Rivers on the way

The Delhi-Madras trip that Amma insisted on making every year while I was growing up was made bearable by the train journey. There were the Chambal ravines to be crossed, then the Vindhyas, the tunnels, at the Nagpur station would by my athai and athaimber with lunch, and then down into the south. But the most thrilling part was crossing the rivers. Chambal, Betwa, Narmada, Godavari, and Krishna.

Even today when I take the train, I wait for the rivers to appear. But the rivers are no longer the same! In fact after my recent trips I have decided not to look at the rivers in the city.

Yamuna, at Delhi, is just a sewage canal.

I waited eagerly for Teesta near Siliguri. But both the Teesta and Mahananda were a big disappointment. I had to wait till we entered the mountains to see the beauty of Teesta. And then followed it all the way to Sikkim, pausing on the way to see the merger of Rangeet with Teesta. The photos are yet to be scanned.

From Kalimpong, I came down to Chennai for a two week holiday. The parents, Ganesa Mama, Meena Mami, and I went to Munnar for three days. The photos can be accessed here.
On the way back we stopped at Madurai because I do not remember being there. Vaigai was a huge let down.There was no water and there were the usual slums lining the river bank. It reminded me of Krishna just outside Vijaywada.

Godavari was just a dried bed. And since we crossed Chambal and Betul in the night, I could not make out how the rivers were.

But I got a reprieve. Just outside Budni flowed Narmada. Majestic.