On the Move Again

Well, today is our last day at MCC, and it will be quite full of celebrations and packing, with a little bit of school work on the side. We've had some pretty full days in the past week, but we're all excited to move on and enter the travel portion of the trip! We are flying out of Chennai early Sunday morning and will be going to Kerala, another southern state. We'll be there for a week, and then we'll be going to Goa, a state which used to be a Portuguese colony. Our final weeks will be spent in Delhi and Agra, with a stop to one of the northern states to stay at Corbett National Park before we leave India. It's making me so sad to think that we're over halfway through the trip! Ah well...nothing lasts forever, right?

Also, to whomever has been reading this blog- thanks so much! I know I haven't often been coherent in these blog posts, but thanks for bearing with me and I'll see you in four weeks!

Notable stories from the past few days:

• I drove a rickshaw! On the streets of Chennai! Crazy times in India...that story can be elaborated on at a later date...
• We visited the U.S. Consulate in Chennai and learned about being Foreign Service Officers, a career that sounds quite appealing...
• We toured around Anna University, where one of our professors did his undergraduate. It was pretty great to meet our professor's former teachers!
• The Ayurvedic Lunch: Meant to facilitate digestion and health, it is comprised of one course of juices, one course of uncooked foods, one course of semi-cooked foods, and the last course of fully cooked foods followed by a big scoop of honey in your hand. The meal was quite an experience, as we were eating things such as banana tree flowers and rice water, and many people found it hard to stomach. The honey was quite delicious, though!
• We had our last day of yoga the other morning, complete with our instructor bringing a photographer to take some lovely "snaps" of us. Our last day was a beautiful morning and it was definitely a great supplement to our time at MCC!

Farewell for now, but feel free to contact me at any time through email or facebook!

Walking through the MCC campus

Welcome to the bucket bath!

Ayurvedic Meal

Typical layout of meals at MCC

At the Snake Park...

A Bible in Tamil

Water Issues in Chennai [Academic Entry]

        Water is one of the most intense issues in India. The lack of equal distribution of water throughout the country creates droughts in certain areas, and floods elsewhere, with few ways to control or regulate such happenings. Groundwater problems are also widespread, with hundreds of bore and tube wells dotting the backyards of many Indian households. With the increasing use of wells to supply water for daily household consumption in India, groundwater levels are dropping and deeper wells must constantly be drilled. Also, pollution of surface water increases the dependence on groundwater, which, in perfect circumstances, would be much less contaminated. However, due to reasons both geogenic and anthropogenic, both groundwater and surface water are severely contaminated throughout India. Once other factors are thrown in, such as politics or religion, water problems become increasingly more complex and difficult to solve, exemplified by water issues in one of the five largest cities in India: Chennai.

            Chennai receives 1260 mm/year of rain on average, with 4 large reservoirs throughout the city. 85% of Chennai’s water supply comes from surface water, primarily the reservoirs, during the wet season, and during the dry season, this percentage diminishes to about 10%. The northeastern monsoon, which is the weather pattern that affects the state of Tamil Nadu, and thus Chennai, occurs from October to December. During this time, South India receives erratic rainfall, ranging from 600 mm to 1300 mm each year. Such erratic water supply results in the presence of many non-perennial rivers in South India, as opposed to the high amount of perennial rivers in North India. 1 out of every 4 years, Tamil Nadu experiences what can be classified as a period of drought, further reducing the chance that these non-perennial streams will re-occur and become transient water supplies for those living nearby. The unpredictability of the water supply in Tamil Nadu creates great uncertainty related to reservoir levels during and after the monsoon season. Chennai’s intense reliance on these reservoirs is forced to cease around April, when all water in the reservoirs has been utilized and 90% of the city’s water supply then has to come from the groundwater.

