Issue No. 198 I February 2018

                               

EDITORIAL

The Union Budget was not likely to throw any surprises coming as it was just a year before the general elections. True to expectations the tax-paying salaried urban middle class who constitute less than 2% of the population don't count for marbles and were generally ignored. What they got in one hand was taken away from the other. Most of the sops were reserved for the farmers and the poor who have not participated in the growth story of the country. The senior citizens also benefited to some extent. For most of us who are generally well provided for, it is better not to look for handouts.

Practically every person in a middle class home in the country can count a few near relatives in other countries, particularly the US. Due to their diligence and determination they have reached the pinnacle of their chosen profession to be counted amongst the richest ethnic group in their respective countries. This tribe is actively wooed by the government when Delhi rolls out the red carpet to its diaspora once every year in freezing January. The Government trots out a clutch of ministers to make the right noises to this motley audience of NRI's.  It is a desperate attempt to chase the NRI piggybank. The accumulated prodigals on their part are principally interested in getting their PIO card that allows them a easier run of the place. It is not love for the old homestead that the Indian diaspora remits oodles of money. It is more because they get a bigger bang for the buck when they invest in India. The narrative has changed of late because real estate prices are on the retreat. Another reason they come to India is the desire to dive into Indian food, but one week into avials, gol guppas and the like, they get an awful case of the trots. It doesn't matter whether they went from Ottapalam, Ranchi or Mumbai. After living a few years in the Big Apple, they are so softened by the pure air and unadulterated food that they cannot stomach the local fare. The good thing about living in India is that we are much more hardy.

The best months in the year weather-wise for Delhi'ites are February and November. Consequently, the annual painting competition was held on 4th February, 2018 in brilliant sunshine with a gentle breeze wafting through the park. The children and the adults armed with their easels trooped in to let their skills talk. There was a decent turnout and probably the largest ever contingent of adults participated. There was a choice of four topics to let everybody apply their imagination. The result was outstanding. Priti of G-305 who is a painter by profession selected the winners in each age category. I missed out again, although I came up with a masterpiece.  Lutz's painting was superb but I think Kunal has done some match fixing! Jokes apart, we had a good contest.

		PAINTING COMPETITION RESULTS-2018
PRIZE	AGE CATEGORY	NAME	ADDRESS
1	4-5 YEARS	KIAAN NATHAN	A-107
2		REHAN KONNERMANN	C-206
3		KRISHNA JAYARAMAN	G-105
1	6-7 YEARS	AARON JUNEJA	G-001
2		ADHYA RAM	H-002
1	9-12 YEARS	VAIDEHI.M.U	G-306
2		VANSHIKA ARORA	A-106
3		ADWITA NAIR	B-107
1	13-15 YEARS	ANANYA SATISH	G-106
2		SAMIKSHA NAIR	B-107
3		KIANA ABRAHAM/SAHANA SAVARKAR	A-008/C-208
1	ADULTS	LUTZ KONNERMANN	C-206
2		KUNAL SAVARKAR	C-208
3		PRABHU RAM	H-002

The pot-luck lunch that followed was very relaxed. There is something about a shared meal that is so invigorating to the soul that it is hard to describe. There is a lot of jollity and conviviality that comes with community participation. Acquaintances become friends and friends become thicker friends when they talk about culinary details and sundry other things.

As the annual exams and Board exams loom, women go weak in the knees with additional stress levels. I notice that it is generally the lady of the house who gets really worked up whereas the men go about their business unmindful. It is not fair that the ladies should take all the burden of bringing up children especially in this day and age when women also have full time jobs. While the girls are generally more serious about their studies the boys need to be constantly reprimanded and cajoled to pick up their books. What can explain this indifference in the male of the species? Be that as it may, Yamuna children are bright and would cope quite well. We wish all those who are appearing for their exams the very best and may all of them come out with flying colours.

