Another Day At The Office

As many of my Facebook friends may have seen, this past Saturday (the 24th) marked the seven-year anniversary of my relationship with Trae and I was able to brighten up my room with a bouquet of flowers. I won’t get all sappy here, but want to again acknowledge how incredible he is as a person and fiancé. 

My anniversary gift, filled by a local flower shop!

Aside from that, this week started out similar to the rest– work meetings, typing up some reports at Cuckoo, Skype calls… the usual. Also typical of my schedule was my visit to Dorekere Lake (also spelled Dorai Kere on Google Maps or Bing, in case anybody wants to try and find it), though this time we arrived within its open hours. 

Not sure what this is, but still cool - looks a bit like a dementor tbh

I was immediately struck by the number of people using the area to go for a morning walk/jog or use the open outdoor gym to exercise before work. This set up worked out well for two groups: the residents were able to spend some time away from the bustle of the city and the street vendors set up shop outside of the entrance to cater to the hungry and thirsty crowd. This also gives people time to relax and connect with the environment and their community in a way that they are otherwise unable to. This connection is important for our own well-being as humans while also giving us more of an incentive to take care of our environment.

Since I arrived early, I parked myself on an open bench and attempted to read more of Askew while also observing the people. The diversity in the individuals using the facilities was cool to see – old and young, men and women, in shape and those working on it. By now, I’m also attempting to blend in a bit more by wearing Indian clothing (I wore a pink, knee-length kurta over white pants) though several of the girls my age wear Western clothing. I found that I prefer to wear Indian clothing here as it’s super breathable, comfortable, and fairly flattering. Despite this, I still received a few curious glances as I sat there waiting for my partner to arrive – probably just people wondering why a white girl is sitting by herself in a local park and reading a book, as I’m fairly sure it’s not a common sight.

Once Shreyas arrived, we made our way to the sewage treatment plant (STP) to gather some information. Both of us have Environmental/Civil Engineering backgrounds and like to spend time discussing the various water treatment processes, so don’t mind me while I put on my nerd hat and go into a bit of detail about this one… As I mentioned in a previous blog, the city has been making an effort to rejuvenate several of its lakes which includes Dorekere. In 2010, the lake was fixed up and an STP was constructed to treat about 1 million liters of sewage each day (MLD). I later discovered that this area actually receives about 10 MLD but it was said the lake can only handle 1 MLD, so the remaining 9 MLD gets diverted elsewhere in the city for treatment. Seems a little odd, but I don’t yet have enough information to know what other options may have existed at that time. It was refreshing to see a system that used conventional processes like we typically design in the US – headworks (where they get rid of the big nasty bits to protect equipment), aeration, two clarifiers: a primary one followed by a clariflocculator, and final tertiary treatment (filtration followed by disinfection). As a note for those not in the know – probably most of you – flocculation is where small suspended particles join to form a larger ‘floc’, usually due to the addition of chemicals, which will then settle to the bottom of the tank leaving the ‘clarified’ water on the top which is sent to the next stage of treatment.

STP process layout... We spent more time than I care to admit discussing it 😆

The treated water is then sent to the lake, which normally isn’t a huge problem. The biggest issue they have is nalas (open sewage and/or storm drains) which will overflow and cause untreated sewage to enter into the wetlands and eventually into the lake itself.

My office > Your office

One big difference I learned is that at this lake, their sampling requirements to ensure their effluent quality are not as strict as those in the US. In fact, we were told they don’t do regular testing which would result in major fines at home. While these regulations can be a pain in the butt, I’m thankful for them as they protect our waterways – and in turn, us and the environment as a whole – in a way that many developing countries struggle to do. Despite this, I’m encouraged by the number of individuals and groups that are taking interest in these issues and are slowly but surely creating positive change.

We continued on our way around the lake – almost 1 mile in total – to note the various inlets, outlets, wetlands, and quality of the lake and grounds. A little over half-way around, we were stopped by a resident who was interested in what we were doing. I’m guessing we looked a little odd since we were frequently stopping to point at things, jot down notes, and take pictures. We were advised to be wary when walking along the fence as there are, you guessed it... cobras! I should maybe mention that neither Shreyas nor I are big fans of snakes. This man then walked us over to a termite mound and informed us that cobras will often use the mounds as their dens. My mind immediately went back to when I stood right next to tall termite mound at Navadarshanam and the fact that somebody had seen a cobra in the bushes about 15 feet away. I’m incredibly thankful one didn’t slither out of or into the mound while I was there, otherwise I would have been the first person to get back to our rooms for the night. He then went on to share more about these snakes and a bit of their significance. In fact, on the other side of the fence was a temple which has a large, decorated termite mound where Hindus perform pooja (worship) to the nagas (snakes or deities that take the form of a snake, particularly a king cobra). 

