Sunday, July 17, 2011

When a river inside us flows.......

I was on the banks of Hoogli River and watching a magnificent bridge lighted up. The tributary of river Ganges was as enormous and I could see her far until my sight reached.
The river flowed on, not knowing where it is heading to. It has had a humble beginning and there is no choice of choosing its destiny. It has many downfalls, but every waterfall it creates it makes it stronger and establishes its uniqueness on earth. Pebbles and stones laid in its path created   mayhem but also gave it its song. In levelled areas it looked as if it is standing still, but deep current carried it along. In turbulent areas it put off people who did not realize that the turmoil is due to obstacles laid in its way, and not due to any fault of the river.
Having reached the plains, the river picks up tons of momentum. It establishes its eminence, and people look at it with revelation. It offers itself to be wedged, it can carry ferries and ships, it nurtures so many lives within rivulet, and it is the source of sustenance for agriculture.
Throughout its journey the river watches its own revolution, almost as a bystander. It feels so innate, since it is not in its control of its fortune. It watches its early morning devotees offering flowers and salutations, it experiences dirt filled bodies emerging cleansed from within its body, it absorbs the ashes of the burnt dead reverently thrown into its swirls along noiselessly, it watches villages and cities, it witnesses the rise and fall of civilizations. It welcomed habituation on its shores when people wanted to settle down happily enjoying its life sustaining water.
Through the ages, countries have been divided along river paths, wars have been fought, dams have been built and canals have been drawn away. People have been baptized, they have been cleansed, they have offered prayers, they have travelled on it, and they have merged their sins with it. Never in so many centuries has anyone stopped to sit by the river and probe its heart, search its deep currents – to ask what it wants.
The only thing that the river is ensured is that its journey will come to an end one day and it plunges itself to a massive body losing its identity.  Such is a human life. Some flow with the currents, some try to battle with the life’s decisions and directions. The end result is the same – merger with the higher self-but what is important during the passage of time, whether we quenched someone’s thirst, whether we carried someone on our shoulders, whether we fortified someone’s life or whether we destroyed something on the way. The choice is ours.
Look back, to see where are our rivers flowing.......