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

Issue No. 205 I September 2018

EDITORIAL 

Monsoon is a double edged sword. You could go for days without rain and the weather gets hot and sticky and one starts praying for rain. Sometimes, your prayers get answered and for days you have pouring rain and then one prays that it stops. This is what happened between the last week of August and first week of September 2018. It rained everyday for over a week,.leading to flooding and water getting into at a couple of homes in Yamuna. As we swing between droughts and floods, much of the blame can be laid at the doors of the human race who have over time denuded forests and caused global warming with wanton burning of fossil fuels. Increased average temperatures around the globe have led to forest fires and raging storms among other natural disasters. Rapid evaporation of water due to higher temperatures leads to precipitation in greater volumes whereby rain and snow come down in the form of downpours in the tropics and snowstorms in temperate regions. Brace up for more frequent natural calamities.

Owing to this rainy spell, the Janmashtami celebrations scheduled for 2^nd September, 2018 had to be called off. We did not want the performers coming in their fancy attire and make up, getting all wet in the rain. Neither did we want the food stall holders to run into a loss with all their food going abegging. The irony of it was that while it rained all morning, by late afternoon and evening the badminton court, where the programme was to be hosted was bathed in brilliant sun shine.It again poured bedsheets and pillows next morning. This is Murphy’s Law for you. Not to disappoint those who had practiced their craft, it was decided to instead have the variety entertainement programme with all the sundry eats originally planned for Janmashtami during Ganesh Chaturthi on 15^th September, 2018. This was then deferred to 22^nd September, 2018 owing to children’s exams. This too wasn’t to be because the weather pundits predicted another spell of thunderstorms starting on the 22^nd and going on till 26^th September, 2018. It was therefore, further deferred to 30^th September, 2018.

Kings at home and paupers overseas, the Indian cricket team got a taste of swing bowling in English conditions and went down to the hosts 4-1. In the process many reputations got sullied. For the number one team to go down so meekly was least expected. To rub salt into our wounds, Ashwin, the number one spinner in the world was outdone by England’s Moeen Ali who is known more as a batsman than a bowler.  The difference was so stark that Moeen captured nine wickets compared to a paltry three by our tweaker. The team has however redeemed some of their lost composure by wiining the Asia Cup and in the process defeating their arch rivals Pakistan twice.

Drains in shafts get clogged routinely as some residents are disposing off their sanitary pads or diapers in the WC. Unlike toilet paper, neither sanitary pads nor diapers dissolve in water, thereby clogging the drain and causing great deal of inconvenience to ground floor residents who have to not only tolerate the stench due to overflowing drains but also have to call the society plumber and sweeper to extricate them from the drain. This is an extremely cumbersome exercise which the sweeper and plumber are reluctant to do despite paying them for the effort.

The park was beginning to look very verdant with full grass cover and the newly formed islands of plant cover. The cannas and frangipanis had begun to bloom. The joy did not last long. A dolt of a driver in a car virtually took a joy ride in the park, ostensibly to reverse. Since the lawn was wet after a heavy downpour he sloughed off layers of grass from several spots and left track marks in the lawn. Repair work has been done but it never will attain its original form. In order to prevent further indiscretions a bamboo fence covering half the lawn entrance has been positioned by our mali and his helper. A couple of musandas with white flowers have been planted near the benches on the far side. These two musandas will grow up to be shrubs attaining a height of about eight to ten feet and will paint a pretty picture in full bloom.

Our spiritual retreat, the Sri Balavenugaopalakrishna Temple is in dire straits financially. They also do not seem to have the management bandwidth. This temple was built through donations from the residents of Yamuna amongst others and Mr. K.C.S. Krishnan was managing it. After Mr. Krishnan left there wasn’t anybody who could devote time or had the organising capability that Mr. Krishnan possessed. Consequently, the temple’s resources from daily collections could not support its upkeep and it is struggling to stay afloat. It is in our interest that the temple does not shut down. It would serve the community well if devotees visit it more often and make contributions. 

The F block lower ground floor space was put up for bidding in an effort to monetise the space and also help in its upkeep. It is a well known fact that any place left abandoned tends to deteriorate. There was one successful bidder for the space when it was put up for bid in June, 2018. Since he was the only bidder and there were no objections, in the normal course the space would have been let out on leave and licence basis. However, the successful bidder expressed a desire to build toilets within the premises to make it more user friendly. Since the terms of the bid had undergone a change, the Managing Committee felt it prudent to change the bid conditions and make it open for anybody from the colony to bid in a transparent manner. However, suddenly there were messages sent to all and sundry that the place should not be given for commercial use, that there could be a structural danger for the building etc. While it was made very clear in the bid documents that only those commercial activities would be permitted which are allowed in residential places as per the Delhi Masterplan 2021 and the successful bidder was planning to do just that and also because there were no objections raised for the same activity when the bid was opened in June, 2018, this whole controversy seemed needless. It woiuld be pertinent to mention that such commercial activities are conducted by several people from their homes and other let out spaces by the Society. There could however, be some merit in what F Block residents highlighted about structural issues, water problems and such like for which the MC was trying to get an independent third party opinion. In the meanwhile, the bidder who became bitter and frustrated with the inordinate delay and the snowballing of the controversy withdrew the bid and decided to take a place elsewhere as he was in a hurry to set up his operations.

If the general view is that the place should be used for the welfare of the residents as Mrs. Mary Abraham pointed out, there should be somebody from the colony to volunteer to set up and run the place. It will require regular cleaning and dusting besides managing and organising for it to be open for use whereby at least two people will have to take turns being at the site and managing the inventory of things and promote activities which will sustain interest. If somebody can volunteer and the members are in favour of it, the MC could facilitate its creation.

