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S. Srinivas

01 May, 2019

Issue No. 212 I April 2019


                                                                                                        
                                                                  EDITORIAL 

Property prices had reached such heights that only few could afford them. I used to shudder at the thought of conjugally challenged newly-weds who had to share their cramped quarters with sundry brothers, sisters, parents, aunts and uncles in joint families. They used to find themselves marooned in platonic wilderness. There is hope for them now as property prices have started going southwards rather sharply. I understand that the prices haven’t hit the bottom yet. Property as an instrument of investment is no more an attractive proposition unless one wants it for one’s own use. 

Social media has infiltrated our lives in a major way, Wherever you go you find people with their faces buried in their smart phones and their fingers darting on the keys either playing games or surfing or sending inane forwards. By transmitting forwards, actually you are endorsing those views without really being the author of the piece. We are in a position to blindside our fallacies, safe in the sanctuary that an inanimate object provides. Fake news, intolerant views, humour channels with a good deal of expletives and undesirable content has become the norm. I am left wondering if it is trendy to be a jerk. Besides, this all pervading social media curse is putting in peril all social contact between humans and the empathy that goes along with it. I have been given to understand that a game called PUBG is so violent and hostile that children’s minds are getting corrupted by it because of its addictive influence.

Children should be weaned away from video games for their own good and nudged into building block games. Lego is a building blocks game that hones a person’s skills and analytical acumen. The permutations and combinations are mind boggling and you can pretty much make anything with it. Recently, there was a news item that a person built an artificial arm for himself with a Lego set. In China, in many schools it is mandated to own a Lego set so that children become more clever and innovative in building things. Parents would be advised to invest in an advanced Lego set for their children instead of video games. Video games can at best make a person more dexterous but ends up as an addiction and dulls the mind. Whereas a Lego set can make a child think like an engineer.

Voters over time have learnt to ignore the platitudinous blathering of politicians. The poor weigh their votes based on immediate handouts as they all are too aware that post poll, promises are there to be broken. For the rest of the populace, political parties have taken social media by storm. There are a plethora of comments from both sides of the political divide castigating the other. When will these parties stop talking about the other parties’ negatives and talk about their own party’s positives? There is too much noise and too little substance.

The Pulwama attack has once again brought to focus what the insidious and malign intent of our western neighbour can do to the fragile peace that exists there. One sees those guns regularly in the Valley, stark totems of the violence that lies beneath the surface of this paradise that is staggeringly beautiful, so attractive to the tourist, yet so troubled.

It is amazing that Yamuna Apartments got to be mentioned in the Supreme Court in salutary terms on 29th March, 2019. It was touted as a model residential colony by The Environment Pollution Control Authority while recommending parking being made chargeable in residential areas. In order to cover this item in the next day’s news, a correspondent of Hindustan Times rushed to the colony on 30th March, 2019 and took pictures of the parked cars. Her report together with a picture of the colony was published in the Hindustan Times of 31st March, 2019.

The Thyagaraja Aradhana was held in the Community Hall on 13th April, 2019. It didn’t quite live up to its reputation of yester years when there were a lot more singers and the hall used to reverberate when the power of their combined voices reached a crescendo while singing the Pancharatna kritis. The absence of Yamuna singers like Kalyani, Bhavani and Seema and some from outside took some sheen and heft out of the event. Nevertheless, it still had quality singers in Sumathi, Subhada, Aruna, and Latha amongst others. The children trained by Subhada like Tanvi, Sahana Savarkar and Samiksha gave a good account of themselves. Although Saint Thyagaraja composed his kritis over a century ago, to many people, the Thyagaraja Aradhana bespeaks immense faith in things both temporal and divine and so it should stay. There is this enduring resonance that makes the Kritis timeless. Prasadam was arranged by Kumar Caterers. We are indeed grateful to all those who made this event memorable.

