Issue No. 115 I March 2011

EDITORIAL

A kind of hush descended on the colony in the first half of March, the kind that makes you wonder if everybody has left town. On closer analysis, it became clear that the children had moved indoors in a final attempt to brush up on their lessons and tackle the exams. No sooner the exams got over; they were back in the lawn, the badminton court and the tiny tot park, giving full vent to their lung power. It is akin to an army of medieval soldiers letting out a battle cry. Peace, that reigned for a while to give relief to senior citizens was thus breached. There will be no respite until the next hiatus in March, 2012.

The dogs in the colony have become a cause for complaint for many residents. In fact, the complaint is not so much against the pets as it is against their owners. The roads, terraces and lawns are witness to dog litter. Despite, repeated advisories to pet owners, they are not scooping the poop in doggy-poop bags and disposing them off appropriately. It has come to such a pass that residents are urging the office to take stern action and even penalise the pet owners with a higher maintenance charge. As much as it is against the wishes of the Managing Committee to impose such a levy, they cannot remain mute spectators to the wanton disregard to the advisories. Pet owners are hereby cautioned not to take this advisory lightly. Levying higher maintenance charges should not be construed as a licence to mess up the colony! If we are constrained to impose such a levy, it would be a travesty of justice for those pet owners who diligently take their pets out of the colony for their constitutional.

The first downside about Holi was that it fell on a Sunday, thus robbing us of a holiday. From then on everything seemed to be going downhill as there was barely any activity between A & B Blocks or in the Badminton court until 10.30 am. I surmised that the Board exam was playing spoilsport with the children and their parents, who otherwise would have by then looked like multicoloured cockatoos. This was until I stepped out with trepidation to the park and as feared, I was set upon by a pack of wolves in human garb. While the kids targeted me with a vengeance, ostensibly because I had been denying them their game of cricket or soccer in the park all year long, for the adults, it was the entry of a fresh unsullied me, to take pot shots at. Anyway, it was all in good fun. Ere long, I was drenched smothered, painted, and targeted with balloons and water pistols. I had my share of revenge, though.

Kashu doled out vegetable pakodas. There were a smorgasbord of eats and the traditional gujias. It wouldn’t be Holi if thandai and other liquid nourishments were not laced with stimulants. After everybody had more than their fair share of dousing and colouring, the throng settled down on the grass for some crooning. We do have some great singers amongst both men and women. Deepak, Madhu Nair, Murali, Ram matched Seema, Bhavani, Sudha, Savitha and Jayashree note for note. Seema was seen smacking a water pistol on an empty bucket to give the required beat. Deepak was at his witty best. 

Of late there has been a tendency amongst landlords to let out their flats for offices. Not only is this not desirable, it takes away from the residential character of the complex. Woe betide, if we have to live amidst sundry salesmen, visiting clients and strangers. Not the kind of scenario that would give comfort in security.

Members may be getting a little weary of the big ticket expenses that are occurring of late. A lot has to do with the vintage of the Apartments. It is over thirty years old and pretty much all the subterranean pipes have given way. Not that these pipes were supposed to last any longer. But, while our founding members did a great job with the architecture, construction quality, supervision during the construction phase they inadvertently got it wrong with the plumbing. To lay the pipes under the floors leading to the shaft has turned out to be nightmare for the residents currently residing. Not only is more than half the water that we are currently pumping lost, it is also weakening our foundation. If you happen to visit the A Block basement, the damp walls are there for all to see. The same is the case elsewhere but the absence of basements in most of the other blocks does not lend itself to such inspection.

Thomas, the green crusader, has resigned from the Managing Committee. His views of ‘green at any cost’, did not find favour with all. Reluctantly, the MC accepted his resignation, but would like to place on record the immense contribution he made, to make the colony greener and prettier.

A replacement for Mr. Sanatan has been found. Mr. Mandal who joined this month is a qualified handyman in both electrical and plumbing skills. He is not meant to be everybody’s Man Friday. Hence, his contact number is not being circulated. His role is to supervise the working of the other staff and attend to the Society’s plumbing and electrical problems. Complaints lodged in the Society office cards, if not attended by the other staff could be attended by him. He has already proved his worth by repairing the two malfunctioning pumps and a jammed valve.

