Hallowed beginnings,
From the sacred Mansrovar;
Revered lake of stillness,
In the abode of the gods;
The mighty Himalayas.
Scintillating Kailash peak.
Howling winds,
biting cold;
Azure skies,
Naked sadhus.
Sparkling waters,
Cascading falls,
Crazy whirlpools, dizzying eddies,
Foaming currents, innumerable rapids.
Deafening roar, unfathomable depths.
Ever stronger;
With every mile downstream.
Roaring through the gorges.
Traversing through,
Towns, cities and countries.
Lesser rivers,
lost in your essence.
Deathly calm, placid waters,
Spread out as far
As the eye can see
Down in the plains.
Myriad names,
Yangbo, Dihang for the Tibetans
Siang in Arunachal,
Bramhaputra for the Ahoms,
Padma in Bangla.
Sweeping all things
with your raging currents.
Mother of civilizations;
Mute witness to history.
Icon of
life and sanctity,
Divine life giver.
Birth giver of
luxuriant forests,
Mighty animals,Delicate birds.
Bountiful fishes.
Green paddy fields,
Sloping tea gardens.
Of inundating floods,
Untold miseries.
Wayward destructor too.
Still the Fountain of life,
For all in your lap.
At twilight,
Under orange skies,
A lone boat drifting ;
in your vast expanse
with the days catch.
Haunting Majhi’s song,
Reverberating across,
the vastness of your waters.
Reminding all
of your gentleness,munificence,
and your potent powers.
Glorious sangam
With the mighty ocean.
Never really an end
For each year,
You come back
as the monsoon,
To start the never ending cycle
All over again.
Creator and destroyer;
The eternal one.
Oh Siang!
Thou more than a river,
But, one of the almighty.
I lift my hands to thee,
…in prayer.
--- Dr.Nelson Loitongbam ---
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