In India, Bishtis - the water carriers were an important part of Indian villages. The job being passed from generation to generation, they carried water for the entire village using earthen pots slung on a bamboo pole or in a leather pouch also known as Mashak generally made of goat skin and carrying 30-40 gallons of water.<br /><br /><br />There are some areas in Old Delhi like the Jama Masjid where Bishtis still exist. In this day and age, in a city like New Delhi, can you imagine that water is still carried and dispensed/sold in a leather bag made from an entire animal with its legs tied up to prevent leakage? <br /><br /><br />Mohammad Rashid is a khaandaani bhishti of Jama Masjid i.e. he belongs to an old family of bhishtis, and has been in this business for the last 3-4 years. His forefathers were also in this trade and he works all day in the scorching heat, running up and down filling water from the wells of the Dargah and supplying it in the local markets. The water is generally used to fill up water coolers and Rashid charges Rs 10 or less than 20 cents for every round he takes from the well to the local markets of Jama Masjid.<br /><br /><br />The monthly earning of a Bhishti varies from Rs 6000 to 7000 or just over 100 dollars. Money needs to be invested in a new 30 litre leather bag or 'mashak' used to carry the water. With the onset of summers the work of the bishtis increases as there is a higher requirement for water which the modern day water delivery systems cannot fully satiate. In winters the Bishtis are not completely out of business but get less work in comparison to that of the summer months.<br /><br /><br />These days it is hard to find people who have even heard of the bishtis, Mohammad Rashid is one of the last remaining bishtiwalas in Delhi. Despite the disappearance of their traditional occupation, he is amongst those who want to carry this work further, passing it on to his next generation and saving the bishti community in Delhi from extinction. <br /><br />This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang [at] gmail [dot] com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.<br /><br />