The Budget for 2011-12 approved by the AGM entailed levy of higher maintenance charge from April 2011 to take care of the increments to staff, higher charges for water from DJB, increase in the minimum wages that is announced by the Delhi Government every February that impacts us in all hired services etc. However, since the financial position is not unduly stressed at present, the increase in maintenance charge has been deferred. By exercising strict control on expenses we hope it will obviate the need to burden the residents even later, so that they can tide over these trying times of high inflation.

India vanquished Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup semis to get a hand on the Cup. Residents cheered lustily when every Pak wicket fell, as the latter half of the match was shown on the big screen in the park.






PHOTO ALBUM - HOLI AT YAMUNA !

SNIPPETS

Kartik of H-303 got hitched to his office sweetheart, Rashi Jain, on Sunday, 6th March. At the reception the day before, it was a rare sight to see a South Indian groom arriving at the venue riding a mare to some traditional, raucous band music. The bride arrived in all her finery under the shadow of a sheer brocaded fabric held aloft by four bridesmaids. The setting itself was quite magnificent with white and indigo coloured tent liberally festooned with flowers. The string of lights so tastefully draped on shrubs and trees made the diamonds and pearls worn by the ladies shimmer attractively. Kalpana in a dazzling diamond set looked fetching standing next to her husband Rohan. The wedding the next day had more Yamuna residents and it seemed a very homely affair with the coy bride and groom exchanging their vows under the pavilion. For the ladies it was a perfect opportunity to display their newly acquired accoutrements. Need I say that I was impressed? The breakfast and lunch made it a perfect day.
Venkat and Radha were the perfect hosts and were apologetic for the inconvenience caused to the residents on the day of the reception with the traffic mess and noise caused by the band, baaja, baraat.



Mr. Prabhat Srivastav has moved into B-003 with his family. Mr. Srivastav works for NTPC and loves playing, Badminton, TT and chess. His wife Madhumita loves cooking. We hope her culinary skills will be in evidence at the pot-luck dinner. Their daughter Prachi has gone to Class XII in Kalka Public School. She is a Kathak dancer and national level accomplished singer and painter. Their son Aditya is seeking admission to Class IXth. He too is a national level painter. They can be reached on 9560920345. We welcome them to Yamuna.

Mr. S. Rammohan of D-202, is moving with his wife Usha and son Vignesh to Chennai to the Headquarters of TVS. Their presence will be missed.

Geethaa Sundaresan of D-002, straddles the world of art and things more cerebral with equal ease. For those of us who know her skills with rangoli at Diwali illumination competition, her winning a gold medal and shield in BE, Biotechnology from Tamil Nadu University may come as a surprise. Obviously her left half of the brain is equally matched with her right half. Great job, Geethaa.

Letter to the Editor

Many of you would have heard this famous quote, ‘What’s in a name’ from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. But yes, it does matter when it comes to Yamuna When I heard that Shantha Vasudevan was conferred with a Ph.D, it struck me that the three residents bearing the same name and variant names Dr. Shanti Chandrasekhar, H-107, Dr Shantha Varma G-101 and Dr Shantha Vasudevan of A-105 are all Ph.d’s.!

Seetha Venkataraman G-102

A Trip to a Happy Village – Anandgram

The trip to Anandgram, organised by Seetha Venkataraman evoked an enthusiastic response from kids and adults alike. Here are two accounts:

The morning of that splendid Sunday, we were all so excited we did not know what to do.


Our guides – Kunal and Thomas Uncle, Seema and Seetha Aunty, were accompanying us for what was to be a day of fun and excitement. Seetha Aunty had split us into teams well in advance to avoid any confusion at the last minute. We were expecting only a pottery workshop but upon reaching were pleasantly surprised to see two museums – the Sanskriti Museum of Everyday Art and the Museum of Indian Terracotta. The Museum of Everyday Art had exhibits of beautiful, traditional objects used in daily life from different regions of India. The Terracotta Museum had clay artefacts including traditional Navaratri dolls, ‘kolus’ that symbolised gods and goddesses.


