Times they are changing...

Well I have been raised to be punctual and if not let other people know of your whereabouts and the possible delay. I have also been a person with an agenda- and that is my everyday and weekly structure. I follow it and it works. As the plan for this fieldtrip was to start last Wednesday, then be done by the 10th -max 12th of March, i have to say the agenda has been put away after over usage of pen. I am finally off to Shimoga and distributary 22 tomorrow and the 20 days in field have now shrunk to about 6 days. Ill come back to Bangalore, then go to TungaBhadra distributary 54 in Raichur. Not sure if I will take a guess at how long or when that will happen now... Just hope ill be able to attend all of it. One of my fellow students here looked at me today and just said "You look disappointed!" Well I am just glad to be going... Apparently I am not supposed to get of at the end stop - this worries me a bit. Ill not get off the bus unless I see my friends though. Promise... I have had a slight cold. It has inhabited my body for the last three days, making me sneeze like a professional sneezer and I am almost done with a whole roll of toilet paper. I am not sure I mentioned the bed bugs from last week... I was invaded during my sleep and the little buggers had a party without me knowing anything.. Guess who screamed the following morning.. I confess - I showered twice, and another time when I came to Silje... Bad, but I was so itchy... Got a "new" mattress now, and have been waking up without the colorful bites, so I sure am happy..

I am off, and will be back on the 6th I think. They said either the 4th or the 6th, not the 5th though, so you will get an update soon. I am not disappointed by the way, just keen on getting an overview of it all. I understand that it will not be as easy to be on time here in India, as the distances are long and the travels are though. 30 km takes an hour and 2 hours if the traffic is bad. I just have to reconnect the wires on this and it will all be fine...

Lots of Love to you all
Mai

Dancing in Bangalore although it is banned....

I have to say - there are certain things you just cannot ban. In my mind - DANCING, the very basic movements your body naturally does when rhythm is present (or at least that is how I react) you just cannot ban. Well, that has happened here in Bangalore. First they banned Live music - then they realised that dancing was just as bad - so banned that too. Not entirely sure why, but something went wrong during a concert, and thus the ban.

Well I was out this week end, shaking my shoulders, my head and my hips religiously to the amazing Indian music, and so was the rest of the club. (As you can see on the video - takes time to upload so be patient...) The ban ain't stopping the mood or the dancing - long live shaking.... We, (Me, Silje, Ed, Sharlyn, Tim, Ben, and a couple of more very nice people) were located at a fancy hotel discotheque where the entrance apparently was 2000 rupees (250 kr) to get in, if you were not on the guest list. Now the pool and the amazingly expensive drinks made it just unbelievable in itself, but then i heard the music and the noise people where making and just got into the best party mood ever... Great night... But it did not stop there..

It was not until the after party, where I met the organizer of this amazing night out - who told me about how he had to bribe the police (who are really good at taking advantages of this law) by letting them eat in the fancy hotel restaurant together with their entire family. So much for a functioning system... I still cannot believe that you can ban dancing...

As for the after party - this was in the middle of Bangalore city, on a rooftop with green grass. It was amazing too. All the people I met that night was just having such a good time and we ended up laughing, dancing and doing handstands on the grass. Felt like being at a festival...

Working today, reading all the theory on how to structure my findings empirically - according to a theory. Not so easy to pick the right one, but starting to get the hang of a few potential ones, so just need one more day of heavy reading and ill be fine. I will be leaving for field on friday the 29th- and then I am not sure how the access to internet will be. I am reachable on my Indian mobile (number at the bottom of the blog) but I will be writing a lot, so if the chance comes up - you will be getting some good insights into MY and their everyday life...

Cheers everyone - and miss you all very much,
Klem Mai

My next steps...

After a relaxing time in Pondi, I am back studying and reading. Still relaxed but ready to take on new adventures...

