We are living in times when even newspapers are carrying rep[orts of how wells are drying up and how water bodies in cities have been usurped by those wanting to construct houses and commercial complexes over them. Leakages in pipes supplying water to homes invite severe protests and action from authorities. Political parties invest money in advertisements encouraging people to use water intelligently. Yes, we are finally waking up to the fact that water isn’t a resource that is going to last forever if we are going to continue being clumsy and unthinking consumers. Such is the level of grim foreboding that even the quaint #CuttingChai has given precedence to #CuttingPaani.

It isn’t difficult to understand that if there is no water, there would be no life. Every green concern too fizzles out if blue faces doom. Water has been a primes concern since ages and books like ‘Aaj bhi khare hain talaab’ by Anupam Mishra spell out the message without mincing words. It is time that we realized that parched throats aren’t fake plants that will subsist on blobs of some synthetic gel. The problem is as real as the words of Nelson Mandela when he mentioned that work, bread, water, and salt must be there for everyone. Even Nikos Kazantzakis has written that ‘happiness is a simple everyday miracle, like water, and we are not aware of it.’ The situation, let say again, is grim.

Living in a DDA colony in Delhi made us understand the importance of water even more than two decades back. We had bought a set of coloured glasses from Edinburgh and had decided to assign one colour to each in the family. Our glasses were there to be filled with water which could be used and reused without the necessity of putting them in the kitchen sink for washing every hour or so. I remember a visitor to our home watch our formula and snigger, ‘So all of you drink water fro the same glass?’

‘No,’ I said, ‘we have our own colour-coded glass that we pick up every time we are thirsty. Even a half-filled glass is kept aside to be used the next time one feels the need for a drink. Drinking water is a scarce commodity and we must preserve it. Moreover, we waste less water in washing them every now and then.’

This message was thoroughly understood and we were happy to discover that they too adopted our system of colour-coded glasses. I was overjoyed to learn a few days back that Livepure too has understood the importance of water conservation and is actually promoting the cause by promoting the #CuttingPaani ideology to champion this change. Let me add here that the hashtag mentioned isn’t a mind-game for some mindless fun to meander through an advertising campaign. It has a serious intent that almost reflects what Sigmund Freud meant when he said that ‘the mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.’ People know and follow concepts that have a futuristic appeal because they make us fitter in more than one way and allow us to leave our planet better off. However, I must also add that it isn’t a one-off action or a good plan followed by a few that will bring about the positive change that we are looking for. It is a collective change that is sought and this needs us all to know and understand all the ways in which water can be conserved. Well, Livepure does have a few suggestions and you are free to go ahead and read what they have to say:

5 Ways in which leftover water from your glass can be used

How to make use of water saved by #CuttingPaani

Ways to educate children about conserving water at home

I have also signed a petition on the need to conserve water and I encourage you too to go ahead and be a partner in this effort. Our planet must remain green if our future generations are to survive… and if there is no blue, there will be no green.

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CuttingPaani

CuttingPaani

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Arvind Passey
21 March 2018