Matka:poor men's water cooler

My Fridge !

Matka is an Indian synonym for earthen pot (= sa gee zam, Bhutanese); it’s used to store water and ideally keeps it cool. Temperature of water in it is neither too warm nor too chilled, indeed ideal water temperature felicitous to your tooth and throat, enabling frequent drinking in summer. A Matka with a capacity of approximately 20 litres cost just Rs. 90.00.  How cheap and affordable?

One thing we have to keep in mind while using it, never wash but rinse it. Scrubbing while washing may remove the inner coatings, thus weakening the adhesive and binding property of the material. If so, not only its productive life span will be shortened but also the taste and odour of water in it.

Its cooling mechanism is based on the phenomenon of evaporative cooling or sort of it. Matkas being made out of clay or some porous earthen material, have small miniature pores through which water in the pot continuously seeps out. This water as it seeps out evaporates taking the latent heat away from the pot and the water stored in it. Removal of this latent heat results in cooling of the water inside the pot.

Its summer time, it’s hot and my body demands more of cool water. And if I don’t get accustomed to drinking of water from Matka, either I have to go for bottled water or get de-hydrated. But when I am so much dependent on my family in the very first place, I cannot be complacent with my spending on water alone. Sometimes even necessity becomes secondary when money talks. And I have learnt nothing except spending money wisely next to my subject in course of my stay in India.

If you go by calculation, a bottle of water costs Rs. 20.00, and even if I limit my daily water intake to two bottles, it will total to Rs. 40.00 per day,  by the end of month, my spending on water alone will sum up to Rs.1200.00 and in a semester (six months) to Rs.72,00.00. This is way too much for a student according to my little knowledge in accountancy and economics. That’s how I became, an ardent fan of the Matka; poor men’s water cooler.

Somehow if you happen to try, your first experience will be not a memorable one. It differs in taste and odour from bottled water and completely in comparison to what nature serves us in Bhutan. But slowly, may be due to height of serious taste disorder or sheer obligation to thirst, you will start liking it. I did and hope you will, if ever, a need arise you to opt for it.

Happy week end to all !