what Governments won’t!

17^th OCTOBER, 2026

It is marriage season again. No, not for humans, but for frogs. In Karnataka, we call it ‘Mandooka Parinaya’, the ceremonial marriage of two wild frogs to appease the Rain God.  

The first of many such forced amphibian marriages to come was held in Kadur, Chikkamagaluru district.

Before we laugh at these desperate villagers, let us remember that the farmers are forcing frogs to fornicate in the hope of bringing rain to feed their families.  

Our MLAs, meanwhile, appear to be interested in producing sex tapes for electoral gains rather than finding long-term solutions to the State’s water crisis.

Every few years, as the monsoon fails, villagers turn to amphibian matrimony while the Government has its standard rituals. It tries cloud-seeding and then organises pujas, hoping for divine intervention.

In 2012, the then Muzrai Minister, Kota Srinivas Poojari, sanctioned Rs. 5,000 each for 34,000 temples to perform special pujas for rain. The exercise reportedly cost the State over Rs. 17 crore. He described it as a “purely spiritual event to invoke divine forces.”

One wonders why invoking scientific forces did not receive an equally generous allocation.

Then in 2019, 156 of Karnataka’s 176 taluks had been declared drought-stricken. Again, around 450 temples were asked to conduct rain-invoking pujas, reportedly costing Rs. 10,000 each.  

At the time, our present Chief Minister, D.K. Shivakumar, was the Water Resources Minister.

This year, 217 of Karnataka’s 240 taluks have been declared drought-affected. No fresh call for pujas has been announced yet. Perhaps the file is still awaiting divine clearance.

If prayer is the solution, why should only temples be involved? Why not allocate funds to mosques and churches as well?  

Christianity has its prayers for rain and Islam has Salat-ul-Istisqa, a prayer specifically seeking rainfall. If the Government is determined to seek divine intervention, let us at least make it secular.

When a nation is too religious, it resorts to praying. We are not alone in this.

In 2017, Sheikh Zayed, President of the UAE, had called for a prayer for rain to be performed in all mosques throughout the country at 11.30 am on a Friday.

In the United States, the Governor of the overtly Christian State of Texas signed a proclamation declaring April 22 to 24, 2011 the ‘Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas.’

The prayer didn’t work. There was no rain for another 4 months!

Yes, one needs faith, but you can’t leave your fate in the hands of faith alone. This reminds me of the Israelis.  

Their Prophet, Moses, had warned them that unlike Egypt, which was fertile thanks to the River Nile, the new land given to them is “hilly and without great rivers to provide it with water.”  

What did the Israelis do? They not only prayed but also invented drip irrigation. They started growing crops that required less water but were just as nutritious. They recycled their water. 80 percent of waste water generated in Israel is reused.  

Then they fine-tuned desalination technology to make seawater potable. Today, they have surplus water. In fact, they not only export water to their neighbouring nations but make about 4 billion dollars a year selling water technology to other nations!  

Yes, they have faith, but they also understand that God helps those who help themselves.  

What have we done?  

In 2019, our then Water Resources Minister, speaking to reporters, said, “As a precautionary measure, the Government is organising puja. We prayed in the wee hours after taking blessings from the pontiff of Sringeri Mutt.”

How we wish our leaders worked till the wee hours finding scientific solutions to the perennial water problem.  

How we wish they pushed for compulsory rainwater harvesting. It is said that even if a mere 20 percent of the population practised  it, Karnataka will have enough water.

How we wish they fixed water loss during distribution. Bengaluru alone loses over 45 percent of water during distribution through broken pipes, illegal water connections and the water tanker mafia.

How we wish they rejuvenated lakes and rainwater pathways. Sadly, the Government is making no serious attempt to do any of this. Unfortunately, the public also does not care to save water.  

If puja is the answer, then maybe it is time they give some funds to the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms to perform Saraswathi Puja to give some ‘buddhi’ to our leaders and babus. And maybe even us, the public, to do our own bit to save water.

For now, let us hope the frog marriages are consummated and the happy couples deliver a healthy offspring. Not tadpoles, but rain.

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