Tap Water fights

a.k.a kuzhai adee chandai
Most of you will be unfamiliar to this scene so I will elaborate as best as I can. Many years while growing up we lived outside of singara chennai. These places did not provide drinking water in the taps. So we would either collect from a tap where water would come at a designated time or from a special lorry (or should I say Truck) which will come for this purpose. Both follow the same routine,so let me share my lorry story.Water would come on one or maybe if we are lucky 2 designated days of the week.Most of the time they keep to a time schedule with a + or - four hour difference.The aim was to fill as many containers as one can and stock up on water. Towards collecting this water all our houses will have extra stainless steel kudams (if wealth permitted ) or for the most part brass pots and plastic pots and then the "drums". Most of us had the same strategy. We would have our "drums", which are tall containers capacity to hold huge amounts of water, inside the house preferably in kitchen or near bathroom areas.

The excitement or shall i call it tension will start as soon as we wake up. Our mother would remind us "Its water day" really there was no need to remind us since the water ration was growing smaller or shorter in stock. So one of us would always be on the lookout for the water lorry. Mostly came in around noon - 2 p.m. As soon as lorry walla was cited there would first be a yell "lorry is here" and then running sound of feet. Always on lorry day there willbe a minimum of 2 pots if not more stocked near our front entrance. So the person citing the lorry would run (Imagine I too did run!!) out the door clutching the 2 pots. Already by magic a line would have formed. And trust me in this desperation people did stick to the lines and any breakages would involved loud banter and the inevitable madras language scoldings,so better stay in line with the pots. But there would be the few servant maids who were intent on breaking line so a big, Imean BIG fight will ensue.

OMG really no fight is comparison to this fights almost always between the servant maids. I have seen this fight even near municipal tap water stations too. Sometimes this fight will be so engrossing that many a family member would forget to catch water in their turn and so would have to miss theit turn. Meanwhile if one of us did catch our 2 pots of water, more ammunition will be added to line by family member bringing in more pots. Each family will have one or two ladies and then young boys brothers and such will also come out to help.If we are lucky our servant maid will stay to help. Now, 2 pots would be filled at one time so as soon as your 2 pots are filled you moved, so the next person could keep their 2 in line to be filled. Leaving your family member in line read mother, I will rush back to fill the drum and then be back to stand in line while mother filled hers.

This would go on for sometime till the lorry driver yells "Its time" or "Its enough" and closed the tap and moved on. Amidst the loud noisy complaints from all that "its not enough"!! We would all come back and inspect our stock and supply for a week. We would then have to start with the cleaning since we rushed back and forth we would have spilt so much water on the floors.

Then we would all sit down and have tea and compare notes about who tried to break line and who tried to get an extra pot and who sloshed us with their pot and such. Also to look at how many pot have been damaged by someone fighting with us. Many a time our pots would get totally smashed in and family elders would evaluate the need of buying a new pot,which would never happen.If anyone ever had this experience do share. For those who did'nt have or think this as Dutch, let me know I'll elaborate some more.