Water Management

The many ways in which the city’s poor ‘ arrange ‘ for their daily water needs

Water Management

Last week all of us went for our family vacation to our village in Himachal Pradesh – a village called Chachian in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. My father – in- law, now 76 years old, lives there alone.The village is beautiful – and our home – even more so. Our home – a small cottage on the mountain slope, is on the fringe of a forest of pines through which you can see the snow capped mountains.  All sorts of animals, birds and insects stroll in at all times – scorpions, large spiders, chameleons, moths of a hundred types, beautiful birds, grasshoppers in green, blue, red and yellow, ladybirds, mongoose, snakes even wild boars and panthers! (Do check out some pics here…)

But even in this idyllic hamlet, the spectre of Water Scarcity did not leave us. Piped water supply in the village has always been poor, but, to my horror, we did not get a drop of water for 5 continuous days in my holiday week! We needed water for drinking, cooking, cleaning of vessels, home, bathing, washing clothes and toilet – I just didn’t know how we’d manage!

….But I did manage…by practicing the Water Wisdom that I talk about so much….

Unlike here in Delhi, where one type of water serves all needs, I realized I could reduce the effort required to fulfill all water needs by using different types of water for different needs.

Kuddh

So I started grading the water sources. Grade A was clean potable water (at least visually!) There were only two sources for that – branded bottled water from the shops and water from a ‘bawadi’ (a miniature step well where groundwater percolates up to the surface and then flows as a stream) about 1 km from home. Grade B was clean water, but its potability was doubtful. This was rainwater from the rooftop or water from a ‘khudd’ -mountain stream flowing nearby or from another bawadi closer to home where the water was slightly muddy (the bawadi was drying up). Grade C was water from a ‘Kul’ (Click here to watch a ‘kul’ in action!) flowing in our backyard (a smaller rainwater channel that carries rainwater quietly down the mountain slope and finally empties into the ‘khudd’. (The ‘kul’ water is usually used for irrigation. Till last year this Kul’s water would have been grade B but its quality has deteriorated now). Also water that had been used once – like for washing clothes, washing vegetables – was Grade C water

For each of these 5 days, we got bottled water for drinking ( Am ashamed – we behaved like NRIs! The rest of the village drank water from the bawadi). We drank straight from the bottles to avoid leaving ‘undrunk’ water in tumblers. And to save water needed for washing tumblers. For all cooking, washing of vegetables etc, my husband huffed and puffed and brought back 1 bucket of water a day from the Bawadi about a km away. For washing of vessels, bathing etc he brought 2-4 buckets a day from the mountain stream or the bawadi that was nearer home.

Bawadi

(There used to be a handpump giving saline water near the house but it had dried up because the village upstream had installed a motor in their handpump. For the first time in my life I knew what it felt like to hate motors !) I learnt how to bathe in 1 quarter of a bucket and my husband in half. My daughter junked the idea of bathing all together and I learnt to live with oily, unwashed hair for four days! (My vanity didn’t suffer too much because my hair was always covered with my dupatta anyway!) I also learnt the virtues of being prompt – if you washed vessels immediately after having food, you needed very little water and absolutely no detergent to clean them. Washing of clothes was postponed – if water supply was not restored, we decided that like professional dhobis, we’d tie clothes in a bundle and take them to the stream for washing. Grade C water from the kul – that was most conveniently located – was used for flushing the toilet. So, thankfully, going to the loo was a luxury we did not have to surrender! The same water was also used for mopping the floor.

It was serious deprivation but it also gave us great moments of fun and…. beauty tips. One day while washing a milk vessel, I remembered reading that milk was a skin cleanser. The next few minutes were a riot – with me chasing my terrified daughter and husband with that milky water trying to get them to do a Cleopatra bathing act! Also, after 5 days of soap free bathing (if any!), our skins were all shining bright like the morning star!

The best was when it rained on the 5^th day. By that time we had learnt our Water Wisdom lessons and had felt the pain of the ‘Walk for Water’ of the rural women. Counting every drop of water is an exhausting task!

