The connection

Bangalore

That night we met some wonderful people. With curiosity and fulfillment, we went around listening to different people who were there. Many of them were strangers to me, but there was definitely a connection there……a connection that would change my life from thereon in.

It was when I took the dip in the river as a ritual on behalf of my late father, that I knew that I wouldn’t be returning back to Europe. Instead a powerful feeling ran through me – it was as if my roots were holding me back. That moment was probably the trigger for all the changes that have happened since.

This was quite surprising, as I never thought for one moment I would stay back in the country as I always had the urge to travel, move from one place to another and found it suffocating to get used to living in one place. Reading quite a lot of existential writing right from childhood hardly helped I guess!.

Three faces from that night still linger in my memory - Sundarrajan, who spearheaded the people's movement and hunger strike against the Coca-Cola factory in Plachimada in Palghat district of Kerala, Sujith Kumar who ran an NGO called CEDAR based out of Thrissur and Anwar Wakkad who was involved in many conservations efforts in various parts of Kerala. Hari (Govindan) also sang a requiem for the river and I remember him crying by end of it, which also brought tears to many faces in that moonlit gathering.

Alamkode Leela Krishnan who wrote "Nilayude Theerangaliloodey" (By the banks of River Nila), (which I think is still one of the best books written about the cultural history of River Nila), was also present and felt some responsibility for not having done enough for the dear river, which was now struggling for life.

The connection I felt with these people and the magical moments we shared reminiscing about this river that had once been so beautiful and romantic, willed me to share some of the decisions I had made a few days back with Sujith.

About not going back to Europe and
About doing my bit for the river.
About wanting to share my passion with them
About my readiness to spend the next five years working for the river...

He smiled, patted me on my shoulder and said, "I am quite impressed and happy that you are ready to dedicate the next five years to the river." This was a man whom I came to know little by little through various projects we worked on together. It was during one of those intense discussions about reviving Bharatapuzha, that he emotionally declared,

" I am actually willing to dedicate my whole life to this river!"..

That was the level of dedication, passion and commitment these youngsters had and it was then that I realized there is no going back for me either. If I ever chose to work for someone or work with someone - it would definitely be for the river.

That was three years ago.

© GP 2006