Issue No. 195 I November 2017

EDITORIAL

Smog hit the capital with a vengeance. With no let-up in stubble burning from the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, and to a lesser extent UP, we are destined to a gloomy winter. Winter at one time used to be the favourite season for Delhiites when they could bask in the sun and indulge in outdoor activities. Now, the same activities are fraught with danger. Particulate emissions are fifteen times the level prescribed by WHO as safe. With these levels, staying indoors is also not very safe. Consequently the badminton tournament had to be cancelled one day and schools were also shut for a few days. Due to poor visibility, flights and trains are getting delayed and major pile-ups are happening on highways. The governments concerned are pussy-footing on this issue when it is posing serious health problems to most states in the north. We are living in a veritable gas chamber where there is a surfeit of all gases except oxygen! Of late favourable wind speeds have reduced the pollution to less dangerous levels.

The puncture brigade got active once again with three cars in the colony being targeted in quick succession. There is a need to identify and nab the culprits.

Our simian ancestors have taken a shine to the colony with plenty of trees and balconies to swing from. They have become wiser too. They went to somebody's house, opened the fridge and selected the food they wanted to feast on and nobody dared to stop them from partying at the expense of the hapless resident. Srikanth brought a paint ball gun, a game accessory which leaves a painful and stinging blow to the target. After strikes hit home on a couple of monkey's did not have the desired result he targeted the leader of the pack and seems to have worked. In the last three days there have been no monkeys.

There were a sizeable number of children who contested this year's badminton championships. What was noticeable was that their game has improved considerably thanks to some of them taking badminton coaching. The games were fiercely contested and in most cases the margin of victory was very small. I am giving below the names of the winners of this year's competition.

		BADMINTON TOURNAMENT 2017
S.NO	POSITION	NAME	FLAT NO.
		SINGLES UPTO 10 YEARS
1	1	ELINA ADHIKARI	C-108
2	2	NIVETA REDDY	A-309
		SINGLES UPTO 13 YEARS
3	1	RADHIKA VENKATRAMAN	C-005
4	2	SHASHVATH ARUN	G-306
		DOUBLES UPTO 13 YEARS
5	1	RADHIKA VENKATRAMAN/VANSHIKA ARORA	C-005/A-106
6	2	SAI CHAITANYA/M.U. VAIDEHI	G-004/G-305
		SINGLES OVER 13 YEARS
7	1	ASHWIN SATISH	G-106
8	2	ADITI GANAPATHI	E-206
		DOUBLES OVER 13
9	1	ASHWIN SATISH/ABHISHEK MAHESH	G-106/H-304
10	2	SAMIKSHA NAIR/ ADITI GANAPATHI	B-107/E-206

The TT championship also drew a bigger gathering than expected. Many of the players were wielding the TT racquet for the first time but they mastered the art sufficiently in practice sessions to not appear a novice as the tournament got underway. The winner in various categories were as under:

		TT TOURNAMENT 2017
S.NO	POSITION	NAME	FLAT NO.
		SINGLES UPTO 10 YEARS
1	1	MEGH BHATT	A-308
2	2	M.U.VAIDEHI	G-305
		SINGLES UPTO 13 YEARS
3	1	SHASHVATH ARUN	G-306
4	2	ANANYA SATISH	G-106
		SINGLES OVER 13
4	1	KIANA ABRAHAM	A-008
5	2	SHREEJA SRIKANT	C-003

I must thank Prashant Sr, Raju Krishnan and Aparna Krishnan for conducting the badminton and TT tournaments. Notwithstanding the age controversies brewing amongst the children, the games were contested sportingly. Envy and awe were both present in equal measure.

