Are you awake?

Isn't it annoying when someone wakes you up from your slumber and asks you, 'are you awake?'. 'No dude, I am just practising how to play dead'. This is the most sarcastic reply I have ever read in a meme. What if you are functional and doing some regular stuff, then someone comes and ask you a similar question, what will be your answer? 'Can't you see?', 'What sort of silly questions is this?' and other variations of these statements would be the probable answer. Well, some people can get creative as well :D. What did I do when I was asked this question?

I was in the cab, going to work when the RJ on the radio asked the same question. I rolled my eyes, smirked and thought, ' Hello! It is a weekday, people are supposed to go to work'. Then he continued, ' Do you know Delhi's groundwater will get exhausted by 2020? We have just 150 days of groundwater left'. Just then, my cab mate shrieked, not because of the revelation on the radio but because of the pond of water which caused the traffic jam ahead due to rain. 'How can we possibly run out of groundwater when we get enough rains to create a swimming pool on roads?', she shuddered. I couldn't logically answer her at that moment. All I could say, "Something needs to be done". "What can you do about this water logging? It is perhaps the government who should have planned the drainage system well. There would be many people out there thinking about what can be done while having their taps on during brushing of their teeth. How would you stop them?". "By scaring them", I said with a wicked smile. "Can you please explain?", she asked, already scared by the look on my face.

This is what followed, "I watched a  series a few days ago on a friend's suggestion. Although that series is a mixed bag of powerful messages and fiction, the water crisis scared me to hell. Just imagine potable water is a luxury which only a few could afford. Clouds are building up, but before you find shelter it rains and your clothes get stained as if you walked out of the coal factory. While you are walking and you just wish to wash away the sweat off your face, you stop by a public tap, only to find sewage water flowing out of it. Imagine using the same water used by others for bathing. We do have swimming pools, but what if that water has not been cleaned for long and you see moss growing on the walls of the tub. Gross right?  If this doesn't give you goosebumps, then go and watch the series, the visuals definitely will. If we continue the way we do now, that fiction may soon turn into reality. In fact, Chennai is already facing the crisis, only God knows what will follow."

"So you are suggesting that watching a series would solve a problem?", she laughed. "No, spreading the message across in a scary way will surely wake them up. Because people may not know how to live, but they certainly do not want to die."

PS: Just in case I awakened you, please contribute to saving groundwater. Here is what you can do at your end: https://www.groundwater.org/action/home/top10.html