Water

Wasn’t it Archimedes who yelled Eureka Eureka while taking a bath because some valuable information had dawned onto him? This valuable information consisted of a way to find out the weight of the king’s crown. I believe it isn’t only Archimedes who came up with solutions or problems. I bet many other inventors and innovators too came up with stuff whilst under the shower. Water is naturally a coolant. The mere sight of a river or a sea immediately calms us down. It’s no wonder that people get brilliant ideas when under a shower.  I’m not a discoverer or a scientist. But being with water made me realize something. What if there was no water in today’s world? Imagine that. No water. A cold shudder creeps up my spine.

It is estimated that by 2020, the average water supply per person worldwide will be a third smaller than now. Imagine having to limit flushing the loo. Imagine having to do it once per day! Imagine having to recycle the water we use to wash ourselves and then to wash our cloths. The scenarios can go on and on until it reaches the very extreme. And what’s more petrifying is that all of these changes could be very well felt in another year or two or even sooner. I’m not kidding or making things up. Planet Earth could very well survive a few months without oil, but without water? I doubt we will last more than 2 weeks.  The oil peak has allowed the water crisis to be unnoticed and under the radar for some time now. When we think of a water crisis- if we think of it at all-we think of a foreign problem. We live in an island surrounded by water. We cannot possible run out of water, right? WRONG. Reality is, we can and will eventually run out of water. UNLESS we do something about it.

The other day I was observing my aunt in the cuisinier doing the dishes when I noticed that she collected the water she had used to wash the dishes and believe it or not wobbled her way towards the front door approximately 10 feet away, straight out the door and poured it onto her flower bed. At the time I saw no sense in this action as it only made her work even more complicated. Some would even find this action amusing or preposterous. Going all that way to pour water to those plants which had already been watered (using water from the well, mind you) made no practical sense as the plants weren’t in any immediate danger of withering away. When questioned of her motives she explained to me that she believed wasting the precious water down the drain rather than using it for some purpose was useful and worthwhile. I also noticed that she was trying to use the minimum amount of water while washing. Wasn’t it our King Parakramabahu who said that “No drop of water shall flow to the sea without being used”?

I won’t point out benefits of water or how our future will be without it. Everyone is already aware of these obvious details. But what about the little changes we ourselves can do in our households? The first step would be to STOP WASTING WATER! Without just throwing pure unused water down the drain, collect it to be used in other purposes such as washing or cleaning. Even turning the tap off while brushing teeth or while scrubbing cutlery is supportive. There can be countless other ways of contributing.

I’ve even seen one “innovation” installed in popular restaurants and companies. This contraption has no regulator allowing the water to flow EVEN after we’ve done using it. Why? Because it’s supposed to “ease” our lives by shutting itself down, thereby over estimating the need for water. I mean, how hard can it be to turn the tap off manually? I would really love to meet the bright spark who invented it.

This is NOT a “one man’s fight” this is for us all. It will not be easy with the busy and demanding life styles we lead. However small or useless or insignificant it may seem, if you think your actions will result in the slightest change, “Go for it!” You may not see the results in a few days and your efforts may not be felt as though it made great difference. But this “tiny” or “insignificant” change may very well be the “giant step for mankind”. You will feel the change taking place in yourself and trust me; this feeling, this sensation of doing what’s right however hard or complex it seems, is worth it.

It’s like how Mahatma Gandhi said. “Be the change you want to see in the world” maybe we can’t all be Mahatma Gandhi s. But we CAN try. We can try to make a difference.