EDITORIAL
The BJP notched up a stunning and
resounding victory that surprised most pollsters and psephologists, as it
turned conventional wisdom on its head. The cast and dynastic calculations and politics
were exposed. Even in their cultivated home constituency, the Gandhis could not
protect the turf of their scion. It was such a slap on their face that unless
the Congress party purges their leadership of the Gandhis and their courtiers, they
will be buried in a grave of graft and entitlement. We are at the crossroads,
the economy is facing strong headwinds due to both local and global factors.
The expectations of the voters put a
huge burden on the Government to get its act together to solve the agrarian
crisis and the unemployment problem. There is no better person than Modi to
steer the country out of this crisis. He has a big mandate and should not
hesitate to push reforms through, to make governance more transparent,
inclusive, and free of corruption.
The Xth Class and XIIth Class CBSE Board
results are out and while there have been outstanding performances, some
children have not got the marks that they expected. Some of the students were
not keen on their marks being mentioned in the Chronicle. I have permission
to reveal the marks of Abhishek, Ananyaa, and Nikita. M. Abhishek of H-304 got 95% marks
in Physics, Chemistry, and Maths, 93% marks in English and a whopping 98% marks
in Computer Science. This 6 ft. 3 in. inch lad has shown both physical and
mental heft. Ananyaa Anirudh Verma of A-103 has scored an impressive 92.25%
marks in Humanities. Nikita Reddy of A-309 secured 84% marks in the Science
stream.
Last year when many children all over the
country sent their demand for re-evaluation, they ended up getting better
marks. This clearly reveals that the system is in dire need of reform. In any
case, the Board results are no barometer of a person’s intelligence as the
questions are structured in such a way that it tests more your ability to
memorize and reproduce what is mentioned in the book. In fact, I have heard
from a teacher who sets Board papers and who also happens to be a Head Examiner,
that the examiners are given a set of standard answers against which they are
to assess the examinees. This totally removes any room for an alternate but
correct answer or the application of mind. I was also told that a Maths teacher
who has never learned or taught history was asked to assess a History paper from
a set answer sheet. Therefore, for those who have excelled, it is great news
and those who have not got what they expected, take heart, maybe you are
smarter than the examiner and he is just not equipped to assess your
intelligence. Be that as it may, there is very little application of what you
learn at school or college in the real world. In fact what you learn today is
transitory, as disruptive technology makes what you swear by today, irrelevant
tomorrow.
I can tell with a fair degree of experience
that it is a truism. I have been working for over 40 years in the manufacturing
sector. During the first 20 years, nothing changed. We made the same products,
sold with the same techniques and used the same gadgets at work like
typewriters, cyclostyle machines, teleprinter, etc. During the next 10 years, there were a few changes but nothing to merit mentioning. In the following
decade, there were a number of changes in the products, the way we sold and the
gadgets we used in the office. In the current decade, the changes have been
more frequent and the rate of obsolescence is gaining pace. In other words,
product life cycles are getting shorter and shorter. Basically, until now, with
what you learned at school or college and with your experience, you were
equipped to transition into the evolutionary dynamics without much ado. However,
for the children who pass out today and for future generations, change is
going to be constant. You have to be in a continuous learning mode throughout
your life. If you think you can rest on your laurels of having topped in your
school or at IIT and believe you have made it, you will be sadly mistaken. This
is just an enabler to cross the entry barrier. Disruptive technology is
changing the way we do things in myriad and unfathomable ways. Even the near
future is a question mark. I work in a technology dependent manufacturing set
up, where I have to keep learning new things every day just to stay relevant. The macro-economic
environment has compelled me to visit IIT, Delhi every week for joint
development projects with their research teams for registering new patents that involve machine learning, artificial intelligence, IOTS, product
hybridizations, algorithm-based predictive analysis among other things. This is
a must to run the company from a position of strength. I do not have to do any
of these things myself but I should have sufficient knowledge to know their
possibilities and pitfalls.
The problem is that life in any business
has become so frenetic that once you retire you will be hard-pressed to pass
your time. Especially now, when people are a lot fitter and are physically not
in a need to pass the baton. My only advice is to keep learning new things
every day, work hard and not let the youngsters make you feel like a pushover. I
battle every day just to stay even with the youngsters. What the young lack in
experience and business acumen, they more than make up with their ability to
adapt quickly to new technologies.
I was
travelling to Mumbai on a flight and a film star was travelling on the same
flight. I would not have noticed that person had there not been a hullaballoo
about it. On the screen, the star appears to be larger than life and very
glamorous, but up close, I would not have given a second glance. I was reminded
of the Japanese term ‘haiku”. The Japanese poets transformed what they observed
in daily life into a pithy little form known as ‘haiku’. One such haiku reads,
“Seen in bright daylight, the firefly is nothing but an insect”. That sums it up!
The new
Yamuna telephone directory is out. Those who haven’t collected their copy as
yet should do so from the Society Office after signing the undertaking of Rules
for Residents. Residents moving in or out is so dynamic that by the time the new copies of the directory came from the
printer, the situation on the ground had changed with some more people moving
houses. Thomas Abraham contributed the photo for the cover to reflect the
greenery in the colony, Mrs. Seetha Venkataraman was instrumental in getting
most of the advertisements, Poornima Narayanan did the editing and the slog
work of updating the directory through the years was done by Mercy Nair.
