November update

Time has been flying by, and it is strange to think I have been in Ujire for almost three months now. Here is an update on the last few weeks...

A number of farmers have asked to order one of the threshing machines we tested. This is very positive news, and Anand (head of the rural lab) said he has not seen so much interest in a new machine before. I’ve been following up with the thresher manufacturer and local workshops to investigate the feasibility of some modifications to the machine which were suggested by farmers (such as mountings for electric motor drive, pedal power, carrying handles). I’ve also been searching for a motor supplier and arranging transport for the motors and threshers. This is easier said than done as the motor suppliers are based several hours away in Coimbatore, and the machine manufacturer is in West Bengal, on the other side of India. 

I’ve had some interesting phone calls to various motor manufacturers and the transport offices, and my Indian colleagues have been taking calls for me when the suppliers don’t speak English. It was a nice change when Sudarshan came across a supplier with whom he didn’t share a common language, so had to resort to repeating “do-you-speak-eeenglish?” into the phone – something I have been picking up a reputation in the office for doing. Hopefully the threshers will be ordered by the time I leave.

As the dry season approaches, farmers have started to prepare their fields for a second crop of rice. First buffalo or a diesel powered tiller are used to churn up the field, which is then flooded for a few days in order to let the mud settle. Rice seedlings are cultivated for about 15 days in a small area of the field before being transplanted by hand into the rest of the field. 

Workers gather the seedlings into bunches ready for transplanting

Hand transplanting is a very slow process, and it can take a team of eight people all day to cover less than an acre. Selco has been testing a transplanting machine which is about four times faster than hand transplanting. To raise awareness of the machine amongst farmers, we arranged a demonstration at a local farm.

A farmer checking out the transplanting machine 

The transplanter is powered by hand cranking and plants two rows at a time

About 30 farmers and local agri officials came along to the demo, and there were mixed opinions of the machine. Testing the transplanter is not as clear cut as the thresher testing. While the transplanter is significantly faster than hand transplanting, farmers are understandably cautions when using a new machine which could affect the growth of their plants. It takes three months for the crops to grow before farmers can check yields, so I expect it will take some time for this machine to be adopted. 

We visited a local school last week for "Childrens' Day" celebrations. The kids were really well behaved, and very sporty

November started off with Diwali, the festival of lights. This is an important celebration across India, and Yashwin invited me to his home in Mumbai for the Diwali long weekend. 

On Saturday we caught the metro into central Mumbai, to explore the city.

Riding the open doored meto between New and Old Mumbai

This is not rush hour

First thing in the morning we made our way to the flower market. The market was jammed with people buying garlands of yellow and orange marigolds, and many other types of flowers.

From the flower market, we set off looking for the Dhobi Ghat outdoor laundry. We wandered though some narrow passageways between the closely packed houses until a friendly local showed us the way.

The open air laundry washes clothes and bedding for nearby hotels and businesses. Clothes are washed and beaten by hand in open cement tanks before being hung up to dry

Mumbai is famous for its street food, which is know for being very cheap and of good quality. Yashwin and I took full advantage of this! 

Panipuri cart selling bite sized crispy balls stuffed with potato, chick-peas & onion and drizzled with salty water and a sweet sauce

Jalebi sweets are made fresh on the roadside

There are many carts selling fruit juice scattered all over the city. This is a hand powered press for sugar cane juice

This cart sells "Gola", a type of ice-lolly drizzled with sweet fruit flavoured syrups and sprinkled with a masala flavoured black pepper

Kulfi ice cream is sold by weight & wrapped in dry leaves to take home

Paan is a popular snack eaten after meals to refresh your mouth and aid digestion. Various powders, rosewater, jells and seeds are spread and sprinkled onto a betal leaf. 

To me it tasted like swallowing a small bottle of powerful Omani perfume, mixed with mint 

The Diwali shopping crowd near Yashwin's house to choosing a lantern for the apartment! Most balconies were decorated with strings of lights as well as lanterns

Stocking up on fireworks - interesting packaging!

The whole neighbourhood was filled with the smoke & bangs of fireworks throughout the night

Due to it being a national holiday, we were unable to book seats on the crowded, 16 hour train back to Mangalore from Mumbai. We sat on the door steps until the evening and then bedded down on some newspaper on the floor, below the bunks and between the rows of the shoes of the lucky bunk occupants. I slept surprisingly well, occasionally being woken by the tickling of a sari on my nose which was trailing down from the bunk nearest me.

6 hours in to the train journey

Following on from Diwali, we celebrated a late Halloween back in Ujire by carving pumpkins and bobbing for apples. I made spaghetti bolognese for dinner (one of the few Western dishes for which most of the ingredients are readily available in Ujire, although the spaghetti was from Mangalore!).

Carving pumpkins for the first time

Girish showing off his pumpkin carving & a scary face!