The mountains of garbage that one witnesses in landfills may be a sight you may not behold in future if the intention of NGT and MCD takes credence. NGT has issued a notification that all the wet garbage i.e. the kitchen waste consisting of vegetable and fruit peels, residue from cooked food etc should be separated from solid waste like paper, plastic, glass, tin, etc. and processed within the housing society for conversion to compost. MCD will arrange to lift the dry waste for recycling for which RWAs will have to pay MCD at the rate of Rs. 50 per month per household for houses measuring upto 2,000 sq ft. The Lt. Governor of Delhi issued a notification that violations of this rule will attract a penalty of Rs. 50,000 for a housing society. We have to therefore become responsible citizens and with immediate effect, segregate garbage as mentioned above.

The Society's budget for 2018-19 including the aforementioned charges and for collection and processing cost of wet waste will be presented at the Special General Body meeting in March, 2018. Details of the meeting and Agenda will be sent to the members separately by the Society office.

Nirav Modi embezzles $1.2 billion and makes the front pages of newspapers and breaking news on all TV channels. There is this smiling countenance of NM with a bevy of arm candy hanging on to every word that comes out of his lips. Boy, is he a matinee star? I don't know how many zeroes are there in such a sum but it amazes me that nobody in the Bank thought to ask when the first million got skedaddled. You don't just wake up one morning and find 1.2 billion dollars leaked away from an arterial pipe burst.

Imagine, one morning this nonchalant scamster says, well my turtle dove, why don't I swipe over a billion dollars from the bank and we can catch the afternoon flight to  Hawaii and drink Mojitos on the beach? Her eyes fill with liquid awe and she says, make that St. Tropez, my husband, my hero, and you have a deal. Okay, he says, keep my bags ready and saunters off to wherever such people saunter off, does his little bit of skulduggery and leaves for the airport and vanishes into thin air. The Government is left fuming, the opposition is baying for the PM's blood although the whole scam began under the UPA's watch. It was like watching a circus on the news channel. Thereby hangs a tale.

The Thyagaraja Aradhana on 17th February, 2018 did not evince as much interest as yester years. Although the Community Hall got eventually filled out there weren't people spilling out of the hall, like we had got accustomed to. Those who could not make it missed out on a treat. The children put on a far superior performance due to Subadha's tutelage. One can see their transformation over the years. If they can add a bit of subtle voice modulation in the transition from the high notes to the low in a slightly mellow pitch they would get the admiration of the Saint himself. The singing of the Pancharatna Kritis led by Bhavani, Subhada, Sumathi, Latha, Aruna, Seema and Subadha's students, gave goose bumps as it reached a crescendo. I am always amazed by the wealth of talent in the colony. Prasad distribution brought an end to what was a very enjoyable soiree. We are grateful to Mrs. Bhagirathi Eswaran for the pictures of Saint. Thyagaraja amongst others.

OBITUARY

Mr. N. S. Jain, member and former resident of G-004 passed away at the age of 86 years on 5th February, 2018. Mr. Jain who was the President of the Society from 1995-1997 led a very active life until his demise. After moving out of Yamuna, he was living with his son Yatin and daughter-in-law Archana in Anand Vihar. May his soul rest in peace. Yamuna residents convey their heartfelt condolence.

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Mrs. Kalyanalakshmi  Mahadevan, member of C-001, passed away in the early hours of 9th February, 2018 at the ripe age of 89 years. She was one of the earliest residents of Yamuna. Of late she was living with her sons Anand and Ramani in GK2. Older residents remember her very fondly. May God give the family the strength to bear with this loss.

SNIPPETS

The Chronicler, who normally has his ears glued to the ground missed out on the news that Sreeja, daughter of Dr. & Mrs. Verghese of A-010 and her husband Paul were blessed with a baby girl in December 2017. The baby has been named Sana Gorman Verghese. Happy tidings to the couple.

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Chandrakanta Rajpurohit who is currently living in F-004 has bought H-206 from Deepa Varadarajan. When they move after the renovation, the additional space they get as a consequence will be very welcome.

		CALENDAR OF EVENTS-MARCH 2018
DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
2.3.18	11AM	HOLI MILAN	MAIN LAWN
6.3.18	ALL DAY	RADHA KALYANAM	MAIN LAWN
18.3.18	9.30 AM	SPECIAL GENERAL BODY MEETING	COMMUNITY HALL
31.3.18	6.30 PM	COOKING COMPETITION FOR ADULTS & CHILDREN	BADMINTON COURT