Issue No. 165 I May 2015

EDITORIAL

The twenty-six societies whose regularisation case was held up in Court can now breathe easy. The Court has struck down the order which challenged the authority of the LG to grant amnesty against irregularities in the allotment procedure. This certainly makes our regularisation issue which has been lying in limbo for years, a tad easier to solve. Mr. Ganapathy, Mr. Krishnamurthy and Mr. P. K. K. Nair are actively pursuing the matter with the Registrar.

My relentless follow-up with IGL is driving them up the wall. I have now been assured that the work will start in two weeks. If it does not start, we should be up in arms against them.

Practically every resident has had to deal with seepage in his or her apartment in the last few years. Finding the source of the seepage has been an exercise of guess work and lot of exploratory breaking of walls. Ram has now found an agency which can pin point the source of the seepage  through thermal imaging. The equipment actually does a 3 D scanning of the wall and zeroes in on the source. He has undertaken to personally conduct a survey of all the flats to set right the problem professionally. Residents are requested to get in touch directly with the President, Mr. Ramabadhran or upload their seepage complaints on the Apna Complex portal. Our apartments are more than thirty-five years old and the life of steel pipes normally does not exceed twenty years. Fortunately for us the Society's founding members and those involved in the construction activity wisely chose the best material C Class pipes to see us through so many years without any major problem.

The cost of fixing the problem will be borne by the Society if the seepage is emanating from a common area like the shaft, external wall or terrace. In case the seepage is emanating from a particular flat, the member of that flat will have to bear the expense irrespective of the fact that his/ her flat is not affected by the seepage. Ideally all those who plan to undertake renovation of the kitchen or bathroom should change the pipelines from MS to CPVC (a plastic material tolerant of both hot and cold water and impervious to corrosion). Please do not scrimp on the connectors and grade and make of plastic pipes, if you need trouble free service and want it to last a life time. It would be advisable to source the material yourselves from a renowned brand rather than depending on the contractor. After the pipeline work is done, do a trial run to see if there is any seepage of water from the joints before plastering and affixing tiles. Another area from where seepage can occur are the drains. Please ensure that you water-proof the bathing area and properly caulk the space between the sewage pipe and the floor both in the kitchen and bathroom, so that water does not seep through the crevice.

It required an unfortunate incident with a resident to put a stop to the gambling and drinking problem of the drivers near the C-Block gate. Madhu Nair gathered photographic evidence to pull up the drivers and stop this undesirable activity. As per the suggestion of Sumathi Chandrashekaran, the Managing Committee decided to provide a sheltered space for the drivers to relax in a portion of the H Block basement while they wait for their employer's summons. In order that the gambling activity does not happen in the basement, they will be provided with carrom board, ludo, chess and snakes and ladders sets, to fight boredom. Residents who can donate the aforementioned game sets should let  it be known to the Society office.

The Yamuna library, "Reader's Rendezvous" was inaugurated in a portion of the Club-house by the Secretary, Madhu Nair with the lighting of the lamp on 3rd May, 2015. The brainchild of Renu Garg, the idea got the active support of Vidya Nair and Thomas Abraham, who have collaborated to provide a delightfully inviting niche in the Club-house that can act as a magnet for children and adults alike. As Mark Twain said,  “In a good book room you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.” Such is the aura of this place. We would like to thank all the residents, who, through contributions of money, books and sundry other items have made this possible. Children trained by Subadha sang the invocation song. Vatsala Zutshi, recited a Safdar Hashmi poem, read a book and narrated a story with so much energy, verve and theatrics that the children got totally involved in the act. Shashvath who got drawn into the story as a character, got his arm almost yanked off its socket by the ebullient and unrestrained Vatsala. After partaking in refreshments, residents reluctantly left the Club house. Going by the large gathering and enthusiasm, the library may have to be opened more often than the Sunday schedule, currently planned. The summer heat, though, is a concern. If anybody can donate a portable room cooler, it would be welcome.

We have reached that point of the year when the inclement summer heat makes for a barren phase when we have no cultural events. However, it is time to plan for the summer holidays for those who are not appearing for entrance examinations and dealing with admission chores. There are a plethora of choices at various budget levels covering overseas and domestic destinations. If you have the money, time and inclination you should take a break to de-stress yourself and restore your tissues.

Residents walking out of the apartments would be wise to refrain from donning expensive gold jewellery. After Subhada's gold chain was snatched while crossing the Apartments from H-Block gate several weeks ago, the petty larcenists were at it again. This time the victim was Mr. Ramabadhran's mother-in-law, Mrs. Durga Narayanaswamy of F-003.  Her chain was snatched when she was crossing over to Nilgiri to fetch milk early in the morning. In case residents wish to adorn their necks, it would be advisable to opt for costume jewellery.

Despite my repeated exhortations in the Chronicle, I have to bemoan the increasing lack of aesthetics in the colony. Wires coming out of holes in the walls, ugly pipes connecting split AC's, litter of plastic sachets and such like. While I pick up these packets and deposit them in the dustbins on my walks, I increasingly find myself fighting a losing battle. I cannot fathom why educated and civilised people cannot follow the simple dictum of keeping their environs clean. I am repulsed and my mind desperately seeks aesthetic comfort.

