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Śrīddhi Tnayam Bhagavān Kī Jai, Śrīddhi Vapurīṣyama Deva Kī Jai, Śrī Hindu Dharma Samrāṭ Mādhavānandajī Bhagavān Kī Jai, Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍadeva Svāmī Maheśvarānandajī Satguru Deva Kī Jai, Sat Sanātana Dharma Kī Jai. Oṁ tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugaṁdhiṁ puṣṭivardhanam, urvārukamiva bandhanān mṛtyormukṣīya māmṛtāt. Oṁ tryambhakaṁ yajāmahe sugaṁdhiṁ puṣṭivardhanam, urvārukamiva bandhanān mṛtyormukṣīya māmṛtāt. Nāhaṁ kartā, prabuddhiḥ pakartā. Mahāprabhujī pākartā hī kevalam. Om Śānti, Śānti, Śānti. Welcome to Jalan Ashram. Good evening from Shādan Āśram. Welcome to our webcast. We are now here in summer, and it is quite hot sometimes. Our topic today is "Water is Life," which is very relevant here where we live. Water means life. As humans and animals, we can survive without food for days or weeks, but we need water. After one day or even a few hours, we are thirsty; our body cannot survive. Our body is 70 or 80 percent water. Most of us come from Europe or western countries where we can simply open a tap and clean water flows. We do not think about how precious water is because it is so easily available. But in India, especially in Rajasthan, the situation is completely different. Many people in villages do not have access to tap water. They must go to an open well or a pond, where the water may be unclean, salty, and not of drinking quality, causing many diseases. Imagine being in an Indian village at 45 degrees Celsius, with a dry wind blowing, and having to walk two or three kilometers to the next village for drinking water. Then we can understand how precious water is here. I will explain why Rajasthan especially faces a water crisis. The rainfall is extremely low, and it is always hot and dry. For example, in 2010, there was an especially dry season. Comparing Vienna and Jadan in Rajasthan, where our ashram is: last year in Jadan, there were 97 days with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius and only 47 days of rain. The problem is not just the total rainfall but its pattern. After six months of dry summer, the monsoon rain comes all at once. The earth is completely dry, hard like clay, and unprepared for the rain. Much of the rainwater flows away because the earth cannot absorb it all. Soon after, when it is hot and dry again, all surface water dries up. In Europe, we have clean tap water. Here, especially for Europeans, the water must be filtered because it contains substances our bodies are not used to. Seventy-five percent of all villages suffer from poor water quality. One reason is high salt and fluoride content. High salt concentration can cause diarrhea in animals, as seen in the picture of two cows. High fluoride levels affect teeth, bones, and the entire skeleton, causing deformities and joint pain. For example, a little girl in a village with high fluoride water has deformed legs and joints. This is not the case in every village, but in some, it is alarming and impacts long-term health. In the summertime, when water is needed most, there are no lakes or rivers in most parts of Rajasthan. We depend greatly on groundwater. Ninety percent of drinking water comes from groundwater, as does water for irrigation. It is easy in India to dig one's own well, so many people have wells. However, more water is taken than can be recharged, so the groundwater level sinks. As the water volume decreases, the concentration of fluoride, salt, and metals increases in the remaining water. Out of 237 groundwater areas, only 30 provide usable water. Therefore, many villages depend on government water supply. The government sets the requirement at 40 liters per person per day and 30 liters per domestic animal. This water is used for everything: drinking, washing, cooking, and toilets. In Germany, one person uses about 240 liters daily. Here, only 88.5% of villages receive even the 40 liters per day. Wild animals are often overlooked in this calculation. A fascinating statement: if we could save just one or two percent of the rain that falls in India each year, we would have enough water for every person—1.25 billion people—providing 16 liters per day for a year. This rainwater is clean and sweet, without excessive salt or fluoride. Now we come to the rainwater harvesting initiative. This is not a new invention; it uses traditional methods to show people how to collect and use rainwater properly. It must be brought back to life as it has been forgotten. There are two main methods. The first is surface runoff harvesting. Simply, water from rain that flows over the land is collected into a talāb, a small lake. Our ashram is located very well because water from six