Posts from — April 2008

I can be reached on +91 94804 47094 (BSNL number). If I am not reachable/available, leave a message. I will call you people back. I would be accessing internet intermittently.

You can also leave a message with Manikeswari at my office on +91 - 80 - 41698941. She will convey the message the moment I am on network.

An informal flag-off ceremony has been arranged on 26th. I would be taking off from Madivala Lake at 9:00AM. Click here for the location

22nd April, morning the Water warrior rode into Trivandrum. On his K2K trip, fresh from the southern most tip of India from Kanyakumari, CSP stopped over at Kovalam for an interaction organised by “Zero Waste Campaign” an undertaking of Thanal.

The meeting was organised in the offices of the Campaign, near the beaches of Kovalam and was headed of by Mr. Sridhar of Thanal who introduced the participants and kicked off the discussion. The core group present was members of the Campaign. The first part of the meeting involved the sharing of information, experiences by the Campaign members in the various projects that they had undertaken, were currently involved with. This was followed by introductions all round and the meet was kicked off. A Waste-to-Use thread was visible in all the projects that have been undertaken here. Conversion of tailor waste cloth to beautiful, useful objects of everyday use, creation of banners, in an eco-friendly manner, avoiding plastic flex printing by using reject cloth and a lot of creativity are a few among them! A plan to avoid the pollution/littering of the pristine beaches of Kovalam by plastic mineral water bottles was explained. A handmade bamboo carrier was provided to tourists, who could carry their own bottle, and refill stations for the same were put up. The bamboo carrier is an easy to carry, stylish to use method that was adopted by quite a few hotels who also co-operated in setting up the refilling stations.

Piping hot tea, and more narrations about plans to reclaim the beaches for the local people, to instill a feeling of belonging in order to induce them to actively participate in care and maintenance of resources kept the discussions lively.

The discussion went on to the subject of water availability and conservation. It was a pleasant surprise for CSP when he understood that the panchayats were taking up phased implementation of RWH structures in their locales. The women traded stories of how the RWH storage tanks are used to store tanker water in summer time when there is less rain, and more water is needed. Also the inconsistency in water availability in the Kovalam area came under discussion. The up stream communities are able to get enough water, exploit groundwater resources and sell the same to down stream communities that do not have a stable supply of water. The feeling of injustice that strikes harder when hotels manage to fill their pools with freshwater, but leaves the local people parched also figured in the talks. CSP offered advice to the participants indicating that water from RWH practices should be primarily used for drinking, cooking as it would prevent the use of unverified quality tanker water for such purposes. He also provided some pointers as to the proper sterilization methods with regard to drinking water.

CSP also took time out to sign a protest poster initiated by Thanal against the introduction of genetically engineered crops to India. Silje kept the flash popping as she steadily documented the interaction, intermittently answering queries regarding where she was from, and the reasons for the trip!

Thanal members, CSP and me had a final photo session following which we gave him and Silje a warm sent off. With a whispered prayer and a good luck wave the water warrior rode off.

For me the meet provided a “face” for the India Water Portal and Arghyam. Working freelance for the Portal on a remote basis the meet provided a better understanding of the driving forces behind the k2k initiative and also the need, necessity for evolving a better water infrastructure as we move along. The water warrior came alone, but carried with him the spirit of those who had dedicated their time and efforts to ensure the safe, sustainable, and any time availability of water to all!

-Francis Fernandez
India Water Portal freelancer

After the mock trip, today I and Silje completed the second round of purchases. We purchased helmets, balaclava, bungee chords, spanner set, allen key set, screw driver set, accelerator cable, chain links, engine oil, AA/AAA battery charger with car charger adapter, voice recorder for field recording, 160GB Portable hard disk, 50 DVDs and spike buster. The final round of shopping will happen in the middle of next week.

About 6 months ago I met Mr.Navroze Contractor to discuss about the bike trip. Mr.Navroze gave me a copy of Bharat Parikrama DVD. Since then I have been trying to watch that DVD with friends and relatives. But there were always some or the other issues - power cut, lack of time etc.

But three days back I and Silje started with it all over again. The intention was to understand how such a trip could be video documented. Silje would be joining me for as many days as possible on this trip and would be helping me with video documenting the trip and interaction with the community.

After completing the DVD, we thought about how we would feel after finishing the trip - the trip full of surprises, excitement, learning and self discovery.

On 4th of April, I and Silje left for mock ride to Sringeri. The first day we started from Bangalore at around 5:40PM. It took about two hours to reach Kunigal gate. My legs started to pain because I had to balance the weight of the bike, luggage as well as Silje (around 275kgs in all). We took a break in a dhaba and then we started towards CR Patna.

The night ride was tough - as usual - High beams blinding the riders, leading bikes off the road or into a pot hole. We reached CR Patna at around 10:30PM. We stayed with my friend’s uncle.

Next day we visited Sravanabelagola, Halebid and landed in Chickmagalur at around 7:30PM

On 6th we visited Mullayanagiri (the highest peak in Karnataka) and then left for Sringeri.

7th of April was the longest ride of all - 360km approx. We took about 6.5 hrs to cover it. The ride was from Sringeri to Bangalore with stops at Chickmagalur and CR patna.

The GPS tracks of the trip are as below - [Read more →]

It’s official - My brother and Srikanth would be starting from Bangalore on May 2nd evening and joining me somewhere between Puna and Bharuch. Diwi and Srikanth would be with me for almost 25 days (till Delhi). Diwakar has never taken any vacation longer than three days since he joined Accenture two years back - the trip has changed him before he could even complete it

Today I called up Mr.Prashanth Hedao of Auroville. Mr.Prashanth confirmed that all the arrangements are in place. Podicherry is my first stop. I need to make more confirmation calls for my Southern leg of the trip. Mr.Shree Padre has given me several leads. I now need to work out a plan.

Today in about an hour I would be leaving for a 1000km mock trip. The idea here is to do a mock ride kind of a thing - just to understand what it takes to complete good number of kilometers with all the luggage on my bike.

Yesterday I got my bike fitted with ‘Ladakh Carrier’ and ‘Cigarette Lighter Adapter’. Today before leaving I loaded as much luggage as possible on to my bike. Here is a small list. [Read more →]

Just now I received a call from Mr.Farhad of Sambhaav Trust. Farhad wanted to make sure that I am aware of the distances I would be traveling in Rajastan - specifically from Bhuj to Barmer.

He was very happy with the route and assured me of full support and co-operation in organizing events at Ahmedabad, Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner.

My day was made.