After some refreshing lemonade and cookies, we got a chance to create some of own pieces of art. Each one had their own ideas on what to create out of the terracotta clay. What’s more, we were taught how to work on the potter’s wheel. It made us understand the effort that went behind all the vases, pots and bells that one often sees at Dilli Haat and sometimes even our very own Alaknanda market. At the workshop they showed us how to make tortoises and elephants with clay. Some of us brave ones even tried making a Ganesha. Using our hands on the potter’s wheel is an interesting experience as one has to allow the clay to flow through the hand softly and yet firmly enough to get the desired shape. It’s a wonderful feeling…the cool clay and the power of being able to create something, from just a lump of mud! J


All that creativity made us rather hungry. Lunch was quite a spread!. We had rice, chapattis and paneer amongst other things but the kheer was clearly the winner. After a great meal, we ran around playing hide-and-seek and other games. We then sketched for a bit and congregated beneath the Banyan tree before returning home. That was the end of an action packed, fun day…and we are already looking forward to the next time!


Thanks, Seetha Aunty for organising this and to all our guides for helping make this possible.


Aparna Krishnan (F-103), Manisha and Ananyaa Anirudh Verma (C -106)

Virtually every Sunday since autumn has been an eventful one. The 27^th of March at the fag end of spring was no exception. The day dawned bright and sunny, and a mite too early for one set of parents (Kunal and me!) accompanying a motley group of kids to the Sanskriti Kendra on Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, recuperating as we were from Saturday evening excesses.

At 9.03 am we received frantic calls from the H-Block gate: where were we and why hadn’t we reported at the gate with our car at 9 sharp?

Abashed and galvanized into action, we rushed, stuffing a bag with hats, water bottles and pencils and sketchbook, as instructed by Seetha aunty and duly arrived. Before us was a veritable sea of kids of all ages and persuasions, their high decibel level being the only uniting factor. About 15 kids and 3 adults were packed into two cars: Thomas’ Xylo and our SX4. Amid the cacophony of “I wanted to sit with…” and “why can’t I go into that car?”, we sped off with full throttle, or at least as much as the Delhi traffic and roads would permit us.

By 10, we had reached the leafy and landscaped environs of Anandgram, situated just shy of the Argangarh metro station. Seetha aunty was waiting for us with the two eldest kids of the pack, flanked by two gentlemen who were to be our guides for the tour: Pankaj and Santosh. The former was immediately pressed into service as museum guide. We were ushered into the our official tour began with a show-and-tell of different types of clay, starting with an explanation of terracotta (here I am pleased to inform the readers that terracotta is borrowed from the Italian word terra cotta meaning “cooked earth” (terra=earth, cotta=cooked or baked). Pankaj said “baked mitti”, but then this is the only moment of the day that allowed me to show off my knowledge!)

We wound our way through the museum, beautifully made with traditional materials like mud, clay, bamboo reeds, wooden beams and terracotta tiles, embellished with indigenous nature-inspired designs like a tree dotted with birds and a rather pop-eyed couple on a rope-swing, another tree whose branches were weighed down by a troop of monkeys, tribal motifs and simple hand-brushed swirls. The museum was amazingly maintained, a far cry from the many shoddily kept government museums. The art was displayed using simple mounting techniques – no fancy steel-and-glass cases that look more like security vaults in a Swiss bank than showcases for Vedic or medieval pottery. But the glass cases gleamed with a shine that can only come with regular love and elbow greases lavished on them.

Some children shuffled, others tore about hither and thither, and a few actually followed the explanations, asking questions and answering Pankaj’s heavily Bengali-accented Hinglish-language queries with great confidence. In the Tamil Nadu section, it seemed to me that their understanding of the“kolu” steps and their representations was superior and certainly more rooted in the knowledge of the pratiquant rather than the mere savant (Manisha asserted in clear ringing tones that the steps were divided into three sections belonging to Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati and not “politicians, demons and gods”), while Pankaj himself shone in the WB, Orissa (Odisha?) and Bihar parts. Kids being kids, some of their comments and queries bordered on the hilarious. While Saisha expressed her bemusement at the animal-body-evil-human-head components of some historic kolu, Tanvi, asked where Chhatisgarh was, answered immediately: “to the right of Madhya Pradesh – it is blue in colour” (she obviously has a map-memory). And Ananya seemed very doubtful indeed when she heard that a humungous urn probably contained the amount of kheer that Bheem could eat. She wondered aloud, “Nobody can eat so much kheer, it’s unnatural!”

