Cricket

"Here, I've got the ball" said the kid. 

"Shall we go home ? It's late. Look! " said another. 

In a huge zig-zag line, mothers, daughters and sons were lined up,carrying huge containers with them, slowly moving ahead. The other kids went their homes with only sourav left, waving his bat in air. He went to his sister and mother and when their turn came, helped them lift their containers on their head and moved along with them towards their home. It was 9:30 in the night. It was dinner time but home would take half an hour more to reach. Till then they had to keep walking. Mind you! Water must be conserved! because it was the most precious resource and more so due to it's inaccessibility to them. It was a daily routine for Malhanji family and others like them. They would come from distances 2-3-4 kms apart to the water manufacturing plant where they would collect their daily share of water and carry on with their lives. Yes, water was manufactured here using sea water by adding a few chemicals in it, thereby making it drinkable. Not every city could boast of such a facility.

Thud! loud noise of bucket falling to the ground. Sourav in his innocent waving of the bat had tossed Ramya's bucket aside. 

"Told you to be careful, but you won't listen" Slap Slap. "Move you two"-said the policeman in charge. People went past them.

"Sorry ma" 

"Your bat needs to be put away"

"No ma, please, please I'll keep it at home, I won't bring it to play again, I promise ma. Please don't take the bat from me"

Tears rolled down his eyes as they strolled silently in the night. Nobody spoke a word after that. 

Radhakrishnapur had towering apartments, servants' quarters and a separate area for the poor and homeless. There was a Water department where Sourav's mother used to sell tea to the officers sitting there, deciding on the just distribution of water among the masses. It's a bit ironical that same water was used in their cups for which people had to travel several kilometers, taking pains to transport it, like it meant all their lives to them. It indeed did!

The officers, they had piped connection in their homes 24×7 for which they paid a hefty sum annually. They didn't have to worry much. 

Water, has become scarce now, so scarce that 90 percent of India has lost direct connection to fresh water and depends on the government or others for their fulfillment. 

The whole country is suffering in the aftermath of the water-table crisis in which water table slowly got depleted from the rocks coupled by meagre or no rainfall which could replenish it. The water which was left was restricted to agricultural work and couldn't be used otherwise. Moreover sea water has made inroads into the underground acquifers rendering them useless. Several fights have taken place over who has rights over which place but it only meant chaos for several years.

Families like malhanji were used to it now. They have been doing it for past 20 years. It's 2050 and water table crashed way back in 2030 . 

"Ma what do we eat today? "

"Mashed potatoes and roti"

"But we eat that everyday"

"We are fortunate that we can eat. After your baba's demise it has been very hard on me"

"But, my friends, they have biryani..... Ok ma let's eat"

"They are not your friends, they are sons of babus and they have a lot of money! " said his mother, turning chapatis on the stove and putting them on a plate. 

Ramya and Sourav ate silently in the dim light of the bulb, their mouths, the only thing that made noise. Sourav went to sleep thinking about people in the apartments. How great their lives must be! They don't have to line up at the plant to fetch water, they have all the water they need. One day, he would have his house on 25th floor. He would travel in a lift. He would also have a dog and nickname him 'puppy'. Sometimes in the evening he would come out to play cricket in the ground with other kids. He would bring his own ball and gloves. He would remove the 'leg before wicket' rule though. He wasn't too fond of that one because it involved cheating. Mother and daughter have already slept after a tiring day. They need to wake up early tomorrow. Ramya would fetch milk while her mother would light the firewood. She would carry the tea-pot to the office where her husband once worked. She would serve the tea hot in clay cups as they liked. Clay just added a different flavour to the tea, they said. 20₹ per glass multiplied by 20 staffs would make it 400 for a day. For a 6 day week that's 2400 rupees. But the policeman demanded 1000 rupees each month from her as protection allowance. Maybe she was better without it.

' Residents of Radhakrishnapur, as a representative of your locality, I can proudly say that we have made a great stride forward. In 2050-Gujarat, ours is one of the most developed localities and today I have a great news for you. People no longer need to wait for nightfall to fetch water. Keeping in mind the safety of women,the plant shall open from 6pm tomorrow onwards. Friends, don't worry, as I have promised, each and every citizen shall get piped water in his home in a couple of years. Stay with me as I make your dream come true. Water must be conserved!...... '

It went on for another 19 minutes. It was a video playing on Sourav's phone. He watched these videos as his mother had told him to. There was a local leader giving a speech on his promises. He switched off the phone and kept it aside. All he thought was that from tomorrow he might have to leave his matches. He would have to be present in a different field queued up to a different task. His team mates would be his mother, daughter and all the people from his slum.