to ten kilometers away flows toward it, giving us a good opportunity to collect rainwater. For example, in 2007, we had 32 hours of rain with 322 liters per square meter. Imagine a bathtub of water on every square meter. After these 32 hours, the talāb was full. This shows the potential; otherwise, this water would just run off. The second method is roof water harvesting. This is a possibility that average villagers can implement because it is not expensive and is easily done. Every house in a village can do it. In India, the government has a rule that new houses in cities should install roof water harvesting. It is simple: in India, most roofs are flat, so water collects there and is brought down by a pipeline into a simple filter made of sand, pebbles, and gravel. A simple calculation: a house roof of 60 square meters with 500 mm of rain per year yields 30,000 liters of rainwater. Harvesting 80% of that provides 16 liters per day for four people for a year. The first rain needs to be flushed off because the roof may be dirty, but the rest can be harvested and, after filtering, is of good quality for drinking. Another possibility is reusing water from cooking, toilets, and washing. We also do this in the ashram in areas like the kitchen, Oma Ashram, and the school. The dirty water flows into a tank with different chambers. The dirt settles, and cleaner water flows into the next chamber. The output is quite clean and can be used for plants. This is why we have the rule in the ashram to use only biological or organic washing powder. If we used chemicals, the water would be polluted and could not be reused for watering the vegetable garden or other plants. Now, the construction of the Talab. I will not go into too much detail. From the roof of the White House, you could see it was farming land before the Talab was built. This was before 2000. Construction began in 2000. By 2002, excavation of the lake started. It was a difficult task because the earth was mainly hard rock. Excavation took place in stages over four years. They first had to drill holes and use dynamite—about 100,000 blasts—to remove the hard rock. All the stone was carried away on 30,000 trucks to a mountain, where they piled it. They made a small mountain—you could say Kailāś—from these stones, put earth on it, planted trees, and today it is nicely green. Then the slopes and ground had to be plastered so water could not seep through. This was a massive task, involving hard work by many Indians. The design became harder and more difficult as they dug deeper. In the summer, with temperatures from 30 to 45 degrees, working with stone was challenging for the human psyche. Through the blessing of Swāmījī and Holy Gūjī, we had the first rain filling the talāb. Construction stopped briefly, then in March 2004, they hurried to plaster the slopes before the summer and upcoming rains. A very important material was a thick plastic sheet placed underneath all sides and on the ground to prevent water from seeping in. This combines traditional and modern techniques. After the plastic sheet, they placed kota stone. By 2004, the main Talab was finished, though more plastering continued, and it was fully completed around 2011. Another part of the project is water supply during drought, ensuring distribution from the talāb to surrounding villages. This Humanitarian Project is much appreciated here. We have delivered about 130,000 liters of water daily via 26 tractors. It is a financial burden, but there is no life without water. Donations to support this project are welcome. We also delivered much water to animals, both domestic and wildlife. It was Swāmījī Mahārāj’s wish that no living creature be without drinking water in this area. Finally, let me show the current rainwater situation in the ashram. The talāb is almost completely dry; only on the left edge at the back is a small pond of water left. I should also mention that this talāb has attracted much wildlife: fish, turtles, and many bird species. The whole environment in Jadan has changed because of it. We also have other tanks with clean, fresh water. This was not an easy task for us amateurs, but it was fun to do in a group. For more pictures and details, visit omashram.com. We also have a lake called Manzarova, close to the small mountain Kailash, which has been completely dry since 2010. It is about 40 meters deep, and you can see a reflection of water deep down. Actually, the water level is about 34 meters deep in this fountain. At last, we can just hope for good rain this year. I hope to see with my own eyes that the talāb gets completely filled—or even half filled is very good. You can see how much joy this water brings, even for the children in this picture. How do y’all?