So when it rained, we went berserk! First we pulled out every spare bucket and vessel and placed them strategically at the points where water from the rooftop was falling – Rainwater Harvesting for direct usage

Then, in a flash of brilliance, I realized I could wash Daddy’s clothes in the rain! So my daughter became the umbrella holder, my husband the cheer leader and I the chief washer woman. Every once in a while my father in law would peep out, look worriedly at all of us like we were a bunch of deranged monkeys and rush back in when he could not bear the sight any more! I wet the clothes in a pool of rainwater, my daughter soaped them, I scrubbed them and then we just hung them on the clothesline and let the rain rinse them automatically! In the process I also washed my hair and got a natural pedicure / manicure!

…But the flip side of the story ….a beautiful village with an ugly water shortage ; the inhabitants of the Himalayas that give India its rain – living without water….

The scarcity I lived with, taught me Water Wisdom.

But power blinded cities like Delhi, that suck in water from the mighty mountains and villages with tubewells, that suck out water from the depths of the earth – how will they learn? Do we need to impose Water Scarcity on them or should we just wait for the eventuality when our foolishness brings it on ourselves?

My Dear Jal Rakshaks

Namaskar.

For me, this Saturday, was a day of transformation—a renewal of faith. And this letter is to say, Thank You, to my Water Guardian friends, who made this possible.

I’ve been asked many times, why I work for Water. I’ve always responded with rational reasons— “Increasing freshwater scarcity is the single biggest cause for devastation and conflict facing mankind.” “I want to contribute towards averting the Water Crisis — by sustainable Water planning and managing Water efficiently” etc etc…

But beneath these rational reasons, was a deeper irrational belief—that I finally shared on Saturday. A belief that …..Water is The Guru.

All that, I think I know, I learnt from Water. Its flow, its ability to take any shape & form, to give life; its ability to assimilate everything within itself , to be formless and yet never be suppressed……and so many other qualities— teach me how to live a rich, ever– changing & yet ever constant, nurturing life without worrying about a beginning or an end. Whenever I need guidance , I picture Water in my mind…and in its myriad expressions, I find my answer .

So, dear Jal Rakshaks, that’s the reason I work for Water. I am merely serving my Guru,

This Saturday, I finally shared my belief with some of my closest co-travelers on the Water journey. I prayed my little Water Prayer and meditated on the sounds of Water along with them. And then, we discussed how we could serve the cause of our Guru by spreading Water Abundance everywhere. That was a magical meeting – one where I saw emotion driving a passionate desire for action.

In the years to come, this first meeting of the first Water Guardian’s club, will be remembered as a path-breaking event. By recognizing the Guru in Water in our own bodies, we learnt, that in serving the cause of Water, we save our souls.

The Water Guardians will now meet every month. Along with Water Prayer and Cleansing of thoughts, they will work tirelessly with others to create a Water Secure, Water Wise world…. And all of us at FORCE will stand rock-solid behind them to support them in their noble mission.

FORCE, or any other NGO / government cannot give Water the place it deserves – at best we can only help educate or create structures to hold it, clean it. That will not be enough to prevent the Wrath of Water destroying the world as we know it. Only when each one of us opens our hearts to Water’s teachings and commits ourselves to taking care of The Guru– can we get deliverance.

Be the change you want to see. Make your own Water Guardian Club. Allow me to share with your club why and how I revere Water as my Guru. Join other WGI clubs to make Water Guardians International (WGI) a Water Force that protects the world.

Take Care

Jyoti Sharma

PS: I invite you to download and read The Water Guardian Manual

The wheel has come full circle…

Yesterday’s article about the Neela Hauz, in the Times of India,  made my day! In a day or two DDA will take over the lake and plans have already been made by Bio-Diversity experts to restore Neela Hauz and its forest. The Neela Hauz water has got back its home.

