It was a pleasant evening with the Sun God maneuvering his chariot pulled by the seven horses below the horizon. The chirping birds seemed to be bidding adieu to the setting sun. The buzzing insects and the croaking frogs were getting ready to welcome the night. Ramulu's ears were deaf to the these buzzes and croaks, they were hearing only the sound of the gushing water in the river nearby. Ramulu had almost reached the river bank after his travel through the woods for a while. He moved as if in a trance towards the river.
With every step, his sixteen year old heart seemed to get heavier. He wanted nothing but justice. He wanted to know why he had to incur such a loss in his juvenility. He needed answers, though he knew that just answers couldn't douse the rage burning inside him.
He accelerated his walk towards the river; jumped over some broken tree branches and reached the swampy banks of the river. The river was almost full to the brim; so were his eyes. He had been to this place many a times before. But this was different . The affinity and love in his eyes, all these years, with the river was replaced by a blank angry stare. Ramulu was thinking how quickly his friend, this mighty river, turned foe and shattered all his dreams. It had been a week since the river spread its satanic tentacles in the form of flash floods and consumed his entire family and most of his village leaving him all alone grieving for the losses.
The river had calmed and retreated to its usual path, but Ramulu couldn't . He wanted vengeance . With tears flowing out of eyes , he prayed to the Sun God who himself seemed to be sharing Ramulu's rage with his reddish rays. Ramulu then took a handful of mud from the banks and looked at the river like a man possessed .
"Your hands will get dirty! Take your hands from the window, Rahul", said Rahul's mother. Little Rahul had got excited when his train was moving on the bridge constructed on top of the river. The view of the mighty river flowing under the bridge was enough to excite the 8 year old. After all, he had rarely seen fresh water in such abundance in his concrete jungle. To top it, the view of the setting sun which looked like a red apple made Rahul even more joyous.'How lovely it would be to play in that river', thought Rahul. According to his Dad, that was the same river that acted as the source of drinking water for their city. "See Rahul! The river is almost full which means that we will get drinking water without any trouble for another 2 months. Hope the rains fill it more like last week , so that there won't be any scarcity till the next monsoon. Though Rahul was still too young to understand completely what his Dad told, he had seen the troubles his parents had to go through last summer to get some decent amount of potable water for the family. Just then, Rahul's Mom gave him few rupee coins and asked him to pray for better water levels in the river to the Sun God and throw the coins in the river.
"Oh! The Lord on Seven horses! In your mighty presence, I curse this sinful river which breached its limits and consumed many a lives to go dry and be of no use to anyone. May this river get stripped off its so called holiness!" , shouted Ramulu on top of his voice and threw the handful of mud in the river.
A few metres apart, the 8 year old quietly prayed the Apple like Sun God to bless for good rainfall and better water levels in the holy river. He then dropped the coins in time before the train crossed the river completely.
A curse and a wish expecting opposite results. How would God be able to balance this and satisfy both? Maybe , this is why rivers go bone dry during summer and overflow during Winter. After all, that could be one way to solve this paradox.
With every step, his sixteen year old heart seemed to get heavier. He wanted nothing but justice. He wanted to know why he had to incur such a loss in his juvenility. He needed answers, though he knew that just answers couldn't douse the rage burning inside him.
He accelerated his walk towards the river; jumped over some broken tree branches and reached the swampy banks of the river. The river was almost full to the brim; so were his eyes. He had been to this place many a times before. But this was different . The affinity and love in his eyes, all these years, with the river was replaced by a blank angry stare. Ramulu was thinking how quickly his friend, this mighty river, turned foe and shattered all his dreams. It had been a week since the river spread its satanic tentacles in the form of flash floods and consumed his entire family and most of his village leaving him all alone grieving for the losses.
The river had calmed and retreated to its usual path, but Ramulu couldn't . He wanted vengeance . With tears flowing out of eyes , he prayed to the Sun God who himself seemed to be sharing Ramulu's rage with his reddish rays. Ramulu then took a handful of mud from the banks and looked at the river like a man possessed .
"Your hands will get dirty! Take your hands from the window, Rahul", said Rahul's mother. Little Rahul had got excited when his train was moving on the bridge constructed on top of the river. The view of the mighty river flowing under the bridge was enough to excite the 8 year old. After all, he had rarely seen fresh water in such abundance in his concrete jungle. To top it, the view of the setting sun which looked like a red apple made Rahul even more joyous.'How lovely it would be to play in that river', thought Rahul. According to his Dad, that was the same river that acted as the source of drinking water for their city. "See Rahul! The river is almost full which means that we will get drinking water without any trouble for another 2 months. Hope the rains fill it more like last week , so that there won't be any scarcity till the next monsoon. Though Rahul was still too young to understand completely what his Dad told, he had seen the troubles his parents had to go through last summer to get some decent amount of potable water for the family. Just then, Rahul's Mom gave him few rupee coins and asked him to pray for better water levels in the river to the Sun God and throw the coins in the river.
"Oh! The Lord on Seven horses! In your mighty presence, I curse this sinful river which breached its limits and consumed many a lives to go dry and be of no use to anyone. May this river get stripped off its so called holiness!" , shouted Ramulu on top of his voice and threw the handful of mud in the river.
A few metres apart, the 8 year old quietly prayed the Apple like Sun God to bless for good rainfall and better water levels in the holy river. He then dropped the coins in time before the train crossed the river completely.
A curse and a wish expecting opposite results. How would God be able to balance this and satisfy both? Maybe , this is why rivers go bone dry during summer and overflow during Winter. After all, that could be one way to solve this paradox.