Children’s final exams are over and they have moved to the next class. Those who appeared for the Xth and XIIth class Board exams await their result. I remember when we were children, as soon as the final exams got over, euphoria used to sweep over us and we would be playing all the time and generally running amok. I don’t find the same enthusiasm in today’s children except in the pre-teens. Why are they so stressed? Are we burdening the children with too many sundry activities that they do not have the time or the inclination to let their hair down and behave like children? I am hearing of parents taking their children to psychologists and shrinks because they think they are muddled up. This is a sorry state of affairs. Children should be happy, at least during the holidays. At other times they are constantly battling with tuitions, tests, projects and such like.

Winter flowers have given way to summer blossoms. The prettiest of them are the mauve coloured blooms of the Jacaranda tree adjoining the badminton court. The yellow flowers of the Tacomas along the St. George school boundary wall, the purple coloured bougainvilla flowers flanking the C-Block annexes, the purple and white coloured periwinkle along the Godavari boundary wall, the pink coloured thunbergia creeper crawling up the curved staicase wall of B-107, the red passion flower in the passage between A Block and the transformer area, the red salvia’s in the mound adjoining the entrance to the park, all paint a pretty picture against the monochromatic façade of the buildings. They act as mood enhancers. Together with the greening of the main lawn, it is a delight to gravitate towards the lawn and other green patches especially as the days get hotter.

We are in the thick of the election season when nothing gets done by the Government and in the Government as all the politicians are busy campaigning for elections and the bureaucrats and other functionaries are on poll duty manning polling booths or are on sundry duties. Recently, when I enquired from the local MLA as to why something he had promised had not got done, he mentioned that the model code of conduct had been imposed and therefore any work will get done only after the polls are over. My apprehension is that once the polls are over, the politicians lose their interest in pandering to the electorate.

There are many leaders on all sides of the political spectrum who are very articulate and lend a lot of weight to their arguments. I feel compelled to listen to the PM, who is a master orator. Arun Jaitley who has all the answers, legal or otherwise to questions thrown by the Opposition is proficient both in English and Hindi and can hold forth without any aid on any subject. He is a consummate leader, having been baptised in the fiery cauldrons of student politics. Then there is Smriti Irani. Although her reign as HRD Minister was quite shambolic, she is extremely articulate in both Hindi and English, then there is Sambit Patra of the BJP. I find his eloquence in both English and Hindi amazing. Among the opposition parties, I find Mr Pawan Verma as very erudite, analytical and balanced. Having been a former bureaucrat he knows all the nuances of machinations inside and outside in the corridors of power. Sachin Pilot, Milind Murli Deora, Deepender Singh Hooda are the young Turks who will make an impact in the future. However, they will be hampered by the presence of their inept leader, the proverbial glass ceiling that will impede their progress.

Summer is here in earnest. If you go out during the day, the heat can make faces melt. I cannot fathom how they play IPL cricket in this weather. In the span of a couple of overs, the bowlers have sweat soaked shirts. However, it is time for heading to the swimming pools. There is so much rush for temporary membership to swimming pools that when a person lands up there, you hardly see the water as every square inch of space is taken up by the swimmers. There is barely any room to move. Not that it bothers me. I have a mortal dread of the depths. Once I almost perished in four feet of water in a swimming pool, much to the amusement of my daughters. Even in my most exuberant stunts, I can hardly claim to be the master of the abyss.

The virtues of thrift and humility are anathema to the demands of the new age where instant gratification is the hallmark of a good life. No wonder the e-marketplace business is booming. Until about a decade ago, nobody had heard of Amazon, Flipkart, Uber, Ola, Zomato, Swiggy, OYO rooms etc. All these businesses have staggering valuations and some of them have grown so big that their turnover is more than the GDP of some countries. This kind of stratospheric growth cannot be even imagined in brick and mortar industry. To grow to this scale, companies like TATA, Birla etc have taken more than hundred years. Youngsters, whether they have money in their pocket or not are calling the shots and debt is the name of the game.

