Here are few of the pictures I took so far.

You could click on the pictures to enlarge :)

A girl sitting under a tree in Raj Ghat, Delhi

Sunset at the rooftops in Patna, Bihar

Inside the Red Fort, a soldier standing in where, in the past only the royals were allowed to stand in.

In an "Auto"... speeding the streets

The Red Fort, Delhi

1) Zooplankton Sampling: the analysis of food web assessment via herniation rates
Objective:
Collect zooplankton samples in the vicinity of Patna (above the confluence with the Gandak) and at the Dolphin’s Preserve (Bhagalpur) to determine herniation rates and compare with existing data.

Methods:
- filter flowing river water with zooplankton net for a certain period of time for different sites
- assess the resulting samples through microscope and determine the hernia rates1)
- compare and perform statistical analysis of the assessment of the zooplankton hernia rates

1) Hernia: lesions on zooplankton first referred to as exophytic tumors and later determined to be herniations. Such abnormalities of various zooplankton taxa were confirmed to be lethal in many cases around the world. Consequently, herniation is disadvantageous in the zooplankton’s survival and has an implication for the bottom food chain composition. Unequivocally, fisheries and macrovetebrates depend on such trophic levels. Thus, a herniation rate is an indirect measurement of the living conditions of the bottom food chain that can support and sustain a typical aquatic ecosystem. (Jude et al, 2002)

2) Assessment of Microbiological Activity
Objective:
Collect microbe samples in the vicinity of Patna (above the confluence with the Gandak) and at the Dolphin’s Preserve (Bhagalpur) to have a multi-dimensional assessment of the water quality.

Methods:
- Collect water samples for different sites
- Isolate, and inoculate the microbes of interest for further analysis in the microbiology lab
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3) Hydraulic Mapping: the use of GPS and portable depth sounder

Objective:
Obtain a limited physical cross-section data on the Ganga River as part of the pre-survey for the data collecting by University of Michigan SNRE department next year with Doppler Sonar.

Methods:
- mount the depth finder on a boat
- take series of bank-to-bank transects (x,y,z coordinates, z being the depth)of sites
- take paired reading of latitude, longitude (both through GPS), and depth (through depth sounder); 20 or less equally spaced (if we were to cross-section the river at a comparably equal speed, times can be measured in between the equally spaced stations) at 5~6 transects
- The cross section transects should be at least 1kilometers apart
- The numbers of samples and transects can be determined accordingly to the schedule and conditions

Overview:
The two measurements of depth and zooplankton sampling can be done on the field on a boat as we are measuring the depth via making transects. Consequently, it would be an issue of hiring boats and determining which sites are suitable for such measurements. I would greatly appreciate if we would discuss such issues and would very much like to hear your inputs based on your expertise of this matter. Thank you very much.

References:
-D.J. Jude, M. Omair, R. Rediske, B. Naylor, T. Beals, S. Bellon, 2002, An Investigation in Great Lakes Zooplankton, Michigan Great Lakes Protection Fund Report

The Ganges River, or the Ma Ganga (mother Ganga) as the locals call it, is arguably the most important historical, religious, cultural, and biological cradle that supported the vast civilizations and the biology along its basins. It is the inexhaustible source of life and synonymous to biodiversity as it meanders its way down into the Indian Sea. Surpassing the countries of India, Nepal and Bangladesh, the Ganges River is the hallmark of biological diversity and the development of human lives in the Indian subcontinent. Consequently, the currently reported deterioration of the health of the Ganges must be assessed from the point of actually understanding the characteristics and its functions as it ties with the various different ecosystems it interacts.

The beautiful and serpentine Ganges can be summarized by the very distinctive dynamic equilibrium; it possesses the great diversity of physical, chemical and biological characteristics. These characters show from glacial and semi-tundra perspectives high up in the Himalayas to the vast Ganges delta ecosystem, where amazingly humid and tropical ecosystem supports the second most diverse Asian river next to the Mekong. Truly, the Ganges is the one of the most beautiful and highly celebrated river throughout the world. However, it also holds the infamous reputation of being the most polluted big rivers throughout the world (Dudgeon, 2000). It is in our responsibilities to be able to preserve such pristine beauty and a necessary origin of life to our progeny and let proliferate the amazing life abundance around the Ganges basins; that is how we preserve and serve “ma Ganga”.

References

-D. Dudgeon, 2000, The Ecology of Tropical Asian Rivers and Streams in Relation to Biodiversity Conservation, Annual Reviews, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, Vol. 31, (2000), pp. 239-263

I think there is a fundamental problem with the way people deal with their work here. I think many Indians lack the mind of the straight forward cliché “business is business”. I found that many people cannot take care of their work the way they should be; many lack professionalism. The mindset is, let’s just let it be; it’s not my work and I don’t want to take care of everything. My equipments through UPS are not coming this way in Patna so I had to figure out what went wrong. The UPS from Kolkata contacted me through phone and told me I had to get the package cleared for customs.

Consequently, I just couldn’t work throughout the day in the fascilities; the equipments are imperative for the research. I came home to Dr. Ghosh’s place and started contacting the Kolkata office of UPS. A guy called Mario Alexander picks up the phone and tells me I need to tell him a fax number in order for me to get the necessary documents, and send them over. First, I told them the fax number. I wanted to make everything extra sure. So, I asked and reconfirmed the fax number I was supposed to receive the documents. He told me the right thing, but I had no incoming documents for the next three hours. I called him again and asked about the situation. After re-checking the numbers Mario replies:

“I think I sent it to a wrong number.”