Kinda visible - Cobra den saved from the elements by a large roof and trees

This is done because the cobra has made the mound into its home there and people may offer milk, incense, or sweets for the snake during worship. Snakes, particularly the cobra, are important in the Hindu faith and can be seen all around. Some examples: 1) killing a cobra is believed to result in bad karma; 2) God Shiva can be seen with Vasuki, one of the nagarajas (king of all nagas), coiled around his neck; and 3) the bed of God Vishnu is actually Shesha, a multi-headed nagaraja. Random nerd fact I just learned: A female naga is a nagini… this word may be familiar to all you Harry Potter fans because the name of Voldemort’s python is Nagini!! I think the symbolism of so many things and the intricacies of Hinduism are fascinating and beautiful in a way. If you’re curious and want to know a bit more about what I’ve mentioned, feel free to do a quick Google search – I used these websites (copy and paste) as additional background so I sound like I know what I’m talking about: http://www.hinduwebsite.com/buzz/symbolism-of-snakes-in-hinduism.asp, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasuki, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shesha. 

As we made our way back to the entrance, we passed by another area of significance – a kalyani. A kalyani is a stepped bathing well, also called a temple tank, which were intended for bathing and cleansing activities prior to pooja.

Start or end the day by walking around a peaceful kalyani.

I suppose it was just another day at the office full of learning – technical and non-technical – and lots of fun. 

If I got something horribly wrong or anybody wants to say hi or ask any questions, leave a comment at the bottom of the page 😊 Thanks for dropping by!

Happiness On A Plate

After my first Uber failed to arrive after 15 minutes, I canceled (they waived my cancellation fee due to the wait... thanks Uber!) and got a second one. I was already running late as I slid onto the backseat at 10:33 on Wednesday morning. Five minutes later and I was stuck in traffic. Literally not moving more than 100 feet in 10 minutes. So, my driver made a U-turn at the next available spot and headed off to my destination. Twenty minutes later and we were stuck in traffic again. Luckily this was only for a short time which didn't cause any unexpected delays.

During this whole ordeal, I was sitting in the back reading Askew when I came across a short paragraph that struck me as timely and broadly applicable to multiple places.

" 'You need expertise to be able to understand issues and work out solutions. We do not have a single subject specialist in our administration. No bureaucrat has the humility to say  "I don't know. I need help to find answers". Instead they assume that they are authorities on every subject.' " - V. Ravichandar as quoted by T.J.S. George in Askew 

I fully recognize that this is not the case everywhere and I do not intend for it to be taken as an all-encompassing blanket statement. It is, however, a concern which has been growing in several circles such as the sciences (my field - though technically I'd be in the applied sciences). Politicians with a science background are pretty uncommon and lobbyists may sway decisions regardless of what the science says. So what can we do? In the short time I've been here and after reflecting on the last few months in the US, I've realized that these types of situations leave a lot of space for expert individuals and citizen groups to make a difference. Get active in your community; whether it be small 'spot fix' projects, activism, or just attending city council meetings to lend your voice on a topic you're passionate and knowledgeable about, even small actions can make a big impact on somebody's life. Sure the changes might happen more slowly, but sometimes a grassroots approach can make a positive long-term change. 

The actual visit to the layout was short and sweet since my partner for the day had previously visited it. I still enjoyed walking around and observing the current infrastructure - specifically everything related to their water systems such as storm drains, water lines and storage, and sewage lines.

We wrapped things up there and headed to a nearby restaurant that served up an amazing North Karnataka-style dosa and chutney. After a filling lunch we walked to her place and chatted about everything from books to comparisons of water rights and regulations to the development of Bangalore while drinking a hot cup of chai. 

I made it back to Cuckoo in time to catch some other long-termers coming back for the evening. After confirming I had not yet eaten dinner, I was then asked if I wanted food and happiness in my life. Who would say no to that?? Our destination was a mystery to me but at 9:30 pm we arrived at Ramzan Food Mela.

For a bit of background, we are currently nearing the end of Ramadan - the month of fasting - which is being observed by Muslims from May 27th until June 24th. Observers will not ingest any food or drink (old-timers may also spit out their saliva) during daylight hours and then eat after sunset and again before sunrise. For many, the fast also includes refraining from smoking and sinful behaviors. This mela, or gathering, was set up close to a mosque as a place for Muslims to come together and break their fast. 
I've been waiting for some beef for a while now, but this was honestly some of the best cooked meat I've had in a while. Happiness on a plate, indeed! We shared a variety of dishes such as patthar ghosht - meat cooked on a stone, beef seekh kebabs, grilled rabbit, and an assorted platter of beef with Afghani beef chops and string hoppers (rice noodle-tortilla things). If you're a meat-eater and haven't visited a place like this, add it to your list.

