Rash driving

As much as I loathe it, I hired an auto-rickshaw (a 3-wheeled taxi) to take me home from work yesterday evening. It had to be done, as I had to get home early…..I didn’t have time for my usual routine of 25 minute walk + 25 minute bus ride. The driver was a chatty fellow, and was in good spirit, despite the terrible traffic at the hour in Bangalore. There were several agonizing minutes of wait at major junctions.

When he was driving through the by-pass, we noticed a pedestrian in a distance who was attempting to cross the road. My driver was not happy about this despite the pedestrian being a good distance away. He revved up his engine, picked up pace and even gestured the pedestrian to stop in his tracks. He was quite happy at the end when he successfully got the pedestrian to wait till he passed him by. This was just one of many instances of ‘rash driving’ he displayed during the course of the ride. It is a common phenomenon to notice taxis and rickshaws being driven around in a rash manner.

I asked myself why he did this. It could have been for several reasons of course, but one particular thought that remained was the ‘value of time’. For these guys, time is money. Irrespective of the time they take to reach a destination, the amount earned is the same, so they have the incentive to drive as fast as possible to the destination to squeeze in as many rides as they can into a working day. That takes precedence over other things.

I then wondered if this was the case only with those from less affluent backgrounds. I felt it was not. Our entire society is based on a movement towards a faster life. Be it research, entertainment or food, increasing emphasis has been laid on making things fast.

And many things we share as a society is common pool resource. If my driver hadn’t use that inch of space on the road that instant, the pedestrian would have used it. The inch of space was there to be used by either the rickshaw or the pedestrian during that instant.

The case is similar if we consider environmental degradation. The corner of the pavement is there for either me to dump my waste or for my neighbour. We couldn’t both do it as there isn’t enough space for it. The waste would then spill over and create problems. Discussions around greenhouse gas emissions by the countries of the world also bring in this flavour. Countries are trying to use every inch of carbon space and more, in the name of economic development. I can’t help but think this is rash driving.

Then again, wasn’t it I who hired the rickshaw?

Underwhelming

The group was excited. A visit to the River Yamuna! And not just any part of the Yamuna, but the point from where the river water is routinely replaced by domestic sewage from Delhi. We would be seeing it all from very close proximity as we would be on a boat. And this led to great anticipation for a disgusting and intense experience.

The group was a diverse one attending a workshop called  ”Where Journalism meets Environment” at Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi. The majority were journalists from five South Asian countries, but there were a few of us from other backgrounds, like me from health. We were busy working against a deadline to finish our assignment, but we surely didn’t want to miss the opportunity to visit the polluted “river”.

So we got onto the bus the next day, and after the 90 minute ride on the roads of Delhi, we reached the barrage. On one side we saw fresh clear water and on the other side we saw sewage. Basically, the freshwater was being emptied at this point for use in the city, and the empty river basin was being filled by sewage from the city. A “convenient” arrangement apparently.

Anyway, we then hopped onto a couple of boats which would take us for a half hour ride. And there we were, on untreated sewage from the city. Not as much of an impact as I had expected. The rest of the group too was just sitting around on the boats, and identifying the bird species that were flying around.

This is not the first time I’ve been underwhelmed by visits to “polluted areas” or “toxic hotspots”. I’ve visited sites of industrial pollution, chemical pollution and land fills, and each of these visits were underwhelming compared to what I had expected. And I’ve always thought why. Maybe this is the reason we’re able to get accustomed to pollution easily and don’t take drastic steps to curb it. Do we, as a society, need to feel overwhelmed by something to make that change?

An attack of common cold or fever is so easily recognised by people, but increasing blood sugars or pressures get recognised either at a late stage or when it leads to a sudden loss of consciousness. Is it the same with pollution? Would it always take an acute event to draw attention to this chronic problem?

Reporters have been blamed for only reporting events and not processes. But these visits have shown me why reporters are always writing about events. Sudden occurrences are exciting. The sewage flows today, would flow tomorrow, and even in another year. What is “new” about that?

The only thing that was really exciting about this whole experience was watching all those birds. It was actually quite intense. There were hundreds, if not thousands of birds circling over our boats. It was quite a sight. And I’ve noticed birds wherever there is a lot of organic waste. I had seen a similar sight when I had visited municipal waste landfills. Seeing all those birds together, flying around us in random directions, finally gave us a sense that there was something really wrong with this part of the river.

Buzz kill

It feels good to be back in Bangalore, and back at my workplace. The organization works on community health, especially the Right to Health. Bangalore has been rainy, and when there are rains in this part of the world, there are mosquitoes. So it happened that an all-staff meeting was organized in the training room, where each staff member would share about their current project with others. This room has open windows, facing the lovely garden of Holy Cross Convent. While it lets us enjoy the beautiful sight of the garden, it allows “bugs” to get into the room as well. The bugs that were of particular concern that morning were mosquitoes. Mosquitoes tend not to bite me for some strange reason. But I noticed a few hovering around each staff member, some of which had landed around bare ankles and were taking what they needed.

