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Why Anupam Mishra was our water guru -Umesh Anand

-CivilSocietyOnline.com

The thirteenth anniversary issue of Civil Society with the Hall of Fame 2016 was out from the press and I had gone to Anupam Mishra’s home to give him a copy. He looked at the picture of Uncle Moosa on the cover and said: “Yeh aadmi apne chhote kaam se kitna kush hai. Iska kurta bhi khush hai!”

It was Anupam Mishra’s trademark humour, delivered with his customary mellifluous touch. But like everything about him, it was also full of meaning. As India’s foremost authority on traditional water harvesting systems, he recognised the value of small and sustainable community efforts. So, in one glance, he could see Uncle Moosa’s sense of fulfilment from creating tiny libraries in the remote villages and towns of Arunachal Pradesh. Not only was Uncle Moosa radiating happiness, but his kurta, too, was happy!

Anupam Mishra passed away on 19 December just three days short of 69. He succumbed to a brief but sapping encounter with cancer. He was a member of the advisory board of Civil Society magazine and my consistent and untiring friend.

Working for the Gandhi Peace Foundation (GPF) on a miniscule salary, he spent much of his life as an unsung researcher. He really didn’t want it any other way. But as word spread of his deep understanding of water and conservation and the brilliant traditions of communities, he came to be valued as a speaker.

He was insightful and funny and dispensed his wisdom with a light touch. He would receive invitations to speak from across India and abroad. What he liked most was to help community groups. Towards the end he would accept most invitations and zip off every now and then, almost as though he knew he had to beat the clock. He addressed villagers, doctors, engineers, architects and people in government.

But he always found the limelight intrusive. A cover story on him in Civil Society in 2006 was done through subterfuge. He similarly had to be talked into allowing pictures to be taken and it meant leveraging all the affection he had for my son, Lakshman, who did the shooting. We headlined that cover story, The Water Guru — nothing less would do because so many ‘water men’ already existed!

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