That neglected well in your neighbourhood is not just a hole in the ground. For years, wells have been a symbol of our social and cultural history…
Mandawa Well
Remember summer holidays? Those balmy nights spent in native villages, grandma begging you not to play too close to the open wells.
Times sure have changed. And yet, water from these wells holds a lot more memories than that from the taps, doesn’t it? Rightly so. India’s romance with wells has been a long one, etched into not just our childhoods but also in history.
In school, we crammed pages and pages about the Indus Valley civilisation for exams. What we missed was that this ancient but highly organised civilisation was an expert in water management. The cities of Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Dholavira have left the modern world impressed with their wells, tanks, public baths, water and sewage systems, built minus the technologies we enjoy today. Mohenjodaro had as many as 700 wells, one for every three homes.
Today, wells have more or less disappeared from cities. The ones that still exist are full of filth, used as trash cans. While open wells in villages are still a part of daily life, in recent times, they have made news more for children falling into them and for their illegal proliferation than for their advantages.
Where wells have been cared for, they have always served the people well.
Among the notable historic wells of India is the one in the Indus Valley town of Lothal, which is now in modern Gujarat. Estimated to be built in 2650 BC, the Lothal well is believed to have seen many a flood due to its proximity to a river. Now that the river and the sea have receded, the salinity in the area has risen and the well skims the surface rainwater from a maximum depth of 20 feet.
Then there’s the Mandawa well in Rajasthan, which is believed to be the one of the two structures that led to the city of Mandawa being founded in the year 1740.
Wells have figured in India’s freedom and social struggles too. The ruthless killing of more than a 1,000 Indians in Amritsar in 1919 by Brigadier General Reginald Dyer was among the most significant events in the country’s fight for independence. During the firing, many people jumped into a well on the compound to escape the bullets. As many as 120 bodies were pulled out of the well later. That well stands in Amritsar today, a reminder of one of the most violent killings in Indian history.
Even as India struggled against colonialism and racism, it had to contend with its own social problems. Among one of the biggest symbols of caste-based discrimination were open wells. Most wells were only for the so-called upper castes. Forget about drawing water from it, even lurking anywhere near it sometimes meant death for members of the ‘lower’ castes.
The Jallianwala Bagh well stands today as a testimony to one of the most violent killings in the history of the country.
When there is talk of history and society, religion can’t be far behind. Old temples and churches often had their own wells, devotees using the water for purification. Today too, a well near the Kadamattom church in Kerala has devotees throwing money and other items as a mark of respect for the legendary priest Kadamattathu Kathanar.
Wells are truly entrenched in Bollywood film making too. Can you forget those Hindi films that had the heroine threatening to throw herself in a well if she was not allowed to be with her lover? What about the sidelong glances that passed between the hero and the heroine even as she filled her pots at the well? It seems funny now but there was a time when wells played leading roles in Hindi films.
Bollywood has always embraced the well. The recent Matru Ki Bijlee ka Mandola even had an inebriated Imran Khan try to get his village well out of the damn way.
In the concrete jungles we live in, it is rather difficult to build open wells. But the hardier ones have survived the test of time and are still very much around us.
The next time you pass an open well in your city or town, do spare a thought to how much meaning that hole in the ground holds for humankind.
And try and see if you can dig one in your backyard. You will be blessed for a lifetime.
All pics from Wikimedia Commons.
Catch Every Drop is a campaign on sustainable water conservation by The Alternative, sponsored by Arghyam, with partners India Water Portal and Biome Environmental Solutions.