I remember from my childhood experiences, a stop at the bank of river Hindan where the transport facility had failed at the bridge and all passengers had to disembark till repairs were completed. The Hindan was overflowing with fresh water; there were plenty of fish and fisherman and a burst of flora and fauna at the banks of the river. There were country boats sailing past. All the irritation at the disruption of the journey had disappeared before the enchanting beauty of the river. But the sight the river had to offer me on my recent visit, was very different - it was only a dry river bed, with parched pieces of earth and a few carcasses of pigs and dogs. It was a pathetic sight.

Where had the beauty and the water gone? Maybe a seasonal dry spell could be an excuse now, but was this case with every river? Those were the thoughts crowding my mind when I sat down to write a dirge for the river. Rivers - be it the Amazon or the Mississippi, Danube or Seine, Thames or own Ganges, Jamuna or Jhelum - have supported, nourished, nurtured and shaped the development of our civilisations since time immemorial. Their moving waters create beautiful landscapes, canyons, gorges and fertile deltas and basins. They bringing up new islands and have also forced lands to disappear from the earth's surface.

They give us a feel of freedom, freshness and a larger life. Their wild flow is immune to petty thoughts. They know no boundaries and they refuse to accept the divisions between man and man. When did you last crossed a river at a leisurely place? Do you remember the full moon at the river bank? If you have been lucky enough to witness such beautiful sights, they would certain be the source of recurring visions. Find time to sit at river banks. Enjoy their ravishing beauty. See the placid and pleasant world of green and blue as the murmuring water flows - sometimes fast sometimes slow. See a kite flying high up in the blue sky suddenly take a dive into the river, catch a fish with its claws and disappear back up majestically. See the twittering birds through the undergrowth and listen to the koyel singing from a distant neem tree on the opposite side of the bank. She would be charging nothing for the most beautiful song on earth. The bounties of nature are free for everyone. Let there be takers.

Rivers are goddesses; they are the symbols of spirituality and they are divine. Their music has given birth to the 'sargam' of life. The devotees worship them and immerse themselves in their sacred water. They wash their sins in the holy water - this water that is the fountain of spirituality, is today being polluted with every conceivable impurity. Rivers have been most benevolent and kind to us, yet we have inflicted the unkindest cut to their existence. They impart beauty and we offer them death. What a thankless reward!