India’s Growing Population and its Effect on Sustainability of Resources (CLASS ASSIGNMENT BLOG 2)

                With over one billion people in its population that is continuing to grow and a limited amount of land mass and resources, India faces many challenges for the future.  Providing adequate amounts of the essentials such as food and water to the people, as well as ensuring sustainability of other important resources is already a challenge and will be even more difficult for the country in the future.  While we learned about these issues in class at Furman, I am getting a better and more personal perspective on the issues while living in India.   

                Ensuring enough energy for the country is one challenge that India currently faces and will be even more of an issue as the population continues to increase.  Dr. Lakshmi Narayanan from the Department of Physics at MCC, discussed the energy problems India faces in his lecture on November 9, 2011.  He mentioned that not only is energy need increasing because of the growing population, but that the demand for improved living standards is also increasing which will result in greater per capita use.  Dr. Narayanan stated that India’s energy use has increased by 16 times in the last 60 years and the installed electric capacity has increased by 84 times.  In 2008, India had the fifth highest energy use in the world.  As of 2011, the total installed capacity is 182,345 million watts.  We have learned that demand often exceeds availability of power while living in India.  Power outages occur very frequently, usually multiple times per day.  In fact, yesterday we tried to eat at a McDonald’s restaurant but it was closed because the restaurant lost power.  This would be unusual in the United States but is just a normal occurrence here in India. 

With the demand for energy increasing so much, it is vital that India begin to use more renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy and to depend less on nonrenewable sources.  It is also important that India find ways to conserve energy and some efforts to do this are already in place.  We have experienced one such effort first hand.  Every day at about 1:00 PM, the power shuts off at MCC.  This is part of a daily blackout that occurs in much of the state to conserve energy since demand currently exceeds supply.  Luckily, at MCC the power usually comes back on within a few seconds or minutes but in many places it is an hour long power outage.

Clean water is another resource where the demand is greater than the supply, and India must find ways to conserve it.  This is particularly important because water is a basic human need for survival and there are already over one billion people that India must be able to provide with safe drinking water.  It is unusual to me to think about how India needs more conservation efforts because it seems like people here use so much less water for domestic purposes.  For example, in the United States most of us take long showers daily.  In India most people take bucket baths and most do not shower daily.  The bucket saves a lot of wasted water during showers.  However, agriculture and issues with water quality are even bigger thieves of clean drinking water than domestic use.  We have observed how much rice is consumed in India and how many rice paddy fields exist.  Rice is an extremely water intensive crop so its production may need to be decreased and replaced with a substitute that does not require so much water.  In regards to water quality, pollution makes much of the water in India undrinkable.  It is unsettling how much trash we have observed on the streets and how there are almost no trashcans.  This really becomes a problem when it monsoons because the streets flood and all the trash gets mixed in with the water.  When walking in Chennai, we had to cross a flooded street and the water was so gross that we could barely bring ourselves to walk through it.  Rainwater harvesting would allow the excess water from monsoon rains to be used later in the year or in drought prone areas.  Providing places for trash and enforcing rules for disposing of trash would also improve the quality of the water.  Rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water have also become dumping grounds for the wastes of many industries according to Dr. Sukumar of MCC. 

Fuel is a third resource that is being threatened by the expanding population.  We have observed how congested the streets are with so many cars, buses, motorbikes, and rickshaws.  While India has some public transportation such as buses and trains, it needs more infrastructure to encourage use of public and active transport.  Also, some of the vehicles being driven are not fuel efficient and more rules should be put in place and enforced so that fuel is conserved.  Alternative sources for fuel need to be adopted as well.  This is especially important because Dr. Narayanan informed us that India currently imports approximately 80% of its oil from other countries.  This will threaten India’s future energy security if the country does not find its own sources of oil, particularly from renewable sources.

Energy, fuel, and water are three of the important resources that are being threatened by India’s large and rapidly increasing population.  After being in the country for about a month, we are already able to observe a lot of these issues.  While some efforts are in place to conserve resources, more strategies need to be put in place and more renewable alternative resources need to be implemented to ensure sustainability of the resources for the country.  Better enforcement of these strategies is also essential.