OK…. Things happen right? Although I really watned to get over with this, he said he will send it over. Now, he calls me and asks for my email address, to which he can send the documents. This was the most amazing experience I had with calling a email address.

“The email address is my name spelled out at gmail!”

And I called him out every single letter. We cross-checked two times. He told me to wait on the phone. Now there was no response on my email account.
I called him again and now he just tells me a wrong email address. So I did the exact same thing over again and told him I will text him my email address. And he replied with the infamous
“No problem”

You see. I think ‘No problem’ means ‘Nine problems’, as ‘no’ stands for nine in Hindi. He basically makes the thing all wrong again! I asked him for his email address and tell him:

“I will give you an email … all you need to do is reply to that address with the documents.”

He says ok.

Now after waiting another hour, I have no reply. So I called him again. He says “the system is down”. I have no idea what that means but he cares less to explain. I think his brain system is down to do this kind of work.

I talked to Gaurav and Shanu, the nieces of Dr. Ghosh, about this matter and they say “Everything in India needs to be said and confirmed three times in order for you to secure something”.

Well I sure experienced that again when I went to get my SIM card of the cell phone recharged. The number they tell me after payment is a wrong one and they care less to give me a right one. They say they have no responsibility in making that number right. Basically, they have no idea what the right number for recharging the SIM is and do not care about what the customer is receiving. Its in their interest to just get them sold. The shocking part was that this was not a xenophobic incident, because I waited outside while the students helped me out get it recharged. Many told me this regularly happens throughout India.

Maybe it is because I’m in the infamous Bihari state or because I had bad luck throughout the day….But it was not a pleasant experience. I hope I get my equipments fast so that I can actually work and not stare at the ceiling all day.

The equipments are not arriving from the states. I still need my GPS system and the depth sonar system to get a 3D image of the basin of the Ganges River at the sites I want to make the biodiversity assessment. So… Without any choice, I am trying to finish my preliminary research and get familiar with the people around.

The national game of India ( I didn’t know there was anything called a “National Game”) is said to be field hockey. However, the real deal with everyone is an amazing obsession with a game called cricket. I got so tired of everybody asking me whether I am able to play cricket, so I decided to have a game with the professors’ nieces. The game itself was alright… But the funny thing was that while we were playing in an empty lot, people from the whole village came over to watch a weird looking person awkwardly swinging his bat. Whenever I threw the ball into the wrong place or made a wrong decision, people started laughing frantically. The scene practically became a theater for the people. After thirty minutes, the whole lot was crowed with people trying to see me. I was the Jim Carey-ish awkward American playing their favorite game: maybe a weird but reasonably amiable combination.

So I decided to get a cell phone in India. Unlike the CDMA mobile format in the US, the Indian mobile system is operated by attaching a prepaid chip called “SIM card”. The annoying thing for being a foreigner is, although it is very easy for Indians to get a SIM card, there are many requirements for foreigners: 2 copies of your passport, 2 passport size pictures, proof of residence in India, and a sponsor to be contacted in for responsibility issues. Along with these documents, the applying foreigners must submit these documents to a governmental organization after getting registered in a cell phone shop. Dr. Ghosh thought this was just too much time consuming so he bought a SIM on his name. So I hope I get it activated soon.

Indian food seems to be working really well for me. The flaming and fresh bits of herbs and spices are everywhere: even a simple dish called mixed vegetables gives you a pretty numb feeling flaming burn that last for a long time. I don’t know about other, but it works perfectly fine for me. : D Well, now I’ll have to go now to get Mrs. Ghosh’s specialty: the fish curry. Later!

I bought two new lenses for my Nikon:

-Nikon Fisheye NIKKOR Auto 1:3.5 f= 16mm
: an old, classy 20 year old manual lense that I am dying to take documentary pictures along the streets and scenaries

-Nikon AF NIKKOR 75-300mm 1:4.5-5.6
: a zoom lense which I hope to take some good pictures of the dolphins.

I will be participating with a conservation project of gangetic river dolphins during my stay in India.

The Gangetic freshwater dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is a highly endangered freshwater dolphin of Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers. Because they are the top predators, Gangetic dolphins and their health are a representation of the vivid wildlife in India and eventually the local community that depends heavily on the rivers. Consequently, the survival of such beautiful freshwater mammals is not only in the interest for their survival per se, but also for the aquatic ecosystem of India. Likewise, I would be participating in the conservation of the Gangetic dolphin in India.

For the conservation of the Ganga River, I would start with the hydraulic mapping and modeling of dolphin habitat and lower food web assessment, in support of the work already underway at Ramviksheila and Patna. Such projects were well established in University of Michigan for the Great Lakes area (river habitat modeling and conservation) as a part of a large team effort to support fisheries. Consequently with the lab work here, I would be using data through physical cross-section data on the river as well as zooplankton sampling to have an overview of the upper Ganga river channel, specifically Patna to Bhagalpur. I would be working with Dr. Ashok Ghosh of A.N. College to use portable GPS units and portable depth meters to do the physical mapping and carry a zooplankton net to ensure the samples.

The internship starts with the help of Dr. Ram Boojh, in the Delhi UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) headquarters. To learn the details of the ongoing conservation projects, I would be in Delhi for a few days to know the specifics. Later, I would be on the site fields to do field works.