India’s Rivers and her People
Our earth without rivers would have been a very dreary place. Water has been called Jivan or life in Sanskrit. We could have wells or tanks in the absence of rivers. But they would have been a very poor substitute for rivers. Our whole civilization and culture have been watered and fertilized by rivers. Rivers are the symbol of the flow of life.
Most of our cities and important towns are on or near the banks of rivers. We are a bathing nation. A river bath is more refreshing than a bath taken otherwise. Rivers provide us with the fine pastime of swimming. Often burning lamps or clay are floated on the rivers which gives them a festive appearance. Bathing fairs and festivals are held on the banks of rivers and on the surface of rivers. Boating for pleasure and pastime is made possible by rivers. The very sight of a river gives us a new life as it were.
Rivers were a cheap and speedy means of transport in the past. They were the rivals of railways. They provide us with fish, turtles, water-flow and other articles of food. Rivers help us to irrigate millions of acres. They not only purify our bodies, they also purify our thoughts. Waterworks are a gift of rivers in combination with science. Rivers and river valley electrification and industrialization of India are unthinkable.
It is true that the rainy season is a child of the ocean. But rivers also play their part in the drama of the rains. Their water evaporates as a result of the intense heat of summer an clouds are formed. Rivers keep the earth cool. They save great labour and expense of irrigating millions of acres. The paddy crops and other crops grown in the bed or on the banks of rivers are richer and more abundant than the crops grown away from the rivers. Rivers are a blessing but they are also a challenge. When not in flood they preserve life but when in flood they destroy life. We can call them preserver and destroyer both.
Hindus mostly cremate the dead bodies on the banks of the rivers. In Kashi on the Manikarnika Ghat, no dead bodies can be cremated between the hours of the midnight and the closing hours of the night. The belief is that at this time the sacred river Ganga is asleep. The burning of corpses on the river ghats is a sanctifying and inspiring sight. All the five elements- air, earth, fire, water and ether or akash are seen in conjunction in a funeral pyre aflame on a river bank. The Hindus consider rivers as living beings. Rivers are a vital part of our life.
Thus, we must take care of our rivers very importantly and must contribute to the best of oneself to maintain this valuable gift from nature for a life time.
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