2nd Weekend Trip: Trichy/Tanjore

Last weekend we travelled to Trichy and Tanjore.  On the way we stopped at Rock Fort Temple.  It is a Hindu temple located on the top of a huge granite rock.  We have been to several Hindu temples which are really neat but this was my favorite.  This one was cool because we climbed 413 steps to get into the temple and the view from the top was amazing. We could see the town from the top- other temples, houses, river, mountains, and more.

 Rock Fort Temple

 View from inside Rock Fort Temple

That night we stayed at a hotel in Trichy.  The hotel was fine but the service was terrible.  I have noticed that service in India is either amazing or awful.  It is only really good when you are in a nice resort where you are waited on hand and foot.  Otherwise like in this particular hotel it is usually not good.  At dinner, all of our entrees were brought at different times and it took over two hours for some people to get their appetizers. Some of the orders were messed up and they would do things like bring 7 Up when you asked for Pepsi as if they are the same.  It was ridiculous but made for an entertaining, funny meal.

The next day we visited another temple.  This was a real experience because we got so much attention for being white.  People stared and followed us around taking pictures.  Other people asked to take pictures of their kids with us.  It literally was like a glimpse into the life of a celebrity.  It was entertaining except for one man who took at least 8 pictures of just me which was a little creepy.  I don't think our group or the Indians paid much attention to the actual temple.  It took us two hours to get out of there because of all the attention and photo requests.

Pictures of people taking pictures of and with us

We stayed at the Ideal River View Resort in Tanjore for the next 3 nights.  The resort was so nice, peaceful, and relaxing.  During the days, we visited several more sights including a dam, a limestone (cement) quarry where we looked for fossils, (l found a cool rock with a sand dollar fossil.) an art museum, and a park with a fossilized tree.  In the afternoons and evenings we swam in the pool, had dinner outside by the river, and played pool and ping pong.  They also had live music, a dance performance, and complimentary drinks at dinner.  We were treated so well there that it was sad to leave.

Pictures at the Ideal River View Resort

One afternoon, Jackie, Eric, and I walked along the river to explore.  We saw a family playing and washing their clothes in the river.  They beckoned us over so we waded across the river to say hi.  They couldn't speak much English but they were so excited to see us and to hear that we were from America.  I asked to take a picture with them and they were thrilled.  One little boy was still playing in the river a little ways away but when he saw us posing for a picture he sprinted through the river towards us.  He fell face first into the river but jumped right back up and kept running.  The other kids laughed when they saw him running over after I said to wait for him.  It reminded me of the scene in Slumdog Millionaire where Jamal jumps into the sewage to be able to get to see the famous person in the village and he sprints as fast as he can.  It was so cute and melted my heart how excited and determined he was. 

 Jackie and me with the family we met on the river

Air and Water Pollution in India (CLASS ASSIGNMENT)

In his lecture on November 7, 2011, Dr. Narasimhan, a botanist at MCC, discussed current environmental issues in India.  Two of the specific issues that he covered were water quality and pollution and air pollution.  I found this class to be really interesting especially after experiencing a taste of these issues for myself during the month that we have been here in India. 

Dr. Narasimhan informed us that out of the three million people in the world who have died prematurely as a result of indoor and outdoor air pollution, India had the largest number of deaths.  New Delhi is in the top ten most polluted cities in the world and has twelve times the average number of respiratory diseases due to air pollution as India’s national average.  We have not yet been to New Delhi but I have observed the pollution even here in Tambaram and Chennai and I cannot imagine it being even worse.  As soon as I leave the gates of MCC where the trees improve the air significantly, I instantly experience the air pollution in Tambaram.  Immediately upon exiting the gate I feel particulate matter getting into my eyes and the air smells of exhaust and other pollutants.  Walking across the street to the market or the Pic N’ Pack, my nose begins to get itchy and I often sneeze.  In fact, when I blow my nose after being in the city dirt literally comes out.  I have never experienced anything like it before and I don’t know how people live in it everyday, especially people who don’t have a place like MCC to retreat too at the end of the day.