At the end of the tour, there was delicious and much needed nimbu pani up to rehydrate the system. All the kids, even those who might have chosen a fizzy drink if given the option, downed the refreshing lime water… or maybe they wanted to get this part over with and move on to the next item: the awaited pottery-workshop! While the parent-escorts were whisked off to enjoy the Textile Museum and later the Haveli, the kids got down to the serious business of messing their hands in good squishy clay. Under the indulgent tutelage of Santosh the expert, they lovingly fashioned artistic masterpieces: fishes, elephants, lamps, wells, snakes, human figurines, butterflies, birds… anything made a good subject. They then had a try at the potter’s wheel, spinning kullars, bowls and vases with undisguised pride on their faces.

Meanwhile we “big people” wandered around the complex, marvelling at the vision and idealism of the chief mover and shaker of the project, viz. O.P. Jain and the dedication of people like Seetha aunty who worked actively in Sanskriti Kendra to keep our cultural and artistic heritage alive. And there is SO MUCH to keep alive!

Finally, after pottery and some sketching and much monkeying around, we had a round of washing off the clay and moved to the dining room, where a simple but sumptuous spread awaited us: rotis, cauliflower sabzi, baby potatoes, kadhi, steamed rice, salad, pickle and boondi raita, with a truly dulcis in fundo kheer at the end. About 10 minutes of silence reigned, broken only but the sounds of clattering cutlery and the steady champing of jaws.

The return journey seemed shorter than the onward one, also perhaps because the kids were quieter, exhausted by their long and full morning.
A big thank you to Seetha Aunty for organising this brilliant trip. We look forward to the opportunity of doing more such instructive-yet-entertaining trips for children – and adults!

Seema Chari

PHOTO ALBUM - MORE PICTURES OF THE VISIT TO ANANDGRAM

MIRTH CORNER

You know you are from Delhi when..... 1.    You drink only on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday to Sunday evenings. And try not drinking on Tuesday. 2.    Even in the most posh colonies, you hear, "Aaloo lelo !!!, Bhindi le lo !!!! Pyaaz le lo !!!!, tamatar le lo......" 3.  And you hear women asking the vegetable vendor "Bhaiyaa dhaniya hari mirchi nahi diya!" [Even with half a kilo carrots, -dhania and hari mirch is expected free ! 4. You use the word "setting" or "jugaad" at least once a day. 5.You have not visited any of these – Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Lotus Temple – because they are only for tourists. 6.  You ride on the cycle rickshaw in NOIDA (more popularly known as NEODA) - haggle over the price, but still pity rickshaw walla's condition and give him what he asked. 7.  You glare at people who call gol guppas as pani puri! 8. You always ask the vendor "Bhaiya yeh gol-guppr aate ki hai ya sooji ke?" 9.Schooling is best in Delhi not because of CBSE, but because you've had school cancelled thrice due to cold in winter, summer vacations preponed due to sudden increase heat and at least two rainy days off during monsoon. 10. You have been to a wedding at a Mehrauli farmhouse at least once.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS – APRIL 2011

DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
2.4.11	6.30 PM	SCREENING OF WORLD CUP FINALS	MAIN LAWN
9.4.11	6.30 PM	SCREENING OF MOVIE	BADMINTON COURT

Issue No. 114 I February 2011

EDITORIAL

The road works is on its final stretch. We thank the residents for having put up with the inconvenience while the work was on. The portions that have been laid give a different feel to the place. It is bright, spiffy and free of potholes. We have also been in a position to set right the drain covers dotting the road which were either buried under the tarmac or not properly paved. Besides, the H-Block gate access has become more secure. Hitherto, a visitor entered the complex to fill the register and if at that point some resident honked for the guard to lift the boom, the guard had to abandon the post and head outside the gate. If there were a stream of cars entering there was no way the guard could ensure that the visitor had entered the register. By installing a wicket gate and opening the guard house window outside, the visitor is compelled to enter the register outside the complex and allowed access through the wicket gate only upon doing so. An electrically operated boom when installed will further ensure compliance.

