The city of Ahmedabad,the commerce capital of Gujarat state,the 8th biggest city of India, is to touch the 600th year milestone on february 26th.
I wanted to have a word or two with the city on this occassion. But it's super busy this month.no appontment in valentine's month. Sorry! I had promised the editor to take an exclusive interview with the city.i was down.i started for home on my motor-bike.as i was riding through the elis bridge,i felt like parking my bike on one side after crossing the bridge and sit for some time on the river front.i did so.i wanted to smoke.bt i didn't have the stick so i let that want go away.i was not thinking about the 'sorry,no appointments this feb'.i was not thinking about cigarette.i couldn't think of sipping a tin of beer (just 4% alcohol) as there's prohibition in the state.i was just blank-minded.i was staring at the very slow flow of the river. She too looked tired after flowing for at least 600 years.i just wanted to get out from the state of nothingness of my mind.'tired?' i asked without any expression on my face,in my eyes.
'tired of what?'asked she.
'i mean if u'r tired of flowing.'
'do you ever get tired of breathing-in, breathing-out?i know u don't.flowing is a river's way of breathing-in,breathing-out.so i'm not even conscious about the fact that i'm flowing. It just happens naturally.'
it was an uncounterarguable answer.
'600 years!do you still want to live more?'i liked her voice.i wanted to continue.
'you know what! Intelligence and human beings are opposite terms.you count my life keeping your life span before your eyes.you stupidiot,i'm not a fool's baby like you.i'm nature's baby and i'm,like my father (roots-the mountain) and like my betterhalf (origin-the ocean) will go on beautify the city for centuries to come.' the words 'stupidiot' and 'fool's baby' annoyed me.tit for tat. 'but the fact is that the government and municipality are beautifyng you by constructing river front.i'm talking to you sitting there only as you are watching me.how can you say you are adding beauty to this city when the city is adding beauty to you?'
'evenwhen nothing existed in the universe,human stupidity must have existed.evenwhen everything will perish in the universe,human stupidity will survive. Rascal,21st century man dies to have something very new. (the new turns old soon.again he'l start dieing for another new.result? frustration.)the govt/municipality must have found my look monotonous.let them add sugar to the pure honey.they themselves'd detaste it after some years. Then they will bring something NEW.'
she was abusing mankind which includes myself as well.still,i went on.i still liked her voice.
'so much disliking for mankind!is this the reason why you sweep hundreds of us away in flood every decade or two?'i asked.
'stupidity thy name is a human being.do you know whom you belong.you'l say you belong to your parents.your parents to their parents.if you go on this manner towards your origin, what you'l find is river.physically speaking you belong to your parents.'origin'ally speaking,you all belong to me.how can i sweep you away? How can i think even? The raindrops makes us wait for a year,two-three years sometimes.and when it showers,i go wild while romancing with the skywaters.and it results in calamity. Longing for the rain itself is a calamity.'
i wanted to continue but i was to write something on the city.i said,'thank you, river.'
she:'you are rivercome,man.'
i was riding,once again for home.i was thinking,'i wanted to interview the city and whom i interviewed is the river.when the city dejects you away,the river offers you shelter-it's suicide when you are in it;it's an interview when you are on its bank.
-RR Kiran Joshi
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