Kiran Nagarkar, and Indian novelist and social commentator
was comenting on the “extras” (persons having non-descript roles) in a movie.
“Extras” in a movie are a metaphor of the majority of mankind. Skyscrapers in
metropolises come with readymade slums. Hereafter the differences will be that
of those who have water and those who do not.
Digging a deep borewell |
My experiences on the dearth of water are twofold. Living in Kerala, one of the places in the world that receives the heaviest rainfalls in the form of monsoons. Ironically, a mountain across, the neighbouring state of Tamilnadu has vast stretches of arid land but excels manifold than Kerala in agriculture. A prominent daily in Malayalam(Kerala) was running a feature on how Kerala is heading to desertification. We never tap the rain let alone protect our rivers. We palster the ground so that not a drop of water seeps down. Our aesthetic and homemaking sensitivities have been driven to such foolish extremes. For instance, as a rule we think that a garden is beautiful when it is filled with concrete artifacts rather than the whims of natural settings. The following snapshots reveal the quest for water boring deep into the earth, a few hundred metres, to draw water. The sight of water gushing is so invigorating but I fear how long the water will hold on.
As I
was spending few months in Arunachal Pradesh, I could rather understand how
grim a situation is the dearth of water. The indigenous people used long poles
of bamboo as water ducts, drawing water from springs deep in the forests. The
too dry up and once again they venture into dense jungles to locate a new
spring. The thirst never ends.
A
student of mine wrote in his answer sheets that a river is beneficial as it
carries away the domestic waste. Major rivers in India are polluted and has
dangerous content of coliform bacteria making it non potable. The rivers bear
the blunt of the efflux of man-made wastes as this loo over a natural brook
shows. Mind it, it is one of the best arrangements that could be made in that part
of the world to serve one’s lavatorial needs. The people here harbor a great
distrust for the water sources that pass through inhabited areas. This is a
luxury they can hardly afford in urban settlements where you have to go for any
available water no matter where the hell it came from.
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