            Anthropogenic sources of water contamination are highly interesting to discuss when in India, due to various social, religious, and political factors. There was recently a festival celebrating the elephant headed deity, Ganesha, where worshipers created huge, painted statues of the god, parading him through the streets. After the worship ended, the statues were put into the river, eventually floating down to the sea. Unfortunately, the paint on the Ganesha figurines was toxic, and degradation in river quality due to marine salts and other factors releases high concentrations of pollutants in the water. Political issues are often as detrimental as religious factors in relation to water contamination problems, as changing political parties make it a priority to alter the policies and actions of the previous parties. If one party were to take a stand on industrial waste discharge into the surrounding river and create policies meant to implement such changes, the next party put into power would typically do their best to reverse all policies previously created. Such actions reduce, if not halt, all progress in relation to water contamination solutions.

            Geogenic contaminants result from the nature of the rock from which the source water originates. Such contaminants could include arsenic, fluoride, iron, and nitrogen. West Bengal has serious arsenic problems because the river basin sediment contains high concentrations of the element, contaminating groundwater for most of the residents of the state. Andhra Pradesh has high instances of fluoride in the groundwater, resulting in both dental and skeletal fluorosis. Coastal areas have a higher chance of saltwater intrusion into the fresh groundwater sources, with increasing salinity as groundwater levels decrease. Also, the tsunami that occurred on December 26, 2004 adversely affected the quality of both the surface and the groundwater. As the coast of Tamil Nadu was inundated with seawater, reservoirs and recharge areas had increased saline levels, contaminating both ends of the water supply spectrum.

            Mitigation efforts in Chennai include bioremediation, where certain plants are introduced which easily absorb toxic metals. Due to high levels of toxic discharge from various types of industry near crucial wetland areas, bioremediation is desperately needed and would greatly help the situation. Mangrove forests have been proven as one of the most effective types of flora to decontaminate wetland areas. Other solutions include check dams, which are small-scale and halt the continuous flow of the river in various increments in order to increase irrigation efforts and recharge groundwater levels in those areas. Injection wells have also been implemented and rainwater harvesting has become mandatory in Tamil Nadu. Water problems will continue to be a huge issue for not only Chennai, but India as a whole, and it will only be through creative and interdisciplinary action that solutions will be found.

By Train and Through Monsoon

“Nothing embraces the whole of India. Nothing, nothing…” –E.M. Forster

We only have a few more days left at MCC, meaning the end of my blogging for the rest of the trip. I’ll try to update as frequently as possible since I am a bit behind!

For the record, the two posts below are academic posts required for one of our classes- hence the length and the lack of pictures.

Instead of giving detailed accounts of everything that we’ve done in the past few days, I’ll give some brief stories.

We took our first train the other day, heading into the city of Chennai to go shopping. Finally, finally we were able to travel and explore on our own terms. The train is separated into women’s and men’s compartments, convenient for night time or solo travel. Standing in the open compartment, holding on to the metal bar with the wind and rain blowing through was such a liberating and awesome experience. Adventure was in the air!

We also took a small field trip to a place on campus called the Family Life Institute, which is run and funded by MCC and is primarily a school for children. There weren’t too many children there, as it was a rain holiday due to the monsoon, so we were able to accomplish quite a lot. We separated into teams, one team organized books, another group painted windows, and the last, my group, painted murals on the walls. We created one mural of two elephants and the other was of different plants. We had to scrape the paint off of the wall first, covering us in fine, green dust, and then had to prime the wall with two coats, significantly delaying our progress in painting. After several hours, we were finally able to sketch out our ideas and start painting. Yet another drawback was the lack of paintbrushes between the four people painting. But sharing is caring and after several more hours and inhaling much paint thinner, we managed to finish what are now, in my opinion, two very beautiful murals. It was awesome to finally do something positive for other people, instead of just relying on others’ hospitality, and I hope that the kids enjoy the murals when they come back from their holiday!

Also, as mentioned earlier, we are currently experiencing the northeastern monsoon in Tamil Nadu, which has peak rainfall in the month of November. It’s been raining almost every day for the past week and a half, making it extremely difficult to dry laundry of any sort. The roads are flooded and the ants are out in mass quantities. Stories in the newspaper are always related to lack of infrastructure and difficulty in maneuvering around the city during the monsoon, and we experienced this firsthand during our second trip to Chennai, to the Pondy Bazaar, a shopping district on the street. Having to walk through monsoon water is no happy task when you’re surrounded by trash and stray dogs, but it must be done and it certainly is an experience! My chacos are due for a good washing… Today has been the first sunny day in quite some time, so we tried to enjoy it as much as possible!

