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S. Srinivas

01 April, 2019

Issue No. 211 I March 2019


                                                                                                      
                                                                  EDITORIAL 

Water conservation is not only a need as an ecological measure but also makes good economic sense. The difference between getting a bill for zero charges for a month or Rs. 1 lakh a month is only a few litres. In the financial year 2017-18, on two occasions we received bills for zero amount whereas in 2018-19 we did not receive in any month, a bill for zero amount. One of the causes is seepage in several flats. If we are in a position to control seepage in all flats as also reduce the size of the cisterns in the bathrooms, we have reasonable cause to believe that at least in the winter months we can get zero amount bills. This can serve to contain the maintenance charges, if not reduce it.

Dates for the General Elections has been drawn up by the Election Commission, an election that is going to determine the direction the country will take. First and foremost it is important that there is stability. While BJP may have their fault lines, gleaning from evidence of the past it is apparent that there is no other party at the moment which can last five years other than the BJP. The Opposition parties are fragmented and too numerous to be able to have the cohesiveness beyond their own petty interests. These parties will always keep bargaining for the pie and will fall apart if their demands are not met. Surely, nobody wishes to go into another profligate and wasteful General Election.

Holi traditionally stood for spring and harvest by all communities. But legend also has it that the evil Holika who while trying to burn her devout nephew Prahlad is burnt to cinders herself. Holi is a day of liberty when bounds of creed could be overstepped. In organisations where Holi is celebrated, even bosses faces could be smeared with abandon, who indulgently rewarded the impudence. In local communities boys look forward to this day as they could legitimately make physical contact with a girl and perhaps the same applies to girls as well. At this year’s Holi there was still a nip in the air in the morning. I ventured into the park sufficiently late hoping that the children would have run out of their arsenal. I couldn’t be more wrong. As soon as I entered the park I was greeted by a volley of water balloons. After I was peppered by the children with the stinging missiles, the adults took over like vultures preying on carrion and smothered me with dry colours. I must have looked like something the devil brought in. Had my mother seen me in that state she would have disowned me. The park was full of both children and adults having a jolly good time. While it is a messy business, the gay abandon with which people play Holi, is a welcome release from the stresses and strains of daily life. Intoxicants, both liquid and powder, did the rounds. I didn’t stay long enough to see the effects of these stimulants.

Mr. Saurabh Bharadwaj, MLA, and a senior functionary of AAP visited us on 9th March, 2019 alongwith a representative of BEL for doing a survey on installation of wireless CCTV’s. We have projected a requirement of 25 CCTV’s. During his visit he wished to know what other assistance he could provide. We have given requirements of 30 bollards, eight concrete benches and children’s integrated play equipment. I followed up with him on 18th March , 2019 to get what we needed to which he replied that the Model Code of Conduct is in force and that the needful would be done only after the elections.

Good civic sense is a must in shared living spaces like apartments where activities of a neighbour can impact your welfare. Recently, one resident returned home from Kerala after two months. She was distraught to find that her flat had been completely swamped with sewage and faeces from a toilet pot which had been backing up. As abhorrent as it may seem, the horror magnifies when one realises that the resident has been a victim of this experience twice in the space of three years. Perhaps, a maid from a flat above had flushed a wash cloth into the commode which in turn clogged the sewage pipe leaving no room for the excreta to get past. This eventually led to the pot overflowing and spreading to the whole flat. Had the person been resident, this mishap could have been averted by timely action but since the flat was locked up, the consequences were very unpleasant. The resident was traumatised to such an extent that she had to move to a hotel while she could get proffessional cleaners from a hospital to sanitise the place and rid all the linen and carpets of bacteria by sending them to the dry-cleaners. The common sewage pipe is six inches in diameter and will never clog up so long as the pot is used for the purpose it is meant and not for flushing down rags, diapers, and sanitary pads. Let us hope this incident will drive home the point and all residents make it a point to tell their maids what not to do.

