EDITORIAL
In a landmark move for the members of this colony, the Delhi Government at last uploaded the original list of allottees on their website thereby removing yet another roadblock towards the quest for freehold status. The conversion to freehold should be done by each member. The documents the member would require from the Society like no dues certificate, up to date ground rent payment receipt etc. can be provided by the Society to the members concerned. There is a guideline book available in the DDA office to calculate the conversion charges. The next payment of ground rent is due in June, 2016. It is suggested that members get their flats converted to freehold by then.
The new telephone directory is out with updated information after months of painstaking work by Seetha and Poornima vetting each of the entries. The attractive cover was designed by Thomas Abraham. With a number of houses changing hands and new tenants coming in, the old directory was in dire need of updating. The directory contains a list of service providers and most important of all, Dr. Sharada Vinod and Dr. Vijay Shankar of E-304 have offered to be contacted any time of the day or night in case of medical emergency. We are indeed grateful to them. Please do not use their good gesture and call them for routine medical concerns; after all, everybody deserves a work life balance. Please take cognizance of the 'Rules for Residents' whenever you are undertaking renovation work. In order not to fall foul of your neighbours or the Society please follow all the rules diligently. Let us make Yamuna proud. Despite the diligent work done in removing the errors if you still find any errors, please notify Mercy Nair in the office who can make the necessary corrections in the soft copy so that the next issue of the directory is error free.
We have completed five years of the guarantee period that was given by the road paving company when they laid the interlock bricks on the peripheral road. The road not only withstood the test of time, it also remained in pristine condition until the IGL contractor started digging for the gas pipeline. We hope to restore the paved bricks after the IGL work is over so that the road lasts for many more years.
The painting competition on 7th February, 2016 had to be hastily moved to the Club House owing to a light drizzle which bathed the badminton court. The participants were asked to choose between painting a haunted house or a hill station. Unfortunately, there were few takers for the macabre although it would have explored their imagination more than the mundane hill station. There was an extremely poor representation amongst the adults. Venkat came out with vivid autumn colours to depict a hill station. We hope more adults participate in the next year. The persons in the table given below were declared the winners by the judge. This is not to say that there weren't other paintings worthy of winning a prize but unfortunately, the judge has the unenviable task of choosing only two winners in each category where the contestants are at least four.
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Painting Competition Results - 2016
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Prize
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Age Category
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Name
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Address
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7-8 YEARS
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1
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ANOUSHKA NAIR
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A-203
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2
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SAMARTH VARMA
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H-208
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9-11YEARS
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1
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ANANYA SATISH
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A-202
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2
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SAHANA SAVARKAR
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C-208
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12-14 YEARS
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1
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TANVI SAVARKAR
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C-208
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2
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APARNA VARMA
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H-208
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ADULTS
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1
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C. VENKATESH
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E-101
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Freedom of speech has its limits. What we have witnessed at JNU and Jadavpur University is scurrilous, vituperative and insulting to the Indian state. Statements like we will 'dismember India', 'destroy the country', 'Bharat teri barbadi tak jang rahegi jari', and 'Pakistan Zindabad' being openly mouthed in full public gaze is a sad commentary on the scandalous posturing by Congress and Communists in support of freedom of speech. It is ironic that education of these students is being subsidised by the Indian Government through taxpayers’ money only for them to fulminate and mouth vitriolic and offensive statements against the state. The dictionary meaning of sedition is " incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government, or any action especially in speech or writing promoting such discontent and rebellion". If this is not sedition, what is? Why is the Press and so many illustrious personalities so forgiving of these people? JNU is a hub of Leftist ideology and has a poor record of nationalism. In 1996, the then AISA (student wing of CPI (ML) invited terrorists from the Valley to address the students. In the year 2000, two army men were brutally beaten up during a friendship mushaira when they protested against anti-India mushaira being rendered by the participants. In 2009, when more than 70 paramilitary forces were killed in Dantewada, there was celebration in the campus and the Indian flag was burnt by the activist of AISA. These are the very students who pass out and seek jobs in India. They are so enamoured by our neighbouring country, where killing of even other Muslim sects who are not Sunni, leave alone all the other religious minorities is rampant? I am sure many including some within my own house may not agree with my views. So be it.
Equally reprehensible is what followed at Patiala House. The upholders of the law, the so called lawyers took law into their own hands and beat up Kanhaiya Kumar. While I do not condone what Kanhaiya and other students have done, it is for the police to do the investigation and the courts to decide the appropriate action. People taking law into their own hands makes us an uncivilised lot. The problem is certain elements in BJP and RSS also behave like louts thereby tarnishing the Party's image.
