Groundwater levels are in steep decline in the semi-arid parts of peninsular India. Despite numerous studies and hundreds of crores of rupees of investment in recharge schemes, the situation only seems to get worse. Our preliminary research shows that a switch from traditional crops to commercial species, fuelled by the borewell revolution, is partly to blame. But if we are to understand how to reverse this trend, we need to get to the root of the problem. Why are farmers continuing to drill deeper, risking every last penny of their savings, chasing a source of water that could fail at any time? What is driving the madness?