We are probably the least environmentally conscious country in the world. The waste generated by urban households is an environmental nightmare. The least we can do to our generation and for our children is to leave a more sustainable earth. Our mixed garbage ends up in landfills and pollutes the earth and sub-soil water with toxic waste. The authorities have finally woken up to this hugely troublesome problem. We were visited by the Municipal Commissioner and he dealt us a stern warning that our irresponsible ways will no longer be tolerated. He mentioned that SDMC will carry out surprise checks of the garbage going out of the colony and even if one bag is seen to contain mixed garbage the Society would be fined Rs. 2 lakhs. It is not an amount to piffle at. If fined, this burden will have to be shared by all the residents. It will be really cruel to those who are segregating their garbage and following all the norms. We had a meeting with DDSIL who are, through safai karamcharis, collecting and disposing garbage from individual households. We have told them to check on all those flats who are not segregating the garbage and notify the office. DDSIL have also been told to educate the safai karamcharis to not mix the contents of two different bags. For the benefit of those who are not clear about the segregation rules I wish to explain the same. Wet garbage is vegetable and fruit peels and leftover cooked food. This is considered bio-degradable, which over time will decay and become manure. Any other waste like, plastic, paper, glass, metal, etc is considered dry waste. The wet waste and dry waste have to be kept in separate bags and given to the safai karamcharis. In order that we avoid mix-up of the wet waste and dry waste by the safai karamcharis it has been decided to collect the dry waste only on Sundays. Please ensure strict compliance lest we get fined.

Radha Kalyana Mahotsavam, the celestial marriage of Lord Krishna and Radha was celebrated on March 25 & 26 in the Yamuna lawns. The ashtapathis were sung by the bhagavathas. Residents  took part in the bhajans followed by lunch. The absence of  Sri Sri Krishnapremi due to ill health was a dampener.

Lightning, thunder, a slight drizzle and dark thunder clouds threatened to disrupt the cooking competition. Thankfully it stayed away to the delight of the participants and onlookers who salivated at the culinary treat. My tongue was tingling with pleasure at the myriad tastes I could savour at the cooking competition. For me, It was an ambrosial experience. Both the children and adults came up with incredibly tasty dishes, some common and some exotic. The judge who adjudicated the contestants and pronounced the winners was Manish Malhotra who is currently a chef trainer with IP University. He has also worked as a chef with Intercontinental Hotels and J.W. Marriott. He was also in the panel of judges for shortlisting the contenders for Master Chef. He remarked that he was literally bowled over by the sheer talent and enthusiasm of the children and said that some of them could qualify for Master Chef. He also said that it was extremely difficult to pick out the winners and stated that the ones who did not make the cut did not deserve to lose. The list of the winners is given in the table below. They were given cash prizes.

S.No
NAME
ADDRESS
ITEM

STARTERS -  CHILDREN


1
ANANYA/ANOUSHKA/SAHANA V IYER/ADWITA
G-101/A-103/E-101/B-107
CHEESE BALLS
2
TANVI/SAHANA SAVARKAR
C-208
CHICKEN TIKKA WITH MINT SAUCE





STARTERS -  ADULTS


1
ANURADHA NAIR
B-107
TANGRI KABAB





MAIN COURSE - CHILDREN


1
ANANYA/ANOUSHKA/SAHANA V IYER/ADWITA
G-101/A-103/E-101/B-107
PASTA TRICOSTA





MAIN COURSE – ADULTS


1
SHEKHAR NAIR
B-107
POMFRET PULAO
2
MAMTA SEHGAL
C-203
PURI MASALA
3
FALGUNI BHATT
A-308
FANSI DHOKLI





DESSERT – CHILDREN


1
BHAVNA HARISH/VANSHIKA ARORA
E-305/A-106
OREO PUDDING
2
NIVETA REDDY/ AADHYA RAM/ SAIANSH GOPAL
A-309/H-002/C-202
COOKIE & CREAM





DESSERT – ADULTS


1
MALA SUNDARESAN
D-002
BREAD BURFI

We wish you all a Happy Vishu, Tamil New Year’s day, Ugadi  and Baisakhi. 

