June 28, 2013
June 27, 2013
Bokashi composting
Quick estimate: After separating dry waste for recycling (paper, plastic, glass, metal), food waste comprises 60% of our waste here at Plano (the rest is primarily diapers and tissues, though Poonam doesn't diaper Raghav at home and uses reusable cloth diapers to the extent possible). Thus, composting wet waste can reduce waste that goes to the landfill considerably.
Khamba: The Khamba composting we did at Bangalore (http://singampalli.blogspot.com/2011/02/eco-friendly-living-home-composting.html) is not practical here. That is aerobic composting and despite best efforts, some smell is to be expected. Also, it requires frequent stirring.
Bokashi composting: An alternate method that we came across here is Bokashi- a Japanese way of composting. Bokashi translates to 'pickled'. The concept is simple:
1. Pack your wet waste into a airtight bucket and prime it with layers of active bacteria. The bacteria are delivered through a bran- so you just have to sprinkle the bran on your wet waste every time you put it into the bucket.
2. Over a few weeks, the waste is covered with a white 'fungus' and starts smelling vinegary (hence, 'pickle'). The waste has achieved a partial breakdown
3. Transfer the waste to a bin that you partially bury in your garden. Ensure that there are holes in the bottom of this metal bin so that the worms in the soil can achieve the rest of the breakdown in a few weeks.
Bokashi vs Khamba: This is an anaerobic process that is catalyzed by these bacteria in the bran. So both bins stay sealed, unlike the Khamba. This prevents the smell from bothering you. Also, the breakdown is supposed to be quicker and digests tougher foods than the Khamba. But I didn't find Bokashi to be significantly faster.
Fuel for plants: Since I don't have a garden, I just deliver the pickled food waste to the Plano community garden, whether they use to fuel their vegetable beds. They claim that the plants next to the composter bins grow much larger than regular plants, simply due to nutrients in the bin buried in the same soil. My friend noticed this in his garden as well. So that is another incentive to adopt this approach, for all of you who are keen on gardening.
Conclusion: This is a convenient way to reduce your waste footprint and create your own compost. Worth a try.
Khamba: The Khamba composting we did at Bangalore (http://singampalli.blogspot.com/2011/02/eco-friendly-living-home-composting.html) is not practical here. That is aerobic composting and despite best efforts, some smell is to be expected. Also, it requires frequent stirring.
Bokashi composting: An alternate method that we came across here is Bokashi- a Japanese way of composting. Bokashi translates to 'pickled'. The concept is simple:
1. Pack your wet waste into a airtight bucket and prime it with layers of active bacteria. The bacteria are delivered through a bran- so you just have to sprinkle the bran on your wet waste every time you put it into the bucket.
2. Over a few weeks, the waste is covered with a white 'fungus' and starts smelling vinegary (hence, 'pickle'). The waste has achieved a partial breakdown
 |
| After several weeks, the pickled look |
 |
| The bran is in the pet jar next to the bucket |
3. Transfer the waste to a bin that you partially bury in your garden. Ensure that there are holes in the bottom of this metal bin so that the worms in the soil can achieve the rest of the breakdown in a few weeks.
 |
| The composter with holes at the bottom buried in a friend's garden: he also was doing bokashi for his wet waste |
Bokashi vs Khamba: This is an anaerobic process that is catalyzed by these bacteria in the bran. So both bins stay sealed, unlike the Khamba. This prevents the smell from bothering you. Also, the breakdown is supposed to be quicker and digests tougher foods than the Khamba. But I didn't find Bokashi to be significantly faster.
Fuel for plants: Since I don't have a garden, I just deliver the pickled food waste to the Plano community garden, whether they use to fuel their vegetable beds. They claim that the plants next to the composter bins grow much larger than regular plants, simply due to nutrients in the bin buried in the same soil. My friend noticed this in his garden as well. So that is another incentive to adopt this approach, for all of you who are keen on gardening.
 |
| The composters at the Plano community garden: fuel for the large plants |
Conclusion: This is a convenient way to reduce your waste footprint and create your own compost. Worth a try.
June 24, 2013
June 23, 2013
A tragedy of Himalayan proportion
Bhagavanthudu Vaari Atmalaku Santhi Chekoorchugaaka!
At least they got submerged in Ganga.
At least they got submerged in Ganga.
June 20, 2013
Begging door-to-door aka Fundraising
Today marked a rite of passage for Aditya, as he started his life of fundraising, going door to door asking for donations for his swim team. Of course, he was generously supported by his plethora of family members here in the US, who pledged various amounts to support his team and his fundraising efforts. Now I have to collect the pledges.....
June 19, 2013
The Road Vs Wild- Part 2
Wild: This is an autobiographical first novel by Cheryl Strayed. Cheryl at 24 years of age is at a dead end, after tragedy (losing both parents), drugs and divorce. To break away from this downward spiral, she decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) (http://en.wikipedia.org/
I am glad I read it, because I got to know of this fantastic concept of a 2000 mile long trail that runs along the tops of mountains.What an audacious idea! And to carry the idea through and make it reality...I guess only the Americans can do that.
