lutz is very passionate
of this genre of film and it was therefore quite disappointing for him that
there were not any takers.
The Onam Sadhya (lunch) scheduled for the 26th of
August, 2018 had to be cancelled as it also happened to be the day of Avaniavittam
for which the Community hall was booked. Besides, because of Raksha Bandhan
falling on the same day, the staff would not have been there to make the
arrangements. The lunch could also not be advanced to the 25th, that
being the day of Thiruvonam when most people would have their sadhya at home.
In hindsight it is just as well we cancelled the Onam celebrations going by the
tragedy of flooding and devastation in most parts of Kerala caused by incessant
rain. Huge loss of lives made the tragedy even more depressing. Coming on top
of these unfortunate events was the balderdash that took the internet by storm.
It was suggested that Kerala had earned God’s wrath because of the
philandering, beef eating and drinking ways
of Keralites. The real answer lay in a
2000-page treatise by Professor Madhav Gadgil submitted to the Kerala Government several
years ago in which he had predicted that devastation of unimaginable
proportions would befall Kerala. He wrote that rampant deforestation of western
ghats, illegal quarrying and occupation of forest lands, illegal construction
on riversides would cause what we are witnessing today. The powers that be
ensured that he was hounded out of the State. This is what happens when we mess
with the tenets of nature. The nexus between builders and politicians of all
hues is the cause of this malaise.When will we ever learn? Several of my
friends from Yamuna who were scheduled to travel to Sabarimala had to abort
their trip due to breaching of the banks of the Pamba river.
The Central Government, several State Governments and
ordinary people came up with relief supplies and donations to mitigate the
problems of the people of Kerala. Notable is the appeal made by Mr. Karthik,
Supreme Court lawyer and resident of A-005 to Yamunites, advising them of
relief supplies being sent to Kerala by several trucks from the Supreme Court
and asking them to contribute generously.
Most of the ex-Yamuna residents who are now living in Thrissur
have fortunately been spared from the raging waters. Through all this misery,
many from the Navy and ordinary citizens, without a care for their own safety,
rescued sevral marooned citizens. The sangfroid of these intrepid rescuers has
to be commended.
After the opening of Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line within
shouting distance of Yamuna , going by metro to and from the airport has become
a comparative breeze if you are travelling light. No more airport picking and
dropping through traffic snarls.
Several northern states have promulgated laws that would send
rapists of minors to the gallows. Already about half a dozen of these beasts
have been sentenced. In view of the wanton crimes against women, I would like
to see this extended to rapists of majors as well, if the same offender commits
the crime twice. These people have no place in society.
Copious rains have not yet spawned an army of mosquitos. I
remember, until last year, if we were to saunter into the lawn in the monsoon,
there would be a cloud of mosquitos hovering over one’s head eager to drive
home the lance like proboscis into the skin and syringe out a gut filling dose
of blood. While mosquitos have made their appearance, their ubiquitous presence
and their itch inducing stings are few and far between. Is it time to
celebrate? Let us see the shape of things to come. Next year will tell us if we
are rid of this pest for good.
It has been reported to the Managing Committee that several
residents are taking their dogs for a walk to the park and dogs being dogs do
not have any qualms about defecating there. The maids walking the dogs have
been found negligent and are not scooping the poop. One resident had the
misfortune of accidently stepping on the gooey mess. While he was since seen
gingerly tiptoeing out of the park to the amusement of bystanders, the smell
did not leave him. The aroma was not exactly Chanel, so our friend had to scrub
himself and his footwear with a detergent for him to be accepted into the fold
by his family. This is said in jest but seriously, this is no laughing matter.
If people who own pets cannot take up the onus of scooping the poop, they have
no business to own a pet. One has to put oneself in the shoes of the victim to
be able to understand the trauma.
OBITUARY
Mr. K.R. Krishnan, ex-member and former resident of G-206 passed
away in Bangalore on 1st August, 2018. He was the President of the
Society he lived in and supervised the Society work even on the day he died. He
was the first golfer from Yamuna. Because of his long innings in Colgate, he
got the moniker, Colgate Krishnan. Yamuna residents’ thoughts are with the
family in this time of grief.
***********************
Mr.T.N. Viswanathan Nair of A-203, passed away on 6th
August, 2018. He started off as a Physics teacher at Kerala School and
eventually became the the Principal there and continued for a very long time. He
was a strict disciplinarian and had an aura that struck a chord of reverence
amongst the students. Despite his stern demeanor he had a soft heart. He was
very well respected and liked. A prayer meeting was held in the Community Hall
and badminton court on 12th August, 2018 to pay respects to the
departed soul. Yamuna residents convey their heartfelt condolence to the
bereaved family.
**********************
It was multiple tragedy for Yamuna, when, in the space of a
few days, another senior citizen and original member was snatched away from our
midst. Fate could not have dealt a crueller blow. Mr. T. A. R. Nair of C-201
died on 14th August, 2018 at the National Heart Institute. He had
been ailing for a while but at 81 years, he had some time left. However, God
had other plans. In Kerala they say karkada maasam does not bode well for the
frail and the aged. Be that as it may, he led a fruitful life and built a business
from scratch. He was responsible for the aluminium glazing work in most Yamuna
homes including mine. He also contributed to the Society as a Vice President.
May his soul rest in peace and may God give strength to the family to bear with
this loss.
SNIPPETS
Mr.
V.Sivaramakrishnan ( E-205 ) has left on a transfer to BHEL, Hyderabad. He
left with his wife Raji this month after a stay of 8 years. They enjoyed the
friendship and camaraderie during their stay in Yamuna. They have
conveyed their wish of good health and prosperity to Yamuna residents. We wish
to thank them for their sentiments and state that the feeling is mutual.
***********************
Kaira, daughter of
Priyanka and Raj Nathan (A-107) opened her account in style by having her party
in Jahanpanah Club on 26th August, 2018. She turned one and was
focus of all the attention but she did not realise what the fuss was all about.
The place was festooned with balloons and the children had a whale of a time.
************************
After a two year stint in A-202, Mr. V.
Sundaram and wife Bhanu got sick of trudging the stairs and decided to move to
A-007, a shift that did not trouble the movers.
Letter to the Editor
Upon joining
Faculty of Law, Delhi University.
Choosing law was not an
option, it was something I had to work for. Being born as a female in today's
world, I was in conflict with myself, was I a citizen of the country
sharing my rights with others, guided by the constitutional law or was I a
secondary, subordinate subject left to decide my destiny at the hands of the
far superior society?
This is the story of
every woman and girl born today. I strive to put an end to this conflict. I
choose law as a journey integrated with the knowledge of anthropology to
contribute to this very fallen society that needs to rise.