We also took another small day trip into Chennai, a different day than mentioned above, to visit an academy for the arts, the International Headquarters for the Theosophical Society, and St. Thomas Basilica. The Theosophical Society wasn’t clearly explained to us, but it seems as if it’s an organization that seeks to transcend religious boundaries, exemplified by their logo, which combines symbols such as the Star of David, the Ankh, and the Ohm. There is a Buddhist temple, a Sikh temple, and a church on the campus and overall, it’s a very beautiful place. It also has the third largest Banyan tree in the world! St. Thomas’ Basilica houses some of St. Thomas’ remains, one of only three Basilicas in the world to be built over an apostle’s bones. It was pretty crazy to see a full blown Cathedral in the middle of rickshaws and street vendors.

Other such adventures have happened since then, but those will be relayed a bit later. The saddest part of leaving MCC, besides leaving the wonderful staff, food, and campus, is that it means that the trip is halfway over. I just can’t believe it! We’re flying out to Kerala on Sunday, beginning our four week travel adventure. More updates will be up before we leave!

Welcome to the Monsoon!

Really large snail

The Theosophical Society Entrance

Interior decoration of multiple religions

Theosophical Society Campus

Century Plant

Small religious text viewed through magnifying glass

Bible Verse in Tamil, the language of Tamil Nadu

St. Thomas Basilica

Outside of St. Thomas Basilica

Indo- U.S. Relations

            There are six countries that border India: Myanmar, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. With Sri Lanka to the south, though it doesn’t share a land border with India, the total comes to seven countries that are in close proximity. Unfortunately, this has led to a long history of various conflicts, whether related to racial or territorial disputes. Leaders in India are constantly dealing with border disputes with countries such as China, who have even mapped one of the Indian states, Arunachal Pradesh, as Chinese territory. Tamil freedom fighters in Sri Lanka have been moving between their island nation and the southern state of Tamil Nadu, embroiled in a racial conflict that has lasted for many decades. Pakistan and India have been experiencing religious tensions since before partition and Independence even occurred, with Muslim and Hindu extremists continuing to exacerbate the conflict. India typically has better relations with those nations that it does not share borders with, especially the United States, and has an extremely large population living abroad, primarily in Western countries.

            Relations with the United States have been relatively genial since India’s independence. Our Study Abroad class recently had a lecture on Indo-US relations and was given a history of the relationship between the two countries. In 1959, Eisenhower became the first U.S. president to visit the newly recognized country of India after the British left. 1962 became a watershed year, as there was a border war between China and India, with the U.S. supporting India by flying in supplies. After the death of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s foreign policy became far more pragmatic and less idealistic. India moved closer to the Soviet Union, attempting to emulate their economic practices and choosing policies that favored steel manufacturing. In 1971, there were multiple talks between Pakistan, China, and the United States and on the other side were multiple talks between India and the Soviet Union. Thus two teams appeared to be forming, though the United States and India were not on the same side.

The lowest point, historically, in Indo-US relations was during the war between India and Pakistan, eventually resulting in the creation of Bangladesh out of East Pakistan. The U.S. was not happy with the split of Pakistan and had plans to use nuclear weapons on India at one point. During this time, India became a major importer of weaponry from the USSR. Presently, India is the leading importer of weapons systems from any country, surpassing China.

The greatest tensions, barring that of the creation of Bangladesh, were during the first rounds of nuclear activities in India, beginning in 1974. After the first nuclear tests were conducted in India, the United States broke off relations. India, Pakistan, and Israel all declined to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, further adding tension to international relations. After India’s economic turnaround in 1991, relations between the two democratic countries drastically improved, and the U.S. became India’s greatest trade partner, though that title has now been taken by China. During George W. Bush’s administration, the United States fully supported India’s nuclear program, though only in the civil sector for energy purposes. As India was not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, no country would sell uranium to India. Bush lifted this ban and thus India’s energy program could rapidly accelerate, automatically lifting the U.S. President to hero status.

