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While I was writing an article about the oorani-project in Edaiyur (a small village near Tirukazhukundram) I became more and more curious about what the new oorani really looks like and about the villager's attitude towards it. When Dirk Walther, the German project leader, asked me to join him during one of his routine visits in Edaiyur. I didn't hesitate even for a second and on an early Friday morning we set of towards Tamil Nadu's countryside.

I had already known Edaiyur's oorani from several photos but I guessed that reality would make my limited view of it into a full and coherent picture. Actually, I hoped that this picture would develop into a personal and vivid impression.

In addition, and I don't want to conceal it, I was really looking forward to spending a whole day being surrounded only by nature, fresh air and calmness. Because, however fascinating Chennai is and although its atmosphere and life has already cast a spell over me, I, as a child from the "countryside" (at least this would be the Indian definition of a settlement with less than 1,00,000 inhabitants) felt the desire to leave Chennai's hurly-burly, its chaos and its permanent background noise behind.

It was to become a day full of surprises.

The first one appeared in the form of a young woman who got into our car at Anna University. Before she had said a word I recognised her as a German. And as Dirk Walther had neither told her nor me about it, we were both totally surprised to meet a compatriot in the middle of an Indian city.

During our journey I found out that Cornelia, the girl's name, is doing an internship at the Centre for Environmental Studies (CES) at Anna University and that she had arrived two weeks ago. The journey to Tirukazhukundram passed in a flash as Cornelia and I couldn't stop talking about our usually very confusing, and always deeply amazing, impressions which Chennai has already given us.

We only fell silent when we saw the beauty of the sparkling ocean, the calm backwaters with their little fishing boats and the rolling, harmonious countryside - Or when at every overtaking manoeuvre we anxiously watched the road hoping that our car would be faster than the vehicle coming in the opposite direction.

After a short stop off at Tirukazhukundram (where to my amazement we were immediately served a good breakfast) we went over bumpy roads which were skirted by rice fields to Edaiyur where for the first time in my life I was about to see an oorani in reality.

While the village of Edaiyur enjoys a beautiful location in the middle of huge, shady trees with two gentle hills in its background, the immediate vicinity of the oorani is a rather sad and bare sight. "Most of the plants and even a few huts had to give way to the construction work," explains Walther. However, the occupants agreed to move into their new houses offered to them. And the plants surely will grow back soon.

Walther took us around the oorani and showed us how many details have to be noted and how important precision and meticulousness are needed for the building of every new oorani.

For example, the engineers had used clay as the ground material. First this substance could be found in abundance in Edaiyur and its surroundings and thus was a very cheap alternative. Secondly, clay prevents rainwater from seeping away.

However, during dry, hot periods, clay would easily become friable and break. Hence, the pump, which conducts the oorani's water to the well is attached 20 cm higher than the ground and a layer of water constantly covers the clay, protecting it from drying up.

While Dirk Walther kept explaining to us the oorani's genesis and its functions, several villagers approached and observed with proud eyes our interest in their oorani. All inhabitants who had been in a position to do it had helped with the building of the oorani - without being paid for it of course, because the oorani was built for their own advantage.

"Of course, at the beginning many people were skeptical about the project. For them, first and foremost the construction of the new oorani meant more work and a change of their habits. Its benefits for their village would not appear immediately, but would only be visible during the next dry period when the government's water-supply systems would fail. Only when after several conversations, especially with the members of the DHAN-foundation (a non-governmental organisation) the villagers understood that in the extreme case the oorani could protect them from dying of thirst, they started to show honest interest in the project. Finally, the villagers turned into committed, motivated participants who today are very proud of what they have achieved."

But, I simply couldn't understand why there already was a banana skin and lots of other rubbish in the village's new well. I wasn't surprised to find as much garbage in Tamil Nadu's rural areas as I did in Chennai because I've already understood that most Indians' environmental consciousness unfortunately seems to be zero.

But I wondered why people are able to even pollute their own drinking water although they should know that the consequences would not affect anybody but themselves.

I wanted to confront the villagers with my questions and my criticism. Unfortunately, with my smattering of Tamil I simply was not able to and thus we just laughed at our desperate attempts to communicate.

It was surprising how suddenly the people gave up their initial shyness towards us. While Cornelia and I were sitting with the women in the shade of a tree, some men made a little fire and put two strange looking fruits into called 'panam palam' (palm fruit). The fruits smelled sweet and very tempting and we passionately started eating them when they were cold enough to be touched.

Unfortunately, the strange fruits didn't taste nearly as great as its smell had promised. But as half of the village curiously watched us with expectant faces, we felt compelled to give a forced smile, keep on eating and at the same time assuring how delicious the fruits were.

Loaded up with various sand samples we set out to our next destination: the oorani in Nenmeli.

Ania Zymelka

(Ania, born in Poland, now lives in north Germany with her family. She has just completed her schooling and is waiting to go to university. In the meantime, she decided she would also visit a country and learn about it. She will be exploring the economic, political, cultural, social and other links that Chennai has with Germany during her three-month stint in Chennaionline. Ed)