The plan was to head out into field today, but due to various reasons I am still her. This is a typical Indian phenomenon. Things get rearranged in order to manage everything, but unfortunately for me this means another week in the office. I chose it myself, as I was meant to visit several fishing communities along the river, but as it is irrelevant for my thesis so I decided to be a grown up and spend the next 5 days reading and writing my methodology and theory chapters. Think this will be a wise decision... Time will show....

I will be travelling again on the 3rd of March, staying in field until the 23rd of March. I am ready to go, and cannot wait…

How are you guys? Send me an email or a note on Facebook… Curious to know who is reading this blogg..
Lots of love to you all,
Mai

The other beach and Norwegian paradise

After understanding that there are no available seats back to Bangalore on the Sunday bus, I opted for staying another day in Pondi. I was not sad at all, as I really wanted to stay for a little longer...

On the Monday we got up really early and went out to see the studying area were 70 Norwegian students spend 10 weeks of their lives in Pondicherry, as part of cultural studies in Social anthropology, Peace and Conflict. I was taken away by what I saw when stepping out of the private bus. "This is paradise" I thought, and was looking around to check if the camera crew of either Robinson or Love Island was hiding in the bushes. As the pictures reveals (although no pictures can capture what this place is about) I just gaped for the next half an hour. "Can anyone really focus and learn anything out here" I wondered... but as I asked around, and spent the day there myself, you tune into a very relaxing working mode. I read about hundred pages, had the most amazing meal, and then we went to the beach just a kilometer away. I have to say that India never stops surprising me. Just enjoy the photos...

The bus journey home went really well. I surprisingly slept for most of the time and when I arrived in Bangalore I got a rickshaw straight away and in bed around 6.10 AM. I am so pleased with this trip - as I have both managed to loosen up, feel a stronger connection with my purpose here, eating well, walk around like a tourist, seeing some wonderful monuments, meeting lots of amazing people and bade in the sea. thank you so much for a wonderful time Carolina and Maria.

Ill be on Skype tonight if anyone wants to talk,
Lots of warmth and love from
Me

Auroville and our own personal rickshaw driver

The girls, Caroline and Maria, arrived safely after a long taxi drive from Chennai. In ten minutes we were out of the door and heading for the beach promenade... As I had wondered around in the morning, I knew my way around. Caroline was here for three months in 2005, so she is friends with everyone.. Pondi is a small idyllic place, and you walk everywhere. We had a nice lunch and then got into a rickshaw that was meant to take us out to Auroville. Half the way there our driver stopped and asked a friend to take us - and thats when we met Mr Balu. What a wonderful man... and he plays music.. .He is now our designated driver, and he loves it...

We went to Auroville... http://www.auroville.org/ Have a look at its 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." What a strange but facinating place. Not sure what to make of it just yet...

Today we have been on the Aurobeach. As we were sitting in the rickshaw and Mr Balu was singing along with the great tunes pumping out of the mini sterio, I felt my shoulders relax. Beautiful and amazing to swim in the Bay of Bengal... Relaxing to be by the sea and swimming was ecstatic...I am sunburnt, as I forgot to put suncream on my legs... That is the last time I forget...

Now we will be shopping and tonight we are having a drink. This sure is luxurious...
Later,
Mai

The Bay of Bengal and its secrets, Friday 15.02.08

After a long hustling night on the bus, I have arrived safely in Pondicherry. I did however mange to get on the wrong bus, although leaving at the same time, from same place – there appears to be two companies. I did not even try to argue – just asked if there were any available seats. A nice spot free, so paid another 350 rupees – and here I am in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu.

I watched the sunrise over the Bay of Bengal this morning. It was absolutely mind-blowing… How beautiful the sea is and its passion? At 6 AM this wonderful old French colony, was out stretching, running, meditating, walking, singing and praying all before the sun was saying hello. I was just exhausted but felt a new exhilarating feeling inside, and I have not stopped smiling since. After the sunrise I went to book a room, and thought I would sleep for a while, then have a wander and breakfast. One hour later, 8 guest hoses and three phone calls and I still had not found a room. Then I realized I was a bit lost, but I walked on admiring the beauty of Pondi. Then I walked pass a slum and saw a dead man in street. The man was lying there lifeless, whilst kids were playing around him and the women brushed their hair. In my blinded daze, I was soon brought back to reality. As it is expensive to have a proper funeral in India, many people especially in the slums are left where they fall. I couldn’t walk so fast after that – and I don’t think I was smiling anymore. I did feel an instinct grabbing me, not allowing myself to fully take in what I had just witnessed. Not even when I was eating my breakfast or when I eventually got the hotel room. Not even in the shower or when I watched parts of a movie. But just now it hit me – and it does something with you. I am fine, but not sure what exactly to feel…

