Water wars

Summer means acute water problems for us Chennai-ites. And with Mani the watchman away and the motor for the borewell out of order, it threw everyone in our apartment complex into a frenzy yesterday. The substitute watchman was an absolute dud, who couldnt even open the gates properly, and V ended up going down the sump to get the corporation water flowing on Sunday.

And yesterday, many appeared at our door complaining to V that there was no water, that they had clothes to wash or there was a baby in the house etc. V decided to put his foot down and tell the complainants - who are owners of other apartments in the complex - that they have an equal responsibility and that he was not everyone's guardian. And we departed to our respective offices leaving the stay-at-home kinds to sort out the problem. The water came in fits and starts, and the inhabitants couldnt help heaving a sigh of relief when Mani returned from his village.

The watchman, who has the services of only one eye after some accident ages ago, is every flat owner's Man Friday though few treat him as a fellow human being - they crib if he uses a fan to stay cool in summer or takes a couple of days leave to visit his family in Trichy or if he is not at their beck and call 24 hours a day. They conveniently forget that a watchman recruited from an agency would charge three times more and wouldnt do any of the extra work he does. He doesnt just guard the building or open gates throughout the day and night, he also acts as a porter when people return from trips, runs errands for them, takes up cleaning chores in the apartments apart from keeping the common area tidy, washes cars etc etc. Of course he gets tips for the extra jobs, but still it is a lot of work. He skips many a meal (surviving on breakfast/dinner from me or dinner from another family) and saves much of his earnings to send to his family in his hometown. While he slogs, his wife and daughters have a gala time - or at least they did when they were here the past 4 years - buying trinkets to jazz themselves up and ordering food including tea, from the local teashops.

Living as we do near a Metrowater supply tank, it seems ironical that we should face a problem before the others do. Summer this year seems prepared to punish us doubly hard and water woes would be the first on its agenda. After all, the wars of the next century are prophesied to be over water...