Of the 'once upon a time' phase in my life. Of cupping our palms under a tap at school and tilting it just so, the cool water from the tap wetting the parched throat. Of standing in queue at railway stations impatiently waiting for our turn. Filling giant waterbottles for the journey till the next station, apprehensive that the train may leave without us.
And then because all good things must come to an end, bottled water and water filters made their appearance. Water could not be drunk without double boiling it or passing it through the RO process. It was a necessity. Mineral water became a must on everyone's table.
And with it the usage of plastic and waste grew.
This memory got placed in the 'once upon a time' slot in my mind. All it needed was a trigger to get it out. Which happened when I saw this
At Singapore
I used to love it when the boys would cup their hands under the tap and drink greedily. The water fountain required some practice, and it was fun to watch them trying to place the mouth just right, splashing themselves in the process. It was a luxury to not worry about the water being safe or unsafe, to drink water straight from the tap. It was nice to see something as basic as water being easily available to us, thanks to the government.
I'm glad that the boys got to try this simple pleasure even if it was for a short while; because, sadly, we are back to boiled and bottled water.
And this memory will slowly go the way most memories do, back in its slot, waiting for its next trigger.
24 comments:
You are so right. These days drinking water directly from taps is so unthinkable. Where ARE those days gone :-(
Lucky you could relive them in Sing! But yeah there are pluses and minuses of every place. I am sure we will soon be hearing good things about Doobai too ;-)
Ah ! Cupping hands and drinking straight from the tap is indeed a luxury !
And i got goosebumps reading your post. And thinking about the tap from which we used to drink water after our cricket game was up !!
There was an art. To cup the palms in a particular way and gulp the water down !
There was an art indeed !!! Lovely post !
:)
That would be one memory I would cherish if it were to be handed down to me...Now out here, I wonder even if the bottled water we get is safe enough :(
nopes, never done it in ages!:D
:( you took me back to the old days.. when we used to rush to the school tap after a game to drink water...
it is sad to see that with each generation, the innocent joys they enjoy are becoming less and less...
i still remember we bros filling the water buckets at home during summer due to shortage problem....such memories just stays on inside u:)
I cant connect to this memory in the sense of “oh yeah.i know…been there. done that”. ‘coz ..i hvn’t drank water from taps. No Never!
But the way u think abt it surely makes me feel like I did miss sumthing that would have been super fun!
hmm... been a long long time since i did that... :)
water taps in school and then all those water fights..
ah nostalgia...glad you brought those memories alive.
I've done that so many times and do it at work every day here in US :) I remember doing it on train stations...and I still do it when I go back home (India :)).....
I'm glad we think alike on this one :)
Lovely post!
This brought back so many memories. I still do that sometimes from the kitchen tap and water does taste different like that - a better different.
But can't do this when we go back to India anymore - I have become a stranger in my own land :(
great topic for the post..i think there are certain things which when revisited gives immense pleasure..I still drink water without boiling, or bottled water even in bangalore. I recently forces a water filter into my household..till then it was off the tap...
I kind of find water fountains funny..because it goes into my nose some times, and not a pretty sight let me tell you :)
That Syd pic...was it in the Botanical Gardens? I hv passed that tap so many times while my lunchtime walks :)
Memories..oyeah!
Keshi.
Indeed it is so replenishing to drink straight from a tap or from a water fountain. I did enjoy that pleasure in the US and now back to filtered water carried from home.
Hmmm.. never done that. :(
Apart from drinking from water coolers. But I guess that's not the same.
WIAN:
i'm sure i can find something to do in this sandy place :)
Kavi:
yes, as you said, there was an art to drinking this way..tilt it just right so that the water pours into the cupped palm and straight into the mouth...
Meira:
:) that shows how young you are :p
Prats:
that is so very sad isn't it, to worry about even the bottled water?
xh::
there are a few joys that need to be experienced to be treasured and i think this is one of them, esp since you cannot imagine doing this in India anymore
brocas:
:) i remember doing that in Chennai
Pavi!!!!
ah yes, esp when you come racing to the tap very very thirsty and greedily gulp straight from teh tap's mouth
Rayshma::
:) :) :)
Gazal:
what would we do without a little bit of nostalgia in our life?
Shachi::
i'm glad you do it in the uS but you still drink this way in india? ever since i got sick after drinking contaminated water, i'm extremely wary in India
pink dogwood::
lucky you! amd :( on the last statement
Rambler::
haha at teh last line...it happened to me too once and my younger boy most times
keshi:
yes, botanical gardens it was. wow, you work nearby?
Sumana:
it is such a lovely pleasure, isn't it?
Miss M:
no, its not teh same unless you want to bend down and try it :)
yes i do :) whether i drink from the tap or not I fall sick in India, so I eat n drink all junk I can - roadside pani puris, lemon soda, chaat, food on railway stations, food from train pantry - aah I miss all of it right now!!!!
Hey! Just wanted to drop a note about your previus post about your move - Enjoy your new place!
Well only time I drank straight from a 'tap' was at school but the water was filtered by aquagaurd so it was alright.
I don't think I'd ever drink directly from a tap - even though we sometimes see our maids drinking that way. Actually at home they get yelled at if they drink water from the tap - they are suppose to drink the filtered water like we do :) and one would always laugh it off and tell us 'oh what difference, ill go home and end up drinking tap water only'
Oh yes..the simple luxuries! As kids even we used to drink straight from tap.
Now after moving to UK my children are discovering the joys of it
Cheers
preeti
Ahhh! Tell me about it! The first time we visited India with Vansh, he fell terribly ill with an extremely lousy stomach bug and the doctor told us to not just give him boiled water (boil even the mineral water here, he said) but sterilize all his eating utensils by boiling them. Even I am so glad for the simple pleasure of being able to drink straight from the tap, albeit for a short while.
And now when the water in the overhead tanks and as a result the watre that flows from the taps gets too hot, we joke "Who says u get hot water 24 hours from the tap only in the US of A!"
Yes, very true...
your post brought my memories back to school days.... Water from tap after the cricket match and the whole shirt goes for a toss.. sigh
My dad asked me this as we toured India this time.. do you remember a time when there was no water to be bought? I honestly cant remember.. I have always bought water to drink!! Isn't that sad?
Shachi:
That sounds fun (the eating part) but its best to be safe...this gyan i learned the hard way!
Shails:
thank you so much :)
Deepali:
:)
they do have a point! and i was referring to drinking the water collected in the cupped palms...have you ever done that?
Preeti:
it is such a simple pleasure and as a parent quite a relief not to worry about how safe the water is...
Neera::
i can understand that...i remember when my sister's kids used to visit, the amount of trouble my father woul go through to make sure that their tiny stomachs could handle being in india :D
and had a big grin at the hot water statement!
CM-chap:
welcome back!
Preethi:
that is quite sad indeed! esp now that you've officially made me seem so much older than you :p
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