The girls will be arriving soon. I will try to sleep a little and then I look forward to see more of reality.
Klem Mai

4 days vacation in Pondicherry

Tonight, tonight... I am off tonight... Ill be traveling all night long in seat number 11 in a sleeping bus, reaching Pondi early tomorrow morning. I will have the beach, yoga masters from all over the world, quit meditation spots, aryuvedic massage and reading. Two of my Norwegian friends will join me either tomorrow or on Saturday, and we will have a nice relaxing sunbathing time for a change. I will be back on Monday with lots of pictures and new memories to share,

Cheers,
Mai

Blue Monday...

How wonderful life is... The sun is shining and the air is fresh. I am planning a trip to Pondicherry on Thursday to Sunday, wwhere I will met two of my friends from the last India trip. A reunion in India - now that is what I call to be privileged...

But it is not all fun and games - I am working hard on getting all my own questionnaires ready for the big trip on the 20th. I have managed to do most of the initial writing for my thesis. It is strange how easily it becomes after a while - like almost if you are on autopilot. I am aiming for a soft landing, but I am expecting some turbulence along the way, but for now I will try to float for a while...

Hope you are all doing well,
Klem Mai

I am singing in the rain...

The weather the last few days has been very odd. Occasional showers and a heavy pressure, and finally today it is pouring down. This is not usual at all, and everyone are wearing a "What is going on" face today. I try to wearing my "Its global warming" face, but not sure if i have got it just yet... The response is rather "you look a bit tired".. Hmmm... need to work on expressions...

I am in the office working, gazing out at the rain through the wide open windows. The fresh air is constantly paying me a visit and everything outside looks so green and bright. I look forward to a walk later on. Unfortunately my tummy is angry, so a constant drowsiness is haunting me, as well as a vibrant headache. I am taking it slow and easy - and will see a doctor tomorrow if it does not stop. I am hungry all the time, so eating salty crisps, some rice and banana. For those who has been in India before I am sure you all remember the drink Electral. I am drinking that too - and the taste is growing on me. (A nice blend of vitamins, sugars salt and other important nutrients) Ill be fine...

Later
Mai

Reading and understanding more of the details..

The last days have been filled with reading and inquiring about all sorts of things. I have started writing and tomorrow I will start on my own questionnaires. I met a Norwegian friend of mine yesterday, who will be living in Bangalore for the next 4 months. Silje and I was in India together last spring, and one of the girls from the same trip has been in India for several weeks, and another one is coming on Saturday.

We will hopefully all met up in Pondicherry next week sometime.Think we all have fallen in love with the diversity of this country and need more time to experience and learn further about this wondrous land.

As it stands I will be out in field from the 20th of February. Will most probably be 20 days of hard work. Ill keep you posted... Thank you all for encouraging emails and updates on Facebook. I Miss you all very much,

Lots of Love to you all
Mai

Tailend of the TB River- Raichur... 31.01.08

The day started of with getting a top up in a kiosk, and this became a bit of a task. The man behind the counter had troubles with the process, so sent is soon on a bike to somewhere else.. i stood there kind of puzzled not sure what to say, but after about 15 minutes i received a message that said the top up was successful. Wonderful, and the kiosk man was extremely happy...

