Issue No. 128 I April 2012

Editorial

To bring a bit of novelty to our cultural calendar, a cooking competition was organised on 1^st April. We got the date of our novel experiment wrong on two counts. April 1^st is associated with fooling others into believing an event is going to happen when it actually doesn’t happen and secondly it was Ram Navami, an occasion to go to a temple rather than indulge in some inane cooking competition. To be honest it wasn’t a deliberate ploy but lack of foresight. As a consequence of our blunder, the attendance from the audience was not up to expectations. However, all the participants walked off with attractive cash prizes, courtesy Raghav of A-001 who gave Rs. 5,000 and Venkat of A-004 who also gave Rs. 5,000 and aprons to all the participants.

PRIZE	CATEGORY	NAME	ADDRESS	NAME OF THE DISH
	STARTERS
1ST		SHEKAR NAIR	B-107	MALABAR MEEN PORICHADU
2ND		ARUNA KRISHNAN	F-103	KUZHI PANIHARAM
3RD		MEGHNA AND KUMAR	A-208	AUBERGINE PARMAZIANI
		CHIPLUNKAR		WITH ROSEMARY POTATOES
4TH		ANURADHA NAIR	B-107	CHINESE DRY NOODLE SALAD
	MAIN COURSE
1ST		RAGHAV	A-001	BURRITO BOWL
2ND		P.K.K. NAIR	H-308	CHETTINAD CHICKEN CURRY
				MANGO CHUTNEY
3RD		ANURADHA NAIR	B-107	MUTTON SAGWALA WITH
				AJWAIN WALI PARANTHA
4TH		POORNIMA NARAYANAN	B-002	PASTA FRANCESCA
	DESSERT
1ST		NIHARIKA ABRAHAM	A-008	DATE CRUMBLE WITH ICE CREAM
2ND		VIDYA VENKAT	A-004	FROZEN FRUIT FANTASY
3RD		MALA SUNDARESAN	D-002	POHA FRUIT KESAR

We had our share of amateur cooks displaying their culinary skills and producing what the judge termed as works of art which could put even professional chefs to shame. There were esoteric dishes, all of which were polished off by the audience no sooner than the judge had sampled them to make the judgement. The judge Mr. Manish Malhotra, among other things was a chef at Intercontinental Eros and also Assistant Professor at Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management. He came through the reference of Gita Rastogi. Residents who found the dishes to be, ‘finger licking good’ are yearning for recipes from the participants.

At the insistence of Sahana Savarkar, a summer catwalk was arranged for the children on the sidelines of the chefs’ competition. She was obviously cocky about her catwalking skills as she walked off with the first prize. There was a lot of panache and attitude in her walk and the final twirl and fling of the hat showed that she had rehearsed the act to perfection. Samiksha Nair who has always won a prize in catwalks, had to be content with the second prize this time, although, she had lost none of her flair walking up and down like a professional model. Kiana Abraham and Shreeja Srikant were declared joint third prize winners. Photos of the cooking competition and the catwalk taken by Srikant have been loaded on the Yamuna Photo Album for your viewing pleasure.

It is never easy to decide which movie to screen. We ran through at least four options before settling to screen “Adventures of Tin Tin” on the 7^th of April. Some were clearly disappointed that their choice of movie was overruled by the kids. It is a fast paced movie about the much loved comic character Tin Tin and his dog, who unwittingly plunge into a quest for treasure. That Sacharine, the villain is also after the same treasure makes for a very engaging, violent chase through some very contrived situations. It is clearly a kids genre movie which though brisk seemed a trifle too long, that, by the end of it I was stifling a yawn.

The Delhi Government’s twice a year increase in minimum wages has placed a heavy burden on the Society and consequently its residents. The percentage of increase is not commensurate with the increase the pensioners and others who are employed get. Increase in minimum wages directly impacts our staff costs, security services costs and all hired services for maintenance. This, coming on top of frequent and crippling increase in electricity and water charges is a sure shot recipe for increase in maintenance charges. This should be avoided as many people in the colony are not in a position to bear this burden and are already seeing a severe erosion of their savings. We need to find ways to augment our revenues. We have some areas available like where Sanatan Das used to stay and the basement which could be given on rent for purposes aligned with Master Plan for Delhi 2021. Ideally, we should give it on rent to somebody living in the complex. In case somebody could suggest other ways of raising revenue, such suggestions would always be welcome.

Due to the heat in summer we are approaching a barren phase for social activities which would last until August. The holiday season will be here anon, when schools and colleges close for the summer recess. The best place to be at these times is anywhere but Delhi, unless children who have appeared for their XII th class board exams are appearing for entrance examinations for professional courses or preparing for admission to colleges. For the others staying in Delhi is going to be an onerous task as the intense summer heat could melt faces!

