And now for a story about a train. A train made of train cars that have been running since the 1950's (or so it seems) and regularly carry three times the passengers they're designed for. I have ridden the local train before, but today, caught it at the tail end of rush hour.

Boarding a train

It's already full, but they will probably all make it on. (Source)

Along the tracks

Enjoying the fresh air? Perhaps. But mostly they're overflowing because the inside is more than full. (Source)

Think intellect has made physical strength obsolete in cities? Think again! Only the strong can ride Mumbai local trains (unless you travel at odd hours). I nearly missed the train when 6 people squeezed into the 12 inches between me and the car. After getting on, another 10 or so piled in, pushed, and pulled to stay there. It was sort of like a wrestling match, except the goal is to get your opponents to take up less space. For a good portion, I think I nearly suffocated an unfortunate young man about 2 feet shorter than I. For another, I tried not to elbow an elderly man too hard. Surprisingly though... it wasn't as uncomfortable as I expected. Everyone was generally in good spirits, and after learning how to stick to solid walls and readjust for better positions in the 5 seconds of at stations, it was rather enjoyable. Not "MOM can we ride the local train again??" enjoyable, but more in a "what a fascinating life experience that I have now had and thus do not need to unnecessarily repeat thank you very much" way.

The cars themselves are of a most utilitarian style, with a soviet Russia feel to them. Plenty of fans keep air moving though, which I suppose helps prevent people from passing out. If one did pass out, I'm told by a friendly passenger I met, nobody would care. In fact, about 6 people die every day on the local trains in India. That's 2,000 souls lost each from crowding onto trains...and falling off. At one point today, I could have taken out 6 with one well-placed shove. That's a lot of trust in your fellow man...and so I join the ranks of millions who have survived the local train. We should print T-shirts...at least it's not quite as bad as Japan.

Onwards and upwards.

*I swore I wouldn't write such a thing as "I'm writing a blog" and "sorry for not updating" comprise about 75% of blog posts out there. Also, 68.6574% (+/- 2%) are made up on the spot. Blogging is more work than I thought! Kudos to those who do it well.

• We're producing results at the lab here, and will hopefully have all the remaining items needed this week. It has been fantastic having a recent Civil Engineering graduate take the lead on running tests. The lab staff helping us is great, and with having 30+ years' experience, they know how it's done here.

• Had a great meeting with the NGO SPARC, the most influential slum-dwellers (SDs) advocate in Mumbai, and possibly in the world. They realized early-on the importance of slum redevelopment and worked with SDs to develop equitable development plans. When it got to hiring a contractor to put them into action though – things got pricey. So they did what any of us would...started their own non-profit construction company! It makes sure that the interests of the SDs are always at the top, employs people in building their future homes, and is able to sell apartment units at 600 Rs. / ft2 instead of the retail rate of 1000 Rs. / ft2. Innovative financing makes them even more accessible. There are plenty of opportunities for us to collaborate towards common goals, the most obvious of which is my low-cost cement. If my cement is half the cost, that might lower the cost of construction by 5%, which would be passed directly on to the purchasers. They already batch their own concrete, so it may even be feasible to set up a plant to batch green cement, letting them own even more of the supply chain. This is where it all comes together.

• Making progress on several parallel paths at Drexel, thanks to the excellent team (notably, mostly freshmen and sophomores). For example: we are investigating making geopolymer cement from soil in Bangladesh, the only material they have in abundance. We are doing testing in Philadelphia, I'm managing from Mumbai, and we got excellent consultation from colleagues in Brazil and Australia, the latter who is currently in Chicago. What an amazing time to be alive.

• Finally submitted the two papers I've been working on for 2+ years. The process is moving forward; looks promising so far.

So, overall, I think I'm settled in and basically firing on all cylinders - in no small part due to many answered prayers and small miracles. Onwards and upwards.