Water

So much of India is preoccupied with getting enough water. We're waiting for the monsoon, which is overdue to hit the west coast. Every day meteorologists tell us that the signs for its onset are favourable, or less favourable. The papers carry pictures of cracked reservoir beds, and, in the cities, bright plastic pots lined up waiting for the water lorry.

Our well water is brackish, we can use it only for the garden. The groundwater is becoming saline as the water table sinks because of overuse, and sea water presses in. But we are lucky: fresh water is coming through the pipes now, after ten years when we had to buy it by the truckload. This water comes from the neighbouring state, which is also awaiting the monsoon. There is continuing tension among the states over how their river water should be divided. Sometimes politicians decide to cut it off, because of pressure from their farmers.

The state of Gujerat is not as lucky as we are. I found this photograph of a well in Natwarghad, by Amit Dave for Reuters, wonderful and terrifying:

I fear that within my lifetime we will all be struggling for a place around a well, peering desperately into the earth.

On a happier note, here are two Indian English words that I like very much. One is dying or dead, but the other has great potential:

to airdash - example: The governor airdashed to Delhi for an emergency meeting with the Prime Minister. (With air travel increasingly common, the sense of urgency and power that this verb once conveyed has gone. I haven't seen it in the newspaper for a long time.)

to prepone - example: The Friday meeting has been preponed to Thursday morning. (This word is succinct and useful. It deserves a place in English languages everywhere. I urge everyone who reads this to adopt it and help it grow.)