More articulate than government officials and local politicians, Basanti says it began when she decided she'd had enough. The hand-pumps installed by the government in each and every village stood as mocking witnesses to the acute water crisis. She decided that if she trained as a hand-pump mechanic, she could solve the problem permanently. Government officials gave her the necessary training under the Trisem scheme run in tandem with Dumka-based NGO Jago Behna. Initially she had to work hard to convince people that she could do the job with as much ease as a male mechanic. Today, she says nonchalantly, "If a man can do it, why can't a woman? She is not inferior." She also had to contend with the villagers' skepticism, but four years of being the water-bearer of the district has changed that. "After seeing the results, both in economic as well as social terms, the same people envy me," boasts Basanti, brimming over with pride.