As we reached Makora Pattan, sun was setting over the River Ravi and before us spread a sea of oranges and rubies. Late October kash blooms crowded the high sandy banks and across the vast silken expanse of water, the other bank was barely visible. Rivers of the Indus basin are called Darya in the plains of Punjab. Darya: a word interchangeable with the sea.
Continue reading “The Nowhere-land of Ravi”Tag: Jhulelal
Rivers are Us
Above: Sindhu by Anoop Patnaik, Outlook Traveller
“To choose safe waters
is the route of imposters:
Those who love
take on the mighty river.” (Seeking the Beloved, translations of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s Poems)
In the inky, starless night, beautiful Sohni plunged into the flooded River Chenab to meet her beloved Mehwal, knowing well that she will never make it to the other side. Sohni is one of the seven heroines brought to life by Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, a remarkable 18th Century Sufi poet, mystic and reformist living on the banks of Indus. Sohni was the wife of a potter, in love with Mahiwal, a cattle herder from the banks of the Chenab. Like all poignant love stories, Sohni-Mahiwal’s tale was short-lived, but 300 years later, the legend of Sohni flows through the Chenab and lives on in the songs of peasants. In Punjab, the land of five rivers, they sing of Sohni, of the roaring, helpless river and of mad, wilful love. The narrative is so unwrinkled and dewy that till this day, silent figures sweep the modest tombs of Sohni and Mahiwal, hoping that their love will meet a better fate. Like Sur Sohni (Sohni’s poem) from Shah jo Risalo (Poetry of the Shah) prophecised:
“Hundreds were by the river drowned,
But the river was drowned by this maiden.” Continue reading “Rivers are Us”
Jhulelal or Zindapir: River Saints, fish and flows of the Indus
Above: Zindapir Shrine at Sukkur Photo from: British Library
Perhaps we all have our pet projects which we wish would go on forever. I have been working on a Primer on Riverine Fisheries of South Asia for some years now (my office may disagree with the definition of ‘some’). Like a magpie collecting shiny knick-knacks, I keep collecting (quite serendipitously, or so I think) anecdotes and interviews and snippets on the subject. Continue reading “Jhulelal or Zindapir: River Saints, fish and flows of the Indus”
SANDRP 