Rain or Shine We are Out !!

Here comes the first blog post on my experience of pursuing Masters in Outdoor Environmental Education at Linkoping University in Sweden. Well, by now after reading through my blogs you would have guessed how 'tropical person' I am. I had grown up in south of India - 12 years in Palakkad, then 6 years in Madurai, and 3 years in Ujire and guess what is common to these three places. It's the heat!!! From my childhood, I have experienced the tropical climate with average temperatures of 28°C. I am used to heavy rains during monsoons, and the sun and the warmth the rest of the year. It was always the mango trees, and the coconut trees that surrounded me. Growing up in these places made me think it is normal to sweat and it is very 'abnormal' not to sweat. During my short visits to Bengaluru for meetings, I realized it was too cold for me, and I didn't sweat which according to me was considered 'abnormal'. So, moving to Sweden which is located in the Northern Europe was a stark contrast!! When I landed in Sweden mid August 2015 and started living there, I realized how my body had got used to the tropical climate. And also it was a landscape that was so different. Soon I realized I was surrounded by pine trees, maple trees and oak trees! It was completely a new feeling. I was really excited to explore this new landscape!! 

The first thing I learnt from my new friend in the corridor (living space for students in Sweden are called 'Student corridors') was about the nearby forest 'Rydsskogen' ('Skogen' means forest in Swedish). I remember going up to this forest early morning along with her. I was thrilled to be amidst the tall and the huge pine trees, and walking along the carpet made of blueberry and raspberry plants.

Blueberry plants that surround Rydsskogen

These raspberries taste and smell really good! Fresh and organic

Well the second most important thing I did was to buy a cycle. I totally adore Linkoping because of the amazing bike roads that take me everywhere. As a student living in Linkoping, bicycles make it economical and also it is a very good way to keep myself healthy. Just a week before my course began, we went down cycling to lake Roxen organized by ESN (Erasmus Student Network). This was the very first time I encountered the vast country side, the yellow flowers and the blue sky (reminds you of somethings? Yes the Swedish flag!!). On the way I would stop and watch the butterflies and observe how unique or similar are they to the ones I see in India. Well I ended up spotting the 'Small Tortoiseshell' butterfly. 

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly spotted in the countryside in Linkoping

Beautiful countryside landscape en route to lake Roxen through the amazing bike roads!

And beside the lake Roxen, I happen to see the first ever Dandelion in my life. It was never a part of the tropical landscape where I grew up. So, everything was so new and so exciting for me to learn, observe and understand. 

My first ever Dandelion!!

Soon Rydsskogen became my favorite place for spending time with nature observing birds, animals, trees, bugs and so many beautiful elements of nature. I remember spotting a slug during one of our walks to Rydsskogen and shouting out, 'Oh wow, look at the snail!'. And it was then they told me that, it is a slug and not a snail. Well, snails were an important part of the ecosystem where I grew in Palakkad. As a kid I remember the huge snails sliding through the ditches in the monsoons!! I used to watch their big shells and how they moved through the wet surfaces. It was quite an exciting thing to do during monsoons. It was not until I went to Linkoping that I saw 'slugs' - the shell-less 'snails'. Interestingly, now that I am blogging about snails and slugs, I have so many questions like 'How does the shell develop? Does it grow in size?'. And I don't have a memory from school where we played and interacted with snails to learn more about it's interesting anatomy or its life in general. I wonder, why didn't the teacher take me out and teach about this interesting animal that was around us all the time! It would have been so interesting to be with the snails and learn about them than to read about it in my Biology textbook that had classification etc, etc. and huge chunks of data with amazing pictures. Well, thought for all the teachers out there who want to make learning engaging to children.  

Slug in Rydsskogen

As a Master student of Outdoor Environmental Education, I was privileged to meet students and teachers from different parts of the world who had come together for a common purpose. I had the unique opportunity to explore the 'outdoors' that triggered and opened up so many new ideas and challenged the approach to education that is currently driving the world - the way we are educating students at school, and the way children are brought up by the parents in the current society. During the first week of my course, I learnt one important lesson, 'There is no bad weather, only bad choice of clothes'. Well, coming from the tropical place, I could not gauge how cold it can get in Sweden if you get wet in the rain and when you have to stay outdoor for an extended period of time. Interestingly if I look back now, most of the days when we had our outdoor class it was cold or rainy or snowy. But we never had our outdoor classes rescheduled because it was 'raining' or because it was 'snowing'. We were out there no matter what - 'Rain or Shine we were out there to learn and explore'. As teachers it was important for us to learn this lesson that you cannot blame weather but instead it is up to you to make the best of it.

Our outdoor classroom!!

I feel a sense of excitement writing all about it now. This is how my journey kicked off at Linkoping, and it only gets more interesting!! So, folks soon I will bring more new stories, insights and fresh food for the mind and the soul.

Packing Memories and Lessons on Sustainability to Linköping

Its been a long time I have blogged, now its high time that I share the stories from Linkoping. But wait, I don't want you to miss out on some interesting experiences. Before I take you to Sweden let me tell you how the last two months looked like at home in Madurai and yes, I wanted to plant saplings here, and I am going to share those beautiful memories.