The village today was also at the tailend of a different distributary. There was more water here and they had borewells as well as some canal water, so managed, but still voiced many concerns. Todays mission was to get through the entire questionnaire and get feedback on it. We managed to get two done, and it was successful. I kept talking to the CADA officer today. He knew English so managed to ask him some of my own questions. He was very honest man, who had actually never been in this particular village. He said that " I go where societies are active, there I guide them" so was this not an active society then? The answer was " Where there is activity and participation from the farmers, results are possible to achieve. This town is expecting the government to come in and fix everything. It is a WUA here, but it is participation on paper, something you find very often in the tailend..." Then we chatted about Norway, his family, my family - and my mum rang in the middle of it. I had to talk to her later... We left with a better understanding of how the questionnaire could become better. We literally had to change everything...

The trip back to Bangalore was long. Watched a movie in the car (fancy screen in the roof in the front) Beautiful love story from West Bengal. I was deep into it when we stopped for a nice meal... Another three hours to go.. We have traveled lots the last days, and more of this is to come.. Filled to the rim with impressions I have managed to get some of my initial thoughts on paper -and my master is slowly emerging.. Nice... Bed and silence finally, but now i could not sleep. Kept pacing until 2 0'clock, but had good night sleep in the end...

Midreach of the river, and tailend of the distributary...30.01.08

After having been to the lush upper part of the river, I was not sure what to expect when traveling further down. After picking up the CADA officer (Command Area Development Authority) we went off the road and onto a very invisible stretch of dirt... (a road is to exaggerate) After an hour in the car we reached our small village - and we gathered about 20 farmers in a classroom in the local school. This meeting become more tempered and two of the bigger farmers spoke most of the time. They had a lot on their chest. Not enough water, salinity problems, migration problems, labor shortages (people moved into the bigger villages rather than staying in the village) There was many of the farmers in this area that bought water from each other and they have reached a mutual payment agreement - either in cash or with a part of their crop. there had been several diseases affecting the crop outcome in the last ten years - so the safe option is to grow paddy (Rice). The first crop is not a problem but the crop they grow now is at risk due to lack of water. There are two seasons in most of Karnataka. (Kharif and Rabi season) I would like to share with you a fact: In the head reach they have water availability 7 days a week more or less in both season. (Unless there is a drought) In mid reach there is water for some hours each day. It is not constant and varies a lot. Tail enders however, reported that some days there might be only 10 minutes of water, and there could be many days without... The scenario was further confirmed in the next village we visited.

The village Koppal Camp, was the toughest one to see on this trip. As a tail end village , they hardly receive any water. The road scenery shifted quickly as we came closer to the camp. There was wast brown patches of unfruitful soils everywhere and lots of different crops. Rice, sugarcane, and Jowar (cereals) are very water intense crops found in the upper parts of the river. As there is little water here, they grow less water intensive crops. Chili fields, some cotton patches in between, sunflower and other more colorful crops were gazing back at me. I was fascinated but there was also the big untouched areas that had visible salt lines all over, not so cheerful. The farmers we met were sad and was so eager to get us to understand what their situation was like. The president of the Water User Association got up and drew on the chalkboard - to make sure we got it. There frustration was heard, and I could tell that we were all a bit unsure of what to do. We were shown their source of drinking water after the meeting... I was feeling ill just by looking at it - this is not drinking water. I became angry and could feel my own frustration raise... I took pictures, but it was hard to met the eyes of the kids and people of the village after this. They all wanted to be taken a picture of and as you can see there were tribal people who had settled down together with the other farmers in this village. Not so common... I was quiet for a long while...

We had one more village to go - we had not booked this meeting, but the CADA officer thought it would be a good idea so three hours late we sat down and had a FGD. This village was mainly farmers who had migrated from the neighboring state Andhra Pradesh. They were so frustrated and had been on several strikes without any luck..There were many who hoped we could help out.. STRIVER is research to come up with a better understanding of the local situation in the TB River basin, it is not directly going to result in a policy change or some other kind of change. That is though.. Another day was over and the bed was inviting. I was exhausted and went straight to bed. The many trains in the distance kept waking me up... Not getting much sleep at this trip....