The painting competition held on 6^th February at the badminton court drew quite a few participants from tiny tots to adults. Asked to paint a monsoon setting, the creations were varied and interesting. When you let people’s imagination run riot, the result is magical. Irrespective of who won, the collective effort was impressive. Kudos to the winners, though.

PRIZES	NAME	ADDRESS
AGE GROUP-UNDER 5
FIRST PRIZE	VANSHIKA ARORA	A-106
SECOND PRIZE	ANJALI GARG	H-305
AGE GROUP-6 TO 7
FIRST PRIZE	SAHANA SAVARKAR	C-208
SECOND PRIZE	SAISHA SUBRAMANIAN	H-206
SECOND PRIZE	VIVEK VENKATACHALAM	F-003
AGE GROUP-8
FIRST PRIZE	SAMIKSHA NAIR	B-107
SECOND PRIZE	POORVAJA GANAPATHY	E-206
AGE GROUP-9-10
FIRST PRIZE	SHREEYA SRIKANT	C-003
SECOND PRIZE	TANVI SAVARKAR	C-208
SECOND PRIZE	VINAY VENKATACHALAM	F-003

PRIZES	NAME	ADDRESS
AGE GROUP-11-14
FIRST PRIZE	KAVYA NARAYANAN	B-002
FIRST PRIZE	VEDIKA ARORA	A-106
SECOND PRIZE	RIYA RAMABHADRAN	E-201
ADULTS
FIRST PRIZE	POORNIMA NARAYANAN	B-002
SECOND PRIZE	SEEMA SAVARKAR	C-208

YAMUNA MEETS GANGA

The trip to River Wilds in Shivpuri near Rishikesh starting on 11^th February was awaited with bated breath. While the train and bus trip was uneventful, the place itself exceeded all expectations. Everybody was allotted their respective tents which were very basic in terms of decor and comfort. Venturing into the small tents which were to serve as toilets was like a journey into the unknown. The area is a reserved forest sanctuary and therefore restrictions are in place for erection of any permanent structure and also for providing electricity. In any case, when you are setting out on an adventure you shouldn’t expect 5-star luxury. Anyway, reverting to the toilet, the tent was so tiny that there was only enough room for the pot, a bucket of water, a bucket of sand and standing room if you are less than 5 ft tall. Imagine the discomfort! So as soon as you enter the tent you are supposed to zip the front of the tent lest you have an unwelcome visitor. A half Monty with an exposed derriere disgorging its contents is not the welcome you will want to give your guest, so it would be wise to sing a song while you are in action, so that everyone knows its forbidden territory. When you have unloaded your goods, you are expected to scoop sand mixed with lime into the pit to cover the offending site and mask the stench. Nevertheless, nobody did a perfect job of this and hence you had to contend with wet seats, foul smell and much else. This was the only downside. The bath rooms were open to the sky and the only prying visitor could be a monkey hanging from the tree above wondering why the shapeless human mass was doing contortions in the confined space.

The expanse of sandy beach along the emerald green river that greeted us was so refreshing that we were drawn to it like moths to a flame. The beach volleyball court was where we headed, where teams comprising of men, women and children competed with one another to show the world how volleyball should not be played. Anyway, it was all good fun. The tiny tots kept themselves busy building sand castles. After partaking of a sumptuous breakfast consisting of puri- bhaji, omelette and toast, bananas etc we headed to the river front for our first foray of rafting and conquering the rapids. Partho, the owner of the resort who incidentally coined the phrase, “Yamuna meets Ganga”, that appears as the mast head of this story, is one of the pioneers plying this trade. He is a very meticulous person and quite finicky about safety issues. After what seemed like eternity to comprise the teams that would board the five world class rafts, we set sail into the rapids. It was a very exhilarating experience rafting down the river through some of the most picturesque sights. The rapids were challenging but not monstrous, so nobody was thrown overboard. We bussed our way back and gorged on a wholesome lunch. After a siesta in gorgeous weather we were ready for some snacks and tea. When dusk settled, out came the kerosene lanterns and a bonfire was lit. A crooner was at hand to belt some old English and Hindi numbers and many of us sang along. Drinks and snacks were doing the rounds and everybody was in high spirits and our very talented band of singers consisting of Seema, Bhavani, Sudha, Deepak, Raju and Ram took over and continued singing with the guest artist Rahul just acting as accompanist on the guitar. Somewhere, along the line Seema took a break; the forlorn Rahul wanted to know where the “curly haired girl” went. For the rest of the trip Seema was called the curly haired girl.