Otherwise life in Ujire has been ticking along. These are some of the photos I have taken while out for lunch.

The flowers are part of a blessing which is meant to protect the vehicle and driver from bad luck. Owners will drive their vehicles around like this for a few days after the blessing!

Earlier this week a cow trotted into our restaurant during lunch and was casually shooed out after having a drink from a bucket and wandering around for five minutes

More threshing, Pujas and Gokarna

Last Saturday I made my first solo farm visit, in order to conduct more extensive threshing measurements. This will be one of the final threshing tests of this season, and on arriving I found the farmers were still in their paddy fields cutting the harvest.

I joined in, carrying sudis (bundles of straw, tied together with string) along the edge of the field, across a stream and up to the farm courtyard. I'm fairly sure they tied smaller bundles especially for me! 

I was given a special hat (bundle of cloth and a wooden ring) which sat on my head to help balance the weight of the sudis.

Following the field harvest, the rice was threshed both by hand and using the machine we had provided. This was a great opportunity to observe the threshing methods side by side. I took some videos and counted the threshing rates. We tested the threshing machine with both motor and pedalling power. 

There is a time of year when it is traditional in Karnataka to bless your car and other mechanical appliances. Yashwin & I visited Mangalore at the time when this was going on.

Garlands for sale for the blessings

Yashwin's uncle blessing their extended families' cars with flowers, coconuts and rice.

Tricks following their blessings

That weekend Yashwin and I explored up the coast towards Goa, to a beach called Gokarna. We slept overnight in an empty building on the beach and hiked along the coast. The scenery was beautiful, although I was a bit too tired to fully enjoy myself.

Our beds for the night. 

Interesting design of these small wooden fishing boats  

                                    

...the larger fishing fleet

Omm bay

Exploring the quiet bays along the coast

                                    

Riding in my favourite seat on the train home

I took on Saturday off to travel on my own to the nearby Belur & Halebid temple sites. There are amazingly intricate soapstone carvings making up the temples.

Goa, trains and a visit to the hospital

It's been an eventful week! Last weekend a group of us travelled to Goa to visit the Dudhsagar water falls. As we only have Sundays off, this involved some fairly intense travelling to make the 1000km round trip and still be back in work for Monday morning.

Leaving the office on Saturday evening, we caught a bus to Mangalore and then the sleeper train to Magdow, arriving at 5am. On the bus ride I received some over friendly attention from a tipsy elderly lady in a sari, who started blowing me kisses!

We boarded the sleeper train at midnight and walked down the dark aisle to reach our berth, avoiding the pairs of feet sticking out from bunks at different levels. During the journey, tea pedlars came down the corridor chanting “chai, chai, chai” and someone was snoring loudly!

Magdow train station at 6am

In Magdow, we changed to a second train, and rode in the luggage compartment with several “stowaways” (although we had bought tickets!).

In the luggage compartment

Not exactly first class

The rail route from Madgow to Kulem passed over several large rivers and through miles of coconut plantations. We arrived into Kulem at 10am on Sunday morning, and started the 11km walk along train tracks to the water falls.

The walking route to the falls follows a rail track and passes through seven short tunnels

Dutsugar means "milk ocean"

The falls themselves were beautiful, unlike the crowded viewpoint which was scattered with rubbish

 

Boarding the freight train (with the driver's permission)

After an hour at the falls, we jumped on a freight train to Kulem which had stopped for a brake check near to the falls.

The engineers headed straight to the cabin of the train!

From Kulem, we retraced our steps all the way back to Ujire, where we arrived around 4am on Monday morning. This 32 hour adventure cost about £7!

Even at 4am Yashwin and I still couldn't go to bed. During the bus ride back to Ujire, the bus driver hit a bump in the road, and sent everybody in the back of the bus flying out of their seats. I hit my chin on the chair in front, and needed five stitches in Ujire hospital. My stitches were removed this afternoon and the total procedure cost me less than £15.

he brand new hospital is funded by the wealthy Dharmasthala temple, and only opened last week. The hospital serves a large area, so I'm lucky it is so close.

We conducted several more threshing tests this week, and gathered some good data on the rates and lots of feedback from farmers. 

Brining one of the threshing machines to a farm. The white bandage on my chin means I am stared at even more than usual!

Transporting the machines between farms in the back of a Mahindra pick-up truck. Riding three abreast in the front seat with the gear stick between my legs, I sat sweating with my hands over my crotch as the driver speed shifted from 1st to 2nd going up the steep bumpy track from the farm.

I also did some work measuring the yield of some paddy fields which had been transplanted by a transplanting machine.

Other than testing, this week the Nine Nights "Navarathi" Hindu festival has been going on, and Ujire is constantly filled with the sound of dance groups which go from shop to shop asking for money from the owner before moving on.

Helping to make a Rangoli in the college library which was for the Navarathi celebration.