 Currently, there is complete bipartisan support in India for increased relations with the United States, though America has yet to appoint a full time ambassador to India. Obama’s priorities are far more domestic in nature than his predecessor and even in foreign policy he is choosing to focus more on China than India. However, barring all political and governmental issues, the people to people relations between the two countries have historically been excellent. According to our lecturer, irrespective of the government policies in the past few decades, the people of India continued to love the United States. India gets 50% of the United States’ short term visas and 44% of its total long term visas. Indian students used to outnumber all other foreign students in the United States, until the number of Chinese students dramatically increased. There are 2.7 million American-Indians in the United States, representing one of the largest minorities in the whole country.

Having been in India for approximately four weeks now, I can testify to the Indian people’s positive view of the United States. In certain areas of China, we claimed that we were Canadian in order to dispel any potential negative feelings. In India, the common question, “where are you coming from?” is always, and easily, answered with, “America!” The response is usually greeted with a noncommittal head motion by the Indian, coupled with a smile. Also, many people know about American music and movies and tend to have a good notion of the geography of the United States, unlike American students who typically know nothing about India. Though there is certainly a difference between the urban young and those who live in the villages, far removed from foreign pop culture, the general relationship between the United States and India does appear to be positive in most aspects.

Diverting the Kaveri River [Academic Entry]

We recently took a short trip to Trichy, in Southern Tamil Nadu, visiting a wide variety of places. One of the places that we visited was the Kallanai Dam, built 2,000 years ago by the Chola King, Karikal Valavan. The idea behind the dam was to divert water to the delta area in order to facilitate agriculture and water access to the villagers there. As a distributional dam for the Kaveri River, it is extremely vital to those who live nearby, and is a primary source of recreation. During our visit, I observed people washing their clothes, swimming, and playing on the rides built near the water. We walked across the length of the dam, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the delta below and listening to the laughter from those enjoying relief from a hot and humid day.

The Kaveri, spelled Cauvery in some texts, originates in the Western Ghats in the state of Karnataka. The river flows southeast through southern India, across the Deccan Plateau. Emptying into the Bay of Bengal, the river flows southeast for 475 miles, with the river basin covering an area of 27,700 square miles. Primary uses of the river include irrigation, household consumption, and electricity generation. According to the most recent Five-year Plan in India, 60% of water from the Kaveri River is used for irrigation purposes. The river is recharged during the monsoon season, which is at its peak in Tamil Nadu during the month of November. As one of five major rivers in India, the Kaveri holds economic, social, and religious importance to the local citizens.

There is a legend for the creation of the Kaveri River in Hinduism, beginning with the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. Celebrating by holding a gathering at Mount Kailash in the Himalayas, the weight of the guests created a small dip and changed the equilibrium of the area. In order to fix this problem, Shiva asked the great sage, Agastya, to travel south. Because Agastya was saddened that he was going to miss the grand celebration, Shiva took pity on him and filled Agastya’s vessel, always carried by sages, with the river water, taken from his hair. While Agastya was traveling, now with a filled vessel in his possession, there was also a drought happening in the south. The elephant-headed god, Ganesh, heard about the drought and changed his form into a crow, flying by and toppling the vessel that Agastya was carrying on his head. Thus the Kaveri River was released and created in southern India. There are a plethora of versions about this legend, but this is the one that was told while visiting the dam.

The Kallanai Dam, also known as the Grand Anicut, is made of stone, measuring 1,079 feet long and 66 feet wide. It spans the main stream of the Kaveri River and its purpose is to divert water to the fertile regions of the Tanjavur Delta, irrigating agricultural lands. The Kallanai Dam, “kall” meaning stone and “anai” meaning bund, has led to the irrigation of 1,000,000 acres of land in the Delta region. Dams also lead to increase in recreational activity, such as swimming, for those living near the river. The area is now more profitable due to increase in arable land and more beneficial for all who live in close proximity to the Kallanai Dam.

