More weather

I've been working hard in the Archives and haven't done much exploring yet.  Partly because the last two days have been particularly cold with persistent heavy rain, strong winds, and some thunder and lightening. There are breaks - and when they come, great views!

I'm hoping that by this weekend the skies will have cleared enough to make it worth walking to the top of the hill.

Environmental stuff

Back in the U.S. in my real life, I am involved in a group of folks that are working to cut our carbon footprints, so I am becoming much more aware of environmental issues and choices.


Here are some random related comments --

This is such a beautiful place, here at about 7000 feet in the first range of the Himalayas, in an area of protected forest, but of course it is not immune to the pressures of modern civilization. The city of Dehra Dun, that lies at the foot of the mountains here, has grown tremendously now that it is the seat of government for Uttarkhand.  If you look out at the lights at night, it seems like almost three fourths of the Dun valley is filled with lights, and these continue on up into the hills as if Mussoorie and Landaur are now just suburbs of Dehra.

Electricity: All electric outlets have switches so there is less chance of wasting 'phantom' power.  At the YWCA where I stay in Delhi, one has to insert one's room key in a special slot for the small hot-water geyser or the air conditioner to work.

Here in the hills, at least this week, the power has been going off a dozen or so times a day, and then the School's generator kicks in ... likely run on diesel.

Water: Right now there is adequate water, but that changes through the seasons.  The typical way of bathing in India is with a 'bucket bath,' which uses much less water than a shower.  Put a bucket under the tap and run the hot water until it gets hot, then add in cold as needed.  With a half-bucket one can get a decent cleaning; with a full bucket one can wash thick hair or have enough water left to wash out some clothes.  Pour a couple of mugs of water over the body, soap it up, and then rinse.

Plastics: In my last posting I complained about all of the plastic laying about.  There are spots here on the hillsides that have become dumping grounds for plastic.  Not good!

Sewer: Landaur is building a sewage treatment facility! The edges of Tehri Road are being dug up and pipes installed.  The facility is to be built below 'New Road' about half way between Woodstock and Wynberg-Allen schools.  It will be very interesting to see if it actually gets built and works as intended.

Right now most sewage likely goes down the mountain into the local streams, or into cesspits or possibly septic tanks.

Creative Writing

When I was young I wanted to be a writer.  Pearl Buck was a guest at the school when my class was in 7th grade and I was so inspired by her (don't ask me what she said .. I don't remember).  When I was a senior in HS, I was on the editorial team of the literary magazine, Motif, which was intermittently issued from 1965-2006.

This year's seniors are hoping to revive the magazine and one young woman came to the archives to look at old issues and write a short description of the magazine.

Train from Delhi to Dehra Dun

I've always loved to travel by train in India.  On these recent visits I've taken the Shatabdi (an express train) that takes about 5 hours to go the ca. 300 kilometers (a fast trip for India travel), and ridden in the Executive Class car (eligible for senior discount now!).  This is a chair car similar to what exists in the rest of the world, though the toilets are, alas, not dissimilar from the old 3d class ones. 

The route first travels from the New Delhi station through the outer suburbs of the city through the Gangetic plain.  Around Saharanpur the topography starts to become more rugged as the route travels out of the plain and into the 'terai' region.  If the air is clear, one can start seeing mountains from near Haridwar.  After the Haridwar station the route passes through several tunnels into the Siwaliks before finally entering the Doon valley.

This is the third time in as many years that I've come this route.  This time I really saw all of the trash along the way.  The railroad right of way is littered heavily with plastic, particularly in cities and villages.  This seems to be a major problem that ought to be addressed .. but probably will not be until there is a real market (and use) for all kinds of plastic.

Some fruit

In the compound of the YWCA International Guest House in Delhi I saw several 'hazara' trees.  This is what we called this tree as children ... 'hazara' means 'thousands'.  This is a variety of kumquat, with sour fruit and a thin sweet rind. We would pop the whole fruit, rind and all, in our mouths. My mother would make marmalade from the fruit; and my father would bottle the juice to mix with soda water in the very hot summer weather.  It was so tempting to try to pick some of these!

I arrived during the 'ber' season, and I had to get some as it has been 20 years at least since I've had any. On Wikipedia I find the scientific name is Ziziphus Mauritana. Now I have to figure out a way to clean these enough to eat without getting sick (following the traveller's advice to never eat unpeeled fruit)! They are about the size of a large olive and are crunchy somewhat like an apple.

Did I say cold?

The temperatures in the hills have been just what I expected they would be - cold!  To the uninitiated who might look at the weather for Mussoorie online, they might think this place is having pleasant spring weather - highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s and 50s.  The elevation makes a big difference - a high of 78 likely to mean that it will reach 78 degrees for 30 minutes while the sun is directly shining on the spot you are sitting. Then the sun moves, or you move, or a cloud comes, and the beautiful 78 is suddenly quite chilly.  Lows are lows .. and one doesn't have the luxury of central heating to bring a room's temp. up to a toast 68.  The guest room I am staying in was about 50 last night, and got up to about 55 with the small electric space heater.  I am thankful I brought my poufy down jacket and some fleece pajamas!

I shouldn't complain because there is a space heater. The offices now have heaters run on bottled gas which help take the chill off.

Even my little old netbook is a handy lap heater in the evening.

Delhi again

I arrived back in India on the 7th after a safe trip.  On Saturday the 8th I decided I didn't need to do any shopping, so I went to the National Gallery of Modern Art. The special exhibit on now is of the works of Amrita Sher-Gil, an Indian-Hungarian artist who painted both European and Indian subjects.

In the permanent collection are quite a few works by one of my favorite artists, Jamini Roy.

Another temporary exhibit was of the works of Bihari sculptor Subodh Gupta (this Wikipedia entry is a bit scanty). He uses common materials (either directly or sculpted in marble or brass) such as bamboo; cow dung; clay pots; brass, aluminum or stainless steel cooking utensils. One of my favorite installations was of rows and rows of different kinds of tiffin carriers on a moving belt.