 | | Kalyan Soy tries his water divining technique at Ghorabanda Theme Park in Jamshedpur on Tuesday. Picture by Bhola Prasad |
Jamshedpur, Dec. 20: Hocus-pocus or pure science? No one can tell, but an elderly tribal man armed with a half-split bamboo stick can accurately spot groundwater reserves on seemingly dry acres. Kalyan Soy's skill has a name. It is called divining water. Something similar to a mystic who divines a person's innermost thoughts. In rural India, the task of identifying a source of groundwater to feed a well has traditionally been left to water diviners or dowsers. Some experts have even attained the stature of minor celebrities such as Hyderabad-based S.P. Premachandra Rao, a well-known water diviner with his own website, who has even appeared on television. Soy (74), however, is a simple man. His present claim to fame is the fact that Dhalbhum forest department has roped him to sniff out groundwater on the premises of Ghorabanda Theme Park, so that it can dig bore wells and build a network of artificial fountains as part of a beautification measure. The taciturn weather-beaten man, who used to work at Tata Motors "once upon a time" offers no explanations, scientific or otherwise. He just explains his technique as simply as he can. Take it or leave it. "I hold the two ends of the stick with both my hands and bend it. If there is water beneath the ground, the stick is attracted to it and hits the ground with great force. If it is dry below, the stick won't react," he says. What makes the bamboo stick behave like a powerful water magnet? Soy doesn't know. He confesses he started in 1983. "Everybody can't do the job. One has to be pure at heart. The only instrument is a 3ft long bamboo stick split from the middle and tied with an ordinary rope. Over the years, many sticks broke. I've hurt my hands, my thumb," says the resident of Parsudih's Rahargora Christian Basti, also known as Paani Baba. Incidentally, his first project was a home experiment, which proved successful. In the past 28 years, he's helped out countless individuals, corporate firms, builders and government departments. He charges only Rs 400 per project and keeps an open-house policy "People knock on my door at even 5am. I have travelled across Jharkhand, Bengal and Odisha to find water for those in need," he says. Officials from the forest department tried their hand at divining water, but without success. "We tried to hold the stick at the same spot (like Soy) but it did not result in any activity. Only Soy can do it," said Debashish Prasad, forest range officer monitoring the activity at the park. Sceptics say the process is unscientific and scoff at the supernatural element, placing their trust on hydrological surveys. But there's no denying that this method works. Soy is a living example. "I have heard about it, but haven't seen it. There may be some magnetic variation depending upon soil quality, but nothing has been conclusively proved. The point is that you can't deny that water divining helps," said Dilip Behera, Tata Steel environment management chief. Jusco's water management deputy general manager Pranay Sinha added: "I have never come across something like this, but I'd like to meet this person." The only explanation that Soy gives goes beyond science into the realm of philosophy. "It's a gift from heaven. I have to keep greed, hatred and negative qualities at bay to use the gift," he says. | 
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