Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi, NM
(We are extremely thankful to Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi ji for sharing his literary and art works with e-abhivyakti. An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, Capt. Pravin has served the country at national as well international level in various fronts. We present an excellent poetry depicting pain and sorrow of every river in the country. Every one is aware of the reasons and worried about the level of pollution. But, who will take the first step for the mankind. This poetry is actually anguish of the river sensed by Capt. Raghuvanshi ji.
In his own words
Visiting my place in Varanasi, situated at the confluence of Ganga and Gomati…
Wrote few lines on state of rivers in our country… Capt. Raghuvanshi:
Today, we present the poetry of Capt. Pravin Raghuvanshi ji “Anguish of the River…” .)
☆ Anguish of the River… ☆
River is not like *Neelkanth*, the Lord Shiva!
She was once a playful translucent river
And me, a carefree
ambitious damsel
Used to do *Aachman*,
sipping her sacred water while offering her my resolute obeisance…
I always stood by her
as a solid rock
Kept attending to all
–her evergrowing frustrations,
–her excruciating vexations,
–her boisterous predicaments
I was happy to be
the rock to her…
But, one day you came,
While clutching me
crossed all the limits
I didn’t like your
that filthy touch,
In a moment, I got disintegrated
into millions of sand particles…
Just fell devastated into
forlorn lap of the river
That’s when I realised that
river is not mere flowing water…
She, being a dextrous historian,
Kept scripting historical manuscripts,
Creating cultures, nurturing customs as a responsible ancestor…
She was also a
modern trendsetter
Always altering courses
on her freewill…
She was the seeker, a questor!
She was a loving-mother incarnate
That’s how I could live the sufferings of the river…
Now, you’ve removed even
the womb, intestine, heart,
flesh and marrow from her body…
So many times, I could
–Hear her sobbing from
the palatial garrets
–Witness the river
repeatedly shedding her
tears in the inner
layers of the roads
She too wanted to get dispersed as particles
in the thin air
Exactly like me!
But where could she go?
Where could she get accommodated? Where!!
As she did not have the river,
just like herself only…
I fell on her bosom, tiredly
Kept watching her helplessly,
While you choked her face
with a dirty cloth
Had to watch her painful sufferings,
Her writhing in agony,
even for a breath!
Her misery of breathlessness
was far worse than my dispersing into particles…
River, that joyfully
spilled around
its banks for ages
Now, in this epoch, has only last few breaths of life
Stinking, panting,
Counting her remaining breaths…!
How many times
did I beg of you
If you desire, take my remaining particles too; but,
Fill her with few breaths
in her lungs
By mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,
Just return her past glory
Which you forcibly
snatched her of,
Plant *Singi* tools
to pull all the poison
out of her body…
Listen,
River cannot survive
By drinking the poison
Because, river is not the *Neelkanth*, the Lord Shiva…!
Note:
*Neelkanth* (Blue throat), is the other name of Lord Shiva who drank the poison, without having effect on Him; as He held it in His throat which turned blue because of its severity; thus, called as *Neelkanth*
*Singi* is a tool which is used for sucking poison from the body…
© Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi, NM
