An Autobiography of a River
words: 825
Birth & early career: I was born long ago in an obscure place in a mountain. Several very small streams of water joined together to form one bigger stream. That is how I was born. I am bigger than all other streams. I have been restless from my birth. I cannot stay in one place. So I flow down the mountain. I leap from one rock to another. I am full of life and vigour. As I flow down, I gather strength. My current is very strong here. I carry down with me broken rocks. At last I came down to the plains.
My career in the upper plains: Here I begin to widen my course. People begin to make use of my water which is very pure. In my upper course, people have built up towns of pilgrimage. They have built temples on my banks. Hundreds of people bathe in my sacred water. They worship the deities in those temples. They regarded me as very sacred. There are also several health resorts in my course. People from many parts of the country come there for a change. They walk on my banks. They enjoy the natural beauty. They recover their lost health & return home with a happy heart.
My career in the lower plains: I am very restless. I am constantly on the move downwards. Leaving the upper plains behind I flow down through the lower plains. My water increases the fertility of the fields on either side of my banks. Abundant crops grow there. The country becomes prosperous.
Towns on my banks: People have built large towns on my banks. Some of these towns are the centres of culture. Some have commercial importance. People carry on trade and commerce. The ply boats and steamers along my surface. They carry many important goods for trade. People travel from one place to another in boats and steamers. Hundreds of people bathe in water. They use my water for drinking and other purposes.
Efforts to control me: During the rainy season I carry a large quantity of rain-water from the mountain. My surface rises. Sometimes I overflow the banks and cause floods. People suffer a lot. But am I to blame for this? What can I do if vast quantities of rain water flow down me from the mountain? Your Government tries every now and then to control my furious nature in the rainy season. In my upper course sometimes I fall down several hundred feet from a great height. Here your Government has built barriers across me to hold back my water. It has built dams to store up the surplus water to irrigate the land to help agriculture. Electricity is also generated here with the power of my water. This electricity is cheaper. It helps industry in towns & even in remote villages. Thus you see how I help you.
My career in the lowest course: In this way I go on. Your Government has tried to control my furious nature. But it is always a very difficult task to control me. Sometimes I play the part of a destroyer. I wash away my banks. I destroy towns and villages. Again I play the part of a creator. I carry down sediments which accumulate in the place where the current is not strong. A new land is formed there. This land is very fertile. This land is formed near the place where I join the sea.
Parts of my mouth: I flow on to join the sea. This is my goal. This portion of my course is called my mouth. People have built ports here. Factories have been built on my banks. This makes the country prosperous. But the factories do a great harm to people. In my upper course the water is very pure. But here the municipalities of the towns and factories throw away all sorts of impurities into my water. This pollutes my water. I am not to blame for this.
Conclusion: I am obviously important for human existence on earth. I provide a great quantity of water to human beings for their domestic, industrial and irrigative uses. Apart from all the consumptive uses of men, I serve men by supplying water for their non-consumptive uses like hydro-electric power generation and effluent dilution for pollution control. This is, in short, my life history. There is a great difference between man’s life and mine. I am constantly on the move. Man is born and he dies. I was born but I do not know whether I shall have died or not. Since my birth I have been constantly flowing and in future I shall have been flowing through ages to serve all the creatures for their existence on earth. Finally I am to end my writings remembering the famous line of the poet Tennyson “Men many come, men many go, But I go on for ever.”
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