Shorter bucket bath, anyone?

Lalita Iyer Musings

While various countries are playing astounding football at the FIFA World Cup in the USA, I am sitting at home tossing a coin over whether I should take a bath. Mind you, I am just being a good citizen. With an acute water shortage and a trickling monsoon, skipping a bath feels like an act of pure civic duty.

Luckily, I have never been fond of the ritual. It is exhausting, a chore, and after all that soap and shampoo, nothing changes in the looks or fat department. The entire concept of an urban shower is a gross waste of water. An eye-opening moment occurred the other day when my building's water suddenly cut off, leaving me to bathe with a barely half-full bucket. It was perfectly clean and satisfactory. It is time for us "urbanites" to ditch the showers and tubs entirely.

Meanwhile, I do not want to water down the seriousness of the looming crisis. With El Niño strengthening in the Pacific, India’s monsoon is weakening, with nationwide rainfall hovering at a scary 35% below normal.

Should we be worried? Absolutely. Every state government, in the name of development, cuts down trees, constructs flyovers, and sanctions taller buildings while rivers run bone dry. Yet, ironically, a single slight drizzle or a brief storm leaves the entirety of Hi-Tech City in Hyderabad completely underwater. Traffic comes to a standstill, leaving us staring at a sea of expensive, large cars submerged in deep water for hours.

Governments must urgently pivot to basic conservation: fixing massive pipeline leaks, enforcing rainwater harvesting, and prioritizing groundwater recharge before the monsoon hits. Why isn't silt managed? Why aren't canals cleaned? Do we really need grand mega-infrastructure undertakings, like the Musi River project, just to handle basic cleanup? Why are roads routinely dug up right before the rains arrive?

Our "young and dynamic" Chief Minister needs a serious reality check. He reads out polished PR scripts claiming Hyderabad is the best-planned metro, entirely blind to the pathetic condition of the roads and the grueling traffic jams. He should be brought out for a ride during peak hours on a drizzly day—just a slight drizzle, of course, as we wouldn't want him falling sick.

We talk endlessly about climate change, yet we ignore the wisdom left by our ancients. Restoring old water systems, like our historic baolis (stepwells), must happen immediately.

I recently read a telling note by climate specialist Divya Gupta, who quoted her grandmother: "When jamun trees shed fruits in abundance during summer, that year is usually a drought year."

The jamuns are indeed plentiful and bloody expensive this season. If this is our sign of a drought, we must brace for a dry future.

My advice? Take a shorter bucket bath, add a dollop of alcohol to your drinking water for optimum hydration, and stay safe.

– Lalita Iyer 

  Senior Journalist