We are entering that period of the calendar when there are a plethora of cultural, religious and social activities. The colony starts buzzing when women and children in their finest silk sarees, pavadas and glittering accoutrements flit from house to house exchanging greetings. It is a sight to behold and I wouldn’t swap anything for it. It is a pity that men are not invited to such functions, not that men’s clothes by any stretch of imagination can measure up, leave alone cause a forest fire. We eagerly look forward to Navratri and Ramleela functions in October, 2018. Shreeja is making her  crew practice for the dance drama on Ramleela. This will be followed up with dandia and eats to make it a full evening’s entertainment capsule.

I have a habit of picking the litter of plastic sachets and bottles lying between the blocks, perimeter roads and flower beds and depositing them in the litter bins placed at various spots in the colony. I did not know that there is a term associated with this activity and it is called plogging. Plogging is now being promoted as a Swachata initiative by the government. I am certainly enlightened and plogging has got added to my lexicon. This term has originated in Sweden. Plogging becomes a need because people who do not value civic sense litter. Just yesterday, one of the residents sent me a picture showing torn sheets of paper that somebody had flung from the window of an upper floor which landed next to her car. Are we so insensitive that we cannot throw litter in the dustbin?

Use of plastic bags is a scourge and we are the culprits. We do not carry a bag when going from home to shop and return with several plastic bags. These eventually either end up in landfills or dot the landscape painting an ugly picture. Either stray cows see food remnants in the plastic bags and eat them causing them untold agony or the bags end up in drains, thereby blocking the flow of water. This is one of the principal reasons why we have floods in cities even when we have short bursts of rain. Soumya Srikant had urged the vegetable vendor outside H Block gate to deliver vegetables in cloth bags instead of using plastic bags and provided him with a few cloth bags. After some days he reverted to plastic bags because the people to whom he delivered in cloth bags didn’t return the same. In the interest of the environment and our future generations, please say no to plastic bags and shop only in cloth bags.

The thrice deferred variety entertainment programme was finally held on 29^th September, 2018. The four day extended weekend with a bridge leave on 1^st October meant that several Yamuna residents left town for short holidays, yet it did not have a major effect on the attendance. The variety entertainment capsule put up by Sadhana was well received by the audience. For the grand finale, the message read “Let not the fruits of your actions be your motivation to act, instead let your motivation be the act itself”. Anoushka, Vanshika, Radhika, Sahana Iyer and Dakshina presented various Odissi dances. Kathak and Bharatanatyam dances were performed by other Sadhana students who are not residents of Yamuna. The dances were exquisite, very entertaining and visually very appealing, something we have come to expect from Sadhana students. This was followed by two rounds of tambola which engaged all the others from the audience. Poornima and Shini made some typical Kerala dishes and Aunty’s Rolls had their die hard customers.

SNIPPETS

Kartick Shankar of B-006, is making a career shift to ITC and base shift to Kolkatta. Kartick’s wife Madhu and her children who used to frequent the park will miss their buddies. We too will miss them. We wish Kartick all the success in his new assignment. It is a sort of homecoming for him as his parents live there.

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We have heard of sporting laurels earned by the children of Yamuna. We are now witness to  the persons who become enablers for talented children or adults earning sporting laurels. Chandrakanta Rajpurohit of H-206, has put to practice what she preaches. She has captained the Indian Masters Volleyball team at the Asia Pacific Masters Games, 2018 at Penang, Malaysia to win the Gold medal. She has an athletic bearing and stands ramrod straight. Kudos to her.

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Animesh Bajpai and his wife Prerna Misra have moved out of E-004 within 3 months of coming to Yamuna. Consequently,. Mr. Praveen Kohli’s short sojourn at E-003 came to an end and he and his wife have moved to E-004 flat. This move would not have necessitated calling the movers, neither is there a change in the view.

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Another such move which would not have needed the help of movers was Mr.& Mrs. Vinod Asthana’s shifting from G-203 to G-302. A bit more exercise for them climbing one more flight of stairs. Mrs. Asthana who takes several rounds of the Society can now cut down on that.

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Mr. J. Gopalakrishnan, wife Jayashree, daughter Ananya and son Pradyumn have moved out of G-304 after a fairly long stay in Yamuna. They are going back to their roots in Chennai.

Letter to the Editor

Life is Yamuna has been a very enriching experience. I started out my married life with Kartick here. It was only after the birth of my first child Advika that I started getting out of my home and socialising with people. The Yamuna lawns is the best asset a colony can have with respect to playtime for children. This is very vital for a child's overall development. Advika and now my second child  Avyukta both loved coming to the park and play in the  swings and slides everyday. I have made some nice friends and acquaintances whom I will probably remember for many years to come . The various festivities and get togethers were such a nice welcome change . People here are very warm and helpful. In my case when I was hospitalized with dengue whilst pregnant the response I got from people to donate platelets was overwhelming and we are very Indebted to each one of you and to all those who offered help. All in all yamuna has set the bar high for us. As we make our move into a new city now, Kolkata, we hope to find a place as welcoming and friendly as Yamuna. We ,especially my kids will miss Yamuna a lot and we are leaving  the colony with good and fond memories.

Madhu Swaminathan Ex-resident of B-006.

		CALENDAR OF EVENTS IN AUGUST 2018
DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
19.10.18	6.30 PM	RAMLEELA DANCE DRAMA BY SHREEJA &CO.	BADMINTON COURT
		DANDIA, MUSIC, DANCE AND FOOD EVENING
21.9.18	9.30 AM	AGM	COMMUNITY HALL
27.10.18	6.30 PM	QUIZ COMPETITION WITH SUMATHI	BADMINTON COURT