With the advent of the summer season all cultural activities have come to a halt. Hence, there is no calendar of events planned from May till August. Summer recess is an opportunity for everybody to plan their holidays to escape the heat, albeit temporarily. Many holiday packages are being advertised in the newspapers. Some of the overseas packages particularly to South East Asia are working out cheaper than the holidays within the country. The only thing that pleases me about the Delhi summer is the availability of a large variety of juicy mangoes. I have yet to meet somebody who does not love mangoes. Then of course there is the occasional indulgence in ice cream and Natural’s has a host of original flavours.

There is a lot of construction activity going on in high end colonies where the old buildings are being torn down and replaced with several builder flats in one plot. This will only add to the pressure for water, sanitation and parking space. Some of the houses are so out of character that they mar the landscape. Their proclivity to imitate European baroque architecture shows no subtlety. Frescos of cherubs and angels with a variety of string instruments, pillars shaped into lyres and other architectural embellishments look so incongruous in an Indian setting that it militates with our taste.I guess the reason we do this is because we still have this slavish mentality of aping the west.

Talking of construction, one sees many flats in Yamuna undergoing renovation too. Unfortunately many residents still do not follow the guidelines when they take up any renovation work. Every resident who undertakes renovation work should fill and submit a form that is available in the Society office about the nature of work, duration of work, name of the contractor who is undertaking the job, etc. Besides, there are several do’s and don’ts like the hours the workers can do the job and about informing the neighbours. The do’s and don’ts are also mentioned in the Rules for Residents page of the Society telephone directory. Residents are requested to adhere to these rules and remove the construction debris in gunny sacks on a periodic basis from the Society.

SNIPPETS

Mihir, Falguni and Megh of A-308 who lavished tribute to Yamuna and its residents in a missive to the editor which was published in the February issue of the Chronicle, left for Mumbai on 6th April, 2019. It is very sad to see people who move into the colony, get well integrated and contribute to the socio-cultural fabric of Yamuna depart from the colony. We hope someday they will get a chance to move back so that we can welcome them back with open arms.

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Lutz Konnermann, Farida Pacha and Rehan of C-206 who moved into the colony in July, 2017, left for Germany via Italy.on 27th April, 2019. This is another family who integrated very well into the socio-cultural scene of Yamuna. All three of them participated in society functions and won prizes. Both Rehan and his parents boast of a large circle of friends in Yamuna, who will feel saddened by their departure. They will be based in Berlin for six months. They have been practically leading a nomadic existence, living wherever their projects took them. But with Rehan growing up and needing a settled life in school, Lutz and Farida will be taking a call shortly where to base themselves. They will be missed sorely.

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Mr. Sanjiv Gupta and Meenakshi Nagar have moved into A-202 from Vasant Kunj. Mr. Sanjiv Gupta works for Atrisin.com, a Finance Consultancy company and Meenakshi works with SBI. Sanjiv likes to read and listen to music and Meenakshi apart from sharing his interest in music, has a fascination for yoga. When enquired what is the difference he finds between Vasant Kunj where he moved from and Yamuna, he mentioned that Yamuna is greener, cleaner, more lively and friendly. Sanjiv can be reached on 8860637277 and Meenakshi can be reached on 9810157376.

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Mr. G. Ravindra has moved into C-001 from Bhopal. He is Business Head of Andritz Hydro. He is originally from Bangalore. In his spare time he likes to listen to Carnatic and Hindustani music. He is also fond of reading. He doesn’t have to go far to indulge in his love for music. His wife Jnanamba Rao sings Carnatic music professionally and also Hindustani music. She belongs to Mysore. Their daughter, Bhairavi is studying in VIIIth Class and has secured admission to Paul George School. She is however, attempting to get into Indian School. She is fond of sports and plays badminton, basketball, and takes part in athletics. She is a very gregarious person. Within a day of moving to the colony she seemed to know all the children. Mr. Ravindra can be reached on 9826044802 and Jnanamba on 8871136462.

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