ABOUT MY ATTACHEMENT WITH NARMADA RIVER

In his Highlands of Central India Captain J. Forsyth speaks eloquently about the infinitely varied beauty of the rocks: "the eye never wearies of the ... effect produced by the broken and reflected sunlight, now glancing from a pinnacle of snow-white marble reared against the deep blue of the sky as from a point of silver, touching here and there with bright lights the prominence of the middle heights and again losing itself in the soft bluish grays of their recesses. . . Here and there the white saccharine limestone is seamed by veins of dark green or black volcanic rock; a contrast which only enhances like a setting of jet, the purity of the surrounding marble." Well I wanted to write since a long time about Narmada River. Since my childhood, there has been a special attachment with this river. Why? Well I have been staying at that place where this river, flows through one of the most beautiful gorges you would ever come across in the country. Originating from a small town called Amarkantak, this river is considered to be one of the most pure rivers in India, though the reason may sound very absurd, but then it is said that Narmada the Goddess is not married. Well leaving this apart, the river flows through the deep forest ( Sal and Bamboo ) of Madhya Pradesh , inhabited by hundreds of animals like Sambar, Cheetals , Cheetah , and quenching the thirst of millions , species present on the planet Earth (Don’t forget Human Beings are also species ) I believe that many of you would have definitely seen the Gorgeous Kareena Kapoor (I used this word because i really like her), dancing on a small raft, on the tunes of Anu Mallik and Sandeep Chowta (not sure who composed raat ka nasha). This is where Jis desh main Ganga behti hain was shot,the very same place where Rekha was pushed to her death in Khoon bhari maang and Nargis sang with Raj Kapoor in Awara.If you have ever been there then you would be amazed with the boatmen calculation of the depth of the river , starting from a mere 10 feet to a whooping 600 feet (thought i have never ever figured it out that how they calculated the depth ). Boating on a moonlit night, when the whole stretch of water is transformed into a sheet of liquid silver is a site to cherish is absolutely magical and enchanting. Not been there ask anyone in Jabalpur if you are there to take you to Bhedaghat , the holy river flows by tranquilly flanked by the towering cliffs which reflect in it like a mirror the changing moods of nature,(there are volcanic seams on these rocks of different hues – black, green, brown and sometimes pink) Narmada! I still remember, when i was small used to get reduced to a small stream of river, during the summer, but the building of the dam, not only solved the problem of water for the people living in the area around Jabalpur, but then also, gave a new hope to the people around in terms of trade when it comes to fisheries. You can see the greenery around the dam, when you cross the area. Also, a huge bridge is built over the river Narmada near Tilwaraghat, which is unique of a kind, with a road built over the canal. That is the place when we all friends , do go whenever we are at jabalpur during our vacations .Beautiful days and cool nights we all friends have spent lingering around on the Tilwaraghat Bridge shouting and don’t know doing what all not. Being so emotionally attached to the city and the river which flows through it and quench the thirst of millions of people , when we are not protesting and are not against the building of the Sardar Sarovar Project, then why the so called Social Element of this country are creating all hue and cry of.