NEW DELHI: It is 5 a.m. and Algarathnam Natarajan is already in his van, fitted with two large water containers, ready to drive through Delhi’s poor neighborhoods and refill the earthen water pots he has installed there. This has been his daily routine throughout the summer for the past decade.
With Delhi temperatures routinely rising above 40 degrees Celsius from May to early July, many of the city’s millions of poor residents struggle to stay safe and cool, as most can hardly even afford potable water.
Natarajan realized 10 years ago how big the necessity was, and as he considered different ways to help, an acquaintance suggested that he should rely on the earthen coolers known as matka, which have been used on the Indian subcontinent for millennia.
When these pots are filled, water sinks into their pores. As it evaporates, heat is extracted from the air inside the pot, and as a result everything inside stays cold.
Matkas also keep the water clean, and they can reduce the liquid’s temperature by some 8 degrees Celsius — a big relief when heatwaves strike.
Natarajan started with four such clay pots, which he installed near his house. As people willingly used them, he bought more and now has 98 across his neighborhood and beyond.
“It’s mostly to serve poor people, rickshaw pullers, laborers,” he told Arab News.
“Can you imagine these poor people have to pay for buckets of water and they can’t afford it. A lot of children suffer from dehydration. I think the affluent and the rich must be a bit more generous with the water they have and share it with the community.”
Known as “Matka Man,” the 77-year-old used to run souvenir shops in London. It was following a successful battle with cancer that he left the business in 2010 and decided to focus on community work.
Originally from Bangalore, he returned to India and settled in Delhi, where he worked with various nongovernmental organizations, an orphanage, a terminal cancer center, and helped cremate unclaimed bodies of poor people.
It was during this period that he decided to serve others by focusing on one of the most basic needs for survival: water.
Every summer morning, he makes two rounds to refill the matkas. During the early morning ride, his van carries 2,000 liters of water. After that, he refills the tankers to distribute another 2,000 liters.
It is all self-funded from his pension and investments. Occasionally, from donations, too.
“I think every man is entitled to have water — every man, poor or rich — and if I can serve them in a small way, that’s good,” Natarajan said.
“The work I do is not charity. The work I do is sharing. I am sharing because I have all this in excess. I have money in excess. What am I going to do with all my investments and my pension? I can either go and live a luxurious life in a bar or whatever, eating in upmarket restaurants, or I can share it with the community.”
While Natarajan is fully supported by his wife, he wishes more of the neighbors in the posh locality where he lives would be inspired to do something too — even something as simple as putting a tap outside their homes for those in need.
While that wider support has yet to materialize, his efforts are already making a difference to the people he set out to help.
“Water is life,” said Prabhakar Jha, a courier who regularly fetches water from Natarajan’s matkas on his way to work. “I really appreciate the man who has put matkas here. He has done a great thing. Hundreds of people drink water from here, and all of them will bless him.”
