Bottled Luxury

My maternal ancestral home stood on the fringes of a paddy field. The well in the backyard was the main source of water for the household.  Bountiful rain ensured a good supply of mineral-rich ground water that filtered through multiple layers of sand before it seeped onto the well’s surface. Grandmother’s kitchen was lined with pots of well water for consumption through the day.

Being the filter-water generation of kids, my cousins and I cringed when our eyes caught a stray leaf or specks of dead red ants in our glasses of water during our stay at our grandparents home.

The friendly old lady in the neighborhood once explained that the secret of her unfailing sight at the age of 70 were the ants that enriched her drinking water. When she lived to be a 101, we wondered if the frogs, roaches and rats that co-existed with her in her home were the untold secrets of her healthy existence.

Today, bottled water, like everything else on the grocery shelf, ranges from regular treated water that can just quench your thirst to the exotic designer brands that can elevate your social status.

Like the oxygenated water that claims to improve athletic performance and the rich burp that follows a good gulp is the value-added bonus.

If you wish to taste the freshness of the Arctic with your exotic dinner, there is the 150000-year-old melted iceberg water, bottled complete with the taste of snow. After all, depleting a few tonnes of iceberg is not much in the grand scheme of things.

If you are the doting spouse who forgot to pick up the diamond ring on your way to the celebratory birthday dinner, there is the Swarovski-studded bottled water that can give your partner glittering company and quench your parched throat until the ring makes an appearance.

If excess money is burning a hole in your pocket and luxury is on your mind, then an elegant mix of spring water from Fiji and France along with glacier water from Iceland laced with 5mg of 23-karat gold dust will be your perfect accompaniment to a lavish spread. Fanfare music will be the only thing missing when your taste buds are brought to life in the delight of its crisp, filling taste.

But if it is just thirst that you want to quench, then try the extensive range of treated water that comes in shapely plastic bottles available at your favorite supermarket!