The book is gripping for the most part, given that the reader is rooting for her to achieve this incredible and courageous feat. But for all the ups and downs in her life and in her journey, the book is a bit of a flat travelogue. After a few days on the trail, I would have imagined the person to be more at peace with her troubles. Once the rhythm is set and the body is acclimatized, the narrative could have been less about the sore foot and the scary bear and more on the majestic vistas surrounding her. It is like Thoreau staying at Walden and writing mostly about his daily cooking troubles.
The Road is all nuance and minimalist eloquence; Wild is dogged and (in parts) provocative, like its author. One respects her very forthright writing and her spirit, but the emotions seem contrived at times. For example: 'Strayed' is Cheryl's second name- it is a name that she formally adopts after her divorce, a theatrical summation of her life at that point. It is almost as if she was planning the book as she went through each twist of her life. The story is a winning one: an amateur hiker breaking her physical boundaries and achieving 'wild' success. But writing 'The Book' is her real PCT - an amateur writer, ready to undergo any tribulation to achieve professional success. A very American achievement!
Love for his son and love for her dreams drives the anonymous man in The Road and Cheryl in Wild on extraordinary journeys across America. A fierce spark can either open up hidden ways or burn down the forest. So one wonders: Is it such unbridled ambition that one can imagine to be the cause of the apocalypse of The Road?
The Road is all nuance and minimalist eloquence; Wild is dogged and (in parts) provocative, like its author. One respects her very forthright writing and her spirit, but the emotions seem contrived at times. For example: 'Strayed' is Cheryl's second name- it is a name that she formally adopts after her divorce, a theatrical summation of her life at that point. It is almost as if she was planning the book as she went through each twist of her life. The story is a winning one: an amateur hiker breaking her physical boundaries and achieving 'wild' success. But writing 'The Book' is her real PCT - an amateur writer, ready to undergo any tribulation to achieve professional success. A very American achievement!
Love for his son and love for her dreams drives the anonymous man in The Road and Cheryl in Wild on extraordinary journeys across America. A fierce spark can either open up hidden ways or burn down the forest. So one wonders: Is it such unbridled ambition that one can imagine to be the cause of the apocalypse of The Road?
June 16, 2013
Father's Day
Parents -
Mother she carries you in her womb ,feeds you etc etc
Faher-
he held you when you were a helpless infant
he gave his hand when you tried to stand
he taught you how to take the first step
he gave his shoulder to hold when you were in trouble
he WALKED to the office to buy you a bike
he ate "PACHADI METHUKULU" to pay for your hostel.
I will share a small story which i have read some time ago.
a fatther mother and son.
Father a small time worker in a village .Son studies, gets a good job in the city.
Mother comes to visit the son and after a week wants to go back.
Son says why do you want to go back to that man who never cared about us .Works the whole day in the farm, then comes home shouts and abuses you.
The mother said .
Your father is like the SUN in the sky .He is BURNING himself to sustain LIFE on earth.
you are feeling only the heat but you are not recognising the sacrifice that he is making to lead you from darkness into the light of prosperity.
Mother she carries you in her womb ,feeds you etc etc
Faher-
he held you when you were a helpless infant
he gave his hand when you tried to stand
he taught you how to take the first step
he gave his shoulder to hold when you were in trouble
he WALKED to the office to buy you a bike
he ate "PACHADI METHUKULU" to pay for your hostel.
I will share a small story which i have read some time ago.
a fatther mother and son.
Father a small time worker in a village .Son studies, gets a good job in the city.
Mother comes to visit the son and after a week wants to go back.
Son says why do you want to go back to that man who never cared about us .Works the whole day in the farm, then comes home shouts and abuses you.
The mother said .
Your father is like the SUN in the sky .He is BURNING himself to sustain LIFE on earth.
you are feeling only the heat but you are not recognising the sacrifice that he is making to lead you from darkness into the light of prosperity.
Same Again
Not an order for another round of drinks in a bar.
Please go back and see the post "The Big Switch" by Krupa and all the comments--the comments by me and Gouri especially.
Now we know that the governments are doing it. The USA has done it and India is gathering the necessary infrastructure for it. Of course Russia, China, UK, Israel etc etc etc.----
So beware--BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING.
and the moral values being what they are today, you may not be surprised if the govt.s steal industrial secrets too.
You must have a conscientious soldier like James Bond in some cases (destroy the secret formula so that none benefits or leave a copy for the other side to maintain balance) or Edward Snowden or Julian Assange at the helm if such a thing is not to happen.
SLN
Please go back and see the post "The Big Switch" by Krupa and all the comments--the comments by me and Gouri especially.
Now we know that the governments are doing it. The USA has done it and India is gathering the necessary infrastructure for it. Of course Russia, China, UK, Israel etc etc etc.----
So beware--BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING.
and the moral values being what they are today, you may not be surprised if the govt.s steal industrial secrets too.