Indians are loquacious by nature and in an effort to get heard over the din and others speaking at the same time, we have gotten louder over the centuries. Our vocal chords must be the strongest on the planet. To add to that we revel in loud music, blaring horns and general cacophony. This continuous assault on our eardrums has impaired our hearing and we are getting deafer by the year. This forces us to talk louder in order  to be heard and in the process we are perpetuating the very ill that we should seek to avoid.

Yamuna staff playing hookey and not being found in the premises has been a common complaint. A finger print scanner has now been installed by the side of the door of the Society Office where the staff have to perforce have their finger scanned when they report for work, break for lunch, return from lunch and when they leave for the day. This will enable the Society to strictly monitor their attendance and put a check on their late coming or early leaving.

Mr. Ramabadhran has donated his office work stations to spruce up the Society Office. All that the Society needs now is some interior work including painting to give it a professional ambience. With the portal finding increasing usage we are probably the most high-tech office of a residential complex.

The Class 12 CBSE Board exam results are out and all the children from Yamuna passed with flying colours. The results are reproduced below in alphabetical order :

S.NO	NAME	ADDRESS	% MARKS	STREAM
1	ADITYA SRIVASTAVA	B-003	94.60	SCIENCE
2	ANIRUDH SURESAN	H-008	86	SCIENCE
3	KARTHIK SUBODH	B-004	92.80	SCIENCE
4	KAVYA NARAYANAN	B-002	94.25	SCIENCE
5	NACHIKET DRAVID	G-001	96	SCIENCE
6	SIDHANTH KUMAR	A-301	82.3	SCIENCE

It is the first time in my memory that all the students who appeared for the Board exams were from the Science stream. Ram Srinivas, who used to live in A-001, Yamuna until a few years ago, has also done exceedingly well, scoring 96% marks. All these students have appeared for the Engineering, Medical or Design entrance exams and are awaiting their results. There is reasonable cause to believe that they will all end up doing what they wish to do.

In case you are not already aware, there is a proposal to build a median on the main Alaknanda Road without a gap in the verge. Hence residents wishing to go in the direction of GK II will have to go all the way to Tara Apartments and take a U-turn. It will be a nightmare of gargantuan proportions. This has prompted residents of Nilgiri, Gangotri, Godavari, Rishi etc to take the matter to court through Citizens Alliance. On behalf of Yamuna, I have attended some meetings and the traffic police Commissioner has also been approached.  The PWD which has been awarded the contract is not willing to relent, but the fight is on and we will not rest until gaps on the verge are provided.

OBITUARY

Mr. Padmanabhan, father of Satish Padmanabhan of A-202 passed away early morning on 18th May, 2015 in their flat. He has been battling illness for a while and his last wish was to see his grandson's Upanayanam. While he could not make it to the mandapam, he could view the ceremony on Skype installed by his bedside in the hospital. Yamuna residents convey their heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family.

SNIPPETS

Mr. A.G. Ramakrishnan and Bharti of A-007 have sold their flat and moved to Hyderabad, where they wish to settle down. Bharti, who was a hands on Secretary of the Society for two terms stretching over six years, did a tremendous service to the Society. We would like to record our appreciation for her work. They are likely to visit Yamuna regularly as Mr. Ramakrishnan has clients in Delhi and they have another flat in Yamuna to stay when they are here. We wish them the very best in their new abode.

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Mr. Behera, Deepa and Anushka of C-207 are heading back to Ahmedabad where they came from a couple of years ago. He is going back on a transfer. In the short time they were here they made quite a few friends. We will miss them.

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Ashwin Satish of A-202 has come of age. On 8th May, 2015 at Shankara Vidya Kendra, on the occasion of 'Upanayanam', he chanted his vows to become a Brahmin.  In a brief ceremony, surrounded by relatives and friends from Yamuna, the sacred thread was slung between his shoulder and torso. It's a tall order in this day and age to expect him to recite the sandhya vandanam religiously twice a day, observe the rituals before meals and abstain from certain foods and drinks. However, the wishes of his grandparents were met and all those present had good breakfast, lunch and enjoyed the ceremony.

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To represent one's nation in any sport is a great honour. To return with a medal is awesome. Tejaswin Shankar of G-306 has done just that. He won the bronze medal for high jump in the Asian Youth Athletics Championships held in Doha. As a result of this performance he has been selected to represent India in World School Games in Wuhan, China and World Youth Championship in Columbia. He could go on to become the only track and field athlete from India to ever win an Olympic medal. Tejas, you make us proud.

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Karthik of A-005 is getting married to the apple of his eye, Smriti on 18th June, 2015 in Palakkad. Their invitation card is original, romantic, poetic, quirky and witty with a wry sense of humour. It's a card that may not go down well with the conservatives but it's surely worth preserving. The card has a sketch showing both Karthik and Smriti in lawyer's attire, posing in front of the Supreme Court with India Gate and palm trees in the background. India Gate signifies that Smriti is from Delhi, albeit a South Indian and the palm trees signify that Karthik is from Kerala. The text of the card is romantic, yet hilarious and perky. We will be delighted to have Smriti as a neighbour. We wish them a rollicking married life.