Last night, I was having a shower. I had conditioner in my hair and as I turned on the shower, instead of the jet of water that normally gushes out, what came out was a trickle which slowly became droplets and to my dismay, it completely stopped. There was no water in the taps. Oh my gosh!!! I yelled out to my husband who was watching t.v., and told him that there was no water. What did I think he was going to do? I really don't know. I waited for a few seconds, while I tried opening other taps in the bathroom, hoping against hope.Then I yelled out to my husband again. No response. I thought, 'Oh good, he's gone down to ask the watchmen to start the pumps'. I waited again. After a few seconds,(seemed like minutes to me), I wrapped a towel around myself and came out and came out to the living room calling out to my husband. Guess what? He was still watching t.v. and when he saw me like that, he laughed. You can imagine how annoyed I was.

When I expressed my annoyance, he told me to just go to the other bathroom and finish my shower there, which I promptly did. Men somehow always have solutions to problems. I barely managed to get the conditioner off my hair when there was a repeat performance of what happened in my bathroom a few minutes earlier. Luckily for me, the maid had filled up a small drum anticipating water problems as the whole area was having a shortage of water. This water in the drum was obviously cold. I looked around for a mug and went back to the conventional way of having a bath. The cold water felt refreshing as the temperatures in Mumbai have already begun to soar.

Today looks like another 'water shortage' day. I wonder how long this is all going to last. The city's water woes have only just begun.

It is now September 2009, a few days after the Ganpati immersions. The nights are quiet once more, all the ganpati pandals (shamianas) have been pulled down and the twinkling lights on the streets too have come off. It won't be long before it is all up again, but for now peace prevails.

What lies in the aftermath of these 10 days of celebration, are the hundreds of holes all over the streets of Mumbai. The holes that were dug to erect the bamboo poles to hold up the pandals. Who is going to fill up these holes? Who will take responsibility? Will the Mandap organizers do it with the money they have amassed or is it going to be left to the Municipality?

In our street alone, there were 4 ganpati idols. There was an air of festivity and a lot of excitement as youngsters and youth got together to bring their 'bappa' home and then after venerating him for 10 days, took him to the shores to immerse him. The sweet shops were lined with all kinds of 'modak', 'bappa's' favorite sweet. But what is sad, is what happens after. The state of the beaches for days after. And of course, these holes in the streets.

As I walk to the main road, to catch an auto or a taxi, I have to make sure my eyes are on the road, so that I don't trip and fall. It would help if whoever dug those holes, would fill them up later. Maybe the Government should enforce it by law. Who knows when that will happen, but for now, it will have to be 'watch your step' as I weave my way to the main road everyday.