One of the first things I realised when I came to Hyderabad almost 50 years ago was that there was a whole different equation the people here had with water.

Walk into any Irani Hotel in those days, and the first thing that would be served (four dirty fingers et al) would be water. Only then would you be asked what you wanted.

And whether you ran up a bill or not, the water was there and the smile. Absolute strangers would unhesitatingly walk up to your table, take a glass or two of water, and carry on without even the courtesy of an ‘excuse me or thank you’.

And there was a saying that once you had the water here, no other water would quench your thirst for love, affection and harmony.

But that was Hyderabad. And the legendary days of ‘Gandipet ka Paani’.

I don’t know when it happened but the saddest day in my life in this context was when I saw water being sold. I had come across the practice in New Delhi in the early seventies (Cold Water sold by the Glass) but never thought we’d see the sight in Hyderabad.

There is a shortage of water, I was told. And the water has to be purified before consumption and there are costs to be considered. So eventually the 5 or 10 Rupees made sense.

Of course with the plethora of Mineral Water Brands around the question that really popped up in my mind was…whatever happens to the concept of Hyderabadi Paani?

Well, the good news is that boiled, purified, double boiled, Sterilised or whatever there is still water available in Hyderabad. And as many people will testify, the magic of the water still remains. They all come back home to Hyderabad.

The bad news is that a bottle of water which is MRP’ed at around Rs. 10 is actually being sold at many restaurants for Rs. 50 or 60.

And there is nothing we can do. Or so we have been led to believe.

My question today is this. Feeding a patron or quenching his thirst for water have to be viewed from different perspectives.

I am prepared to pay 30 bucks for a Dal in a Dhaba and 250 bucks for the same Dal in a 5 Star place. I understand the value add that is involved in the serving. I understand that the costs are different…everything from rents to salaries to utilities and taxes. But when it comes to bottled water there is no additional cost save the cost of stocking it and perhaps cooling it.

So why is it that we allow restaurants to charge an exorbitant 50 or 60 rupees for a bottle of water when there is absolutely no value add.

I am not aware of the law in this regard but I fail to see the logic in this issue. Looks like someone is fleecing someone. And that for me smells of cheating.

Now, can we do something about it?