How many times have we admired a flowing river-- be it in the Gangetic plains in India or rocky heights of the Grand Canyon in North America. Rivers cast a spell on the viewer. If viewed over the seasons, rivers teach us the meaning of contrasts in life. For example:
Calmness Vs turbulence
Wide Vs narrow
Deep Vs shallow
Danger Vs safe
Dirty Vs clean (water)
Plenty Vs scarcity and so on.
These observations teach us a lesson or two. Like not to pollute a river either by throwing garbage or discharging a city's sewerage into the river or both! Many of our rivers and lakes in Indian cities have been polluted beyond redemption.
Why has it happened this way? Because, most of us observe the river as it flows past. We do not feel that we are part of the river. How can we be part of the river? Sounds weird? Consider what John Muir said "The rivers flow not past, but through us". See the picturesque quote PQ created by superimposing this quotation on the scenic picture of Punakha river in Bhutan Himalayas.
If we all feel the river flowing through us--like our own blood and energy--we will neither abuse nor destroy the river. We never destroy our own life, do we? So, next time you are on a river bank, pause and feel the river flowing through you! And feel the transformation within you.
In case you want to see some more pictures of Punakha in Bhutan, click here.
A few more PQs related to Nature can be seen by clicking any of the links below:
Caterpillars teach us self-discipline
Nature and its marvels
Mist and mountain
More on flowing rivers in the next post.
Thanks for browsing.
Your feedback or comments are always welcome
Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 29th Nov 2015
hbindia@gmail.com
Postscript:
29th Nov: Animesh Bhowmick contributed the following:
"Rivers have always been a source of enigma and intrigue for mankind . (Hemant Kumar song on Ganga in Bengali is apt). Often it is difficult to locate the exact source of the river. Take for instance Nile considered the longest river, but now has been overtaken by Amazon through a series of satellite mapping technique recently developed to pin point the exact starting streams. Even in case of Ganges new studies discard Gomukh to b the starting point but trace it back further into under rock multiple crevices miles away, flowing with glacier water from above. It's interesting to note that Chambal is the only river in India, whose source is not mountain rain water but underground springs . Also river Okavango flows hundreds of miles under ground surface, before emerging out at the delta spilling into Atlantic. Even Danube flowing thru Balkans into the Black Sea at Volga Bulgaria has interesting history- It's here that the Greeks discovered Amber (Shilajit) and coined the famous Amber route. Perhaps no other cultural sub group like the Hindu Bengalis of erstwhile undivided India, had so much impact/ influence on their daily life from the confluence of Ganga, Brahmaputra (called Jamuna), Teesta and Meghna flowing through it's heartland compositely called Padma."
Calmness Vs turbulence
Wide Vs narrow
Deep Vs shallow
Danger Vs safe
Dirty Vs clean (water)
Plenty Vs scarcity and so on.
These observations teach us a lesson or two. Like not to pollute a river either by throwing garbage or discharging a city's sewerage into the river or both! Many of our rivers and lakes in Indian cities have been polluted beyond redemption.
Why has it happened this way? Because, most of us observe the river as it flows past. We do not feel that we are part of the river. How can we be part of the river? Sounds weird? Consider what John Muir said "The rivers flow not past, but through us". See the picturesque quote PQ created by superimposing this quotation on the scenic picture of Punakha river in Bhutan Himalayas.
In case you want to see some more pictures of Punakha in Bhutan, click here.
A few more PQs related to Nature can be seen by clicking any of the links below:
Caterpillars teach us self-discipline
Nature and its marvels
Mist and mountain
More on flowing rivers in the next post.
Thanks for browsing.
Your feedback or comments are always welcome
Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 29th Nov 2015
hbindia@gmail.com
Postscript:
29th Nov: Animesh Bhowmick contributed the following:
"Rivers have always been a source of enigma and intrigue for mankind . (Hemant Kumar song on Ganga in Bengali is apt). Often it is difficult to locate the exact source of the river. Take for instance Nile considered the longest river, but now has been overtaken by Amazon through a series of satellite mapping technique recently developed to pin point the exact starting streams. Even in case of Ganges new studies discard Gomukh to b the starting point but trace it back further into under rock multiple crevices miles away, flowing with glacier water from above. It's interesting to note that Chambal is the only river in India, whose source is not mountain rain water but underground springs . Also river Okavango flows hundreds of miles under ground surface, before emerging out at the delta spilling into Atlantic. Even Danube flowing thru Balkans into the Black Sea at Volga Bulgaria has interesting history- It's here that the Greeks discovered Amber (Shilajit) and coined the famous Amber route. Perhaps no other cultural sub group like the Hindu Bengalis of erstwhile undivided India, had so much impact/ influence on their daily life from the confluence of Ganga, Brahmaputra (called Jamuna), Teesta and Meghna flowing through it's heartland compositely called Padma."
