When the sun rose over rural Tiruchirappalli, it warmed the breeze. It baked the roads. It sweltered down relentlessly on the rural folk. It did not spare the long, patient queues of mothers and their children. Children who would wake before sunrise, not to study. But to lug their many pots, with their mothers. And to walk for miles to queue up by the nearest public tap. So their families would not go thirsty.

The children pushed their precious water, loaded heavy onto their bicycles. So their mothers wouldn’t collapse from the exhaustion of trekking back and forth, carrying all those pots of water on their heads. Water, barely enough to meet their needs. Without enough water, they grew thirsty. They couldn’t wash often enough. They were often ill. Because like a large part of rural India, the villages on the outskirts of Trichy has had limited access to drinking water. Water taps in homes were an unheard-of luxury. Until the day things began to change…

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