Water Stories

Various teenage girls have written stories about their relation with water. They also write about their observations and the situations they witness. Rekha describes one of her observations: when it comes to water, people don't care much about tradition and customs.

When it comes to water, there are no customs, traditions or veils. It is the penetrating sound of the tanker’s horn, which makes people run from hither and thither for water. It seems as if time has stopped: everything revolves around water - buckets, vessels, bottles, jerry cans have to be filled as fast as possible, before the tanker leaves. At this particular moment people don’t think of any customs or traditions. People rush from the narrow alleys to fetch water. A man comes running while tying his lungi (sarong) around his waist. Another woman shouts, "fill my bucket, fill my bucket"! She hasn’t groomed herself with sindoor, a symbol for marriage. Girls have stripped up their salwar’s and churidar’s. Other women have forgotten to cover their heads…all because of the sake of water!

Lipika Bansal