One Drop at a Time......WHAT AN IDEA SIRJI!!!

[brihacharan]

Hi Guys!
Here’s an inspiring true story that shows, how simple it can be if…
ONE PERSON WITH AN IDEA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

AABID SURTI is an author who was invited to meet the President of India to receive a national award for literature at a ceremony in, New Delhi. He politely declined as he cited the reason being - he did not have the time. Because every Sunday for the past seven years he has been going door-to-door in Mira Road, a non-descript suburb of Mumbai, with a plumber in tow, asking residents if they need their tap fixed for free!

As a distinguished Indian painter and author, Aabid has written around 80 books but no story so moved him as the truth about water scarcity on the planet. “I read an interview of the former UN chief Boutros Boutros Ghali,” he recalls, “who said that by 2025 more than 40 countries are expected to experience water crisis. I remembered my childhood in a ghetto fighting for each bucket of water. I knew that shortage of water is the end of civilized life.”

A few days later, he came across a report in the newspaper: A tap that drips once every second wastes a thousand litres of water in a month. That triggered an idea. He would take a plumber from door to door and fix taps for free – one apartment complex every weekend.

As a creative artist, he had earned more goodwill than money and the first challenge was funding. “But,” he says, “If you have a noble thought, nature takes care of it.” Within a few days, he got a message that he was unexpectedly being awarded Rs.1, 00, 000 ($2,000) by the Hindi Sahitya Sansthan (UP) for his contribution to Hindi literature. And one Sunday morning in 2007, on the International Year of Water, he set out with a plumber to fix the problem for his neighbors.

He began by simply replacing old O-ring rubber gaskets with new ones. He named his one-man NGO ‘DROP DEAD’ and created a Slogan - SAVE EVERY DROP or DROP DEAD!

Every Sunday, the Drop Dead Team – which consisted of Aabid himself, Riyaaz the plumber and a female volunteer Tejal – picked apartment blocks, got permission from the housing societies, and got to work. A day before, Tejal would hand out pamphlets explaining their mission and paste posters in elevators and apartment lobbies spreading awareness on the looming water crisis. And by Sunday afternoon, they would ensure the buildings were drip-dry.

By the end of the first year, they had visited 1533 homes and fixed around 400 taps. Slowly, the news began to spread. In March 2008, director Shekhar Kapur, who was working on his own water conservation film, heard about Aabid’s efforts and wrote on his website…

‘Aabid Surti, thank you so much for who you are. I wish there were more people like you in this world. Keep in touch with us and keep inspiring us’.
Shekhar Kapoor

Local newspapers began to write about Drop Dead, which prompted a further flood of grateful emails and spontaneous messages. One of the most heartfelt messages was from superstar actor-producer Shah Rukh Khan, a longtime fan of Aabid’s work as a comic book creator. After reading the newspaper report titled ‘City of Angels’, he wrote to Aabid: “…It sounds like one of the little big things my dad would have done. It’s strange that I have enjoyed your comic book Bahadur in my childhood and enjoyed reading your tap story so many years down the line… when I am father myself. God bless you and yes, I now believe in angels after reading the newspaper.”

In 2010, Aabid Surti was nominated for the CNN-IBN CJ ‘Be The Change’ Award. In the same year, a television crew from Berlin flew down to follow him on his Sunday rounds which continued come rain or shine. A conservative estimate says that, he has single-handedly saved at least 5.5 million litres of water till date.

While ministers lobby for drought-relief packages worth millions of dollars, Aabid sees his own approach as simple and inexpensive.

As he rings another door-bell on yet another Sunday in Mira Road, seven years into his one-man mission, he says: Anyone can launch a water conservation project in his or her area. That’s the beauty of this concept. It doesn’t require much funding or even an office.

And most importantly, it puts the “Power back in Our Own Hands.”
Briha

[airgun_novice]

HIGHLY INSPIRING - Sir. That's one human life very well lived.

Now that's a drop of inspiration in otherwise mundane life. BTW didn't know (or recollect) that Shri. Aabid Surti was the creator of Bahadur ! I remember the Red Brick House.

[tirpassion]

God bless Aabidji!!! He is the real Bahadur because he has found some meaning of life.

Thanks Brihaji for this post.

best regards
tirpassion

[Sakobav]

Thanks Briha for posting this link for this humble and great artist...water is a precious commodity in India and world ..conservation is required or we will have issues
Best

[dr.jayakumar]

the best part was avoiding the award to go ahead with his humble job!
thanks brihaji
regards
dr.jk

[ckkalyan]

Thanks a ton brihacharan-Ji,

For sharing this gem of a story, a small piece of actual action, by one single human being - astounding effect in the few years! Very inspiring! My respects to Aabid Surti - what a man!

Now, before I get side tracked, I must quickly add some water to my Scottish nectar and - not waste a drop!