Sitting by the river....

I still remember the day vividly. It was my fifth birthday. As a birthday gift my grandfather had promised to take me to meet her. We started early that day, the journey was going to take about half an hour and we were going to walk. On other occasions walking for even five minutes was a real hard task for me but today I forgot everything because a meeting with her was all I had desired for the past one year.
Finally we reached her abode. Along the way, miraculously the landscape changed and as we neared her it became greener and denser. My grandfather led me through a narrow path at the end of which I saw her. There she was with beauty beyond words, with bounds which the human senses could not conceive, with brilliance beyond imagination. She was VAIDEHI- THE LIFE GIVER.
I instantly took to her. She was to be my best friend. I don’t remember what else I did by her side that day; all I remember was that she could feel me and also that she wanted to talk to me.
After that day visiting VAIDEHI became a daily ritual for me. I used to just sit by her side watching her graceful dance and her occasional ripples of laughter. At times I would vent my frustration and anger by throwing pebbles at her. She would not say anything. She tolerated me and continued dancing. I questioned her once about her silence, I think; but she gave me the same old reply. She could say so many things through her SILENCE.
After I completed my tenth, I had to go to the nearest town for further studies. Even then when I came on holidays I saw to it that I spent enough time with her. She was the first one to know about my results and also the first one to know about SHEETAL. The only thing which I told her the last was about my departure. Many times tears would trickle down my cheek but she would just continue dancing.
My academic pursuits took me to a city which was not that close to my village. I didn’t want to leave VAIDEHI but…
Before leaving I did go to meet her. That day she was a little slackish. She had lost her charm and enthusiasm. I thought maybe she is sad too. I didn’t stay long, just said GOODBYE and left with a promise to see her again hopefully in her full brilliance and grace.
Just four months back I visited my village. It was after three long years. Many things had changed, but one thing which was not going to change was of course VAIDEHI. I ran with the setting sun to meet her. I found the narrow path with ease, but something inside me was telling me “alls not well”. With each step on that narrow path my heart became heavy. Finally the path ended and I fell on my knees. Not because of her brilliance but because VAIDEHI was nowhere to be seen. The place which she used to grace with zest and vigour was barren, marked with potholes and dotted with bulldozers. There were workers walking all over the place carrying mud too and fro. I somehow got to my senses and asked a worker about VAIDEHI. He gave me a puzzled look and went on. That night I didn’t sleep well.
I don’t know what happened to VAIDEHI. I didn’t bother to enquire. My father was saying something about the river drying up, water pollution etc. but I didn’t pay attention. Though I had a month’s vacation left, I departed the next day. Two months after that my parents shifted to the city. I never visited my village again.
The newspapers say that my village has been declared DROUGHT-PRONE, tankers are required to supply water. I just turn the page asking one question only, “WHERE ARE YOU, VAIDEHI?”.