THE RIVER OF LIFE

As I go through life I see a lot of places. Walk many miles, cross a number of roads, see a lot of rivers.

Rivers are usually fast. They flow and keep flowing.They do not stop. Whatever be the impediments that it meets on its way, the river simply overcomes the obstacle and moves on towards its destination.Water has been the lifeline of all living beings. All civilizations developed near rivers. They grew they flourished and little settlements became big cities, but the river remained, providing the people with abundance of the life saver water. The river never failed in it's duties. Whatever the size of the population, the abundance of water did not diminish.

The most beautiful memories that I have of a river is of Daksum in Kashmir. I was there in 1976. It was a trip to Daksum which remains etched in my mind for ever. The river was full of frothing white beautiful water running down in full force. There were beautiful dark green trees on the banks, and almost no sign of civilization at the spot where I was standing and watching the river flow freely and fast. It almost mesmerised me. The sound of the water flowing is still fresh in my memory.

The next beautiful memory is that of the Satluj river in Himachal Pradesh. We were staying in tents on the banks of the river. Here again the river was noisy, full, fast, with sparkling beautiful, foaming white water. The sound was enough music to transport you to the world of dreams and happiness.

The Jhelum or Vitasta, in Srinagar is calm, and beautiful. There are a lot of bridges across the river and they have nice names too, Zero Bridge, Amira Kadal, Habba Kadal, Abdullah Kadal, Zaina Kadal. The names sound beautiful!

The River Charles in Boston is another river I love to watch. It is very wide, full of water and looks beautiful.

The Thames looks muddy, has numerous bridges and seems to be very essential to the city of London. It is wide and has an aura around it. It meanders through the City and its banks are wonderful places with an abundance of beauty. The walks on the Embankment are simply amazing. There is so much of beauty on the lamps, so much of history along the banks, that the walk is an experience, never to be forgotten.

The River Ganga before it reaches Hardwar is a tremendous vision. I loved to watch it at all its confluences. Vishnu Prayag, Rudraprayag, Nand Prayag, Karn Prayag, Dev Prayag are very beautiful. The water is pure white, and the force with which the water flows is worth watching. The River Alaknanda meets Dhauli Ganga near Joshimath. It is called Vishnu Prayag here. As it is high up in the mountains, it is very fast, clear and full of froth. 

Then at Nand Prayag the river Mandakini joins the Alaknanda. 

Near Karnprayag River Alaknanda meets the Pindar river. 

At Rudraprayag the Alaknanda meets another stream of Mandakini. 

Near Rishikesh the Alaknanda meets the Bhagirathi. This is called Dev Prayag. It is the last confluence of the river before it descends into the plains of India. Once it descends into the plains near Haridwar, the beauty of the river mellows down, just as the flow of the river also slows down. It meets Yamuna and Saraswati at Allahabad. That confluence is better known as Sangam. From there onwards the river becomes a source of salvation for Hindus and the beautiful river becomes commercialized and is simply "used"!

Why do we human beings misuse the free, flowing, life saving water? The water is abundantly available to us for everything that we need in our life.  Water which nourishes us, helps us, provides for us, why do we trample upon it and destroy the river to such an extant that the river loses its beauty, its power, its purity? Why do we go to any extant to destroy this life saving essential and beautiful water? What are we seeking? What are we doing? Trying to prove to the world that we can harness this free flowing water? We can destroy its spirit, its speed, its force and its beauty? What does one achieve by throwing all our muck into this water? The Ganga they say helps cleanse every one of their sins. Is it therefore compulsory for us to commit sins and then take a dip in the water to cleanse ourselves?