The stray
cats are breeding like lemmings and making a nuisance of themselves. Several
residents have complained to the Society that strict action should be taken
against those who feed cats by imposing fines. These cats defecate on the stairs,
leave behind gruesome sights of carcasses of small game, rip open milk packets
and surreptitiously slip into houses either through an open window or if the
door is left open even briefly. A resident complained to me that one day when
she was leaving for work, she found a cat with a pigeon in its mouth. She was
so distressed by the sight that she could not focus on her work the whole day. Another
resident complained that somebody had left the meter room open and was
confronted by the sight of a kitten litter. For the next one month, until they
grow up enough to move on their own, that is going to be their toilet. If
people who feed the cats are so enamoured of them, they should keep them in
their house and feed them to their hearts’ content. Don’t let your cat feeding
obsession be a cause of misery for others.
The Community
Hall has been a desirable place for holding events like birthdays, engagement
parties, etc. between October and March, when the weather is temperate. All
that is set to change. It has now become an all-weather venue. The old AC in
the community hall which had become ineffective has been replaced with three
Voltas 5 star (1.5 tonne each) split units. Now, you can tailor the weather to
your comfort levels. Since the Society has chairs and tables that can be given
on hire, it can be an ideal venue for holding a variety of get-togethers
without having to scout around elsewhere in the city. With two Yamuna residents in the catering
business, it has become a one-stop shop for party lovers. You don’t have to be
a hedon to let your hair down once in a while.
SNIPPETS
Vidyut Mohan
of G-206 has been selected for the fellowship programme of Echoing Green. Echoing Green has a Social Entrepreneurship
Fellowship and Leadership Development Program for identifying globally,
transformational leaders among talented persons who can change the world. He
will receive US $ 90,000. He joins a list of illustrious people who have made
the cut which includes the former First Lady of the U.S., Michelle Obama. We
are very proud of what Vidyut has achieved. Kudos to him. We certainly hope
that this award acts as a catalyst and Yamuna becomes a breeding ground for
future leaders.
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There have been too many to-ings and fro-ings
in Yamuna this month. The speed at which flats are getting vacated and occupied
has not been witnessed before.
Mr. Sumeer
Juneja of G-001 has moved with his wife Brieta, daughter Aiden, and son Aaron
to Rishi Apartments. Their move was necessitated by some serious seepage
problem in the flat that could take quite some time to arrest. Whether they
move back after the renovation needs to be seen.
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Ved Ratna Sinha, Urvi Maniar, and Navya
Sinha have moved from E-301 to C-206. Although they are still on the top floor
and at the mercy of the sun beating down on their roof, they have to trudge up one
floor less now.
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Manish Chawla
and Pallavi Manglani have moved into C-205 from Nilgiri Apartments, across the
road. Manish is a Chartered Accountant and is working as a tax consultant for
Carlson Travels. His interests are yoga and skipping. His wife, Pallavi
Manglani is a therapist and meditator. She holds classes in her flat. She is
keen to conduct free therapy and meditation classes for Yamuna residents for
their well being. Apart from that, she is GM Operations at Get Inspired Now
Solutions Pvt Ltd, a consultancy firm offering real estate and drinking water solutions.
They can be reached on 9711185282 and 9717481666 respectively.
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Puneet Ahuja
and Ritika Mahajan have moved into G-305 from Noida. Puneet is a software
engineer with Adobe Systems in Noida and Ritika is a software engineer with
Google in Gurgaon. Puneet loves reading and travelling and so does Ritika.
Similar professions and similar interests. They have already travelled the
world. I guess they would have to look at Mars as their next destination. They
can be reached on 8447731617.
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Sapan Shah
and Ishan Tyagi have moved into A-204 from Gurgaon. Sapan works for Clinton
Foundation in Okhla, an NGO working with the Government on health. In his spare
time, he likes to read. Ishan used to work for Boston Consulting Group but his
passion for football brought him to Baichung Bhutia Football School where he is
a product manager working on strategy. Apart from football he loves reading and
listening to all genres of music, but his favourites are Pink Floyd and
alternate rock. They can be reached on 9820422170.and 9999982554 respectively.
We welcome all
the newcomers to Yamuna which will get enriched by the diversity they bring.
Letter to the Editor
From Lutz
Konnermann, ex-resident of C-206.
(Lutz and his
wife Farida are film-makers who moved into Yamuna with their son Rehan in July
2017 and left for Germany in April 2019. In a short period of under two
years, they endeared themselves with all, adults and children alike.)
A month has
passed since we had to say good-bye to Yamuna. Work had brought us to Delhi and
work was leading us away again. We’re used to a nomadic lifestyle, and yet, while
gaining and growing in the process, we also leave much behind. This time we left
behind many things dear to us which we will miss for a long time and never
forget. Friendship, open-mindedness, and unconditional support. A haven for the
restless. A home. We wish we could have taken all of it along on our journey
onward—we couldn’t, but in our memories; confident to find it again, should we
ever return. Today, when the news confirmed that India’s path is at a critical
turn, we feel all the more fortunate to have been part of a community in which
civility, congeniality, inclusiveness, and tolerance are the norm. May this
essence, the spirit of Yamuna, prevail in the country as well.
