Born in the times of brass taps

Brass Tap

I was recently forced to go shopping with my plumber to buy some taps, pipes and fixtures for the new wash basins installed at home.  When I went to the shop, the shop owner had some excellence award from some company for sales he had done.  I could not help but notice the similarity of the design of the tap to the tap we used to use when we were kids.

My childhood was in a joint family, we were 21 people in a house which was less than 12 square meters of carpet area.  It had tiled roof, we had rats, squirrels commonly wandering amongst us.  We had a backyard which was typically used to store all the firewood for heating water etc.  Although we had a water heater or boiler in place which used to run on electricity it was too expensive for us to run on that.  Our house backyard was a famous playground for us cousins post the play time outside of the house.

My father was the youngest son of my grandparents.  That made me an uncle the day I was born.  We were a huge family of people with their own ideologies and morals etc.  The back yard used to become fight yard every morning since we had only one toilet for the whole damn household.  May be why I got used to getting up late after the fight was over for who gets to go first.  I do not remember much of my childhood but these backyard fights between us family members were the most cherished memories even today.

The brass tap was at the centre of the back yard next to the washing stone.  It was the most used/abused tap in our house.  Everyone who used to come home was supposed to wash feet before washing anything else.  It has become a practice even today, I did not know why this was such a big deal.  Now I realised it was because we never used to wear slippers when we used to play or go outside.  Barefoot was the best footwear, we used to wear footwear only when we went out with parents or uncles to a function.  School too was not that particular about wearing footwear.  The onslaught on that tap used to start early at around 4.30 AM with the women folk washing foot after foot before they bathed.  Then the men who used to go to factory and finally us kids.  I remember drinking water from the tap every time I used it.  After the kids went to school, fathers to work and women to kitchen, the maid and the family raided the tap.  Soon it will be lunch time and washing of legs and hands begin.  Post lunch washing of plates (we had to wash our plates after lunch/dinner) and then the tap would probably rest for an hour.  Soon the kids will come back from school, fathers from office, evening snack time washing and would end only after dinner.

I was the latecomer to home probably the last bunch to eat dinner with the women of home.  Mostly my eldest aunt would stay up with me her son (my elder cousin brother) and I have had dinner as late as 10 PM.  So according to me the tap would rest by midnight.  Only to be rudely twisted at early morning.

I do not remember replacing the tap in many years.  They used to last for ever.  I remember we had raids by thieves to our backyard to steal these pretty looking brass taps.  I remember that Bangalore when it was classy and posh to have a brass tap at home.  Not like now, having a flat TV at home or a nice sofa set or even a carpet.  The warmth of a red oxide floor is next to impossible now.  I have asked many people where I would find a good red oxide worker.  They have laughed at me, the shopkeeper too laughed at me when I begged him to get me a brass tap.  He said they do not make it any more, why are you behind something which has long gone and vanished from markets.  My search is on, people have told me that I will get those pretty looking taps in city market.  I sure shall go take a look at the market and Sunday bazaar soon.