Save Water

Dots the Giraffe, Stripes the Zebra, Trunky the Elephant and Boo the Monkey were sleeping during the summer vacation in the morning.

“It’s so hot”, grumbled Boo as he woke up and went to brush his teeth.

Boo switched on the tap and kept it running, singing a tune while he was brushing.

“Where is Trunky?”, asked Stripes, yawning and getting out of the bed.

Stripes went into the kitchen and put on the water on full blast and started washing the dishes.

Then Dots woke and he turned on the television.

The reporter on television said in a loud voice, “We are covering the Chennai water crisis live. There is no water in the city and the offices. Schools are shut, hotels are closed. Everyone is on the mercy of water tankers which have become very expensive. The city is desperate for every drop of water”.

“What’s that? I can hear water being splashed around”, said Dots as he rushed outside to see what it was.

Trunky was scooping water in his trunk and splashing it all around the garden like a fountain.

“Trunky stop!!!”, yelled Dots. “The way you are playing and splashing water, you’re wasting most of it”.

“So what it’s summer. I’m having a splash and the plants are too.”, grinned Trunky cheekily spraying water on Dots.

“Arrggghhhh! TRUNKY!! STOP WASTING WATER”, screamed Dots.

All the other friends gathered outside hearing Dot’s screams.

“What happened? Why are you shouting”, asked Boo, holding a toothbrush in one hand with foam dripping from his mouth.

“Did you shut the bathroom tap?”, asked Dots angrily.

“Nnnnn…No”, said Boo.

“Even I didn’t I was washing dishes”, said Stripes scared.

“WHY ARE YOU ALL TAKING WATER FOR GRANTED AND WASTING IT”, bellowed Dots.

“Calm down Dots. We’ve never seen you so angry”, said Stripes trying to relax Dots.

“Everyone go switch off the water first”, yelled Dots again getting redder and redder by the moment.

Trunky was about to splash more water to cool down Dots but swallowed it looking at how angry Dots was and ran inside the house coughing.

Boo and Stripes ran inside and switched off the bathroom and kitchen taps.

“Water, water, Help us!! We need water”, cried a person on the television screen.

“Why are they all crying for water?”, asked Trunky.

“Because Chennai is suffering from a water crisis and here all of us are wasting water”, said Dots glaring at everyone angrily.

Then came another reporter on the screen. “Do you know how much water each household activity takes. Brushing teeth with the tap on takes 5 litres of water. Showering per minute uses 22 litres of water. Watering a garden for 1 hour takes 600-1500 litres of water”.

“Oh, my I never knew we waste so much water”, said Trunky guiltily.

“What should we do?”, asked Stripes concerned.

“Well for one, we must switch off the tap when not needed”, said Boo.

“We should also use a bucket for bathing instead of the shower”, said Dots.

“And I should use a bucket and tumbler for watering the plants”, said Trunky.

“What else can we do?”, wondered Dots.

Just then a reporter came on the television screen and said, “The Prime minister on this week’s Maan Ki Baat asked about ideas to save water”.

“Should we think of more ideas and send them in?”, asked Dots.

“Yes! Let’s think of ways to conserve water!!!!”, said all the friends.

Do you waste water like friends? Or do you have ideas to save water? If you do, then send your ideas in. Maybe the Prime Minister likes your idea!