 According to Dr. Narasimhan, the biggest source of air pollution in India is vehicular emissions, accounting for 70% of air pollution.  Over the last 20 years, the amount of vehicular pollution has increased in India by eight times.  He also mentioned that auto rickshaws are particularly harmful to the environment because their engine is especially inefficient.  This surprised me as rickshaws are so small, with only three wheels, that I assumed that they would be better for the environment than other cars.  It also was interesting since we have had several opportunities to ride in auto rickshaws since being here and I have noticed how many there are on the road.  I can believe that the engines are inefficient because I have noticed how loud they are and how badly it smells of exhaust when I have ridden in them.  Learning how inefficient the rickshaws are made me feel slightly guilty about riding in them.  Untreated industrial smoke is also a source of air pollution in India.  This is especially a problem in big cities with lots of industries.

One really interesting point that Dr. Narasimhan made is that India’s problem does not lie in lack of sound environmental legal guidelines and laws.  Instead it is the lack of enforcement that is the problem.  I have noticed that you rarely see police pulling people over or arresting anyone.  I always assumed that there weren’t rules in place but I now understand that it is more likely that they are simply not being enforced.  Dr. Narasimhan mentioned that there is a push for more efficient rickshaws but that the automobile companies are going against this guideline.

Water quality and quantity is a huge problem in India.  Dr. Narasimhan stated that water has become a commodity in India rather than a resource because quality water is not easily accessible for all.  He informed us that 1.5 million preschool children die from diarrhea due to bad water annually.  Also, 60% of urban deaths in India are a result of cholera, dysentery, or gastroenteritis. 

 Municipal and solid wastes are largely responsible for the contamination of surface and ground water along with depletion of groundwater.  In regards to water quantity, agriculture is the main consumer of water, constituting 85% of water use in India.  This does not surprise me as we have seen so many rice paddy fields since being here.  I knew from my Global Water Issues seminar freshman year that rice is a very water intensive crop but I was really able to observe this when we actually walked through a rice paddy field.  From the road, it appears as tall grass.  However, when you walk through the field, you have to walk through lanes between the rice paddies because the ground by the rice crops is actually soaked in water and almost seems like a swamp.  I have also noticed how much rice Indians consume and how much we have consumed since being here.  It is literally served two meals per day, every day.  The portions are huge too.

Rice Paddy Field

Drinking water availability is 78.4% in rural areas and 84.9% in urban areas in India according to Dr. Narasimhan’s lecture.  Based on the pollution that I have seen in the rivers and water and public defecation that I have observed, it does not shock me that drinking water is not sanitary everywhere.  Even at MCC, we are still advised to drink bottled or filtered water.

On the side of the road in Tambaram near MCC

It is evident from Dr. Narasimhan’s lecture and my personal experiences here that India suffers severely from air and water quality issues.  Automobile and industrial pollution are major contributors to this problem.  India needs to invest in solving these problems in order to improve the health of the country.  Perhaps substitutes for rice for some meals could be implemented to conserve water, especially since so many people have to be fed with such a huge population.  Public transportation could be improved so there is less air pollution.  Also, implementation and enforcement of laws is crucial for the improvement of air and water quality in the country.

Diwali/ Deepavali

On Wednesday, October 26th, we celebrated Diwali.  Diwali is an Indian holiday meaning "festival of lights" that is celebrated for various reasons but some people celebrate it as the start of their lunar new year.  On the nights leading up to Diwali we shot off fireworks.  On Wednesday, all of the girls dressed up in Indian sarees that we bought here.

 At Suresh's house

We went to our professor, Suresh's, mom's house and celebrated with his family.  They cooked us a big traditional lunch.  We ate on the floor off of a banana leaf.  The guys shot off a ton of fireworks.  The fireworks here are all about the noise.  While there are some pretty ones, most are just extremely loud explosions.  I've never even liked balloons because of the anticipation of them popping so I didn't really appreciate these fireworks at all but it was fun to celebrate.  Suresh's family was so nice to us.  They kept offering more and more courses of food.  They even gave us little gifts when we left.