I am a little disconcerted at the attitude of people towards punctuality and basic courtesies. None of the participants came for the quiz competition at the appointed time. I had to call each one of them to come. There were some who did not show up at all and did not bother to inform me in advance. Only Aseem had sent a message in advance to inform me that he would not be able to come due to some emergency. Yet we are ready to criticise the country and talk how we should follow the West in matters of discipline. If we, the educated class, do not set the example, what right do we have to criticise the country? If you ask me or the participants, the quiz competition is perhaps the best event in the Yamuna calendar, yet we find a lack of enthusiasm among residents to come for the event. Parents should at least send the children so that they can equip themselves better for their education and careers.

Coming to the event, owing to absentees, some residents in the audience had to be hastily inducted in the teams to get the quiz going. Antariksh Das, our quizmaster this year, did a fine job. Most of the questions revolved around his pet subjects of sports and entertainment. There were four teams in all, namely Alexander the Great, Champions, Underage and Mandir Wahin Banega. MWB, consisting of Kunal Savarkar, Mr. Ramachandran, Anirudh Suresan, and Venkat led throughout and were crowned the champions who humbled the team with the moniker Champions, who came a creditable second. This team consisted of Uma Maheswaran, Raghav and Poornima Narayanan. ATG and Underage were tied for third place. Underage came up with a fantastic rear guard action after remaining scoreless until half-way through the rounds. Antariksh distributed 5-star chocolates to all.

SNIPPETS

There are marriages galore this month. Could see a baby boom in the coming years which will be good for the colony as the children are the life and blood of our complex.

V. Ramanan of C-005, got hitched to Sowmiya in ceremonies that spanned over a week. For Sowmiya, who has been brought up in a mofussil town, the move to a metropolitan city will be a big transformation. Ramanan, who is a man about town and wise in his ways can guide her through this transition. The main ceremonies being on weekdays may have not seen much attendance but the reception on the evening of 2nd November, 2017 had the whole of Yamuna swarming there. The couple, who were well turned out, looked very fetching. We wish them the very best. Balaji and Sheila had pulled out all the stops.

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Priya and Ravi Rao's daughter Rajshri (popularly known as Ananya) got married to Anil on 6th November, 2017 at Shankara Vidya Kendra, Vasant Vihar. Anil works for Google in the USA. I have been informed that the ceremony was well attended and the food was finger licking good. In the reception held on the previous night, Ananya looked gorgeous in her sequin laden ghaghra choli. Ananya and Anil shared very good vibes, a bonhomie that comes from familiarity. Priya and Ravi were gracious hosts.

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Kamakshi, popularly known as Ramya got married to Akshay on 29th November, 2017 in the Yamuna lawn. The ceremony was an elegant affair. The marriage was attended by Yamuna residents and friends of the family. The decor was very tastefully done in ethnic style. There was nothing hectic, customary of most Indian weddings. It was held in an unhurried and relaxed atmosphere. Gomathi and Suresh were gracious hosts. The couple looked very happy at the proceedings which augurs very well. We wish both Ramya and Akshay a very happy married life.

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Subadha and Arun celebrated their thirteenth wedding anniversary in the Community Hall to the strains of bhajans sung by accomplished singers both from inside and outside the complex. The sound of the singing in unison reverberated in the Hall giving a spiritual high. This was followed by dinner in the badminton court. We wish them many years of cosy togetherness.

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Anand Sundaresan of G-301 entered the Rotary Golf Championship and came back with flying colours. With his driver working like a dream and a red hot putter to boot, he notched up a score that sent his rivals tumbling down the leader board. He was awarded the trophy and got several other goodies and two free Spice Jet Air Tickets. He gave away the packets of biscuits to the children taking part in the Sports Day. Hail the champion!

		CALENDAR OF EVENTS DECEMBER 2017
DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
9.12.17	4.30 PM	ANNUAL DAY - REFRESHMENTS, PRIZE DISTRIBUTION, VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT AND DINNER FROM FOOD STALLS	MAIN LAWN
24.12.17	6.30 PM	CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL, WINTER RAMP-WALK, DINNER FROM FOOD STALLS	BADMINTON COURT
31.12.17	12 MIDNIGHT	CAKE CUTTING TO USHER IN THE NEW YEAR	COMMUNITY HALL