Almost home

We are now in the city of Mysore after having visiting bird sanctuaries at Kumarakom and Thatekkad and national parks at Wayanad and Nagarhole.  Along the way we saw lots of nature, mammals, and birds.  We also ate a lot of great food. Monday we leave Mysore to begin our trip home.  Today (Saturday) I made my 'big' special purchase: an idli steamer for home.



Waterfalls in Kerala



Wild elephant in Wayanad National Park

NITK and Dr. David bid farewell

Today was my last day at NITK and we said our goodbyes.  My stay here has been fabulous.  Tomorrow Kathy and I begin a 2-week vacation before returning home.  So this will be my last post for at least a few days if not the rest of the trip. 

Professors Madhyastha and Reddy and present a farewell gift to 'Dr. David'.

A different set of problems

India has some pretty severe water and wastewater problems.   India already has four times the population of the US, is growing rapidly, and will be the most populous country in a couple of decades.  As a developing country, infrastructure does not exist to deliver subsistence quantities of drinking water to everyone and to safely dispose of their waste.  

Water supply: 11% of the population (almost half the population of the United States) lack access to any clean drinking water.  The total basic water supply objective is 40 liters per person per day in rural areas and 140 in urban areas.  In addition to the 11% of the population with no clean water, many poorer urban areas do not meet this target.  For comparison, the average household in Carmichael where I live uses 3000 liters per day.  Agriculture consumes most of the water supply and about 75% of the population farms.  India needs the food: despite a rapidly growing economy 44% of children under 5 are malnourished, double the rate in sub-Saharan Africa.  To support farming, electricity to pump groundwater is often subsidized or free.  This subsidy is defended by farmers and politicians but leads to inefficiency and unsustainable overdraft of groundwater.  Groundwater often has naturally high concentrations of fluoride, arsenic, or lead and is unhealthy to consume. 

Sanitation: 70% of the population lack adequate sanitation.  If I lengthen my morning beach walk beyond the boundaries of NITK the problem is readily apparent.  The untouchable caste used to collect and dispose of waste.  This practice has been curtailed but discrimination of the caste has not stopped.  While socially problematic, some believe this was a more sanitary disposal system than now exists.  Waste is now disposed by open defecation or sewer systems for which treatment plants are often nonexistent, poor, or not operated at night.  More Indians have access to a mobile phone than a toilet.  The polluted waters make delivery of potable water more difficult. 

Indian water priorities are subsistence and survival.   I participated in a Northern California climate change study that focused on what resource managers are concerned with: sea level, available water, snowmelt, and habitat indicators for fish.  A similar Indian study focused on available water, agriculture, fisheries (as opposed to fish), forests, and human health (heat, flooding, malaria). 

In California, the often-used line to convey the importance of water diversions from the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta is ‘provides drinking water for 25 million people’.   That does not resonate here.  An Indian colleague emphasizes that the concern here is to supply food and minimal subsistence levels of safe drinking water to its population, which we in the United States are fortunate to be able to take for granted.   

Road trip

We rented a taxi for a day and 3 scholars (PhD students) took us on a road trip to Udupi. 



We drove an hour to Shrilaxmi's home where we enjoyed delicious upma from breakfast.  Here Shrilaxmi is with her father-in-law.  Her husband was teaching computer science at a nearby university which we visited. 

 



We visited one Christian church and Jain and Hindu temples. The diversity of language and religion here is remarkable.   

 

We drove to the coast and took a small boat to St. Mary's Island which is small and uninhabited.  Here our gracious hosts are on one of the odd vertical rock formations at a nice cove. 




We left the Island at sunset then ate a good dinner at an outdoor restaurant on the coast.  Kathy and I had seafood while our hosts had veg dishes.  Then we were driven back to NITK, the end of a good long day. 





Kathy arrives 2 days before her luggage

Kathy arrived 8 February.  Her luggage arrived 10 February.  She is very happy.  We did not expect Lufthansa to lose a bag on their hometurf in Frankfurt. 

A courier carried the bag from Bangalore to Mangalore on an 8 hour overnight bus trip.  While we were picking up the bag in Mangalore, she found Cafe Coffee Day, the Starbuck's of India.

NITK campus

The National Institute of Technology Karnataka is one of the top engineering schools in India.  6,000 students attend. 

My friend Yaneesh outside the Civil Engineering Building.

All students live on campus and so do most of the faculty and staff.  Most male students live in these megahostels, what in the US are called dormatories.  Each one houses a different class (first year, second year, ...).  They are not air conditioned. 

 

My faculty colleagues enjoy tea and coffee at the equivalent of Starbucks on campus.  The cost, however, is only Rs10-15 (20-30 cents) for a cup. 



I have been here one month and there has been no rain.  It has been warm and moderately humid. The monsoon begins in 3 months or so.  All around campus there are these huge open storm drains.  Everyone says they are not big enough to handle the monsoon rain. In Sacramento we get about 18 inches of rain a year, here there is 137 in/year almost all during the approximately 3 month long monsoon season.

Female students are about 15% of the student body and live in their own compound.  They hang out together and sit in class together.  Here is a Ladies common room.  There are few signs of courting.  I am told that young people prefer arranged marriages. I expect that less than 15% of the faculty are female.  The rabbit is made of ceramic and is holding a trash can.  They are scattered around campus. 



Shops and labs. 



Mangalore

Mangalore is a small city for India with only half a million people or so, but it is the big city here and a 30-45 minute bus ride away.



Express buses that make only a few stops go from NITK to Mangalore.  The buses are privately owned and all charge the same and have the same route.  There is no schedule, purely supply and demand.  During the day there is a bus every 1-5 minutes.  During rush hour there is a bus every minute that is completely packed. I got bruised standing in the aisle of a packed bus.  Everyone is nice and lets me know when my exit is approaching.  These guys are in a hurry and don't like to stop so you have to get on and off fast, sometimes while the bus is still moving.  Often a Bollywood movie is playing on a TV screen.  No AC.   





A traffic circle.  Pedestrians do not have the right of way.  Drivers are on the left, which adds more confusion for American tourists.  I often follow close on the heels of a local to cross the street. I have seen only 2 maybe 3 traffic signals in Mangalore. 





To get around town there are many autorickshaws which have 3 wheels and room for 2 passengers in the back seat.  Yes, that car in the windshield is heading for us.  I am not sure whether walking or taking an autorickshaw is more dangerous.  It is an efficient transit system because these are everywhere.  The meter is on the left, Rs17 for the first km, Rs12 thereafter.  Rs1=$0.02. 





The street outside the central market. Motorcycles are popular.

 

One of many produce stalls.

 

Fish market.

 

The Hotel Narayana is a highly regarded and authentic restaurant that features the local specialty - Mangalorean fish fry.  You sit at a table with whomever and get a plate of rice, pickle, fish curry, and a veggy (delicious beets).  A server comes with a big platter of small whole fish perfectly fried in a spicy red chili paste for you to chose from.  Eating with your hand makes dealing with bones easy. 

Balli's Podi shop



Podi are delicious fried snacks.  Here are some different varieties that include lentil (7-9 o'clock), Mangalore buns (9-12), biscuit roti (1-2), spiced mashed potato (4-6), veg samosas (12 & 3), and cabbage (under potato).   The shop churns these out all day by the vat and is supposedly the best in Mangalore.  Read this article for many photos and details.