 Setting off fireworks at MCC

In the evening we went back to MCC and the students studying abroad here from Davidson came from Chennai to celebrate with us.  There are only eight of them but they were really nice.  We ate another big meal off of a banana leaf and then set off a ton more fireworks.  The day was really fun but I am relieved that the fireworks are over.

1st weekend trip- Pondicherry

A couple weeks ago, we went to Ponicherry for a long weekend.  On the way we visited some really cool stone temples.  We also went to a crocodile farm.  All three of our hotels had a pool and we're located right on the beach.  The first was the nicest resort I've ever been to.  The pool even had a swim-up bar and we got to swim in the Bay of Bengal.  The second was a really cool eco friendly resort with a really neat atmosphere and we got bikes to ride around the resort.  The last was actually in Pondicherry so we were able to walk to places to shop.  Pondicherry is a Union Territory in the South and it was a really cool place to visit.  Because of French influence, some of the streets we walked down looked a little like Europe and the area did not seem as crowded or polluted as the other places in India that we have visited.

At the Dune Eco Resort

On the balcony of our hotel in Pondicherry

At a rock temple- can you spot the goat?  (there are always goats around the temples)

A man kept following us around at this temple trying to insist that we pay him to be our tour guide but our teacher kept telling him to go away.  That didn't discourage him though, he literally followed us until we left.

We spent a day in Auroville.  Auroville is a unique city in Pondicherry.  This is a little introduction from the website:

"Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity."

At first we thought it was a cool place but the longer we stayed there, the weirder it got.  Some of our group is convinced that it's a kult I think.  There are a lot of good things about the place.   Community is emphasized and living sustainably is really important.  But the society is based on having no religion but meditating and doing what "the Mother would want you to do".  They spent a ton of money on this huge gold ball that they go inside to meditate.  It is suspended off the ground.  It's crazy how much they spent on that when they have so many other plans for the town that they need to finance. They don't let tourists inside except during certain times and we weren't supposed to take pictures once we were inside the gate surrounding it but we snuck pictures anyway.

 We also visited a huge lignite mine on our trip.  It was amazing how big it is and in the U.S. it is really hard to get permission to go down into a mine.  We got to take a bus down into the mine.  The drive was a little scary to me but it was neat to see.

Mary and I at the Mine

 On the way back to Chennai we visited a mangrove forest and rode on a boat.  It was nice to see green and no visible trash and pollution (I'm not sure about the quality of the water) after being in so many dirty crowded cities.  The boat ride through the mangroves reminded me of Florida which I really enjoyed.  A lot of people compared it to the Everglades.

As good as it was to get back to MCC after the trip, I enjoyed being spoiled at the hotels.  All offered American food which was such a nice treat and the hotels were so nice.  I will miss MCC but I'm looking forward to the last 4 weeks of the trip when we are in hotels.
 
 

Daily Life at MCC

While at MCC, we are attending lectures by local Indian professors on the weekdays.  A typical weekday consists of 9 AM lecture, tea and cookie break, 11 AM lecture, lunch, and then free time during the afternoon with another tea and cookie break and then dinner.  Usually in the afternoon we go to the market and/or play ultimate frisbee.  In the evenings we usually hang out on the porch of the guest house and just read or talk.  We do have some papers to be working on but it has been hard to be motivated because they are all due at the end of the trip.  After the first 6 weeks of intense work and classes at Furman, daily life here is so relaxing and has been a much needed break.  I don't know how I will get back to the normal Furman class routine next semester.  On the weekends we usually take road trips.  The first weekend we went to Pondicherry, last weekend we just went into Chennai, and this weekend we went to Trichy. 