OBITUARY

It is with great sorrow that we wish to inform you of the sad demise of Mr. Suresh Anantharaman Iyer on the morning of 7th March, 2019 at his house in B-301. He was just 60 years old. The members and residents of the Society convey their heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.

SNIPPETS

Geetha and Eswar Sambasivam  (D- 201)  have been blessed   with  a grandson on 19th February , 2019 in Denmark.The child has been named Anirudh (son of their daughter Divya and Sunil Krishna) . To Geetha and Eswar, being  grandparents is one of their greatest joys in life.

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Mekhala of B-102 got married to Ramkumar Subramanian, an Associate Director at PWC,  in an elaborate ceremony at the Yamuna lawns on 10th March, 2019. This was preceded by two days of pre-wedding festivities. Parents, Mrs. Venkatalakshmi and Mr. Rajagopal and brother Vikram were delighted to welcome all the guests, a sizeable number of whom were from Yamuna. This is what makes the colony so special, the feeling of one large family. It was a perfect day with salubrious weather, great company, and excellent food. To top it all the breakfast plates were made from eco-friendly sugarcane bagasse. Everybody seemed to have a jolly good time.

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Radhika Samson’s sitar recital at India Habitat Centre on 12th March, 2019 was very well attended with a fair sprinkling of people from Yamuna. I am not a connoisseur of sitar recitals and cannot claim to be able to give a knowledgeable appraisal of her skill, but the dexterity and fluidity with which her fingers moved on the fret board showed that she has mastered the art form. Keep it up, Radhika.

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A musically talented family has moved into G-202. Mr. Siby Markose is COO of Yatharth Group Hospitals, Noida. When not busy with his work he likes to sing and watch sports channels on TV. Sheela, his wife likes to take care of the house. Their son, Kenz is a final year student of B.Com. He likes to play the keyboard. Their daughter, Kezia is doing BBA from Manav Rachna College. She too loves to sing. So one has a full orchestra on board for the Annual Day. Siby can be reached on 9891386833.
Vipin Upadhyay has moved into G-203 from Bhopal with his wife Dolly Talreja. Vipin is a taxation lawyer and Dolly is a software engineer. Vipin likes playing cricket and biking on his Royal Enfield Classic bike whereas Dolly loves playing badminton and travelling. Dolly used to work with HP before she moved to Delhi. Vipin can be reached on 9999334099 and Dolly on 8884333160.
Abin Mathew and his brother Didin Mathew have moved into E-302. Abin works as a lawyer in the contracts team of Planetcast Media Services. In his spare time Abin likes to play football and trek. Didin works as a Data Analyst with Liquid Hub. He loves playing and watching cricket. Abin can be reached on 9911472623 and Didin on 9870146125.
Karun Prabhakar returns to his roots after a gap of over 20 years after making his fortune in Mumbai working with Sidharth Basu in Kaun Banega Crorepati and other shows. He has moved into his flat in E-003. It has been tastefully refitted and stands out distinctively in E Block. Karun is a good cook and loves watch cricket and read. He is now married to Sonam Tsomo, a Tibetan from Kalimpong and has a son named Arjun. Sonam is a PR consultant with specialisation in Brand Positioning. Arjun will be joining nursery classes in MMI. He is already a hit with children and adults in the park. Karun can be reached on 9820212521.
We welcome all the new comers to Yamuna.


CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR APRIL, 2019

DATE
TIME
ITEM
VENUE
6.4.19
7.00 PM
MOVIE SCREENING AND POT LUCK DINNER
BADMINTON COURT




13.4.19
4 PM
THIAGARAJA ARADHANA
COMMUNITY HALL

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