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By:

Rajeev Kejriwal

26 April 2026 at 1:28:42 pm

The forgotten music of water

Every civilization has a sound. We hear it every day. Perhaps that is why we have forgotten to listen. Some announce themselves with the clang of industry, the whistle of trains, the restless murmur of cities that never seem to sleep. Some are remembered through the songs they sang or the monuments they left behind. Yet beneath every anthem composed by human hands flows an older music that is quieter, gentler, eternal. It is the music of water. It begins as rain, knocking softly upon...

The forgotten music of water

Every civilization has a sound. We hear it every day. Perhaps that is why we have forgotten to listen. Some announce themselves with the clang of industry, the whistle of trains, the restless murmur of cities that never seem to sleep. Some are remembered through the songs they sang or the monuments they left behind. Yet beneath every anthem composed by human hands flows an older music that is quieter, gentler, eternal. It is the music of water. It begins as rain, knocking softly upon waiting roofs, each drop carrying the scent of a thirsty earth and the promise of another season. It laughs through mountain streams with the impatience of childhood, gathers dignity as rivers widen, and then slips beneath the soil like an old sage choosing silence over speech. Before a single drop reaches the tap in our homes, it has wandered through wandering clouds, embraced forests, carved valleys, filled lakes, rested in reservoirs, surrendered itself to treatment plants, and travelled patiently through miles of unseen pipelines. By the time it reaches our hands, it has already lived an entire lifetime. The tap is not its beginning. It is merely the last note of a song that began in the sky. But every melody carries the shadow of a discord. A leaking tap keeps singing like, drop... drop... drop... not as water escaping, but as time dissolving. An overflowing tank hums no hymn of abundance; it whispers of abundance mistaken for entitlement. Beneath the asphalt, forgotten pipelines breathe their tired breath until, one day, they simply give way. And then arrives the most haunting music of all, the music that contains no sound. The silence of a dry hand pump. Its handle rises. Its handle fails , and again, and again, and again. Few silences weigh as heavily as that one. It is the silence of rivers shrinking into memories, of aquifers emptied one unnoticed season at a time, of monsoons growing uncertain, of promises postponed until tomorrow becomes too late. Sometimes the loudest warning a civilization receives is not a crashing flood, nor a roaring storm, but the unbearable absence of a single drop. We must not merely use water. We need to listen to it as well. Somewhere, amid the speed of progress and the comfort of convenience, we stopped listening. We began hearing only the click of a tap, forgetting the symphony that preceded it. Today, as rivers rewrite their courses, glaciers retreat, cities stretch beyond their thirst, and every summer grows a little longer than the last, listening is no longer an act of poetry. It is an act of survival. The future will not belong to those who extract the most water. It will belong to those who understand its rhythm, honour its journey, and protect its music. Perhaps, years from now, history will ask us only this ” What did water sound like in your time? The answer will never live entirely in reports, budgets or speeches. It will live in the music we chose to preserve. Like rivers still singing beneath ancient bridges...,like monsoon rain welcomed with open palms...,like every child turning a tap with quiet certainty Or like relentless leaks...forgotten lakes... or wells that answered every prayer with silence. For when the song of water begins to fade, it is never water alone that disappears. A river loses its voice and a civilization, almost without noticing, begins to lose the rhythm of its own heartbeat. (The writer is a bilingual author with five published titles to his credit. Views personal.)

Caste-based Census Sparks Nationwide Debate

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Caste-based Census

Caste-based identities continue to dominate rural India, directly or indirectly shaping electoral outcomes. Many major elections are influenced by specific caste groups. After the Bihar government released the first phase of its caste-based socio-economic survey, the caste census became a hot topic. The results, backed by evidence, showed improvements in the living standards and social status of marginalised communities, both in cities and villages. With parties like the JDU and NCP backing a caste census, there is growing momentum for the government to conduct one. However, every story has two sides—joy and sorrow. Even Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, raised concerns about the caste census.

Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of being “anti-Bahujan.” The clear meaning is that his father and forefather refused to execute a caste-based census, which might have far-reaching effects and even permanently fracture India’s social fabric. This may be negative for caste-based beneficiaries. The last caste census in India was conducted in 1931 by the British government. Those times were different from the present scenario. The data was made public and became the basis for the Mandal Commission Reports and reservation policies for Other Backward Classes. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has clarified that the caste-based population count data will not be used for core politics. But the agenda for politics is always twisted and expanded.

The Central Government also joined the legal debate by filing an affidavit with the Supreme Court, leaving the matter unresolved. India’s partition, rooted in the divide-and-rule strategy, is frequently cited as a cautionary tale. Including caste in official census data could further deepen social divides. This issue has become a political pressure point, with various states pushing the Centre for action. Although the Constitution uses the term “class” instead of “caste,” the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that caste is a relevant, and at times, sole or dominant criterion for defining a backward class.

After the release of caste-based census data in Bihar, discussions around conducting similar censuses have gained momentum in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. Karnataka, which has already conducted its own caste census, may release its data soon as well.

Notably, all these states are governed by anti-BJP parties. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also announced that Congress-ruled states have committed to carrying out caste censuses. Meanwhile, the BJP has remained silent on the matter, creating a significant roadblock.

Caste-based censuses focus on proportional representation in areas like jobs and education, with the argument that this will aid in targeted planning for the disadvantaged. However, the situation remains unclear, much like a foggy winter morning. The BJP’s stance on caste-based censuses and reservations seems different, as they fear the caste-based calculations could fragment their traditional Hindu voter base—an underlying concern for the party.

Professor Sanjay Kumar from The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, says, “Let alone the BJP; no party can openly oppose it; it is not free from danger. BJP gets a large number of votes from the OBC community, their population across the country would be around 52%. Another downside is that the caste-based censuses could disrupt the balance of socio-economic zones. Data theft is a common issue in government systems, and people may feel disconnected from their actual rights.

The moot question is that if the financial status of an ST/SC/OBC or Dalit citizen moves up by a few notches, will his social status change automatically? The lifestyle of any class will only change when the income of a particular class is changed. The actual source of income is employment. The reality is that only metro cities have enough place and space for workers. Aside from the GIDC and IT sectors, less than 30% of industries have their own designated vacancy periods. After a decade, the Jamnagar and Rajkot Corporations have opened their doors to newcomers alongside experienced staff. However, age and caste bias often operate behind the scenes. It’s important to recognise that poverty is also widespread among many upper-caste individuals, and their needs cannot be overlooked. In the overall interests of the nation, terms like SC/ST/OBC, Dalits, etc. must be deleted from the nation’s vocabulary. Every citizen should have only one classification, that of being an ‘Indian’, in the spirit of the constitution.

Last year, when the Bihar government decided to conduct a caste survey in the state, the BJP was also Nitish Kumar’s partner in the state government, and it supported it. Political expert and former professor of Tata Institute of Social Science, Pushpendra Kumar, says, “It is not that the BJP does not talk about caste. It tries to reveal the caste of the Prime Minister as well. For caste politics, the BJP also tried hard to raise the issue of Pasmanda Muslims.”

(The writer is a management professional based in Ahmedabad. Views personal.)

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