 

Hanging out on the porch at MCC

 

The market is about a fifteen minute walk from campus.  We go several times a week to look around and shop.  The market is an overwhelming place.  It is so crowded, polluted, and smelly.  There are people with fruit stands and other shops all along the streets.  On the way to the market there is a hot musty tunnel that we have to go through and people even have stuff set up on the ground to sell.  The other day the ground of the tunnel was flooded and we had to walk through the most digusting water ever.  It was brown and trash full of floating trash and debris.  I can barely handle passing through that place so I have no idea how people set up camp there all day.  In the tunnel and the rest of the market, there are also a ton of beggars.  Many of them are are missing an arm or leg and it is kind of hard to look at since I am squeamish about those things.  The other day we walked down the aisle of the market where fish are sold.  The smell was absolutely awful and there were flies everywhere.  The market makes me not want to eat any fish, vegetable or fruit served in India.  We aren't allowed to eat most fruits here anyway and I try to forget the images when I eat meals. 

 

At the maket- this doesn't even completely capture the craziness

 

 

Our entire group of 20 plus 2 drivers and 2 or 3 or Indian people all fit into 2 little rickshaws!  This picture is before Suresh and I even got on.  The Indians just keep piling people in, I still don't know how we all fit.  We have seen up to 5 people on motorbikes and the buses are always packed with people literally hanging out the sides. 

 

Other observations:  Several times a day the power randomly goes out for a few seconds but comes back a few seconds later.  Even at a really nice hotel where we stayed, the power flickered out at times.  While walking on the beach we saw a really pretty evening wedding with Christmas lights but the power kept cutting off randomly during the wedding.  Luckily though it doesn't last long.  Another thing I have noticed is that Indians seem to have no concept of time.  Our lectures almost always run way overtime and it doesn't phase them.  At a show that we went to, our teachers told the dancers that we only had 45 minutes but they just kept on performing and finally someone had to interrupt them and cut them off.

 

Food is still a major struggle.  I'm not having trouble finding enough calories but the quality of my diet has gotten pretty bad and I'm starting to get tired of the same rice and junk food all the time.  I absolutely cannot handle the spice though.  Also, I don't know what is wrong with them, but Indians apparently do not appreciate the value of chocolate.  We went to a sweet shop with tons of different sweets, but not one single one contained chocolate!  Luckily the Pic N' Pack, a little convenient store down the road has a few things like kit kats and oreos to keep me alive and sane.  Also, the ice cream is really good here.  Every time we eat out, our professors let us order ice cream which is nice.  My only complaint is that the serving sizes are so small.  I think my family would probably laugh if they saw the little cups, but the ice cream is pretty rich and cheap.  I'm usually lucky enough to get an extra serving from someone who doesn't like theirs too.  The hotels that we've been to have been a lifesaver because all have offered American food and nonspicy options! 

 

Last Friday, we took a day off classes and went to explore more rural areas.  The entire town came out to see us practically.  They were so excited that we had stopped by.  We observed weaving which was pretty amazing.  We also saw a potter and then watched a man roll beedis, which are handmade, unfiltered cigarettes.  Our teachers bought a few for us to try.  We also stopped by a rice paddy field.  That evening we ate at our teacher, Suresh's, inlaws house and they arranged for us to see a play.  The play involved extravagant costumes and told the story of Krishna, a Hindu god.  The entire play was in Tamil. 

 

 

 Picture of me smoking a beedi- this is for you Mom cause I knew you'd be proud :)

1st Impressions

The trip started at 7:30 AM on Thursday when we met on campus to head to the Greenville airport.  I was nervous that I had forgotten something important but felt so accomplished that I fit everything for 9 weeks into one suitcase, a carry-on, and a backpack.  Well apparently it wasn't an accomplishment.  I cannot believe how little everyone's suitcases were.  It is unbelievable, yet they made fun of me not believing it was possible to pack so much.  I still have no clue how they did it.  My checked bag was 16 lbs overweight and my professor ended up putting the extra weight in his bag.  How embarrassing!  Then my carry-on got checked because it was too large.  I was a little worried that my trip was not off to a good start and afraid that everyone was going to think I was so high maintenance and caused so much trouble.

