Issue No. 133 I September 2012

EDITORIAL

Some of us are blissfully unaware of the perils we face due to the indiscriminate disposal of toxic waste. The plethora of deformed children, high incidence of cancer and other life threatening ailments can be attributed to a great extent to untreated waste disposal and high pesticide use. E-waste consisting of heavy metals, mercury and other toxic elements is one of the principal culprits. A bin has been placed in the society office to deposit all the e-waste like used batteries/cells, computer peripherals and other electronic waste. A carton has also been placed to collect fused CFL lamps. If we dispose these wastes in any other manner, it will be considered a cognisable offence. The Government has now appointed a single agency in the social sector called Chintan to collect e-waste, who in turn will segregate the waste and forward them to another agency who would either recycle the waste or dispose them off in such a manner that it does not leach into the soil or get airborne.

We have tied up with Chintan to not only remove e-waste from our colony but also other household waste. We should keep the kitchen waste consisting of vegetable peels, waste food etc in a separate bag and other dry waste such as bottles, cans, paper, plastics and polythene wrappers etc separately. Chintan’s workers are trained to handle and segregate different kinds of waste. We hope this measure by us and others will augur well for future generations. The initial stages of this switchover have worked very well. The garbage dump near the C-Block gate remains clean unlike in the past as they do not leave behind anything and also carry the garbage in a closed van as opposed to an open cycle cart used by the earlier contractor. Besides, Chintan does it for free, whereas we were paying Rs. 1,000 per month to the previous garbage remover.

We are already in October and there is very little time to prepare for the Annual Day variety entertainment programme scheduled in November. All residents who would like to take part in plays/skits, music, dance etc should give their names with details to Gita Rastogi of C-004. Likewise, those who would like to take part in the Quiz competition should give their names to Sumathi Chandrashekaran of H-107 latest by 15^th October. Residents who are going to take part in Badminton and TT tournaments may give their names to Raju P. Krishnan of F-103. Seema Chari is staging a Hindi play based on “Angur” for the Annual Day for which she has to finalise the cast. Aspiring actors may please get in touch with her. Please do not wait till D-Day to avoid disappointment.

“Sir meeting mein hain” and “Sir busy hain” are terms used by staff in Government offices to fob off callers and visitors. If the personage is particularly indispensable, bemused supplicants cannot be faulted for wondering when the big kahunas get time to do the quotidian work that keeps the wheels of Government moving. The whole scenario changes dramatically when the rusty wheels are suitably lubricated. Graft in India has come to stay. Graft is there in every country of the world but the degree varies. It seems inexorably linked to geography. It is the least in countries closer to the poles and proliferates as you approach the equator. That is why the Scandinavian countries and down south, New Zealand and Australia are least affected by graft. South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and some Latin countries are all plagued by a parallel economy of unaccounted worth. That one gets willy nilly dragged into the mire is borne out by past lapses.

Those of us who became apoplectic hearing the Government announcement that a household can be provided with only six gas cylinders in a year at the current rates and would have to pay nearly three times the rate for additional cylinders can heave a sigh of relief that succour is at hand. The handmaiden of God is going to shower blessings on Yamuna in the form of Piped Natural Gas. IGL who have laid the trunk gas pipeline across the road in front of Yamuna are awaiting Traffic Police and PWD permission to dig the road to lay the pipeline to Yamuna. I met the Marketing Head of IGL along with the Councillor to urge them to lay the gas pipeline in Yamuna Apartments and handed them a formal request letter. I was assured that they hope to get the approval from the concerned authorities in the month of October 2012 and complete the pipeline work in Yamuna by December 2012. A representative of IGL then visited Yamuna Apartments and took notes on the topography for installing the pipes. We would have to give a refundable deposit of Rs. 5,000 per gas connection and Rs. 2,000 for gas supply and if the pipe length per flat exceeds 15 metres from the node, we have to pay @ Rs. 145 per metre for the additional length. I was told by the representative that there may not be a need in most cases for the additional length of pipe. Hopefully, in the New Year we can bid goodbye to the clunky gas cylinders, the endless wait for the gas delivery boy and the nuisance of co-ordinating the supply.

In view of the scheduled tribute to Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna falling on the eve of the AGM, the programme was deferred to 1^st October, 2012 (eve of Gandhi Jayanti).

The AGM started in a stormy fashion but soon settled down thanks to an overwhelming surge of support for the actions of the Managing Committee. A few resolutions were deferred since the anticipated approval from the Registrar for regularisation of allotment of flats in favour of members got delayed. It was very gratifying that the resolutions were carried through with near unanimous approval.