Thomas Abraham inspired the children to devote some time every Sunday morning from 6.30 am to do some cleaning and greening. The flower beds are the unfortunate receptacles for all the litter of plastic sachets and sundry other waste. Cleaning of the beds is not normally done by the sweepers and hence the need for volunteers to roll up their sleeve, don gloves and sift through manure to take out the undesirable waste. Many children and some adults came out, sacrificing their early Sunday morning snooze to work earnestly on the patch of garden and flower beds opposite the office on 8^th April. I was particularly impressed with Mr. Padmanabhan who worked very earnestly on the patch he was tending to. There were others who worked and chatted and still some others who were there to watch others work. The fact they all came out for the noble cause is commendable. Thomas had also brought some seasonal plants and taught the children how to plant and take care of them. Names of the plants dotting the said area, their provenance etc was explained in detail. I have reasonable cause to believe that such indoctrination will hold them in good stead in the future in taking care of the environment.

OBITUARY

April 20^th turned out to be the final punctuation mark in the life of Mr. N. V. Seshan of H-103, when he breathed his last in a Delhi hospital. Mr. Seshan was the life and soul of the co-operative store. He had also held office bearer position in the Society at some point in his illustrious innings in Yamuna. I saw him just a few days before, presiding over the Upanayanam function of his grandsons. He seemed to be in good cheer. This very kindred soul with a beatific smile on his face at all times, spent his last years in frail health. It was a far cry from his halcyon days when he used to break the land speed record walking around the complex. His life and good deeds will not be forgotten in a hurry. May his soul rest in peace! Yamuna residents convey their heartfelt condolence to his family.

SNIPPETS

A native’s return is always cause for cheer. Subhada who spent much of her growing years in Yamuna returned this month from Bangalore along with her husband Arun and son Shashwat. They have moved into G-302. Arun works for Intercontinental Hotels. Subhada is fondly remembered by her ex-students who learned Carnatic music and were tutored by her on a range of subjects for school. She is keen to resume her music and tuition classes. They can be reached on 26001590 or 9871747028.


Archit V. Iyer of G-103 attained Brahminhood on 16^th April. In an elaborate ritual held at the Guruvayuraappan temple in Mayur Vihar, Archit the soccer playing, net surfing dude recited the vows that may be very alien to what he does. Not that this ceremony is going to change any of that, except for the added appendage slung between his shoulder and waist. That is the irony of carrying on a tradition which actually militates with the belief and practices of modern living. The Upanayanam ceremony had all the hallmarks of a traditional thread ceremony. While Archit looked lost, Meera made the most of it with fancy saris and hairdo for the occasion. Venkat was also nattily dressed. In spite of the distance and being a working day, the function was well represented by Yamuna residents. The breakfast and lunch were sumptuous. The Seshans and Venkatachalams were gracious hosts.




S. Venkataramanan aka Venkat, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sankaran of A-307 took his holy vows on the 19^th of April to stay wedded to Shridevi forever. A few days after the smoke had cleared from the pulpit where the sacred fire was lit, a reception was held on April 22^nd at the charming Regenta Hotel near the airport. The dapper Venkat and heavily bedecked Shridevi sat on a gilded throne in a hall with wrought iron chandeliers and shimmering stage, to welcome the guests. The dinner spread which had elements of Andhra food amongst other cuisines lived up to the billing and was expectedly high on the Scoville scale. The Sankarans were great hosts.




Mr. Prashant, his wife Rajni, and the apple of their eye, their cherubic son Aarush, have moved to Gangotri from G-002. Unavailability of another suitable flat on rent in Yamuna prompted this move. They are keen on returning to the colony as soon as a flat comes up for rent. We wish them well.

FACTS TO PONDER OVER

The Cost of Oxygen: Very interesting!!!

• In one day a human being breathes oxygen equivalent to three cylinders.
• Each oxygen cylinder on an average costs Rs 700, without subsidy.
• So in a day, one uses oxygen worth Rs 2100 and for a full year it is Rs 7,66,500.
• If we consider an average life span of 65 years; the cost of oxygen we use becomes a staggering Rs 500, 00,000 (Rs. 50 million).
• All this oxygen is derived free of cost from the surrounding trees..
• Very few people look at trees as a resource and there is rampant tree cutting going on everywhere which should stop.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR MAY 2012

DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
SUNDAYS	6.30 AM	CLEANLINESS AND ECODRIVE	DIFFERENT LOCATIONS