January 12, 2023

Noise

Noise. It’s one of the things that I noticed over the nine days I’ve been in India so far. There is always some sort of noise. From the constant orchestra of vehicles honking on the road, the dogs barking in the street, women sweeping in front of houses and businesses early in the morning, waste collectors blowing their whistles to tell people to bring out their trash, silence is a valuable commodity that I have yet to find for any significant period. Similarly, I’m realizing I’ve been busy the entire time since I arrived. The program has us visiting many interesting places, amazing organizations, and inspirational people. Any free time seems to either dissolve in an ever-shifting schedule, getting to know my fellow students from UW and the BMS College of Engineering, or an afternoon of exploring a city that is new to me. Today was no exception.

This morning we had the opportunity to visit a Parikrma Foundation school. They offer free, high quality education to 1,800 impoverished children from all over Bengaluru while also providing support to the children to ensure their success by supplying nutrition, healthcare, and family care.
Our visit started with a school exhibition. We were all invited to light a candle as part of an inauguration ceremony. As we walked to the front of the room, the children nearby were eager to shake our hand or give us a fist bump. They seemed very excited to see us.
The exhibition consisted of different classes performing songs or dances, reciting poetry, and even a brief reading of the day’s headlines from the newspaper. The children did a spectacular job and gave a very entertaining performance.

After the exhibition, we were led to a room where we were shown a brief video that explained the mission of Parikrma-”Poverty eradication through education.” Their motto, which is painted on a wall, serves as a roadmap of how they hope to achieve their mission: “Love, Explore, Excel.” We split into two groups to spend time with the students in their classrooms. The children were delighted to have us join them. After we introduced ourselves, they quickly mobbed to pull each of us towards their corner of the room. We spent nearly an hour talking, admiring their homework, playing rock paper scissors, putting together puzzles, and as many other activities as can be imagined by a classroom full of children. It was great to see the children’s joy and happiness, and I don’t think any of us wanted to leave.

We then met with the founder of Parikrma, Shukla Bose, who, before starting the foundation, was one of the top three businesswomen in India. She explained a bit of her and the foundation’s story and told us about some of the struggles that have been overcome along the way. She told us about Parikrma’s football (soccer for Americans) tournament that started as a way to allow the children to play against other schools who wouldn’t invite children from the slums to play in their own tournaments. Since then it has grown to be the most-recognized school football tournament in all of India – and it’s now completely funded by Parikrma Alumni who believe in the school and recognize the importance of extracurricular activities. It was an inspiring visit and left all of us impressed by the education and especially the support that is being given to these children.

After a brief return to the hostel to eat lunch, we visited one of Bengaluru’s 198 wards, C.V. Raman Nagar, where an organization named Sensing Local guided us to several areas of interest. We started by visiting one of the ward’s 7 water “ATMs” where residents who don’t have another source of clean water can come to fill 20 liter bottles of potable water. Our guide explained that while some in the ward do have water plumbed into their home, many rely on these water “ATMs” or even water delivery from a tanker truck. 

We then visited a slum that was hidden behind a row of restaurants, apartments, and small shops. It contained 300 households and was over 25-years-old. There was a canal of dirty water that flowed through the slum. Children were playing with each other in front of one of the corrugated metal shelters as we walked through. We saw smoke escaping from holes in another shelter where there was presumably a cooking fire. Behind the buildings was a small open area abutting a railroad track. Children were flying kites from the hillside rising up to the rail. As we wandered towards the tracks to gain a better vantage of the community, we saw evidence of where people had relieved themselves. Our guide explained that there are no easily accessible bathrooms for the slum residents to use. As we left the slum, we were told that this area was one of the first areas to flood when heavy rains hit.  

C.V. Raman Nagar ward has some of the most extreme income variation among its residents of all of Bengaluru. This was exemplified by our next stop: a private 660-unit apartment complex with security guards, beautiful lawns, palm trees, and benches surrounding the 15-story building. We met with one of the managers of this facility who showed us around the complex’s infrastructure: the wet waste composting machines, the sewage treatment plant, and the backup power generators. The treated wastewater is reused to flush the toilets in the building and any excess was used for landscaping. It was jarring to see the difference between the two communities.

We finished up our ward visit by visiting Kaggadasapura Lake. The lake has struggled with pollution and encroachment but work is currently ongoing to desilt the lake and to build a sewage treatment plant to clean up the water entering the lake from two stormwater channels. It was fascinating to see the cleanup process in progress after visiting Jakkur lake where the rehabilitation had already taken place. It was a full day, and we got to see a lot of new things around the city.

By the time we got home, it was after 7 PM. I opted to go out with classmates to grab dinner which meant I didn’t get back until after nine. This type of schedule has been pretty standard so far, and I have struggled to make time to sit and reflect about the things I am seeing and experiencing. In the noise of India, literally and figuratively, it’s easy to fill every second and forgo setting aside the time I need to be introspective and process everything that we are doing. But failing to take the time I need only serves to cheat myself from learning everything that I can from what I am seeing. I need to set aside time to block out all the noise and contemplate what we are experiencing, or I will lose these thoughts into the noise that surrounds me.