Grandfather & Ambedkar: My water heroes
Who’s your water hero? That question, posed to new IHE Delft MSc students, was difficult for student Kiran Mane, of India, to answer. In the end, he paid homage to two heroes – his grandfather and Indian social reformer B.R. Ambedkar, who fought for equal access to water.
Caste and water
The caste system is a social structure that has deeply influenced Indian sub-continent for centuries. It is a hierarchical system that categorizes individuals into different castes based on their birth, with limited mobility between these castes. The caste system shapes society in many ways, including through influencing access to water and education. The Indian Constitution in 1950 bans discrimination based on caste, but many discriminatory practices persist today.
In the eyes of the upper castes, water signifies cleanliness and spiritual well-being - a holy sanctity that washes away sins, impurities and pollutants. This idea of purity and holiness often involves keeping people from lower castes, also known as Dalits, from accessing water.
Mane grew up in a semi-arid village called Jeur, tucked in Maharashtra, the financial hub of India. Throughout his childhood, his family, belonging to the Nai or barber caste, worked as barbers or practiced small-scale subsistence farming.
“My grandfather was responsible for grooming upper caste men, and in return he would not receive money but grains, like wheat or sorghum. But since we are considered an impure caste, he was not allowed to step into their homes: even the glass of water he would be offered to drink would be kept separate from the rest of the utensils,” said Mane.
Through life in a low-income, socially-marginalized family in a drought-prone village, Mane grew profoundly aware of issues of water scarcity and access.
Mahad Satyagraha and the importance of education
Mane’s other hero, Ambedkar, was a Dalit and chief author of India’s constitution. Well aware of the critical role water plays in maintaining caste boundaries, he in 1927 drank water from a public tank as a symbolic act of resistance. This event, known as the Mahad Satyagraha, highlighted caste injustice and galvanized calls for its annihilation. It was crucial in the history of social justice movements in South Asia. For Mane, Ambedkar and Mahad Satyagraha symbolize efforts that ensured that his family’s right to water was fulfilled, laying the foundation for a life that eventually brought him to IHE Delft.
Mane’s grandparents didn’t have access to education, and though his parents in theory had access, they didn’t have the means to pursue it as it would require resources to travel far from their village. But education was still a priority. Mane recalled how his father often emphasized that “We don’t have a high caste, important surname, money or land – all we have is education and hard work.”
“Today I’m here studying at IHE Delft because of my grandfather, who despite belonging to a lower caste, could farm and sustain our family, because of Dr. Ambedkar’s efforts in highlighting and fighting caste injustice,”
With his family’s support, Mane completed an Undergraduate Programme in Physics and a Masters Programme in Water Policy and Governance in 2020 at Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. During his masters, he was taught by an IHE Delft alumnus, who encouraged him to study at IHE Delft. He applied, seeking to expand his ability to articulate his ideas: “I felt that to give more weight to my ideas, I need to ground my experiences in scientific language,” he said.
Mane received a full scholarship from the Rotary International Foundation to study for a Masters at IHE Delft. He is among nine Rotary scholars in the 2022-2023 class.
Search for new integrated pathways of change
Studying with a large diverse group of water enthusiasts, Mane now has a range of ideas that he would like to develop after he graduates.
“When we speak of climate change, drying rivers, lower water-tables – I am convinced that the past is no longer a reliable signal of what is to come, and we need agility. I’m interested in holistic solutions and not the ‘command and control’ relationship with nature,” he said.
Ninety-six years since the Mahad Satyagraha, caste-based discrimination, especially around access to water, continues on the Indian subcontinent. But with people like Kiran Mane, committed to educational empowerment and social justice, there is hope for a society where education and water will be available for all, not controlled by a privileged few.