Wat-er you doing?

A house couple of blocks away is the cause of my annoyance these days. At the most ungodly hours of the day, sometimes during late afternoon, sometimes even later at night, the sound of water flowing down the terrace bothers me. This happens non-stop for about 30-40 minutes everyday. So what’s going on?

Nothing as significant as the water tank bursting. It seems the water tank overflows everyday and goes unnoticed at least for 30 minutes.

Now I have never really spotted anyone in the house. Sometimes when I spot the maid sweeping the marble floored balcony, I try shouting and signaling to her about the water overflowing, wondering how come I can hear the loud sound of water flowing 100 feet away and she, living in the same house, cannot. She gives me a blank expression most of the days, as if I have just asked her if she regularly watches porn on television. She stares at me blankly for a few seconds before she goes inside, dangling the broom in her hand.

I am told the owner of the house is a big shot, running several beedi factories.

I am told he owns multiple houses in the area, all three storied or more.

I am told the guy has strong political connections. He is even rumored to carry arms.

I am told he is a Bangladeshi [where Bangladeshi is a general term used for illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who make big money by unfair means and are trying to take over, a sharp contrast to the majority who live here and are tagged “bhadralok” with white collared jobs].

I guess I am being subtly hinted at not to mess with him.

I wonder why none of the so called white collared bhadraloks ever complain.

Dear beedi jalaile Bangladeshi owner of multiple homes, I don’t really care about what you do for a living. I don’t care whether you own a chain of beedi factories or carry arms and armaments. My intentions are pretty clear. First, I would like to box the ears of that maid who is hard of hearing and stares at me blankly whenever I try to tell her to switch off the water supply. And second, I would like to box your ears too, for being this careless, irresponsible brat who isn’t responsible enough to make arrangements so that water doesn’t keep overflowing and get wasted. What, are you shooting for tip tip barsa paani? Ever heard of words like civic sense, water scarcity, and basic sensibility?

The constant sound of water overflowing is more disturbing to me than watching Rakhi Sawant on television. What a sight it would be when you and your maid will hold ears and do sit ups in the middle of the road. Why didn’t anyone think of this plan to make careless people more aware?

Just because you don’t pay for water doesn’t mean it comes for free. It is for people like you that everyone of us is paying a price.

sunshine