The next day on a trekking trip through the hills, some who were not used to the rigour dropped out. I was impressed with Radha Mani who kept a good pace and showed no signs of fatigue. After that, the ones with a lot of bravado wanted to tame the mightier rapids. Ignoring the sage advice of Partho who mentioned that the raft could topple over in a Category 4 rapid, the band of brave-hearts went ahead. Five rafters tumbled into the aptly named rapid, “Rollercoaster” . When they came out the rafts were bereft of three from one and two from the other. Manoj, Suresan, Bhavani, Tarun and Kavya were tossed into the air by a brute of a wave and deposited in the swirling waters. Suresan who had conquered the Bharatapuzha, was making no progress as the eddy of current was spinning him like a top, much to the amusement and anguish of those left on board. Although well equipped with a life jacket and helmet, with Guruvayurappa on his lips, he prayed to the Almighty to save him. Manoj’s choice was Sai Baba. Murali became delirious when he saw his wife Bhavani being swept away by the currents and was heard moaning that she could not swim. They were eventually rescued and Suresan particularly, swore he would not venture into the rafting again.

We thank Mr. Ramabhadran profusely for suggesting and making arrangements to this perfect holiday destination. Those who wish to make this trip at some time in the future may contact Mr. Partho at 09811603121.

The exams are staring at the kids. The dreaded Board exams exact a frightful toll of panic and despair. In order to calm the nerves of those taking the Board exams, let me quote a Winston Churchill saying. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”. I would therefore, advise the children to put in all the effort but not to think of the exams as the final frontier and lose heart, in case things don’t quite work out. History is replete with stories of famous people with humble academic achievements.

Caprice and subterfuge have felled many an individual. It was no different with Sanatan Das who worked as our supervisor and became a Man Friday for everyone. He put in his papers and moved out bag and baggage 6th February and is no more in our services. If anybody knows of an ex-serviceman from Engineering Corps he could be the right person to take on the role of a supervisor. Please get in touch with the Office if you know someone.

The Finance Minister has served another sugar-coated pill in the Budget. While all eyeball catching pronouncements are the sweeteners, the devil is in the fine print. This cloak and dagger affair of Finance Ministers has been going on since Independence. So, if you think you will have more money in your pocket because of the increase in the exemption limit of taxes and such other lolly, perish the thought. Remember, what you gain in the swings you lose in the roundabouts!

SNIPPETS

Big birthday bashes are meant for special occasions. Shourya of E-205, celebrated his birthday with much pomp and show in the Community Hall on 2^nd February for having doubled his age over a period of one year! Shourya’s parents, Shahin and Ganesh were very proud that their son who could barely stand on his two feet a year ago could now walk with a swagger. All the children of Yamuna and their parents were invited to dip into the sumptuous spread.

The timing of Srikant’s (F-002) reception was a tad disappointing for many of us who had gone on a rafting trip to Shivpuri at the foothills of the Himalayas. But that did not dim the glamour of the momentous occasion. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the bride Jyoti Luthra and Srikant looked radiant. The mood and gaiety was apt for the momentous occasion. I understand the lawn was resplendent and barring the few of us, the place was brimming with guests. We wish the newlywed couple who exchanged their vows on Valentine’s Day, an enduring romance for the rest of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Krishnaswamy’s cup of joy runneth over.

Mirth Corner

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR MARCH AND APRIL, 2011

DATE	TIME	EVENT	VENUE
20.3.11	9.00 AM	HOLI	MAIN LAWN
2.4.11	6.30 PM	DEMONSTRATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF YAMUNA INTERACTIVE WEBSITE	BADMINTON COURT
2.4.11	7.00 PM	SCREENING OF MOVIE, “BAND BAAJA BARAAT”	BADMINTON COURT