Hot water and geezers

You say the word "geyser" pronounced "geezer" and you think of Iceland again, this time spouting hot water, and not ash,  naturally. You say the word again in the east of London and you get the image of an old man with odd ways.
In Europe you turn the tap on and hot water comes out. Here you have a strange tank perched precariously over your head and you flick a switch and then in due course you get hot water which these days is almost scalding. This is an Indian geezer.

The concept however is a reasonable one. Only have it on if you need it and so thumbs up for this system of Indian resource management. It is however, like a lot of things here, subject to fits and starts of working well and also the butt of many an amusing expat story. Expat sitting on loo, bemoaning her fate as bath had sprung a leak when geezer bursts on top of her head. Expat switching on switch to find faulty electrics playing a game of life and death-Geysers on fire ! I dare say it happens to Indians as well we just dont seem to hear so much about it.
So when ours stopped working it was a question of can it be salvaged or binned. Everything is worth repairing in this country - well almost everything......

Judge for yourself. Furried up pipes, dubious insulation, rusted parts and wiring that leaves my hairs standing on edge. The white deposits are calcium from the hardness of the water. Just think what this water does to your teeth and your insides but that is worthy of a separate post! Still, all in a good day's efforts of the roller coaster of India's daily surprises.