If Brahmaputra Could Speak
written by: Nilutpal Gohain
@nilutpal.gohain.3
Oh! The mighty people of Assam
The invincible and supreme race
I am the Luit speaking-
Spare me the disgrace
Stop feinting as such
You don’t count me sacred
Is it because of my patriarch
You never worshipped my father
Or is it because I washed off
The sins of a ghastly mother killer
But my existence is his contribution
Releasing me from the Mansarovar
Though you tread an arduous path
To bow to Sarovar at Kailash
Yet you don’t find me sacred
Our water don’t differ as such
Am I the illegitimate child
That the society does not cherish
I have several sisters whom others pray
Do arati, puja and take holy bath
But from their dwelling backdoor
Ooze on them all their filth
At least for me I can say
You don’t make such a deal
I am a river, I am considered eternal
And though my presence is perennial
I age-not with time but distance
My course to you is strikingly seminal
Thanks to my closest ally Himalaya
I carry deposits that are in amount substantial
As I bid adios to the big mountain
Youth brims from my every movement
But when I reach your beautiful abode
Old age grips my further advancement
I scuttle till the end of my course
Leaving behind deposits in arrangement
On the largest deposit I have set down
Your unique culture has flourished
A thousand odes and ballads on me
Your grand imagination has transcribed
Though I am your territorial lifeline
Yet for you I am not sanctified
You have kept me constrained
In walls, barrages and dams
I am not complaining though
But even those things overwhelm
So I flow into your habitation
Evicting you from your own land
In spite of floods every year
You have never cursed me
I have never been your sorrow
Such a pure bond for others to see
We have stood together for centuries
As brothers, supporter and ally
You do deify me on Ashokastami
When Ganga is just passing by
Or drop a coin into me every time
You ferry across or drive by side
Let things be just as it has always been
I am happy nurturing everyone alike.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
The Brahmaputra (Luit as called by the Assamese people) is considered as the lifeline of the people of Assam and from time immemorial it has nurtured the inhabitants for their physical, social and mental well-being and upliftment. It has acted like a father to the people and hence it is respected but not treated as God. The poem aims to reflect the opinion and say of the river if it could actually speak.
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