During June and July 2015, I had two young teenage brother and sister as my neighbor. My conversations with Monica and her brother revealed their eagerness to plant the saplings. So, I was at the door of the forest office again but this time in Madurai and I took 10 saplings home. The saplings were Arasa maram (Peeple tree), Ala maram (Banyan tree), Vepe Maram (Neem tree), Naval Pazham (Jamun tree) and two other species. So, Monica, her brother and I set out with the digging bar, axe and off course the saplings, and began our journey of planting the saplings in our colony. On our way we met many of Monica and her brother's friends. They described with lots of enthusiasm about their task of planting the saplings and roped in few more of their friends. As we started digging and working, the elderly neighbors from the nearby houses gathered and curiously questioned what we were up to. The kids again enthusiastically explained what they were going to do, and the elders encouraged them while also cautioning them to be careful with all the equipments. As we started digging I realized that the soil here is so hard compared to Ujire. It was much easier to dig the soil and we could plant so many, but here it required extra efforts to dig the hard dry soil. But it was so much fun with the children around. What brings me happiness is when Monica and other children come to me even after a year and talk about the plants that they planted. The other day Monica was telling,' Akka, only 6 plants survived.' It feels amazing to know children remember our efforts of planting the saplings and visit the plants often.

Children making a home for the plant

Look whom we found!! An earthworm

The next day, Palani the super gardner came to our rescue. The way we works with the soil, and plants the saplings, it shows his experience and the passion towards growing plants. I was carefully observing how he was working, and then occasionally I would grab the digging bar trying to ape his technique, and he would explain how I could be better. I realized that day how these techniques are not 'taught' at school. I just read about a digging bar, I never used it, and the result is a young graduate who has read about a digging bar, seen amazing pictures of it, but never used one!

I have to confess I just loved to see him work with the soil elegantly and passionately. I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the crazy world that puts more value to the work of a software engineer or a teacher than to a gardner. I thought he is doing an amazing work and equally important job, then what makes the world put a lesser value to his work! I don't have an answer even today.

Palani, the super awesome gardner at work

Neem plant gets a new home

8 saplings were ultimately planted here, and two were planted at dad's office. And then, of course came the next planting session, thanks to Sushmitha, who has become like my younger sister now. Her dad had procured many saplings from the forest department that year to plant in the farm, and we could plant a couple of saplings with her dad's and brother's help. We were also treated by her mother with my favourite dish from Kerala 'Kadala Curry and Puttu' which tasted yummy. Staying in Madurai for a month, I had missed the rains of Ujire, the rain of Western Ghats. I was enjoying every bit of it with an amazing group of people Sushmitha, Sneha, my cousin brother Chaitanya and Nikhilesh! We played in the stream water, drenched in the rain, planted saplings, played with Cindrella - Sushmitha's favourite goat and went home with lots of memories.

Love for Cindrella

Planting saplings!!!

And more saplings!!!

The same day early morning me and Nikhilesh had gone to the nearby open area to watch some birds. Nikhilesh, being an amazing photographer, we could capture some really good pictures of the birds. We spotted the greater racket-tailed drongo, rufous treepie with its unique calls, and rufous babbler which was the very first time I spotted them; usually it is the common babblers that I saw here, and we were lucky that day to spot the species of rufous babblers that are endemic to the Western Ghats. It felt so wonderful to wake up early morning on a rainy day in the Western Ghats and walk on the wet leaves enjoying the lovely bird calls.

Rofous Treepie. Picture Courtesy: Nikhilesh Dharmala

Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo. Picture Courtesy: Nikhilesh Dharmala

Rufous babbler. Picture Courtesy: Nikhilesh Dharmala


Thank you Nikhilesh for the amazing clicks!!

 And, in the afternoon it was time to spend with Suhas bhaiyya and his humble family, who made me and Nikhilesh amazing Dhakshina Kannada style food and gifted me a hand made greeting card and an amazing Suhas style gift - a custom made lamp with my pictures and a custom made diary.

Suhas and Rajith's love to me

I came to Madurai with so many more memories from Ujire! It was emotional for me leave Ujire, the place that I fall in love with the first sight, and gave way to Linköping. I was all set to leave. And one last surprise, was the visit to Madurai by Sayli, my twin sister, as I call her. She came over to our home. We visited the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple and enjoyed the little conversations while queuing up for the dharshan. We enjoyed the beautiful architecture of the temple and soaked in the peaceful atmosphere and cherished the sight of birds flying from the high gopuram to the tall beautiful banyan tree. We were also stunned by the beauty of the palace - Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal. After that we tried the famous 'Jil Jil Jigarthanda' of Madurai and it tasted amazing!!

Some peaceful moments at the beautiful temple!

Some more amazing gifts! A fantastic painting of the 'Elephant God - Ganesha' from Vishal Bhaiyya and Salim Ali's 'The Book of Indian Birds' from Ananth, my friend more than a colleague who inspired to observe birds, listen to them and identify them. Now I can't stop myself from looking at birds and it has become an interest that I pursue enthusiastically. If you are interested to read more about birds, please do have a look at Ananth's column 'Urban Jungle' in Bangalore Mirror. I am very sure, you will become a bird enthusiastic after reading through his columns. 

All about birds!!!

Amazing painting of Ganesha 

These are the memories of love and the lessons on sustainability that I packed with me along with my other 'stuff' to Linkoping. I left home on the 19th of August 2015 filled with memories from children and people in Ujire, love from dear ones and the dream to pursue Masters in Outdoor Environmental Education. Yes, I promise the next blog will be from Linkoping!