SNIPPETS

Frustrated by the long and stressful daily commute to his place of work in Gurgaon, Arjun Rao of A-205 has very reluctantly decided to relocate to the Millenium City. It’s going to be hard on Sowmya and the kids, Abhimanyu and Amogh who had lots of friends and integrated very well in the colony. We will also miss Sowmya’s choreography skills in arranging dances for the Annual Day. We wish them the very best in their new abode.

With the arrival of September, the marriage season began. First off the block was A.T. Ashok, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. T. K. Raman of E-104 who wed Vindhya at Shankara Vidya Kendra, New Delhi on 12^th September. The invitation card lucidly explaining the rituals of a Hindu wedding ceremony had the traditionalists asking for more. They were not disappointed. Although only a relatively small gathering was there from Yamuna, it had all the hallmarks of a memorable wedding. We wish the couple the very best for the future.

HEALTH CAPSULE

While walking around the colony, as informed by some Yamuna’ites, I had a look at this herb known in Tamil as called Kizhanelli and  then came to know about the abundance of medicinal properties these tiny leaves carry with them.

Phyllanthus niruri, to give the herb its botanical name, is also known as Bhumyamalaki in Sanskrit  or Buin Anvalah in Hindi. Typically, it grows in lush, green areas like river banks, lakes and paddy fields. In Yamuna, you can find it growing during the rainy season along the wall we share with Godavari Apartments. It has tiny, bright green leaves, deceptively like those of gulmohar. On its underside are miniscule ‘nelli’s – berries in Tamil – that distinguish this herb from other plants. Some of its curative properties:
- Kizhanelli is known to be useful in curing anaemia, skin problems, eyesight defects etc.
- For treating jaundice and other liver problems, leaves of kizhanelli with other herbs (known in Tamil as karisalankanni and thumbai) of equal quantity are ground to a fine paste. Around 15 gm of this paste is mixed in buttermilk and taken on an empty stomach in the mornings and evenings. This not only cures jaundice but also restores the liver to its healthy, normal level within a short period.
- The whole plant and its aerial parts are used for many remedies, mostly biliary. Some examples are kidney and gallbladder stones, hepatitis, colds, flu, tuberculosis, and other viral infections.
- Phyllanthus niruri lowers blood pressure.
- Its leaves are a popular remedy against fever.
- It can be used to increase appetite, while local application relieves inflammation.
- It is also said to be useful in treating anorexia.
Unfortunately, our mali, I am told, is happily unaware of kizhanelli’s wondrous properties and removes the plants wholesale, since they look just like weeds!

Sangeetha Srihari / E-103

LAUGHTER, THE BEST MEDICINE

If Columbus had been married…..
If Columbus had been married, he might never have discovered America, because he would have had to answer all the following questions:
• Where are you going?
• With whom?
•Why?
•How are you going?
•To discover what?
•Why only you?
•What do I do when you are not here?
•Can I come with you?
•When will you be back?
•Would you have dinner at home?
•What would you bring for me?
•You deliberately made this plan without me, didn’t you?
•You seem to be making a lot of these programs lately...
•Answer me, why?
•I want to go to my mother’s house.
•I want you to drop me there.
•I don’t want to come back ever!
•What do you mean, OK?
•Why aren’t you stopping me?
•I don’t understand what this whole discovery thing is about.
•You always do things like this.
•Last time you also did the same thing!
•Nowadays you always seem to do this kind of stuff.
•I still don’t understand what else is left to be discovered!

Blonde on the Sun
A Russian, an American, and a blonde were talking one day. The Russian said, 'We were the first in space!'
The American said, 'We were the first on the moon!'
The Blonde said, 'So what? We're going to be the first on the sun!'
The Russian and the American looked at each other and shook their heads. 'You can't land on the sun, you idiot! You'll burn up!' said the Russian.
To which the Blonde replied, 'We're not stupid, you know. We're going at night!'

Banta's Law of Motion Banta Singh badly wanted to be known as a great man. So after long research he made a new addition to Newton's Laws of Motion and expects to be nominated for the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics for his new "Theory of Motion" which says:
" A loose motion can never be done in a slow motion. "

CALENDAR OF EVENTS-OCTOBER 2012

DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
1.10.12	6.30 PM	DOCUMENTARY SCREENING, KARAOKE SINGING-A TRIBUTE TO DEV ANAND AND RAJESH KHANNA-FOOD STALLS	AT THE BADMINTON COURT
20.10.12	6.30 PM	QUIZ COMPETITION WITH SUMATHI	AT THE BADMINTON COURT
23.10.12	6.30 PM	DANDIA WITH FOOD STALLS	AT THE BADMINTON COURT
24.10.12	6.30 PM	RAM LEELA AND BURNING OF RAVAN’S EFFIGY	AT THE MAIN LAWN