I'm back to the narration about the roadwork in front of my house. Mistakes have been rectified as the all pervading slush, that made vehicular movements virtually impossible yesterday, has been layered with another round of rock flakes and the accompanying powder, with minimal amount of water. The road roller was run over the surface in the aftermath and it now appears to be a neat work.
As the operations were winding down, Satish, one of the boys of the team had asked my permission to wash himself down at the garden tap in my courtyard. He was the communicator on behalf of the others who're labourers from Tamilnadu. We'd kept a steady stream of fresh water running for them - both at room temperature and chilled - throughout the day so that they could take some respite from the heat and in the process, I'd got to be friendly with the young man.
I'd agreed to his request with a rider, in that, he should use up the water in the container beside the tap and to avoid using the running water. Running water had the tendency of getting over utilised - a tremendous loss in the present circumstances when the water level in the well was being watched with a lot of trepidation! The moment I'd uttered those words, the smiling visage of Satish - that I'd got accustomed through the day - seemed to change and did I see a look of betrayal instead? I could imagine his anguish on hearing me:-
(a) we'd been working all day long for his benefit and the guy doesn't even have the decency to provide
water for cleaning up. So what if a little water gets wasted in the process?
(b) only running water can effectively remove the dirt off my body and why doesn't this guy understand
this basic tenet?
He and his friends did use up the water from the container to clean themselves up despite their initial reservations.
Tailpiece.
Looking back at the episode, Satish's look continued to haunt me. Wasn't I being unnecessarily harsh? So what if a bit of water had gone waste? Heavens would not have fallen down. And something, deep within, says that I could have been more magnanimous!
Apologies, Satish for my churlishness, miserliness and selfishness.
As the operations were winding down, Satish, one of the boys of the team had asked my permission to wash himself down at the garden tap in my courtyard. He was the communicator on behalf of the others who're labourers from Tamilnadu. We'd kept a steady stream of fresh water running for them - both at room temperature and chilled - throughout the day so that they could take some respite from the heat and in the process, I'd got to be friendly with the young man.
I'd agreed to his request with a rider, in that, he should use up the water in the container beside the tap and to avoid using the running water. Running water had the tendency of getting over utilised - a tremendous loss in the present circumstances when the water level in the well was being watched with a lot of trepidation! The moment I'd uttered those words, the smiling visage of Satish - that I'd got accustomed through the day - seemed to change and did I see a look of betrayal instead? I could imagine his anguish on hearing me:-
(a) we'd been working all day long for his benefit and the guy doesn't even have the decency to provide
water for cleaning up. So what if a little water gets wasted in the process?
(b) only running water can effectively remove the dirt off my body and why doesn't this guy understand
this basic tenet?
He and his friends did use up the water from the container to clean themselves up despite their initial reservations.
Tailpiece.
Looking back at the episode, Satish's look continued to haunt me. Wasn't I being unnecessarily harsh? So what if a bit of water had gone waste? Heavens would not have fallen down. And something, deep within, says that I could have been more magnanimous!
Apologies, Satish for my churlishness, miserliness and selfishness.
No comments:
Post a Comment