One of my serious pet peeves is water wastage! I grew up in countries where water was scarce, and I appreciate every drop of water! Water is easily wasted without us realising. Longer than necessary showers, running taps as we brush our teeth, washing cars when they are not dirty, and a Malaysian idiosyncrasy – washing the driveway (sometimes daily!). In Southeast Asia, Malaysia has a higher consumption of water per capita.

I remember as a young girl in India, taps running dry quite often. Then in Kura, Northern Nigeria, water was precious. It was dry with few water sources. Boreholes (groundwater) were the main way to source water. But our borehole was running dry, and a new borehole was not yet located. The pump to get the water out of the borehole had issues too. Either there was no diesel to operate it or it broke down. You get the picture.

We did not have water on tap for 3-4 days at times! BUT we managed. I learned to appreciate every drop I used.

I go to my neighbourhood café occasionally and this week I went to meet a friend over tea. Whilst sitting there I noticed the communal tap was leaking (not dripping) even when turned off. Restaurants in Malaysia have a tap for customers to wash their hands before and after eating. Hands are tools for eating. As we were paying, I highlighted it to the manager.

To which he replied, “you are the 99th person to tell me”. I went on to ask him if he had organised help or tried to fix it. He wasn’t forthcoming with specifics. At this point I mentioned that if he had a wrench, I could attempt to fix it. From the visuals, it seemed like the washer needed replacing. (I do minor plumbing fixes in my home especially leaking taps and water closets). But something told me this leak would need a bit more effort. And my intuition was that the tap would not be fixed soon.

I left the restaurant but could not forget the leaking tap. I considered going back with a wrench or asking my plumber to have a look at it. I called my plumber, but he was busy that day and I had appointments to get to. The manager seemed so disinterested, but I felt something had to be done.

It wasn’t about the manager, the restaurant, or me. It was about WATER wastage.

I couldn’t get the leaking tap out of my mind. I was keen to swing by and see if it had been fixed. My schedule the next day did not permit a recce but I went back 2 days later. I was silently hoping to find the tap fixed but as I drove past the restaurant, I noticed that the tap was still leaking.

I went in and this time I spotted the owner of the restaurant and spoke with him. He said that they were going to move to a new location in a week and were leaving the tap problem to the next tenant. I thought this was bizarre. Luckily his partner heard the conversation and said that he tried looking for the supply tap but could not find it to turn the supply off and fix the tap. I wasn’t convinced. I chatted further with both and prepared to leave. As I was leaving, I spotted 3 supply taps. The co-owner was with me, and he said he had tried them all. I still wasn’t convinced but wasn’t sure how to help. I left feeling a little disappointed. I wanted to try all the supply taps myself!

Water is a metaphor in my article this week.

Where in your work or life is ‘water’ (precious resources) being wasted? Either by you or others around you. Sometimes others become immune to the wastage and a different set of eyes (yours) could help.

It may not be easy or comfortable to address wastage but the outcome, directly or indirectly, matters.

We so easily fall into the usual paradigms:

1.      It’s not our problem – it doesn’t impact us directly (or so we think)

2.      Someone else can fix it – why should we?

3.      If we ignore it long enough it may fix itself – we hope

Raising awareness is a good start and it starts with us.

Because if nothing changes nothing changes.

As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com

ps. I plan to swing by the restaurant in a day or two. I want to know where the supply tap is! I shall let you know.