If you have been feeling down during the copious monsoon rains of 2019 at Thane you are not alone. We explored the reasons for what I call 'Monsoon Morning Blues' in the 18th issue of Times of Urbania (https://bit.ly/2myNbS6).
Light has an effect on us humans in ways not easily recognised. In some cold places in the northern hemisphere, during winter when there can be no sunlight for days on (if not months) people become afflicted by what is called 'Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD)'. The SAD syndrome makes people morose, depressed and irritable. One of the known therapies for treating SAD is exposing the affected persons to strong artificial lights that mimic sunlight and to uplift their mood. At Thane of course we are luckier with sun and sunlight making their appearance once in a while even during the monsoon.
If you're wondering where we are headed, let me bring ourselves us back, closer home. At Rustomjee Urbania, we have a green space - The Urban Farming Zone (read more about it here: https://bit.ly/2llkZ5j). This monsoon, early on, I went there one evening to meet a fellow resident. I had come back from my meeting when I found a post in one of our community groups that another person I met during my visit there had seen a fire fly and made a video out of it. Strangely coincidentally, I had been mulling visiting one place in Maharashtra that has amazing Firefly displays and attracts tourists each year around monsoon. At Rustomjee Urbania we can head to Kalsubai Harishchandragad Wildlife Sanctuary, like Bhandardara and Purushwadi, are ideal for spotting fireflies in vicinity of Nashik. Fireflies are also spotted at Rajamachi near Lonavka where trekkers do night night treks for spotting fireflies.
Fireflies are not flies (like houseflies) but are beetles. They go by different names and are creatures that naturally emit light. They produce light without any fuel, a power plant or generating heat, things that human generated electricity entail. I remember seeing Fireflies in my childhood during visits to my cousins at a remote village Hotnoor in Sirsi region of Karnataka. That village had no electricity those days and petromax lights were the only source of lighting at home. With the surrounding areas all pitch dark at night, spotting fire flies at Hotnoor was very easy as they were the only source of natural light at night. We would catch some of the Fireflies and notice that they would continue to emit green light even when held in our palms.
How fireflies produce light: The source of light in them is called luciferin which is also found in oher creatures like fungi, snails, Marine organisms etc. In reaction with oxygen luciferin produces light. The male fireflies are pollen feeders whereas the young ones called grubs feed on decaying matter and are called detrivores. Female fireflies are carnivorous and some species actually mimic light of other species and catch and eat males of other species attracted by light emitted by female of other species. In large numbers fireflies create an ambience reminiscent of some scenes of the movie Avatar which have luminiscent creatures. Fireflies produce light only at night and it is produced by female fireflies to attract make fireflies for mating.
LED lights: At Rustomjee Urbania, at our apartment we have been relying entirely on LED lights for all our light fixtures. LED stands for light emitting diode (about which we learn at high school) that provides dispersed light and was not widely used till this decade. With advances in technology and clever design we now have LED lights for all uses including at homes. Most of Thane's streetlights are now LED's a light source that does not heat as much as other light sources and whose efficiently is higher than that of bulbs and tubelights. Many Indian cities now have highmast LED streetlights with help from GoI's Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) which helps source LED's at very low rates.
I remember buying LED bulbs for upwards of INR 600 -700 ten years ago. Now, those same bulbs cost just about a tenth, result of Government of India's Domestic Efficiency Lighting Programme (DELP) to distribute subsidized LEDs. The Government of India looks to replace through DELP 77 crore incandescent lamps with LEDs by 2019 for savings in electricity of INR 44000 crores. GoI has a live scoreboard for number of LED's distrubuted till date and you can access it here: http://www.ujala.gov.in/ (more than 35 crores as of 26 September 2019).
Each of us consumers stands to benefitfrom DELP as one LED lamp can save almost a couple of hundred rupees in electricity each year compared to other light sources. LEDs are more energy efficient, generating more light per unit of electricity compared to incandescent bulbs or even CFL's. LEDs also last upto 50000 hours and thus don't need replacement for many years. They also come with option of mood lighting - allowing different colours just at the flick of the switch.
Light Pollution: Artificial light from human made lighting is the newest form of pollution - it is called Light Pollution. With so much lighting in cities it is now difficult to find truly dark places. However, one still has the opportunity to visit places just within 3 hour drive from Rustomjee Aurbania to see amazing displays of natural light emitted my fire flies. Do remember such display happens just prior to monsoon and you have to wait till 2020 for making a visit. Here is the route: https://bit.ly/2mA2euM to one such place - Purushwadi.
Good Night!