In my small hometown of Mussoorie summers were short and warm. Being a very cold town indeed people are not used to drinking a lot of water. I am sharing with you the memory of the Humble Matki. It came back to me today for a reason that I have shared below.
I belong to a business family. When I was young, sometimes I was given the responsibility of opening our shop. I took the job with a lot of pride - after all - it was something important and someone responsible enough had to do it. Even at a tender age of 10, I used to run down the road in unbroken gait and carefully open the locks before struggling to lift the shutter. After the dusting and brooming was done as a ritual I picked up a handful of rice and threw it above the tin roof nearby and in seconds there were many birds having their morning breakfast. The lamp was lit and the prayers offered and we were ready for the day. There was one more customary step to be completed before the work was done during summers. This was to clean up the Matki (earthen pot) and fill it with 2 buckets of water. Outside out shop we had placed a scooter tyre on which the matki resided. A red cloth always covered the mouth and a litre was dipped inside. I remember doing this a hundred times. The matki was prepared for the upcoming day. Soon people would go to their workplaces. Soon the temperature would rise. Soon people will come one after the other to have a glassful of the refreshing cool water in the matki.
They told me when I was very young that in our country offering water to the thirsty was a very good deed. They said that you were blessed if you did this job. I remember seeing scores of water tanks being constructed by the philanthrophists to let people drink water in temples, bus stands, hospitals and numerous other places.
I never remember any roadside hotel charging me for water when I asked for a glassful. They are Indians. All of them. They belong to a nation which believes in humans. Where human values and virtues took the front seat. How can you take money for something so fundamental - so basic - so natural - so necessary - so bountiful as water? Even the chaiwala at the end of the road takes pride in giving you a glassful of life for free.
This morning I am in turmoil. Something is tearing my head apart. Slowly and smartly someone is breaking my social order. Someone has been successful in getting a price tag on water. While I was busy with my life, someone has gently replaced the matki with a plastic bottle. I am scared. I am too scared to utter a word. I breathe. I consume oxygen. Is someone standing around the corner waiting for an opportunity to commercialise that too? Will I have to pay to be able to sleep under the starts too?
I am scared not just for me but for those who are mine. I failed to notice the water price. I had money I could shell out. I failed to notice that the matki is gone. There are people out there who don't have a voice. There are people out there who don't have a face. I am talking about the 800 million my people who are not as lucky as me. Does the plastic bottle come all that easy to them too? Or the disappearance of the matki means nothing to them? Or is it that we are slowly moving on to deny them the right to water - the right to air - the right to live life.