Hampi and the head reach of the Thungabhadra River, 29.01.08

Being on the road in India is absolutely amazing. The variation and different scenery makes you want to have sunshine 24 hours in order to not miss a thing. Hampi – the city once extremely fertile and pumping with activity, now some amazing ruins reflecting its glorious past. Hampi is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara empire (1336 – 1646). Possibly predating the city of Vijayanagara, this village continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple. The village of Hampi contains several other monuments belonging to the old city. It extends into some of the old ceremonial streets of Vijayanagara I could go on for hours here, but the pictures will explain better. I met two small kids, Ravi and Anjaneya, who without any further introduction grabbed my hand and showed me their Hampi… It was so nice to be able to interact( they spoke some English) and I loved playing and running around the temples. They even came in our car – just to show us all the rest of Hampi. What a beautiful place it must have been. It still has a really nice vibe to it…

After my first meeting with the lush upper part of TungaBhadra I was thrilled to meet the farmers in the head reach of the river. These farmers owned up to 50 acres of land, they have lots of water as they are very close to the dam, resulting in the possibility to grow two crops of Paddy (rice) each year, they are well organised, most of them speak three languages (Hindi, Kannada and English) and they are very well off in general. Their biggest concerns are on a level that easily can be fixed. The survey was well received, and as there was lots of surplus water and not so much concern on the organizational level, it was a smooth ride and an easy introduction to fieldwork. After about 6 hours in the field, we drove towards Bellary city and another hotel – happy with today’s achievements. This time the standard was a little less pompous, and as I was very tired the bed looked inviting. We went off to have a meal, and ended up at really small restaurant were two cows were blocking the entrance. The food was really good, and apparently we were the first foreigners in the café. When my head finally hit the pillow I was in heaven. – As I was about to enter dreamland, a big fight started outside my window. A man got smashed up, and about 20 people gathered to look and yell. This kept on for about 30 minutes, and the man being hit was crying in such horrible way. As I had netting in front of the window, so it was hard to see what was going on – but it sounded terrible…Again a rough entry to another night….

The road ahead… 28.01.08

Ready to go, I was up in a hurry this morning. My body was already on a journey, and my mind had troubles following.. or maybe it was the other way around? Finally we, myself, David from Niva, Umesh, Avi, and Harish, where on our way to Hospet, in the Bellary district. The journey was estimated at 6 hours, but ended up being more like 8.5. The last 8 km was spent in a queue full of lorries with iron for the 2008 Olympics in China. Apparently this region has delivered minerals for the last year and half. It must have been 100 -200 lorries in both of the directions, and there was police officers with large sticks who had a go at the lorries breaking the queuing system. There were plenty of those, so we had several moments with yelling, smashing of mirrors and bulking the lorry doors – it was wild times and the frustration of the officers seeped easily into our cars as you could tell they felt it was the only thing left to do.

Finally reaching the hotel (I thought we would all sleep in a shared room, me under my mosquito netting in one corner and the boys in the other corner, but no…) We, my boss and I, were put in a five stars hotel, whilst the boys went off to another place. There was no more of the single rooms available, although that was what we had ordered, so I got the Honeymoon suite!!! I have to say, this was not at all what I expected –see the pictures and I guess you see where I am coming from. I spent a long time accepting this and so did my boss. We both were extremely baffled, and agreed to tell the boys that we did not want this extreme type of differentiation from now on. I then agreed that, lets have one night sleeping comfortably and getting some good rest. In bed at 2430, under five layers of blankets (I turned of all the AC, but still it was freezing) and dozed off probably around 0100. Then at 0130 I woke up panicking as it sounded just like two bombs had gone off … Then I heard the most intense drumming, screaming and bustle from the street –so there was a festival on… I am light sleeper so this was not my cup of tea –I wanted so badly my beauty sleep. After 30 minutes it died off, and I wet into sound sleep. Guess what woke me up at 0600 this morning? Those bombing sounds again and intensive drumming… hm.. The shower was nice and now I am of to breakfast. Wonder what Hampi is like?

Klem Mai