At one point, some staff members were visibly annoyed by them, and so mosquito-coils were brought in. These are cakes shaped in the form of spirals, burnt at one end, and the smoke released contains a chemical which repels mosquitoes. A few coils were lit and kept under the table near our feet. As expected, the mosquitoes were driven away quite quickly. But soon, there was another problem which seemed to be more annoying, particularly to a colleague sitting next to me. It was the smoke coming out from the coils, which was making its way straight for her face from underneath the table. After 5 minutes, I offered to take that nuisance-maker from near her feet and put it elsewhere, for which she showed great gratitude. Others followed suit and returned the coils to the maintenance staff. The situation, I thought, was quite interesting.

On a parallel note, my sister had arranged for a clay bowl to be fixed outside our house for stray animals to drink water from. This was done a few weeks ago. When I returned from work yesterday, I happened to notice the contents of the bowl more closely before entering the gate. It was teeming with life! Some of it I could identify as mosquito larvae, and some were just plain weird.I asked my sister to come down to show her the secondary results of her intervention. Briefly I discussed the methods she could use to ensure that no larvae would grow there, considering that mosquitoes spreading malaria and dengue would grow in such waters.This could be done without jeopardizing her noble intention of providing water for stray animals.

Without a trace

In the midst of a busy academic year, breaks come far and few. Fortunately, some of my friends here have the initiative to plan a good day’s outing. I am a man of low self-initiative when it comes to certain things such as planning out-of-town  excursions. So when I was told that a 12 mile hike had been planned for in the Kent region, south of London, I decided to tag along.

The weather was delightful and we joined the hiking group right on time at Sevenoaks station. It was a long walk and you would expect a young bloke, such a myself, to feel hungry eventually. The simple picnic lunch would have to wait as there was still time for the lunch break, and so I helped myself to a banana. When I was done, I needed to get rid of the peel (of course!). Strangely, and out of character, I mentioned my intention to throw the peel into the forest to my friends, and this was met with some opposition.

They were of the opinion that nothing should be left behind. Me being the one who usually gives eco-sensitive advice, the whole situation was bit weird. But I decided to give this some thought. I did have a trash-bag with me to collect any thrash that would be generated during the day but I’ve always felt that fruit and vegetable waste should never go inside a bin, and rather, straight into the garden. My friends argued that if all hikers decided that they would throw their fruit waste into the woods, it would create a nuisance. It seemed like a fair point. But at some level I was still uncomfortable about the idea. A fruit peel would take a few days to decompose. At an average of 50 hikers a day along a 12 mile route, would that really be a problem?

The economy of nature is a fascinating subject. At one level it is unfortunate that we need to understand the balance sheets so that we can rectify our wrongs, while at another level, it adds to the amazement of the symphony that is the biosphere. I did leave the woods without a trace, and the peel sat happily in the trash-bag. I would have to find a recycle point back in the city so that it shouldn’t eventually end up in a landfill.

Interesting points did occur to me about fruit and vegetable waste. It would definitely be wrong if fruit not native to the area be thrown into the forest (with the seeds, that is). The whole chapter on invasive species flashed across my mind. Powerful stories about invasive species which have created havoc in several places in the world. Maybe it was a good idea to leave nothing behind in the woods, the fruit have in any case been grown in plantations and they didn’t belong in the woods.

The hike was for a day, and we left the woods without leaving anything as much as a fruit skin behind. But how deeply we tread on our world all through our lives.

An interesting afternoon

There I was, at the lab, thinking I had earned myself 10 Pounds, and in the next instant I had only 2.5 pounds. “How did that happen?”, you ask?..or maybe not. But I will tell you anyway:)

I volunteered to participate in a behavioral research study analysing abilities like concentration, memory and accuracy, with a final minor part about a charity donation (quite unrelated to the former part of the study). The compensation awarded for participation was 10 pounds. I did really well in all the tests and was quite proud of my performance (it doesn’t take much to make me feel happy).

Thirty minutes later, when I was finally done with all the pattern solving, word games and so on, the final page of the study advertised a charity called the Suffolk Wildlife Conservation Society. The advert said that they were raising funds for the conservation of a particular threatened migratory butterfly species by putting in place safe habitats for winter. Details were given about why conservation interventions were needed. I was then asked how much of I would donate from my compensation towards this charity. At that moment, I thought to myself “Are these guys seriously going to take my money away if I answered that I wanted to make a donation? After all this is a study, so I should get my full compensation anyway”. I answered that I was sympathetic to the cause (I really was) and would donate 7.5 pounds towards the charity.  I was prepared to be given just 2.5 pounds for all the time I had spent there. And that is exactly what happened, I was asked to meet the researcher who saw the amount I quoted and gave me 2.5 pounds and a copy of the debrief of the study in a ‘matter of fact’ way.

