Dried Tamas

Tamas has dried. There is no water left in it. It's complicated. People talk that the water level has gone down. Those who have bore water supply at their homes, tell that it takes hours to fill a 1000 litre tank. The earth is revolving and so are these talks that come back to us in some form. It's the month of March. The summer is about to begin.

As I strolled near the dry bed of the river, I met these small kids. They have found a puddle of stagnant water. They are fishing. They have muddy feet. One of the little kid has a small yellow box. She has put up a net across two puddles and through which fishes are getting stuck while flowing.

Silently sitting by the edge, she tilted the little box and showed me her live catch. Inside it there is murky water and 7-8 fishes are visible. "What are you gonna do with them?", I asked. She said she will eat them. She is wearing bluish bangles and pink lipstick. While I was speaking with other kids, I heard her laughing once!

The sky is blue. It's mid day.. Holi is two day apart.. It is dizzisome to look at the dry bed. Every time I have come back to Maihar, my native, I have found Tamas in different music, never this sad. Where is the river?

For this little puddle, and for the entire river that is not here, how does it affect people's life? What happens to the local economy? Those who live along, how have they been habitually connected with the river and after it is gone, even though seasonally, what kind of changes occur to their lives?

At some point, shouldn't we all think this in a larger perspective. Is this some tragedy we are ignoring? Tamas.. 

---

Read - Laalman