These plates were followed by paan, which I cannot really begin to explain... The version I had was a betel leaf stuffed with shaved ice, a betel nut, gulkand, and covered in chocolate. This whole concoction is intended to be eaten in one bite, an endeavor at which I failed. Very messily. If I ever try again, I'll prepared and may have better luck. All-in-all, a sweet end to an eventful day. 

I'm still super new at this blogging thing so please leave a comment and let me know what you think or just say hi! 

Hit The Ground Running

Well, it’s been about five weeks since I arrived in Bangalore, India. Beautiful Bangalore.

Just hiking at Turahalli Forest. This looked like a good spot for a pic.

Over the course of the past month, I’ve gleaned some information on the history of modern Bangalore and it’s quite the story. Kempe Gowda built a mud fort in 1537 with instructions from his mother to build lakes and plant trees. The fort was split into petes, aka markets, and had four watchtowers marking the boundaries which can still be seen today. Over the next ~250 years, the city underwent a few changes in rule, such as the Mughals, as various kings and conquerors swept through the area. Then, in 1809, the British enjoyed the moderate climate here and decided to build a military cantonment here that would be used as resting grounds for their troops. As was typical back in their home country, the British began lining the roads with trees – this is part of why Bangalore became known as the Garden City. This was followed by the IT (information technology) revolution which led to a massive influx of workers and all of the development challenges that come along with unplanned growth. For more background on Bangalore and how it’s developed, I’d recommend reading Askew: A Short Biography of Bangalore by TJS George (I promise it’s a light read!). It’s really a fascinating place to hear about and I’m sure there are more resources online that can explain it better than me.

The view from Manipal County. Looks like rain!

Just over two weeks have gone by since I’ve made Cuckoo Hostel my home-away-from-home. Please enjoy a small photo tour of my room and some of the meals I've had (see below).

The food pictured above was actually garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and sauce with roti. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I liked it.

As difficult as it can be to be here on my own, this has really forced me out of my comfort zone and helped me to try and make new friends. The atmosphere here is very hippy, free-spirit, and really inspires creativity and learning in various forms. Everybody has a different background and brings a new perspective to any conversation whether it be about our work, politics, culture, sports, or any other topic that may come up.  I definitely lucked out with this place! 

Around the same time as moving to Cuckoo, I started my internship with Biome and began the first phase of piloting Monsūn! Both have been going well so far and I’m excited for what the next several months have in store. The first week or so was primarily shadowing others on their site visits to get a feel for what sort of projects people are doing and what the approach is. Surprisingly, but also not, each person had a different style of interacting with potential clients and looked at various aspects of water management.

And now... pardon the long summary, but this is about two weeks worth of notes. It shouldn’t be as bad in the future. Some of my visits for work included:

A World Earth Day presentation on water management and conservation. This ended up being really fun to listen to and I learned quite a bit more about Biome, what they do, and Bangalore’s water issues. There were also a few young men from Bangalore listening and I was impressed with their knowledge of their water sources and insightful questions and comments. I know many people who don’t know where their water actually comes from or how it gets treated before leaving the tap at home, so it was refreshing to see people who were aware of these things.

Three government schools which are interested in rainwater harvesting. At our first stop, one of the government officials happened to be there and was quite excited to hear that I am from the US. We chatted a bit while drinking coffee (the automatic assumption was that I LOVE coffee since I from the US… joke is on them though, I don’t drink coffee). After dodging a very insistent, and slightly awkward invitation to eat a sponsored lunch with him at a Marriott (sponsored meaning on his tab, and I didn’t even know you dining at hotels like this was a thing), we snuck out and headed to our next stop. At the second school, all of the children were on a recess of sorts and I was a popular attraction for the girls that were running around. No matter what I wear, it’s hard not to stick out when I have light skin, light hair, and blue eyes. Fortunately, the kids were usually just curious so it wasn’t really a bother. 