Nervousness and anxiety is the common feeling among students who appear for the school finishing Board Exams. A child’s future rests on this exam. No other exam that he or she takes in life determines the course of his or her future more than this exam. With so much of one's future resting on a single set of exams, there is absolutely no room for laxity, an off day, illness or traffic snarls. No matter what, one is required to peak at the right time both physically and mentally. Even luck is required to play its part. Where even a fraction of a mark can determine success or failure, is it not natural for them to feel anxious? This anxiety does not rest with the children alone. Parents are equally, if not more on tenterhooks. We wish all the children who are appearing in the Board Exams this year, the very best of luck. Read the question paper properly and set aside some time for revision to rule out silly mistakes.
When the IGL representative came to the Society to conduct a registration camp for gas installation in people’s flats, applicants were required to produce ownership proof of the flat by providing any one of the following documents:-
a) Electricity bill b) Property tax receipt or c) Sales and Deed document.
I was astounded to find that many residents did not have any of the aforementioned documents although the flat came to their hands several years ago, either through inheritance or purchase. Sheer inertia like this could spell trouble in the future. You never know when inheritance tax will be levied by the Government which is quite common in many countries. You may needlessly end up paying several lacs of rupees to effect legal transfer of the property in your name which you could have very well done several years before the tax was imposed. Likewise, in case of taking a loan or proving your net worth or when you have to sell your property you may face many problems. Similarly, people who do not write a Will leave insurmountable problems for their heirs to claim what is theirs through birth. Much as we do not wish, death can come visiting upon anybody through natural and unnatural causes. There is no predictability to life. Let us not live in denial. Please therefore, for your sake or for the sake of your children, get all your property transferred in your name legally. Similarly, do write a Will. You can modify your will at any time depending on your choice but do not leave your progeny at a loose end. It is very simple to get the flat mutated in your name from the MCD office. After that you should get the electricity bill transferred in your name. I have known many people who have run from pillar to post and spent a fortune in legal costs because they did not do their homework.
The Union Budget over the years has been an exercise in juggling and tweaking the figures to rein in the fiscal deficit. Always facing a resource constraint, on account of demands from various quarters who can all justify their demands, the Union Finance Minister has little elbow room to please all. Therefore, the budget remains a game of optics. What the Budget reads on day one is often very different when you go through the fine print. It was a give and take budget this year with more take than give. A mere Rs. 3000 rebate on taxes for those earning less than Rs. 5 lacs a month, HR exemption upto Rs. 60,000 and other crumbs to that effect. This was made up by a whole lot of cesses including on cars which will ensure that the beneficiaries will end up Even Stevens.
The Managing Committee is appreciative of the co-operation extended by the residents to bear stoically with the inconvenience caused by the IGL digging as well as the disruptions caused in water supply during the Jat agitation in Haryana.
OBITUARY
Mr. C. S. Menon, a member of the Society breathed his last on 4th February, 2016 in Mumbai. He was the only member to be elected as President of the Society four times. It was a testimony to his popularity. He was very affable and knew each and every resident. He was equally fluent in Malayalam and Tamil and this endeared him to one and all. He could be abrasive at times and kept a tight leash on the staff and security guards. We will all miss him immensely. May his soul rest in peace. On behalf of Yamuna residents we convey our deepest condolences to his family.
SNIPPETS
Mr. Suryanarayana Prasad of G-302 has relocated to Trivandrum on a transfer as DGM Corporate, State Bank of Travancore. Mr. Prasad always sported a smile on his face and gelled with everybody. His daughter Dhanya participated in all the Yamuna activities. We wish them all the best.
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Although not yet a senior, Tejaswin Shankar of G-306 competed in the senior High Jump event at the South Asian Games and bagged a silver medal with a jump of 2.17 metres, the same height as the Gold Medal winner. The gold was not his only because he fouled at a much lower height as he was somewhat casual. He will learn from such mistakes. With every competition he is jumping higher. It should not be long before he bags the gold in the senior category. Tejas, we are very proud of you.
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Abhinav Kumar of H-103 has become a fiction writer. He has written a small fiction piece which will be featured in the blog and e-version of the Chronicle in the February 2016 issue. Please do give your feedback to him after reading it.
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Mr. K. V. N. Swamy of E-006 showed his appreciation for the good work done by the Managing Committee by donating a sum of Rs. 50,000 to the Society. All the members of Yamuna are indeed very grateful to him for this largesse. We are really blessed to have such residents who really care for the well being of the Society.
