When Sabarmati Meets Yamuna

“It is not compatible with the water of Sabarmati which is running in my veins”, I had said these words to one of my new friends in New Delhi who innocuously offered me a drink. It might have looked a bit pompous and haughty of me but in such matters I don’t mind being explicitly blunt. I am against the excessive chauvinism of one’s own region however a strong attraction to one’s own regional identity becomes all the more expressive when one moves out of one’s state. One of the reasons to come to delhi was to get the adequate exposure to develop a national perspective and outlook.

This objective seems to be well on its way. I miss Ahmedabad a lot, but just to compensate myself a bit I keep reminding myself that if not Sabarmati, I am now at the brink of Yamuna. Yamuna is also as important and beautiful as Sabarmati has always been. I am yet to see the flip side of Yamuna, (having seen floods in Sabarmati in 2006-07) I fear what Yamuna might have in store for me during my stay here.

Looking at the issue in a slightly metaphorical sense, I had also thought that the rivers, in early beginning of civilizations, generally built the nature of life of people. Following the logic it was safe to assume that people in this part of the nation also were very much same as the ones in the other parts. Their likes, dislikes, nature, fears, enjoyments and preferences were all quite similar.

As a child we always hear that India is famous for Unity in diversity, perhaps it is this link of similarity as human beings that binds us.