Ever since the Citizen’s movement for restoration of  Neela Hauz began, the focus has been on the idealistic, enthusiastic citizens, who highlighted the plight of the lake. And rightfully so… because they went beyond the call of duty to answer the voice of their conscience.

But yesterday when I saw the article, I realized how thoughtless we’ve been, by not acknowledging those, who’s contribution most of us dismissed with, “ It’s his job to do this”

So….This one’s for you ..…. Neha

Part of the reason why the Neela Hauz  will live again, is the media focus that you and others like you brought to it. I’m sure you all had to fight for that media space—after all, in the gory action packed life the city seems to be living, who’d be interested in  this peaceful, invisible bit of water? Not the readers and certainly not the publishers!! And yet, you must have persisted and fought to do what you thought was right.

It’s for you too….Mr Karunanidhi and all your workers who made a world class bridge and then toiled equally hard to restore the priceless lake. It’s easy for us to dismiss your effort with “ What’s to thank for? It was your job to do it!” But I’m sure, in ‘The System’ where every rupee counts, you’d have had to fight every inch of the way to do the second part of your job!

I sometimes wonder, was there really very much we could have done if you had not done “your job”???

This is also for you—our Ruling Elite — Mr Lt Governor, Madam Chief  Minister and all Mr. Senior Bureaucrats.

It is probably most difficult for you to do ‘Your Job’ – simply because it’s everything under the sun!  As our Protectors, you must look after our air, water, soil, luxuries, families, schools, sentiments, relations, pets ……everything! You’ve to keep all those you ‘Rule’ happy—the electorate, the future electorate, the ‘leadership’, the ‘readership’…..And if you get your balancing act wrong, you wake up next morning to find yourself out of your job !

With all these pressures, you chose to shelter the weakest, speechless, most helpless of your subjects—an innocent lake of water—surely you did more than ’ just your job’ .

Idealism is easy —for those who preach it from the outside. But very, very difficult to practice by those within ‘The System’.

JAL RAKSHAKs let us be the light that shows the diamond shining in every Drop of  Water. Let us whole heartedly appreciate every bit of good effort  made in adverse circumstances and thus let idealism grow in every heart.

May the Neela Hauz live on to show us the way to a ’System’ that is its own ideal.

Oh God! I’m feeling miserable!

It’s 12.30 in the night, as the rain pours incessantly, suddenly the sight of those black polythene sheet covered hutments that I had seen just last week, flashes across my eyes. In my mind I saw the old man telling me about daily wages in UP,  the young kids playing around and begging to be photographed , the goat chewing placidly and the young men teaching us how to steal the pavement hand-rails…..and suddenly it hit me…….this was a tragedy I was watching unfold.

I remembered that long unending row of polythene sheet rooftops flapping in the wind – on the bank of the floodplain near Mayur Vihar. I remembered those thousands of the city’s poor trying to somehow hang on till the Yamuna let go of their homes on its river bed…….and it scared me. I wonder how they are coping right now – with the river lapping at their feet and the rain drumming on their heads.

I love the rain…….I respond to it like a flower does to dewdrops. It energises me, excites me, makes me feel satiated…..And yet, today, when I remember those faces, I  find myself torn between my love for the rain and fear of the havoc it has created.

Today, I feel the fear of someone who has nowhere to go. I am now sitting in my bed  cuddled up with my family, praying with all my heart that all those I love so much, should never have to face such trauma.

So my delightful rain, and my beautiful river, it breaks my heart to say this -  but please, please will you go away? You’re angry, I know…..but must you make the poor innocents suffer? They are as much victims of greed & apathy , as you are. Take care of them, my dear …for they share your fate.

Jal Rakshaks – let’s pray for an end to this suffering.  And, when many honest hearts cry out for God’s help – with their prayers – He cannot help but answer.

Wherever we are, at 2 pm everyday, let us all take 2 minutes out to pray – and ask God to placate Nature’s fury.

Don’t forget – 2 pm – let us all rise and pray.

…… and tell all  those around you to do the same

Take Care

Jyoti Sharma, FORCE