Rajendra Singh is a well-known water conservationist from Jaipur. He has worked in the Alwar district, Rajasthan for many years. Also known as the “Waterman of India,” he won the Stockholm Water Prize, an award known as “the Nobel Prize for water,” in 2015.

He won this prestigious award for his innovative water restoration efforts, improving water security in rural India and for his extraordinary courage and determination in his quest to boost the living conditions of those most in need.

I often think about how much fatigue those women go through after walking 15 kilometers in the scorching heat, only for water; about the broken dreams of young girls who drop out from schools; and about those families who lost their only breadwinner. We forget to value water living in the city. You’d say, “Water tanker hai naa?”

At JWB, we believe that the water crisis is real, and something needs to be done about it pronto. To learn more about it, we spoke to Mr. Rajendra Singh.

The Meeting That Changed Everything

I am not a water scientist or an engineer. I am an Ayurveda doctor. When I left Jaipur to settle in the Alwar district, I saw that only the old people made up most of the town’s population. All youngsters had left the city because there was no water and barely any scope for growth and prosperity of business. There were malnutrition and night blindness amongst the residents of the area. It was all because of the lack of nutrition. So, I started practicing there and cured many.

One day, I met the old man, who visited me for treatment. He said, “Rajendra, I feel well now, but you haven’t done the right thing.” I was shocked and asked him, “Why?” He said, “Now I’ll have to travel 15 kilometers every single day to get water for my survival. You’ve made my life full of worries and tension. If I had died, my soul would’ve been carefree, and I wouldn’t have been a burden to Mother Earth. Do you still think you’ve done a good thing?” The wise man added, “Stop cursing the other patients and me and start healing the Earth because that is the only solution to save humanity. We are suffering because our planet is suffering.”

The Earth Has Fever

Today, there are at least 13 states in India that are facing severe drought. It’s like the earth has the fever now. The weather has changed. Because of this, the clouds are banging into one another and bursting. There’s drought everywhere. In India, from Kedarnath to Kashmir, there never was the drought in the mountains, yet now there’s a water crisis in states and cities where you hadn’t expected it to occur before.

The idea of possessing anything and everything is making us greedy. Even those who used to protect nature are being allured towards exploiting it. Why? Because they’re being asked the question, “Are you satisfied with your life?” And so, everybody strives to have a lavish lifestyle now.

Farmers and villagers from small towns shift to bigger cities in the hope of being provided with water. This is because they have no water to cook food or even live their daily lives normally. This is a horrible situation.

We, humans, have taken so much from nature that if we still keep making from it, exploiting it and polluting it then soon living will be a challenge for all beings.

Sustainable Agriculture Is A Solution

Nobody tells us about the crisis our changed lifestyles cause. For instance, last year in ‘Latoor’ there were good rains in comparison to the average rains in India, yet they are suffering from a drought. This is due to the harmful crop cycle and plant type that are being grown in the area. They have many sugar cane factories. Sugar cane requires a lot of water to grow healthy. This is why farmers need to practice sustainable agriculture to provide the long-term livelihood for themselves and future generations.

Lead To Manage

There is a difference between managers and leaders. Managers are those that control everything around them whereas real leaders create things. They ensure progress without destruction. Thus, everybody should become leaders. We need to initiate love and respect for nature.

There was a time in India when “neer, naari and nadi” were respected. Water, women and rivers were believed to be our life. Can we bring it back?

 

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