LITER of LIGHT

I remember seeing a fb invite for  a workshop on installing solar Bottle Bulb in houses, and now I can’t figure out the reason for missing it.
NO regrets as a friend of mine ( Tripti Raj & Pankaj Dixit)  started the same Initiative also known as LITER OF LIGHT in Bangalore .

 Their 3^rd installation in Bangalore and I was part of it. Something about L.O.L as we call it. Liter of light is a global initiative which aims at providing economically sustainable source of light to underprivileged household’s .It involves filling up a 1.5L PET bottle with purified water and bleach and installing it onto the roof of a house. The water inside the bottle refracts the sunlight during the daytime and creates the same intensity as a 55 watt light bulb. With the correct installation and materials a solar bottle can last up to 5 year .The idea of using plastic bottles for daylight was first pioneered by Alfredo Moser from Brazil in 2002.

Sunday early Morning:

My alarm was set for 4.15 am but I was wide awake at 4am, excited to see how this thing works, have only seen in videos and Photos. A team of 10 volunteers, 4 experienced and 6 new headed to an underprivileged area in Benson Town to spread some light. We were welcomed by Muriyamma and crowning roosters. The settlement had Pakka houses with temporary roof-tops,  drowsy kids and adults who came out to see bunch of intruders clad in blue uniform carrying bright color equipment boxes.

First house that we were assigned was a small room with an attached small kitchen area, I noticed a single bed, few utensils, a sewing machine and a very happy lady in her 40s.The room had no light  if the door was shut. So our experienced Volunteers Tripti, Pankaj Sir and Hardik got to work while rest of us watched. One installation takes anywhere between 1.5- 2 hours minimum.  An initial assessment is done to see if the  Solar Bottle bulb would do any good or not followed by a quick inspection of the roof.

Men/Women at work finished the installation by 9 ish and the aunty treated us with hot tea in yellow colored mugs. I noticed her grinning from ear to ear as she entered her house. She loved it :)  And so did we :) I was amazed to see how  people managed to  lived with limited resources and still be happy. Met a family that had 9 members and stayed in 2 small rooms, their latest addition was a 5 day old baby who slept peacefully in a swing made out of an old sari. 
As we explained few curious onlookers it was time for the 2^nd installation.

With it came an opportunity to finally try my hand. It was a humble house where a family of 4 lived, what amused me was the no. of utensils they had. The walls were adorned with couple’s marriage photographs, bunch of colorful glass bangles and lots of teddy bears .And guess what, they had an induction stove!!

We assessed the house and decided to install the bulb in the small kitchen area that had no light at all. At 9.40 am, we got on to the roof, arranged our equipment and cleaned that area. While my 2 beloved friends cracked some jokes on ME, Hardik drilled the roof for us. After the drilling was done, we used BTI pliers, a filer to enlarge the hole that could accommodate the Bottle. The hole has to be precise so the bottle fits in perfectly and there is no gap. The Bottle is prepared few days in advance and is glued to a piece of fiber sheet .As we sweated profusely trying our best to make that perfect hole in the roof we could hear Bollywood songs playing in distance ,it was a good substitute for otherwise annoying jokes.

''Shining Bright like a Diamond''

The next step was to place distilled water and chlorine filled bottle in the hole, fill the gaps with SIKa glue, gloves and our love:) It was done!! We were too excited to come down and see how it looked (I have seen the bottle bulb already but this was my-our very first installation) And there it was, shining bright, filling the small room with bright light and at the same time  filling  our hearts with happiness and content. We got ourselves clicked with the beautiful Solar Bottle Bulb and relaxed for a while. I was awestruck by the hospitality we recieved. They left the door open so that we could sit in and relax, while they sat outside, served us with cold drink as we finished the task .How many times have we opened the doors for complete strangers???

 As the other team was busy installing the 3^rd Solar bulb I roamed in the narrow lanes of the establishment, got to peep into few houses as their doors were always open and couldn’t help but notice the following things. Few of the houses had Tile Flooring, most of them had at least 1 TV, Steel Utensils looked like their prized possessions, cats were preferred over dogs as pets , floor of the houses were spic-and-span and  every family had at least 2 kids.

Hungry and tired, 3 Installation  and 6 hours later  we called it a  day by rubbing petrol on our hand( just to get rid of SIKA glue) and by filling our stomachs with super delicious food at  IMLI humming few of our favorite old Hindi songs.

Join us Next time and this experience can be yours!

Be part of L.O.L( Liter of Light) @ Liter Of Light Bangalore