Duct Tape to the rescue

Yesterday we moved the Water Tank and moved the Solar Water Heater a bit away from the wall. I had used up all the water in the tank and drained away the little that was left. Heave Ho! Heave Ho! The plan was to cut the current 50mm pipes, use reducers at either end and reconnect with flexible hose pipe after moving the Water Tank. Unfortunately I did not realize that the pipes were UPVC, which are different from PVC both in dimensions and the glue used to seal the joints. The local store had no UPC reducers and so I was in a fix. No water in the house! The term used to do "chicen wire and chewing gum" solutions in India is called "Jugaad". And so a Jugaad solution was applied using duct tape.


Well the Jugad was 50% successful. I was able to have a luke warm shower.

 Duct Tape used to connect reducer to UPVC Pipe

 Interconnect using Flex Pipe

Shifted Water Tank - Now

Water Tank Then

Postscript:

The proper connection using the proper reducers looks like this:

A bend needed to be added to one connection so that the flex pipe didn't crimp while skirting a wall

And a visit by the local Police

Yesterday I had a visit from Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) Revati and three constables. I invited them in and they wanted to a tour of my house, since it is new and unique to this area. I complied with their request. And then they wanted to meet Chester. I agreed to take them there. While we were there the PSI asked that I write a personal statement about myself and details of my life. I agreed, then she asked that I submit a whole bunch of documents that showed I have purchased the place etc. etc. I was taken aback. I responded that unless there is an official request I would not comply. I wanted to know why I am being asked these questions and what is it that I am suspected of doing. She said it was in my interest in the event the IB folks came back again. Apparently this is being done in the name of security.I said, I would take this issue up with them. She then said it would be better if I visited the Police Station to give my statement. This was getting weirder and weirder and so I called my friend who heads up the Human Rights Legal Network in New Delhi to ask for his advice. He put me in touch with the Director in Bengaluru, who advised me that what was being requested was out of line. This was reassuring. In any case, I went down to the Police Station and gave a statement in response to the questions they ask me.


This whole experience casts doubt on the Intelligence Bureau methodology. Even a novice like me would assume that they would make discreet inquiries of people on their radar and gather some proof before confronting the person. 


I later learned that the PSI asked at least one person about me. Shouldn't this have been done before approaching me, if it raised flags? Since I have nothing to hide, I welcome such profiling. It is good practice to keep tabs on who is who and what is happening on the coast line. But confronting a person and asking for details is putting the cart before the horse. If there is positive proof that a person is conducting nefarious activities, by all means take action. Otherwise shouldn't one be presumed innocent before being accused of being guilty?


P.S. Found out a few days later that the PSI had asked another person about me. 

A Visit from the Intelligence Bureau and the Police

On Thursday, Feb 10th, three men showed up. They were from the Intelligence Bureau. Apparently there is heightened awareness regarding security and threats from the sea.

They asked me few questions and wanted to meet and check on the Englishman Chester from Birmingham, who lives close by. He once corrected me saying it is pronounced - Birminghm as in hum, not ham as in Birmingham Alabama.  They wanted to know if he is engaged in any spying activity. I laughed and said they have to be kidding. They asked if he had a boat? The poor sod has no boat, no motor bike and his mobile phone is inactive! He spends his days "Om Shanti"! (Meditation, Yoga and reading) His words, not mine. They wanted to meet him and so I took them to his place. Hadn't met Chester in a while. He has grown a beard, has no mustache and looks like a Muslim Mullah. I used to jokingly call him Father Chester. Some times he wears a Tee Shirt with ॐ on it. I called him Swami Chester. Now he is Father Mullah Swami Chester. The meeting turned out to be more of an interrogation with all kinds of questions being asked. They wanted copies of his lease document and said they would take it with them to copy. At that point I said wait a bit, and asked the main guy if I could see his ID? He said they don't carry their IDs with them. Strange! The equivalent of the FBI here does not have to carry their ID. I wanted to know how we could verify he was who he said he was. So we called the local police station and I spoke to the head who is a lady, to verify and that panned out. Eventually, they said they wanted a copy of Chester's passport and so they all went to town together to get that taken care of. Chester met me the next day to say everything worked out OK.

Then today I had a visit from a local constable. He was not in uniform and flashed his ID. I think Madam Revati, PSI (Police Sub-Inspector) and head of the Honnavar police station must have mentioned to the constable that I might ask for his ID. He spent a few minutes with me and asked me all the standard questions of where I was from, what did I do for a living, why I was here and so on and on. I told him I had met the previous head a number of times and I had introduced myself to Madam Revati as well. He suggested that I meet her again. I said I would be happy to.

Both Father, Mullah, Swami Chester and I stick out like a sore thumb here. People are constantly wondering what we are doing here. The local desire is to get out of this place. They can't fathom out why us folks are here. 

Work on the Upper Floor begins

It has been six months since I moved into the Beach House in Pavinkurve, Honnavar, UK. Life has been good. It has been a busy two weeks. Spent significant time machine wire brushing the window's iron grills and painting them. The remaining sliding windows and screens were to be installed today (Sunday 13th), but the person called and said he will come tomorrow, Monday. After this set only the main door and the West Side grill have to be taken care of. Still considering solutions for this angled grill which is rather wide. A lot of wire brushing and painting the remaining grills remains. That will keep me busy for sometime. 


Went to Mangaluru last weekend and returned on Tuesday the 8th. That afternoon the engineer came to the site and we commenced construction of the floor above. The engineer wanted 14" walls and I insisted that 9" walls will be adequate. After much discussion, the engineer agreed. In five days (Tuesday thru Saturday) 310 stones were laid. It was slow going because a lot of measuring was needed to make sure the stones are laid properly to form the room definitions. we also had to make sure in some places the stones were placed above the beams and walls below the slab, constructed to support these walls. From now on, work will proceed at a faster pace. These 310 stones constitutes one layer all around except for the bathroom walls where the Water Tank is located.The big challenge is to move the Water Tank so that the bathroom walls where it is currently situated can be constructed. In hindsight if it was placed to the right of where it is at currently, that would have saved me this challenge.

 Looking West towards to Arabian Sea

Looking East

Having done one layer of stones, we estimate about 5,000 stones will be needed to complete the walls above.