When most of us think of rain, we assume a dreary day of puddled sidewalks, an inconvenient change to plans, or nature's sweet melody for a much needed nap. When the rain hits here, the city comes to life and spirits soar.
After months of the sun's relentless, piercing rays propelling temperatures of up to 100 - 113 F in the afternoon (trust me, I know this), people mound with excitement as gray clouds creep above them, thunders begin to sing their deep rumble, and a breath of new, cool air sweeps through even the most congested markets.
With no warning or progression, the rain hammers to the ground! Know that these are not your ordinary feeble spring-time droplets. As if someone took a needle and ruptured millions of swelling water balloons, there was no stopping the proportion and speed of this rain. As I caught an auto to head back home, I saw water sweep away the dust and debris built up from the dry season. After weeks of harsh, arid conditions I was finally seeing a different face of India. The Monsoon Season has made its arrival.
My host family's power was out for the evening, but this was not uncommon even if the weather was perfect. Especially during midday, our electricity would shut off about 3 - 4 times a day.Living in an Indian's home as oppose to a hotel, you quickly learn how scarce resources are. At times my shower head would run low, at which point I turn to my bucket full of saved water from our dripping faucet. Despite all of this, I would consider my host family to be extremely fortunate compared to 70% of Indians.
I can still remember traveling to the villages and seeing buses PACKED with people - some holding on to the outside frame of the bus while others sat at the top ducking to low tree branches. These are migrant workers traveling from their home village to perform labor at large cities such as Udaipur. On average, they earn 100 rupees a day which converts to a meager $2.00 USD. This, however, does not take into account transportation fees (remember those buses?) which takes away 25 - 30 rupees.
I'll be traveling to Kharadiya again tomorrow to visit the PHED (Public Health Engineering Department) and map out the village's water system. BAIF, the environmental NGO I visited, suggested on replacing the current hand pump pipes for plastic PVC pipes to solve the excess iron issue. These pipes should last about 10 years and are relatively cheap to install. I'm no engineer, but if I were to take on this project on top of the water purification & hygiene trainings I need to consider if that is possible in a few weeks.
*photo: Bart Pogoda
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