According to the Oxford Dictionary, dreams are “a series of events or pictures which happen in your mind when you are asleep.”, or, “something you want very much to happen, though it is not likely.” To the artisan, poetic community, ( who never has a straight mind about anything ) dreams are “a space of boundless imagination, a portal to the subconscious where desires, fears, or hidden truths can manifest through surreal imagery, allowing humans to implore deeper meanings beyond the physical world, often serving as a vehicle for personal refraction, social commentary, and creative expression.” Science says that they are the stage that occurs after the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) in your sleep. But the common man, the most straightforward and blunt humans of all, has, perhaps, has the most meaningful and excellent perspective of dreams being useless, weird movies you watch in the night and waste your time pondering over in the day. And recently, I had a dream that proved all these interpretations as true. In the sweltering March of 2024, after the REM stage (or whatever science calls it) I had a dream that I haven’t forgotten yet, and perhaps will never, even if I tried to.
In the quiet depths of my sleep, I found myself brushing. Yes, even in a dream I had to do the most monotonous things. As I put my glass forward towards the tap to fill it, expecting water to flow out, it didn’t (apparently, exam results are not the only things that I keep expectations from and get disappointed). Sighing, I tried to turn the tap on again. With my vain attempts failing as miserably as the UN’s peacekeeping forces, I was about to call my mother (who somehow has a solution to any problem under the Sun), I caught a drop of water struggling to reach out from the tightening hold of the tap. To my astonishment, the drop spoke.
DROP: “Hello there.”
I rubbed my eyes and tried to remember whether my gluttony had resulted in the consumption of something not-so-great-for-the-body-or-mind yesterday. I was having strange visions!
Me: “Um, hello?”
I felt as though I had either gotten a wrong number or prank call on the telephone at this point. Perhaps those wild berries we stole from Anu Auntie’s garden and ate yesterday were not such a good idea. I instantly started believing in Karma.
DROP: “Thousands have lived without love, but not one without me.”
And my teacher cannot live without scolding me for one thing or the other.
Me: “I’m not in the mood for a lecture; I get enough of that before going to take a shower. Besides, I may be perceived as mentally ill talking to a drop. My friends are debating on whether to get me tested.”
DROP: “Hush! Listen if you want to, and if you don’t, I couldn’t care less. Have you ever imagined life without me? The rivers run dry, the skies turn barren, and life as we know it vanishes. I, the silent hero of life, have shaped history and sparked revolutions—just as it quenched the thirst of Bhisma Pitamah on his bed of arrows.”
I rolled my eyes. I had no idea that even water could be this bossy and a mighty show-off. Either it ignored my condescending or offending gesture, or it pretended not to hear me, I cannot be sure. Either way, it continued as though I never interrupted.
DROP: Lying on a bed of arrows, one of the greatest characters in Mahabharata – Bhisma Pitamah’s parched lips, cracked by the agony of war, implores the heavens for relief. The only solution for a dry throat is me. I, despite being lifeless, possess the power to sustain the lives of millions. For the skylark, there is water in the Arcturus stars; for Vedic rituals and ceremonies, there is the holy water of the Ganges; and when we are exhausted, those two sips of water are nothing less than nectar.
My interest was aroused. The little drop did have a point (unlike me in table tennis).
DROP: When people living on different islands were not introduced to each other yet, courageous sailors such as Vasco-Da-Gama, Marco-Polo, and Columbus connected us through sea routes. Sea routes laid the foundation of Global Trade. I balance the environment and generate oxygen as well. This is the major reason why I am unique and incomparable to any liquid on Earth. They say that I have memory (and not just in Frozen II). Just as Vasco da Gama’s voyages on me connected the world, a single drop of me today connects our past, present, and future. Keeping nature’s special gift – clean and drinkable me safe, is not only your ethical duty, but also the need of the hour.
I stared in amusement at the petite little drop. From one so puny, these were mighty words indeed!
Today, water carries not just life but our hope for the future. Yet, we have turned this elixir into a crisis. Let us act now, for tomorrow, no sip of water, no rainstorm, no ocean will be left to tell our story. If we fail to act soon, Earth without water will eventually become a planet without life.
DROP: I think we don’t want this beautiful planet turned into a graveyard, do we, human? Farewell, oh Homo sapien! Goodbye and hope to see you in the future (quite literally)!
As my tiny Hydrogen Dioxide uttered these words, water came gushing out into my glass. Remembering his words, I immediately turned off the tap and carefully poured out only little water for myself.
I woke up startled. Blinking and rubbing my eyes, I looked around myself. I had truly learned something. We humans know the problem and the solution very well, but we are just too lazy to enact it. Breathing a sigh of relief, I slowly put on my slippers. We were not out of water after all. Just then, I saw a notification on my phone.
(Beep Beep) – LIVE, BEE NEWS: Bangalore residents line up around dispensing units as Silicon Valley faces Water Crisis
Heart thumping against my ribs and sweat beads forming on my forehead; I nervously looked around to the sink, where I brushed every day. My sister, holding the toothpaste tube, called out to my mom, sounding irked. “Mom, none of the taps are working at home.”
“Water, oh life-giving stream,
A treasure that’s beyond all dreams,
From river to well, tap to bottle,
A journey of change that’s full throttle.”
March, 2025
