At the Delhi airport on Sunday afternoon, over 50 passengers had to wait for 20 minutes in a bus near the plane as the housekeeping staff did not clean the plane. Passengers were upset because it was very hot. During this, another bus brought 30 passengers from the second lot and stood behind the first bus. Meanwhile the plane was ready for departure and the ground staff were instructed to open the door number first, as there was a VIP passenger there. He was in a very neat colored kurta-pyjama and half jacket and looked very smart, which made many people's eyes fixed on him. Due to this so-called 'favoritism', many passengers of the first bus were annoyed and started complaining, but after just 30 seconds the door of their bus also opened and they were all those smart looking VIPs who were about to climb the stairs. , ran to leave them behind. Since the passengers showed haste, he stopped and by chance he found a friend of his in the crowd and started talking to him, so that the rest of the passengers boarded the plane first.
As soon as the boarding was completed, that BIP passenger came at last like the last man and sat beside me. He was a cabinet minister in the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who represents the Jodhpur Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan.
We immediately started talking about politics and the future of water in the country. For that entire 90-minute conversation, every word that came out of his mouth was like a calm river flowing at its own pace, knowing where to go. He did not make any mild remarks against the opponents and addressed them as 'G'. Whatever his ministry is doing, he gave all the credit to his leader, the Prime Minister. As a journalist, when I presented terrifying statistics about future water availability due to the increasing population, he smiled smartly, dressed smartly and was as calm as a river, responding with statistics, in which There was a deep analysis, which I will write about in my upcoming columns.
He said that despite having 17.5% of the world's population in India, our domestic water use is only 5% and industrial use is 6% while we use 89% water for irrigation. It is in this area that we need to manage the wastage of water, he added, adding that 'we do not have a real problem of water and the ministry does not see water crisis for domestic use at least in the coming future as we will be doing the next two- Preparing blueprints for three decades. What we need to implement and inculcate habit in our everyday lifestyle is water management and not panic about water.
Our discussions continued on issues ranging from water agreement between MP and UP to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Gujarat Sarovar Project and many more. He was confident that India can easily meet the future water demand with good management practices. He clearly said that 'It is our responsibility to adopt an ascetic lifestyle, in which respect for the environment and fully dedicate ourselves in protecting nature. At first, those 90-minute conversations seemed like some street gossip to me, but when I got off the plane, it proved to be a treat for my eyes, ears and mind.