India is notorious for its water distribution problems, as there is extreme flooding in some areas, such as Maharashtra, during the monsoon season, but there are also extreme droughts in dry states such as Rajasthan. The main problem is how to distribute this water so that the overflow could be received by those who most need water in arid areas. If such excess could be diverted and sent elsewhere, many problems could be solved. However, when dealing with rivers that cross several states, such as the Kaveri River, politics get involved and issues become increasingly more complicated.

Known as inter-basin water transfer, the sharing of waters from an extremely wet region to a dry region has great potential to fix major issues. However, this grand solution often creates new problems, as Karnataka and its neighboring state, Tamil Nadu, have been locked in a struggle for equitable access to the waters of the Kaveri River for many decades now, with little potential for a solution that would please all parties. The main problem is that there is no central, governing body that can dictate what actions the states must take. Also, after independence, the states were created based on linguistic boundaries, not topographical features or river basin boundaries. Thus the Kaveri River crosses multiple states, all of whom desire the right to create dams such as the Kallanai, which divert water into their specific regions, often depriving those downstream of their share of the flow. Issues such as these also plague many other countries, including those who share rivers across national boundaries, causing even greater problems.

Regardless, there is little dispute that the dam has proved highly beneficial, both economically and socially, for all those who live nearby.

Trichy and Thanjavur: 5 Day Trip

We've recently returned from our trip down south of where we are currently located. We went in a large bus and traveled down the most fantastic highway I've encountered since coming to India. No potholes, no dirt road washed out by rain, a fewer amount of cows on the road, no chance of falling off of the side into a rice paddy. A luxurious ride, to say the least!

The first day, we headed to the Rock Fort at Trichy, which was amazing to see as it rose above the city’s skyline. Then we returned to our hotel and had an incredibly long dinner, over 2 hours of waiting for food, because several of the cooks were on vacation for Diwali. The next day we visited the Sri Rangam temple, which was amazing as it was built in the seventh century and is made of granite, with the super structure covered in gold leaf. There are two sects of Hinduism in India: those who primarily worship Shiva and those who primarily worship Vishnu. You can tell who worships which deity by the different marks drawn in ash or other materials on their foreheads after worshipping at their respective temples. The Sri Rangam temple was a Vaishnavite temple. After that, we headed to the Kallanai Dam, which distrubtes the water from the Kaveri River, one of the major rivers in South India, to the delta area to facilitate agriculture. After lunch, we headed to the second temple of the day, the Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur, which was notable for the fact that every Indian person wanted a picture with the giant group of young Americans. A massive photoshoot was had that day. After finally escaping our admiring hordes, we headed to the Ideal River Resort, where we stayed for three nights.

The next day, we went to a limestone quarry, and proceeded to get lost about three separate times, much to the chagrin of those who desperately needed a restroom break. Reminded me of the China trip. The best part about the quarry, once we finally arrived, was that we were allowed to wander throughout the area and look for fossils! It was so fun, as I truly love digging in the dirt, and I spent about twenty minutes with a few friends digging up the perfect specimen of a sea urchin fossil! SO AWESOME. Then we went to what I believe is the smallest national park in the world, consisting of one petrified log. This was turning out to be an interesting day, though I really did enjoy driving around in the countryside and getting lost quite often. After lunch, we went to the gift shop at the Resort, which was run by several fellows from Kashmir who moved down to Tamil Nadu because of the conflict there. Then ping pong commenced!! So many tournaments were had and my team won at least five games that night. That's talent right there.

