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!