A few unsuccessful trips to the sewage treatment plants at Dorekere and Uttarahalli Lakes. Both of the lakes were technically closed to the public when we arrived (this was mid-day, fyi) and required some sort of permission. The time restrictions on these lakes was a bit surprising to me since they would generally be open to the public at all times back at home. I was later told this is for security reasons - because the lakes are less busy during the normal work hours, there is a greater risk of unsavory things occurring there, so… they just lock everybody out instead. According to a few articles, Uttarahalli Lake was revitalized around 2013. Prior to the rejuvenation, the BBMP did an interesting lake score study which rates the lake on various parameters such as having an STP, fences, security guards, walkability, etc. This sort of assessment reminds me of others used at home and I can definitely see the benefit of using it as a way to understand the quality of lakes from a human needs perspective while also prioritizing which ones to work on improving next. It’d be cool to see this further developed to account for the quality of the lake from an environmental and ecosystems perspective.

Two layouts (essentially these are gated, planned communities) in two consecutive days. Both seemed like they were pretty nice places in general, though they were beginning to experience water scarcity. Recommendations for rainwater harvesting – both for household use and groundwater recharge, wastewater treatment and reuse, and demand management tend to be at the forefront of our holistic water management proposals. While most of our water is handled centrally in the US, I think that doing more to incorporate this decentralized approach would be beneficial.

Went to Senapathy Whiteley, and industry outside of Ramanagaram which is south of Bangalore towards Mysore. This place was really interesting to visit – we walked through a few adjacent factory properties, each of which does a different process. While making our way from one property to the next, I noticed that the coconut trees were are all numbered. 

#6 out of dozens

Any guesses as to why? They keep track of how many coconuts they get from each tree so they know how many to harvest throughout the year. Learning new things every day here! It’s been over a year since I left Dubuque Works but it still felt right and familiar to be stepping into these factories. As a side note, not many people here that I’ve spoken to are not familiar with Deere, though one recognized the logo on my cap. In fact, most of the equipment I’ve seen is JCB. It was fun to see their industrial wastewater treatment plants and their RO systems. They make a specialized paper product which requires high quality water, so having the RO filters was extremely important. As we were walking through the underbrush, my supervisor thought it would be helpful to let me know that four different types of snakes live in that area… my response: thanks for the info, let’s walk faster 😅 

This place was gorgeous! Just beware of the snakes...

All in all it was a good day and I left with a new connection who was really interested in water policy and management in the US. 

I finally met my project partner, Shreyas, whom I will be working with for the duration of my stay here in Bangalore. We visited Manipal County which is both a resort and an academic campus on 11 acres and is looking for assistance for water management. This place just bought a new chapati maker which can turn out 300 chapati in an hour! They just had to bust out a wall to fit it in the kitchen, no  big deal. But for a place that has to make about 5,000-6,000 each day, I definitely wouldn’t mind having a machine do it for me. 

Just a minor patch job and it'll be good as new!

We got our assignments from Biome the other day as well, which are separated into two categories: a long-term wetlands program and then working on plans for about 5-6 small communities. The smaller communities will essentially be RWH or water management proposals. Our main tasks for the wetlands program are:

1.       Document the state of the TGHalli reservoir – the water quality of the reservoir and the quality/quantity of the inflows

2.       Document the state of wetlands at 15 lakes, including their purpose and quality improvements

3.       Document the state of BWSSB and BBMP STPs 

I am actually looking forward to these projects, especially working on the wetlands program as it is something different than what I’m used to doing.

If anybody has heard of anything cool to do or places to see, drop a comment and let me know! As always, feedback is awesome 😊

About Me

While I’m assuming most of the people reading this blog will be family and friends who know me, I’ll write up a short bio for those who may not. Here we go…

Born and raised in southwest Wisconsin, I’m now a 20-something graduate student living in Bangalore, India on an internship with a local company called Biome. In short, they do water management. For more info, visit their websites at http://biome-solutions.com/ and http://biometrust.org/.  

Prior to coming here, I took classes for my Master’s in Civil Engineering through a Sustainable International Development program at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (Go Gophers!) while living in St. Paul with my fiancé Trae’. While I'm away, he is holding down the fort. In one of these classes I co-founded Monsūn which I’m also piloting while here in India. Upon my return, all of my grad program requirements should be completed and, if I’m lucky, I’ll be done with anything academic for several years. 

I received my undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville. Yes, that’s correct, there is more than one ‘UW’… what?? I know, right! Crazy. It was during this time that I started traveling internationally - I began with Ghana my sophomore year, Panama in 2014, then France and Italy in 2015. Once the travel bug bites, the itch doesn't go away. Anyways, I enjoyed my time there and got a great education while also working part time as a waitress and at John Deere Dubuque Works. If anybody is just chomping at the bit for an in-depth description of my background, feel free to look me up on LinkedIn, but I won’t bore you all here.