I am in Himachal Pradesh, in Jagjitnagar, Solan district. Living in the midst of hills... and water isn’t at easy disposal here.
Now that’s where the hand pump comes in.. its located like 10 steps away from where the campus of the SUTRA (Social Uplift Through Rural Action), the organisation where I am interning and staying. Now here’s the catch.. One would expect that when u pump, water comes out, coz that's how it normally works right?! But the deal here is that this pump doesn’t oblige to all the pumping and only yields when the person pumping is pure in his/her intent.. nah! I’m just kidding. So here’s lesson one- perseverance. One has to pump for at least a good 20 mins before signs of the precious liquid are visible, on good days. On others, by the time you’ve filled a bucket, you have no energy left even to bathe.
Now I get up and head to the hand pump for a mug of water to brush my teeth. Here i meet a young boy living nearby, a school going kid who’s in his early teens. He generally is sitting there with a can or two for the family’s morning chores, i guess. I don’t know his name, we do no small talk but there is what can be called ‘hand pump camaraderie’ between us. The first time I encountered him; he was sitting there and seemed to be waiting. Lesson two-patience! The boy knows that after a certain volume, one can only draw out water after waiting for a while. Save the effort and wait.
Lesson three- kindness towards the less able. In the current scenario, that's me! This little kid from the Badoh village is kind enough to let me have a go at the hand pump when he deems that it’ll yield. Yes, even when he has been waiting there before I appear with my tooth brush and bucket. Even when I , as an outsider, am encroaching on the resource is which is scarce in these hills.He has enough insight to realise that this girl can only about manage to pump out a bucket if the conditions are most favourable. And the girl is much grateful to him. So when I step out of the bed and reluctantly leave the warmth of the blanket, the hand pump provides the necessary support.. pump away pump away... water for starting another day! And last but not the least, lesson four- making do with the least! Yeah its real cold here alright and one can very well sit in the land of taps and water heaters and judge me, but bathing alternate days saves a lot of water and... erm effort!
