Bhistee

The Pakistani poet Daud Kamal (1935-1987) has a poem entitled Water-Carrier:

More patches on his clothes
than on the empty goatskin
slung across his shoulder.
Like the others
he waits his turn
at the Municipal tap.

Bhistees supplied water to households and regiments

In the past, water carriers used cured hides of animals to carry water. Today animal hides have been replaced by bottles and jars of plastic.

One could argue that the bhistee was the most common male postcard type at the turn of the 20th century.

Bullocks that ferried water were called "water bullocks." This colored image by Clifton & Company, one of the earliest mass publishers of postcards in Mumbai (Bombay) was fairly popular, perhaps because of its rich colors.

The Princely State of Chamba appeared on few postcards during the Raj even though its rulers seemed to have good relationships with a number of Punjab-based photographers, including Fred Bremner and John Burke.

[Original caption] Woman Water Carrier. It is no unusual sight in India to see women performing manual labour, and in some cases they perform harder tasks than the men.

Today goatskins, pigskins and earthen pitchers have given way to plastic jars and bottles and huge, lumbering dripping water tankers that supplement inadequate piped water supplies in towns and cities throughout South Asia.

One of the most popular subjects of early postcards was the water-carrier, shown here together with a buffalo.

A very early India-printed postcard signed by the chief lithographer at the Ravi Varma Press, Paul Gerhardt.