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Now children need their own space. Abhinav Kumar has flown the coop and moved from his parents’ house in H-103 to G-305. Party days are here again, I suppose for him and his friends.
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A baby boy was born to S. Venkataramanan and Shridevi of A-307 on 12th February, 2016. The last three births in Yamuna have been of boys thereby restoring to some extent the gender balance so much skewed in favour of girls. He has been named Devansh (meaning Part of God). Grandparents Mr. R. Sankaran and Vasundhara Sankaran will have their hands full looking after the baby.
Upheaval
By Abhinav Kumar
He stared at the pile of paper in front of him. Paper that supposedly held a lot of meaning. Sitting on the bed, he began to sift through them, one by one. Memories seared through him even before he had touched the first one. He paused for a moment, hand stretched out. The fingers trembled, uncertain, but the mind steeled them. He picked up the first. His final report card from school. The green cover, embossed with the school emblem, was smooth in his hand. It gleamed with his achievements. The grades were perfect, he noted with a mild curiosity, almost as if reading about someone else. More co-curriculars than anyone else had managed. A message of congratulations from the principal. He still remembered the day he had rushed home, clutching the booklet, bursting with excitement, waiting to show his parents the scrawl of green ink that meant so much. Smiling slightly, he set it aside, and picked up the next one. Board results. A 96.4% was unheard of in his family, and he could, if he closed his eyes, still taste the mithai on his tongue, mithai that his parents had distributed throughout the colony, delirious in their joy.
Next. A University letter, affirming that he would be a student of law for the next 5 years of his life. The paper was cool under his fingers, yet the effect of the letter had been electric. His spine tingled – for the millionth time – as he ran his fingers over the emblem, the scales of justice proud and true. He muttered the motto under his breath, feeling the Sanskrit shloka roll off his tongue. The words tasted sour, foreign, meaningless. Protect justice, and justice will protect you, he said. He didn’t stop to think whether he had protected anything in his time with the law. He knew he hadn’t. So he moved on to the next piece of paper. His final transcript. Flawless. Top grades in what mattered. Corporate law. Banking and finance. Capital markets regulation. He had aced every interview he had sat for. That brought him to the last piece of paper in the pile.
“Dear Rohit,” he read out loud. “We are pleased to offer you a position as an ‘Associate’ with MSA & Partners. As you know –” he paused. He could almost recite the following lines by heart. “…MSA prides itself on being the largest and most successful law firm in India. By joining us, you will not only be involved in some of the most exciting transactions in the country, but will also get a chance to be groomed by the best and the brightest in the profession. Many congratulations, and we look forward to welcoming you at the firm soon.”
He had slept with the letter under his pillow the night he had got it, just to make sure that it would be there the next morning. Now, he tossed it aside and stood up. When he had extracted the papers from his business folder – how many times had he described it as his most precious possession? – everything had been smooth, tidy, orderly. He stared at them now, scattered carelessly on the bed. By error or by design, his University transcript had ended up on top, the first page telling the story of his first few, unimportant years at law school. He smiled at the grades. Crime and Punishment – I: 9. Crime and Punishment – II: 9. Criminal Procedure: 10.
“Are you ready?”
He turned. Arun stood at the door, his face impassive. He glanced at the sheaf of papers, but made no comment.
“Just about,” Rohit said, making no effort to tidy up. “Wait outside, please? I just need to change.”
Arun turned and walked out, his kolhapuris slapping on the tiled floor, shattering the silence of the apartment.
Rohit turned back and stood beside the bed, facing the only adornment he had allowed on the otherwise bare walls.
“I love you,” he said, beginning to trace her curves on the paper. His father had always said that she looked like a woman trying to fix her sari. He had never quite seen it. But he saw it now, as his fingers spanned the mountains, the desert, the coastline.
“I love you,” he repeated, as a single tear rolled down his cheek. “But this is not you,” he finished, his voice firm.
A stray wind swept through the room, scattering the papers further. Rohit turned away and left the room without looking back.
“You didn’t change,” Arun said, getting out of his chair.
“This seemed fine after all,” Rohit said with a slight smile.
They walked out the front door and joined the ranks of protestors streaming towards JNU, smilingly courting arrest. MSA’s loss was India’s gain.
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DATE
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EVENT
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TIME
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VENUE
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24.3.16
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HOLI HAI! PLEASE ASSEMBLE IN THE LAWN FOR SOME FUN & FROLIC
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10.00 AM
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BADMINTON COURT
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26.3.16
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YAMUNA CHEF - COOKING COMPETITION - CHILDREN 6PM TO 7PM
ADULTS 7PM TO 8PM
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6.00 PM
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BADMINTON COURT
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