All's well that ends well

Day 18- the last day of my internship and everything beautiful in the past few days has almost come to an end.

Paneer: To Cheese or Not To Cheese?

Wow! I can’t believe we have been in India for two-and-a-half weeks already. At this time three weeks ago, I was taking a final in Mass Transport and Separation Principles, and today I gave a presentation on my final project in India. To reflect on the past few weeks, I thought I would talk about some of my favorite moments of the trip!

Some Untold, Yet Blogworthy Moments from Bengaluru

Today is crunch time for all of us as we work with our groups to gather our research and venture design ideas into eight-minute PowerPoint presentations. There is a cooling breeze from the darkening sky as it begins to rain at exactly 5 p.m. for the fourth day in a row. Personally, I have come to love these reliably cooling afternoons brought by monsoon season. To think that tomorrow our final presentations will mark the end of our trip brings many bittersweet feelings. In this blog I am going to briefly mention some of the untold, yet memorable moments that will be lasting memories for each of us as we travel back to our homes/apartments.

Indian Communities and Cooking

Several days remain before the Bengaluru students present their design thinking assignments. Today, all three student project groups looked toward the community for answers to support the product design process. My group, investigating methods for improving sanitation in water storage, began the day with a drive to a below-the-poverty-line community.

A look at an average day at our home away from home

In each blog post, we discuss the highlights of each new day in India! But this misses some of the more average, day-to-day activity involved in staying and getting around Bangalore. We are staying at the Indian Social Institute (ISI) in Benson Town. Our home for these three weeks is where we’ve slept, had classes, and eaten a lot of our meals. While different from our much colder dorms and apartments in Minneapolis, ISI has begun to feel like a home away from home!

Cleaning the city with The Ugly Indian

The day began with us walking to Bangalore Cantonment Railway Station, as we set out for our next task—a "spot fix" coordinated by The Ugly Indian, a non-profit that believes that if your city is unclean, it is up to you, the citizen, to take charge of it.

Cleaning one area at a time

We started our morning by waking up for a 7:45 a.m. breakfast, the breakfast was not something we never tried. It was idli, savory rice cake accompanied with sambal and chutney as well as boiled egg. We were so excited for what was to come after breakfast.

Bangalore through the eyes of Indian students

The highlight of this trip has been the Indian students who’ve been with us since the beginning. From showing us cool places to hang out, helping us cross the street, acting as translators, or acting as the DJ on long drives, being able to see Bangalore through their eyes, and not just through the lens of our projects, has made the journey that much more enjoyable.

Project Planning

Today each project group focused on their individual projects. My particular group spent the first part of the day contemplating two ideas. One project idea involves finding a useful way to measure the depth of bore wells across Bangalore, and the other idea finding a way to increase rain water harvesting across the city.

Day two of trekking!

We departed from Sakleshpur this morning, and on our way back to Bangalore we visited the Gommateshwara Statue. This required climbing 600 steps barefoot in 85˚F and extreme humidity. Needless to say, we were drenched! Right when I thought I was unbearably hot and tired, I looked up to see a group of four men carrying an elderly woman in a chair up the climb. Not only were they carrying her, they were running while doing so! I could not believe it, especially considering they do that multiple times per day.

Sustainable shade coffee growing, harvesting, and processing in Saklesphur

Beauty. Adventure. Diversion. Just a few words to begin describing today. This morning, we woke up bright and early to set out for Ashirwad Estate in Sakleshpur. The four-hour drive was worth it for the experiences ahead.

Jakkur Lake and Zen Rainman's Peaceful Abode

Day 11 of our stay here in Bangalore began with a visit to the Jakkur Lake, a manmade lake in northern Bangalore. We were greeted by Dr. Annapurna Kamath, a wildlife and ecosystem activist who led us on a 5k walk and talk around the perimeter of the lake.

The day started with tasty idly-sambar and beautiful Bengaluru weather! The day's plan was to visit the Rajendranagar Slum in the south Bengaluru and understand the lives of the people living there! Everyone seemed to be very enthusiastic towards a community visit.

Working on projects at the Indian Social Institute (ISI) and new foods!

Waking up early is not unusual in this trip, but today I got to wake up a little bit later, for which I am grateful! We got to try a new dish for breakfast called puri. A puri is a puff flour that is eaten together with aloo curry (potato stir fry), chutney (Indian spicy sauce), and a boiled egg. Today’s agenda consists of mostly staying in Indian Social Institute (ISI) doing our own project.

Learning About Indian Waste Management

After a several days of early-morning departures, the Bengaluru Squad departed the Indian Social Institute at 6:27 a.m. Our destination was one local waste collection facility or “State-of-the-Art Dry Waste Collection Centre” operated by Hasiru Dala, an organization focusing on improving working conditions for waste pickers and minimizing impacts of human waste.

Experiencing language and culture barriers firsthand

Today brought another new learning experience. To prepare for an afternoon of interviews, our morning class included a role play situation for the American students. The first time we walked into our classroom, our instructors and Indian friends were acting as though we had walked into an urban shanty town.

CowaDUNGa!

Our second day at Navadarshanam Farm began with a bang! Or more like a nice peaceful meditation session to begin a day of new adventures. After breakfast, it became apparent that our job for the morning was to make the farm’s essential fertilizer. This included mixing cow dung, water, cow urine, jaggery, and gram flour by hand.

An Ode to the Wilderness

The day started with two-hour bus ride (we met at 6:15 a.m.!) to Navadarshanam, a 110-acre organic and sustainable farm. On the way, we stopped for breakfast and South Indian filter coffee, which has quickly become a favorite of mine.

A Glimpse into Bangalore

Today’s journey in Bangalore delved into the culture and history of the city. Early in the morning, our group departed and drove to the Nandi temple.

Creature comforts in Bangalore

When preparing to travel to Bangalore the one thing people often told me was to look out for the animals in the street. Cows roam the city during the day and return to the owner at night. Bangalore traffic often has to make accommodations for the cows that appear in the side street. Dogs also are a common site, running from one part of the market to another. But today we were interested to two new creatures.