The last day we went to a museum and an ancient library, which housed old maps, books, and hand drawn images. I love looking at old books, so that visit was really awesome. The museum was full of bronze sculptures of Natraja, the dancing form of Shiva, and Parvati, Shiva's consort. There were also multiple statues of Buddha, Ganesha, and Vishnu. Hinduism is such a fascinating religion! Every sculpture came with a story and all of the deities are related in some roundabout way, represented in art. So much symbolism! We headed back to the Resort for lunch and then had some free time, so I went on my first nature walk out to the left side of the Resort, which is located in an extremely agricultural area right along the river. We ended up seeing multiple cows, peahens, a snake, iguanas, cool bugs, etc.! At one point, I heard some noise in a stand of teak trees and waited patiently for something to show itself. Lo and behold, a large bird landed on a tree branch and looked directly at me- it was an owl! We spent a bit of time down by the river, where the villagers were washing themselves and their clothes.

Several people headed back to the Resort, but the afternoon was still young and I really love exploring- after all, this was one of the first free days we've really had to do whatever we wanted. So I, and one other person, headed into the village. On the way there, we saw a peacock in a rice paddy (such beautiful birds!), several kites, what may have been an eagle, and multiple brightly colored birds. It was such a nice walk as we were passing by villagers working in their rice paddies, the sun was shining, and the temperature wasn't too hot. After arriving in the village and walking past workers harvesting their rice and displaying their most recent catches of fish from the river, we climbed the water tower and got an amazing panoramic view of the entire area. Then I bought some jasmine flowers for my hair from a villager, who then proceeded to take her hairpin out and attach the flowers to my hair with it. Such kindness! It was one of the best afternoons I've had on this trip and it was a great way to spend the day.

The next day, we headed back to MCC on Halloween, celebrating it by watching The Social Network on a projector screen and eating whatever candy and chips we could find. All in all, a great trip! Now, for some pictures. 

[Remember- you can click on them to make them larger and view them in a slideshow form!]

Nature walk along the river

Cow herd on the river banks

Attempting to feed a goat at the bronze museum

The concubine tower at the Museum

An abundance of bronze sculptures of various Hindu deities

Elephant at one of the temples

The Brihadisvara Temple

Photoshoots galore.

Nothing makes you closer than a Study Abroad Trip

Our room at the Ideal River Resort

Buddha.

A couple at the Dam

Sculptures of villagers on a pillar in a temple

Some beautiful granite at one of the temples

Taking off our shoes before we enter the temples. Walking barefoot around India is no joke...

View from the Rock Fort at Trichy

Diwali- Festival of Lights

October 26th, 2011, our group celebrated Diwali, which marks the beginning of the new year in certain areas of India. Known as Deepavali in the South, Diwali is a major holiday that could be described as a combination of Christmas, Fourth of July, and New Years.

After getting dressed that morning and putting on our bangles, braiding our hair, and applying our jeweled bindis, we all hopped in some vans and headed over to our professor's childhood home. Arriving at his family's home, I just got such a feeling of contentment and happiness- there's just something about being welcomed into a family halfway around the world as if it were your own that means more than any cool souvenir or picture ever could. His family was so incredibly and admirably hospitable, as there were 20+ random foreign people in their house on top of all their extra relatives. We "burst crackers," aka lit fireworks until our ears were ringing and our heads hurt. And then there were more. I'm pretty sure that we heard/ were lighting fireworks for three days straight. It was awesome.

For lunch, we ate on the floor, over 20 foreigners in Indian clothing, eating off of a banana leaf and being served by our professor's relatives. The food was by far the best we've had to eat during our whole time in India and it was followed by delicious tea and small gifts. The visit was complete with newborn kittens to play with and adorable children to admire. It adds so much when being abroad to have a personal connection in any area and spending a major festival such as Diwali in a family's home was a wonderful experience.

After we returned, we all made a pact to keep our sarees on even though it was getting difficult to move and breathe, though I did manage to take a nap in an incredibly awkward position. After waking up, we hung out with some students from Davidson University who were also in India on a study abroad and had been previously staying where we are now. Then we burst more crackers well into the night, ending our Diwali experience with a bang.
Here's some pictures!

Ruth helping the girls with their sarees

The guys in their Kurtas

The whole group!

At the Muthukrishnan's house

Preparing for Lunch

Eating off of banana leaves

The most delicious food!

Tiny kittens!

Mary and I in our sarees

The program leaders and Suresh's mother