Cast(e) Iron

KENKU, 50, hurries back to her hut after drawing about eight buckets of water. While she was drawing the precious liquid from the depths of the heated bowels of Rajasthan's dry earth, six other women had kept her company, vigorously drawing their own share of water.
Kenku rushes back to apply ointment over the burnt skin of her neighbour's son. The little boy, who constantly cries in pain, has sustained severe burns after a pot of boiling milk fell on his right leg.
His mother is probably kilometres away, working at a construction site. Medical facilities are scarce, which has worsened the wound. Water is scarce too, forcing Kenku to ration the quantity of water she can use to regularly clean the wound.
In Ramdev Nagar village in western Barmer, water is a precious commodity carefully utilised for drinking, cooking and feeding cattle, but seldom for cleaning and washing.
In the Sheo constituency's Thar desert pocket, Ramdev Nagar, located in Rohidaala gram panchayat, showcases the severe water crisis afflicting Rajasthan's more densely populated pockets.
Desperate cries for water begin before the break of dawn and continue till noon. Groups of women in and around villages, to date, walk for hours to fetch water.
The bedis (borewell) built by the government dry up in summer. The tanka constructed for holding rainwater are often caked with silt deposits, which make water unpalatable in the hot season, when the tank runs shallow.
The big tanks, built at a few kilometres' distance, often run dry as authorities fail to replenish them. Reverse Osmosis machines with instructive government slogans on the importance of water, lie locked up in a state of disuse. Walking to the neighbouring village-dominated by upper-castes-for water, too poses another set of caste-oriented challenges.
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin November 21, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin November 21, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap

Coding Careers Climb, Consistently
As digital disruption accelerates, Outlook examines how a premier tech institute is changing the game with steady placement growth and sectoral shifts

Shaping Tomorrow's Leaders
Sri Siddhartha Academy of Higher education: pioneering teamwork and collaboration, offering a transdisciplinary approach for medical, engineering, and management students and research scholars

Building Leaders Through Innovative Education
PIMR Indore is nurturing innovative business leaders, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, policymakers, and agents of social change through research-driven and globally aligned transformative education

Big Dreams, Thin Cast
While India is expanding its foreign service to reflect its evolving role in the world order, it continues to be dwarfed by the diplomatic missions of China and other countries in both size and skill

Engineering Futures
Despite global economic challenges, a premier Indian engineering institute showcases its resilience with robust placement outcomes. Outlook takes a look

Education and Employability
In an ever-evolving employment landscape, Outlook examines a historic Indian university that demonstrates adaptability and growth through its placement outcomes

Shaping Agile Leaders
IMT Ghaziabad achieving excellence and nurturing leadership through knowledge, innovation, tech-readiness, entrepreneurial mindset and sustainability

From placements to Propel'ments
Rather than chasing a dwindling pool of entry-level jobs, young Indians can become creators and deployers of AI solutions that radically boost productivity across sectors

Speak, Memory
V.D. Savarkar is everywhere—in and outside the Andaman Cellular Jail—while the contributions of other revolutionaries who were imprisoned there receive little attention

KIET Flies High in Campus Placement
KIET Group of Institutions, Delhi-NCR, Ghaziabad with an impressive alumni strength of over 20000 students, speaks volumes of its popularity as a hiring campus for top global and Indian companies that abound in Delhi-NCR region