Thankfully, the trip was fairly smooth after the baggage issues and all of my baggage made it to India.  The traveling was exhausting though and I only slept about 3 hours of the total 36 1/2 hours we were traveling.  We were supposed to arrive in Chennai about midnight Friday (India time) but our last flight got delayed leaving and then landing.  We were approaching landing when the pilot found out there was a broken down airplane on the runway so we ended up circling above the airport for about 40 minutes.  We started running out of fuel so we had to fly to Bangalore and refuel at that airport.  We waited at the airport a couple hours until the Chennai runway was clear and finally flew back and landed in Chennai.  We didn't end up arriving to Madras Christian College (MCC) where we are staying until about 5 AM.   Our professors wanted us to stay up during the day so that we would adjust to Indian time.  After sleeping so little on the plane, making it through Saturday felt like a marathon. 

This is Joe, Eric's and my friend who sat beside us on the plane.  He even invited me to the park by his house in Michigan!  Bocca Beezeus! (thats his favorite expression)

Upon leaving the airport we were immediately immersed into the Indian culture.  I had seen movies and heard that roads were crazy but I did not think at 5 AM it would be so bad, and I was not prepared for such immediate immersion.  As we walked out of the airport, the heat and humdity hit us and tons of Indians stood outside of the gate, and they all stared as we walked to our van.  It smelled pretty awful (like really bad body odor).  Cars were honking like crazy and we saw people, motorbikes, cows, buses, all on the same busy road.   

I had heard that we would be stared at but I thought there would be other tourists.  It turns out we are pretty much the only white people in Tambaram (town that we are staying in where Madras Christian College is near Chennai).  Everywhere we go people take pictures of us or stare, wave, or blow kisses. 

The heat and humidity here are pretty rough.  I'm not complaining that I get to miss two months of cold weather, but it's definitely even hotter than I expected.  Just walking outside I pretty much get drenched in sweat.  We are lucky to get our laundry done, but our clothes are hung to dry. It really wears on my clothes.  I've pretty much accepted that I'm going to be looking rough everyday, and that my clothes will be ruined by the time I leave.

I had joked that the food would be too spicy for me and that food was my biggest fear about India.  I didn't realize how accurate this was.  The food is killing me.  EVERYTHING is spicy.  Even at breakfast!  And, it makes it a million times worse that everyone in my class loves the food.  I pretty much live off of rice, naan, peanut butter, and cookies.   

MCC, where we are staying for the first five weeks is a college campus in Tambaram near Chennai.  The campus is wooded and so relaxing and peaceful.  It is crazy that it is in the middle of the fourth largest city in India.  While on campus, it is like a refuge from the hectic chaos and nastiness of the city.  One travel book described it as one of the dirtiest places to live.  But MCC is an exception.  While sitting on the porch of our guest house, we can see deer wandering the campus.  The campus also provides a great place for running and ultimate frisbee with the class which is really nice.  I was so overwhelmed when we first got off the plane that I didn't know if I could handle nine weeks here.  I started panicking a little but as soon as we arrived on campus, I was immediately at ease.  I literally feel like we "enter India" when we walk out the gates and leave India when back on campus.  As soon as you leave the gate, you reach a busy road where cars are blaring horns, and the pollution hits you.   

Our home at MCC

Bucket bath at MCC

The first day after no sleep for 40 some hours, a few of decided to explore around the campus by ourselves.  One of the guys decided it would be fun to cross the street but we had had no instruction from our professors about how to go about it.  It was so scary.  Cars, motorbikes, and buses were flying by from both directions, and there are no crosswalks.  After chickening out a few times, we finally sprinted across, barely making it.  Then we felt ridiculous as we watched an old Indian woman stroll casually across right in front of traffic like it was no big deal.

Crossing the street

After two weeks, I have already gotten used to the craziness of the roads and even have ventured out with only my friend Amanda.  We just causally walk out "into India" to go to the market or store like its an everyday occurence for two American girls to stroll the streets of India. 

Since then we have also seen the opposite extreme of India while staying at some nice resorts, which I will talk about in my next blog.