The Borewell

I was growing vegetables and had planted fruit trees in my one acre plot in the year 2001. Since then it was all experimentation. The fruit trees were growing and it would take atleast 6 to 7 years before anyone of them bore fruit. In the meantime variety of vegetables were being planted and harvested.

Also not having any water resource at that time, I was dependent only on the rains and the water provided by the society till January. Of the fruit trees planted in the first year, quite a few died because of lack of water after January. The coming monsoon I replaced the dead trees with new ones. This went on till finally all the spots have been filled by the required trees.

Every year I got a "water finder", from a geologist to a water hearer, with many in between. Six to be exact. All borewells were dug to a depth of 500 ft. All dry. The seventh spot for the bore well was pointed out by a BABA from Wada, in May 2008. That borewell was also dug to a depth of 500 feet. Water was touched at 415 ft.

Now normally after you touch water, atleast by the next day the water comes up to say a depth of 70 to 80 ft. But in this case it remained at about 350 ft, and so it remained for about a month. I was wondering whether it was worth putting in a pump. Then one day I saw the same BABA. He had come to give a water point to somebody else in the society. I approached him and thanked him for the water point and also told him about the water not rising. His explanation was an eye opener. He told me that all the borewells in my plot had water but was being held back by the two ghosts in my plot. One was a MUNJA and the other RANBHOOT. He continued by telling me that because he had powers stronger than these two, they had to let the water be found. But what about it not rising, I asked. He told me to perform a puja for this. I thought here goes my money. However it was a simple one to be performed by me with a very few things. I was to but in sets of two, a cigarette, a coconut, a betel leaf. sugar, a agarbatti. One by one I was to offer each ghost these things. Last I was to break the coconuts and throw them away from my plot. I don't believe in these things, but since the costs were low, I said why not.

The puja was performed and I went home. The next day, I called up the person working there and sarcastically asked him if the borewell was overflowing. He said no, but that the water had risen to 70 ft. Now you figure that out.

Well a pump was duly fitted and the borewell gives me good water and the test from  a lab in Kalyan says it is potable.