Morning. Still sleepy from a 16 hour journey to, from, within and under Banglore, i heard the soft and gentle sound of a stream. I thought i'll wake up with British tea served along with French toast and American pancakes. To my dismay, i found that water was overflowing from the Indian washing machine. This has become a habit for my mom. Turning off the tap, I took up the day's paper, had a glance and marched like a Nazi soldier towards her. I pointed to the front page news, in bold headlines printed, about the Cavery agitation. Mom sighed, apologised for formality and remarked, "Well, whose water is it anyway?"
For a second, i was dumbfounded. Such a simple, yet thought provoking question. It gave a kick even better than Nescafe. Water is nature's gift to us. Do we have the right to own it, just because it flows in a state whose borders were drawn in an agitation? Before you raise the topic of home security and border security and rights, how much water did U waste today? Anyday, the ongoing metro work punctures a pipeline or the next upcoming mall or it's builder's new house digs up a road, water pipe is also included in the JCBs claws, along with a few loose cannons here and there, literally.
I'm sure people back in Tamil Nadu squirm, squint and shake their heads in disbelief every time they see water wasted by us in Karnataka. Blocking the highway, by political parties dressed as farmers, sure gets the attention of prime time news, but real farmers would rather have it opened. The highway is important for transporting their crop, to carry their sons to engineering colleges in the city and to bring the daughters back from factory work. Plus, the numerous tea shops and hotels, which dot the highway, some owned by the farmers themselves, clearly incur losses. By the way, judging the number of hotels built on farmland, agriculture doesn't seem a viable option anyway. This would mean that pretty soon, we would have to get our rice and roti ingredients from our neighbors, including Tamil Nadu. With what face should we go to them then?
Tamil or Kannadiga, tractor farmer or BMW honcho, water is our basic right. Politicians will get their mineral water, O2 purified, delivered to their homes. For us, our only hope is the tap. Our hope lies with nature and judicious use of water, not fighting over who owns how much of it.
For a second, i was dumbfounded. Such a simple, yet thought provoking question. It gave a kick even better than Nescafe. Water is nature's gift to us. Do we have the right to own it, just because it flows in a state whose borders were drawn in an agitation? Before you raise the topic of home security and border security and rights, how much water did U waste today? Anyday, the ongoing metro work punctures a pipeline or the next upcoming mall or it's builder's new house digs up a road, water pipe is also included in the JCBs claws, along with a few loose cannons here and there, literally.
I'm sure people back in Tamil Nadu squirm, squint and shake their heads in disbelief every time they see water wasted by us in Karnataka. Blocking the highway, by political parties dressed as farmers, sure gets the attention of prime time news, but real farmers would rather have it opened. The highway is important for transporting their crop, to carry their sons to engineering colleges in the city and to bring the daughters back from factory work. Plus, the numerous tea shops and hotels, which dot the highway, some owned by the farmers themselves, clearly incur losses. By the way, judging the number of hotels built on farmland, agriculture doesn't seem a viable option anyway. This would mean that pretty soon, we would have to get our rice and roti ingredients from our neighbors, including Tamil Nadu. With what face should we go to them then?
Tamil or Kannadiga, tractor farmer or BMW honcho, water is our basic right. Politicians will get their mineral water, O2 purified, delivered to their homes. For us, our only hope is the tap. Our hope lies with nature and judicious use of water, not fighting over who owns how much of it.
Pic courtesy: Indian Express
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