When I walked away, I thought about the Masala Dosa and Mysore Bonda I just had for lunch which cost me 4 pounds, and I asked myself, “Dude, you’re a student. Are you in a position to be making donations when you think twice to eat a masala dosa after 2 months of abstinence?”. It was then that I thought again about the wonderful conversations that I had with a friend who is doing post-doctoral research at the University at Reading. I had recently been on an excursion to the English countryside with her, and a conversation on pollinators and their role in ecosystems were inevitable. She does research on exactly that topic. Butterflies as you may know are also important pollinators, but she works on bees. She mentioned about the importance of hedgerows and how they had helped in increasing bee populations in many areas, which had in turn improved agricultural productivity.

When I read about the butterflies in the charity advertisement, I knew that I would have to part with my money. It was without doubt a worthwhile cause. When I eventually walked out the lab door, I was left with a lingering feeling of uneasiness. More so because I saw the payslips of other volunteers who had come in for the study, and almost everyone had taken back 10 pounds with them, and it was only I who left with 2.5 pounds (the logic behind the 2.5 pounds is that it would cost me that much for transportation to and from the lab. I, however, walked it). But I was soon at ease again when I read the debrief of the study. While they mentioned that the charity didn’t actually exist, the money I donated would be delivered to a similar real charity in the UK. One thing is for sure, I wouldn’t normally have made a donation during my time here, but this was a special situation. I had to option of just taking less money for the time I gave and that didn’t hurt at all. I think this is the first bit of overt environmental action I had taken since coming here. For what its worth, it was a good feeling.

 

First feel of Environment at London

Its been two days since I landed at London, and I’ve just been busy getting used to the way things work here, especially the transport system (which can be hard on the pocket if one does not plan well).

The walk to my college (which is a good 75 minute walk from hostel!) takes me through Hyde Park through one route, and Regent Park through another. Both of these are great, very pretty, with a lot of trees, squirrels,  pigeons, ducks and geese. Good spaces for people to walk around and cycle.

The cycling lanes on most roads is the reason many people choose to cycle (which would have otherwise been a little dangerous on those roads). There is also a cycle hire service available which seems a little expensive, but none the less convenient. Its something I may explore.

The bus and the underground service are both great. Well, I have not actually tried them yet, but during my walks I observed the buses. I plan to start using these services when college opens.

The use of inner city roads by cars are charged extra, which is a method of controlling use of 4 wheelers in crowded areas.

People seem to be conscious about the eco-friendly approaches, there is a lot of advertising about it, but I’m not still sure how eco-friendly life in London actually is. It is something will observe and comment about.

Bottled water is one thing that is surely abused a bit. But there are ways to get past that. The charity shops are a great idea. It appears that a lot of people give away slightly used clothing to these shops to keep up with the trends, which appears to be the most important thing here at London. The charity shops in any case are a good idea, and something worth considering. I visited an Oxfam store which had a lot of stuff including clothing, accessories, books and music.

At hostel, I’m forced to drink juice from tetra-packs which I’m not happy about, but it is what’s keeping me alive (food in UK is very different from food in India, very different). I’ve also included taking a bit of milk and milk products into my diet as there seems to be no other option here (I was vegan otherwise).

I will soon start writing about lessons I learn from college. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is known for its world leading research in all fields of Public Health, especially with the perspective of developing countries (they mainly work in Africa, apart from Europe). I look forward to the experience!

Fond memories of arguments and discussions

Earlier this week a close family friend passed away. He was 73.

Ram Damodar was a man of brilliance. From having built his own car when he was a teenager, to having flown for Lockheed and the US intelligence, he has had numerous crazy and wonderful experiences. I was fortunate to have heard some of them first hand. He was also a renowned expert on the repair of Classic Cars, especially Jaguars.

I remember how his understanding of mechanics and electricals were so strong, he would repair just about anything. Always in touch with the latest in science and technology, he would tell something new every time we met.

Since the time when my involvement with environmental issues began around 2 years ago, he has thrown at me several questions and facts to question my facts and motives. Noticing that I had switched over from cars to using public transport and bicycles, he told me jokingly “Enjoy life man, one meteor and the earth is wiped out anyway”.

Several times he emailed me about scientific reports rubbishing Climate Change and Peak Oil (there’s a lot locked up in Siberia, according to a report he sent me). He introduced me to the concept of Global Cooling and threw questions like how some places in South India were experiencing the coldest recorded temperatures now in the midst of Global Warming?

But at the end of all those arguments, he would still appreciate my arguments and activities and always told me to do what my heart tells me to. And I know that is what he did always. He never lived with any regrets. My friend has aptly quoted for the context “All men die, only some men truly live”.

His inquisitive nature and research aptitude were things that have influenced me, not to mention his love of work. If I am able to work even half as much as him with half the quality, I know I would have contributed well to the field.

I will miss those small provoking arguments with him, apart from several other things. Thank you for everything, Ram Uncle.