Melvin Durai
There are many kinds of leaks in the world, and whether you like them or not depends largely on whether you’re on the receiving end of them. Being on the receiving end of a leak can be quite thrilling if you’re a journalist, but quite unpleasant if you’re a homeowner. Homeowners hate leaks, whether they involve liquids or gases. My wife and I have never experienced a gas leak, thankfully, but we’ve certainly had to deal with our share of water leaks. About two years ago, we had a roof leak, occurring close to the corner of our dining room. As a man who prides himself in his DIY (do-it-yourself) spirit, I immediately came up with a brilliant solution: “Let’s put a plant under it. Every time it rains, the plant will get watered.” But my wife didn’t go for this.
“Haven’t you killed enough plants already?” she asked. I knew she was right. Plants do need water, but like many people in the UK, they’re not so keen on daily showers. I knew I had to spend some money, so I went to the hardware store, looked around for just the right solution, and came home with a perfectly sized bucket. It fit snugly on a shelf under the leak, catching the drops from the ceiling. All I had to do was empty the bucket periodically, whenever my plants needed water. “If only we had more leaks,” I told my wife, “We could save a lot of money on our water bill.” But my wife didn’t like my choice of bucket. It was the wrong colour and clashed with our wall. She sent me to the store to get another bucket, giving me a few options. I could buy anything from her bucket list. Though it saved us the trouble of mopping the floor daily, the bucket was only a temporary solution, and we both knew it. We had to call in a roofing contractor, who told us we needed a new roof. It cost us almost as much as a new car, but at least we don’t have any more leaks from above. All we have is leaks from below. Last year, the main pipe bringing water into our home decided to spring a leak. A plumber told us that the pipe was really deep in the ground and in order to replace it, he’d need to dig a big hole in our bank balance. I started to complain, but the plumber told me to pipe down.
A leak is never a welcome sight for a homeowner. Journalists, on the other hand, don’t just love leaks, they cultivate leaks. They build relationships with people in the government and other entities, some of whom leak valuable information anonymously, often for society’s benefit. It was a US government leak that allowed The New York Times to report about the security concerns that caused President Donald Trump to switch planes during a recent trip to Turkey, temporarily sidelining a highly prized gift from Qatar. Unhappy about the leak, the government attempted to obtain the phone records of the reporters, hoping to uncover the leaker or leakers. As any good plumber will tell you, before you can plug up a leak, you need to find the source of the leak.
And sometimes you need to do a lot of digging. Perhaps the worst kind of leak is an exam leak. Nobody likes exam leaks, except those on the receiving end — those who benefit from knowing the questions in advance. In the past century or so, exams have been leaking almost as frequently as pipes. But surely none has harmed as many people as the 2026 NEET-UG paper leaks. Having to take a national exam like that would be extremely stressful for me. Having to take it twice would be a nightmare. I’d want to track the leakers down. And I’d want to do what a plumber might do: wrap silicone tape tightly around them. I’d do it twice, just to be completely certain that there won’t be any more leaks.
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