Brian Mendonça
And so it has come to pass. The Indian leadership has
decided to curtail the waters of the Ravi river which flows into Pakistan from
India.
As part of the Indus Water Treaty signed in 1960 India
is free to utilize the waters of the Eastern rivers, viz. Ravi, Beas and Sutlej
while Pakistan can use the Western rivers viz. Indus, Chenab and Jhelum.
It had been predicted earlier that the next wars will
be water wars. Owing to the scarcity of this precious resource each country will
seek to leverage its influence over river, sea and ocean.
Rivers flow where they will, and until this time the
Ravi has been flowing blithely into Pakistan. It was this fact that inspired me
to include it as a line in my poem as I sat beside the Ravi in Chamba district
of Himachal Pradesh.
Hymn
to Ravi
-Brian Mendonça
If
I could take back with me
The
sound of your waters, as you course through the night
I would.
If
I could take back with me
Your
thousand faces, from turquoise to deep green
I would.
If
I could take back with me
The
laughter in your gurgle, and the warmth of your people
I would.
If
I could take back with me
The
boy of four named after you, who plays in the pasture with the freckled sun,
I would.
If
I could take back with me
Your
wisdom, as you span two countries with your girth
I would.
If
I could take back with me
Your
silence as you direct me to the depths of my being
I would.
If
I could come back every night
And
lay beside your stillness in motion
I
would.
(Chamba, 2002)
Water is a potent symbol in the movie Khamosh Paani / Silent Waters (2003)
directed by Sabiha Sumar. The water has its secrets which are best left to its
depths.
The black and white flashbacks to the well around which
the young girls dance, bring memories of trauma that stretch back to 1947. As the film progresses the water becomes more
and more menacing until Ayesha is sucked into its vortex.
When the two girls declare that they will no longer
bring water for her, it is the beginning of the end for Ayesha.
Saleem is the reluctant fundamentalist. Frustrated by
his life, he is shown seeking solace by the river. He takes out the leaflets
from his pocket and flings them into the unconcerned river. Ever more enraged
he whips out a pistol and shoots the leaflets as they dance out of harm’s way.
In a poignant moment toward the end of the film the
meagre belongings of his mother Ayesha, all trussed up in a small trunk, are
set adrift on the river by her son Saleem. In a sense he disowns her after her
death and it is left to the river to embrace her – or what’s left of her -- with
its playful gurgle.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday, 10 March 2019. Pix of Ravi river at Lahore from a train; courtesy Haq Nawaz on YouTube taken on 29 June 2017. Pix of Sabiha Sumar, courtesy Hindustan Times, 3 July 2016.
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