River, banks and the healing

 I am guilty of the blindness, deafness and ‘numbness’ that city dwelling systematically induces in the human in you…In the living where moments are dissolved into mundaneness, where time flits flippantly between tasks and needs..the ‘Bharatha Puzha (river)’ – the jewel that surrounds my home and nearby, stays forgotten and ignored.

A few misty morning walks and a few crimson sunsets later, I am now alive to the river, to its emotions, its inhabitants and the perfect symmetry that a bridge brings to a river..

My morning walks to the river started from a habit of health, steadily moved to a need and now dangerously reaching a borderline obsession with the magic of the river ..Love-struck and seduced – I keep going back for more – to witness the surrealness - when the sun rays start from the mountains, seep through the river and breaks over the bridge and the skies above. Each sunrise a different shade and each stirring something within me that I never knew I possessed..

And as the day and its responsibilities flood me, the river stays silent - sparkling a thousand sun pearls and laying quiet in anticipation of its visitors at dusk…Come evening, and there is a feverish activity in the house as we prepare our expedition to the river. There is nothing more rewarding than dipping into the river after a hard day at work and labour..to let go and experience the indulgence that follows …the murmurs of the river cleansing you of the stress that duties bring, the breeze cuddling you with its strength and the birds chattering, gliding and revealing a whole new life beyond your human existence..You are spoilt rotten by the time sunset comes calling – the sun and its brushstrokes of colours and patterns..the river equally skilled as it dazzles in a revelry that transforms shades every moment…you stay wonderstruck and humbled by the tableau and almost guilty of the pleasures that the evening brings..

There is more to the river than you imagined, more to the habitat of birds, swaying weeds and picturesque sunsets – a bit of pampering and a bit of healing….little by little it erodes your insensitivities and finds a place of comfort and yearning within you…The river also unsettles you – a haunting guilt – of the constant abuse, insults – be it garbage or mindless constructions..telling you of what we have lost and what more we will lose if we cannot stop the abuse…I sigh..…Mea Culpa…! Mea Culpa!