You must have a conscientious soldier like James Bond in some cases (destroy the secret formula so that none benefits or leave a copy for the other side to maintain balance) or Edward Snowden or Julian Assange at the helm if such a thing is not to happen.
SLN
June 9, 2013
The Road Vs Wild - Part 1
On the interminable trip over to India (in which I was delayed by 8 hours and my luggage delayed by 3 days), 2 books kept me engaged, both coincidentally on the broad theme of arduous travel: 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy and 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed. Both are good reads, for different reasons and the contrasts and similarities are very interesting.
The book is convincing because of its detailed approach to survival (reminded me of The Mysterious Island by J Verne, which perhaps carries that style to the extreme). But mostly, the book is enjoyable due to its superlative prose style. Not too many American novels let one encounter a new word every chapter. Although a minute by minute account of survival, this is no action novel. The story retains a poignant and tender tone, reflecting the agony and love the man feels for his son.
The book ends with an intriguing passage: "Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery."
So at the end of it all, is the book really a fable that asks us to take care that the miraculous harmony of nature should not descend into the soul numbing static of the world shown in 'The Road'? It is a nuance that the writer leaves to the reader to interpret, and the book is better for it.
Next post: 'Wild'
The Road: McCarthy is a known writer and at least 2 of his books are movies now (The Road and No Country for Old Men). The Road is set in a post-apocalyptic future in America, where 'The nights beyond darkness and the days gray each one than what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world'. It is a first person narrative of a man, who leads his young son away from the cold mountains to the southern valleys on a perilous journey on the road, with all their possessions packed into a supermarket trolley. All animal and plant life is dead, and only a few people are left. Most of them are either cannibals, marauders or victims. The book is in fact about that question: when stripped to his bare, is there humanity in man, and any meaning to life beyond survival? When you are down to stinking rags and body, no food for several days, a bloody cough and a single bullet that cannot protect both you and your loved one from a fate worse than death, can your humanity survive your circumstance? The answer lies in the relationship between the man and the son, and the choices the man has to make in order for them to survive.
The book is convincing because of its detailed approach to survival (reminded me of The Mysterious Island by J Verne, which perhaps carries that style to the extreme). But mostly, the book is enjoyable due to its superlative prose style. Not too many American novels let one encounter a new word every chapter. Although a minute by minute account of survival, this is no action novel. The story retains a poignant and tender tone, reflecting the agony and love the man feels for his son.
The book ends with an intriguing passage: "Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery."
So at the end of it all, is the book really a fable that asks us to take care that the miraculous harmony of nature should not descend into the soul numbing static of the world shown in 'The Road'? It is a nuance that the writer leaves to the reader to interpret, and the book is better for it.
Next post: 'Wild'
June 6, 2013
Afternoon time pass at Plano
Amma and Poonam spend afternoons nowadays on a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle. Poonam and I had completed a 1000-piece puzzle earlier and found it a great way to spend time.
Amma is finding the puzzle a bit frustrating but also amusing.
Amma is finding the puzzle a bit frustrating but also amusing.
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| The 1000 piece puzzle we had completed earlier |
June 5, 2013
HAPPY AND JOY FULL MONTH
to Indore for 4 days for Mrudulas marraige talks.
Manasa Pelli Chupulu in our house at Kondapur.
Mothers annual ceremony at Kavali.
Talks in Gudimalkapur with Chaitanyas parents.
negotiations for Vidya,Madhavs apartment.
Agreement of sale for the same
Registration of the flat.
Palu Pongichadam for the same
Manasas engagement at Kavali. (missing Subbalakshmis Grihapravesam same day)
well I am the happiest man on earth for whole of this month
June 4, 2013
Adi's first swim meet
In blazing hot sun, but quite fun.....
He had a big cheering squad of Amma, Atta, Pinni and his cousin.
He had a big cheering squad of Amma, Atta, Pinni and his cousin.
Too many ceremonies?
When I gave Poonam a paragraph to translate to Telugu this afternoon, she converts "In the evening, Pinni and Babai are coming home to dinner' to 'Sayankale, Pinni and babai dinner vasthaaru'. Glad it wasn't 'Sayankale, pradama pakshe, jambu dweepe, subha tithou, pinni and babai dinner vasthaaru'!
Mother, who was maintaining a diplomatic poker face for all the mistranslations till then, went into tittering fits of laughter at this one. So it had to go on SH!
Watch this space for more bloopers.
June 3, 2013
Ganji vaarchitini
After a long time, I cooked rice on the stove top. Aditya stuck a vessel inside the cooker and we need the "man of the house" to pull it out, as it is really stuck. For the quantities Adi and I eat, the rice cooker I have cannot possibly cook it..so I made it on the stove top. Of course my water measure was off, so there was some Ganji( water drained from the cooked rice, for the non-Telugus), which I made Aditya taste and I ate with some majjiga and annam. It brought back memories of eating ganji annam for breakfast at old town alongside the head farmhand Venkanna.
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