Friday 28 February 2014

The Human Tortured River



The Human Tortured River

The river kept on flowing, bringing with it clean and pure water. The people on it's banks, animals, trees and shrubs and farms used this water. She brought happiness to all. She was hailed as a mother by some, a Godess by the others. She felt pleased to hear her praise and thus did her job with gusto.

The river loved to be clean but the animals would litter about. The humans added to the litter too, but the river swept away the impurities. She kept everything clean. Never did she sulk or complain. All she ever wanted was to keep everyone and the surroundings clean and let everyone have safe drinking water. Thats how the river was, ever flowing and always of use to others.

Where you have a clean river,
There prosperity dwells forever

Many years passed and the dwellings on the river's banks grew. Cities grew. Flour mills sprouted here and there. Factories emerged here and there. Heaps of dirt began to grow and everything changed for the worse.

"No way! I don't want their company! "

The drains said, " what were we to do? The humans pushed us in here and we flowed our way to you. Where else can we go? We seek your shelter now. "

The river had no choice. She took the polluted waters, all the muck and mire and took it far away. The humans unloaded truckloads of rubbish into the river. All the waste was given to her for consumption.  All the rubbish that way thrown into the river started clogging the river's path. The clean and pure river was thus a victim of human atrocities.

Whatever was considered litter was taken to the river. Slowly and slowly what happened? The waters began to emanate foul odours, assuming all sorts of dirty colours. It also became host to all sorts of germs.

The river said to herself, " I have come all the way from the mountains and valleys, bringing to you the beautiful red soil. The humans polluted my waters, I thus gave back what was made out of me, so where did I go wrong? "

Everyone agreed with the river's plight. Human acts really can be disastrous. All the elements of the environment decided to come together to teach the humans a lesson.

The plants and trees consumed the polluted waters and thus their fruits and vegetables turned infectious. The farms took in the toxic waters as well, thereby yielding unhealthy harvests.

The humans consumed the polluted waters & ate the infectious fruits and vegetables. Various epidemics such as cholera and jaundice began to spread. There was panic everywhere. The humans yelled "there are diseases everywhere! Whatvisvthe source of this unhappiness? "

The epidemic laughed and said, "I was brought here by the river waters. Through the grains, vegetables and fruits that fed and grew through these dirty waters."

The humans surrenderd to the river. They said to her, "Mother river, we erred. Please forgive us. Never again will we litter or make you filthy. We won't dump our wastes into your bed. "

So what did the humans to then? The dirty water was released into closed drains, which took the filth far away from the river. All the litter was thrown into far away pits. Now the river was clean. Everyone now had drinkable water and the germs vanished. Everyone was healthy again. The river was healthy and so were the others!

-          Vishal Pardeshi
Pragati Foundation

1 comment:

  1. Vishal has expressed his feelings in a poetical and positive manner. Thank you for making us realize that what we cross every day is not really a dirty gutter but a beautiful gurgling stream....

    ReplyDelete