The Ganges Poem by Prayash Gupta

Contaminating, decontaminated contamination
Polluting, control of ceaseless pollution
Spontaneously, not identical the sail of stream on the sand storm
Ceaselessly I flow from my motherly womb of Gangotri,
Executing my deeds- ‘Karma yoga'
Without blinking my eyes like that of an Owl in the frozen night
Time has witnessed my actions….
And I have witnessed the action of men
You constructed The Wall in my course…but still I dribble
Through those nine and twenty cities
Tying knot with the evergreen trees, pure gentle breeze
The mesmerizing solitude of the meadows
Silently I move on ….whispering millions of
Unspoken words in the mood of gay.
Ay, Where are they now…. where are they?
Did they disappear with time or
The controller of time consumed them…I know not…
But….Behold…
The factories in their place
And from their chimneys…the endless smoke
Evocating me of my lovely dear breeze...
Oh! I forgot to mention about a gift I got…
‘Industrial Effluent', They call it…
Making me blackish brown,
Contaminating, they call it
Decontaminated contamination
Polluting, they call it
Control of ceaseless pollution
But what about my Dolphin?
What about thousands of marine creatures who live with me?
Are they going to survive? I know not…
But still they do not protest for their survival…
Rather I see their number subtracted…
With the flow of Time or rather the flow of me…
Are they in the mood to disappear….
Or were compelled to disappear like my dear trees… I know not

Oh dear lord! Where are my friends?
Please bring back those Trees and Dolphins…
So that I can flow once again
Whispering millions of unspoken words
In the mood of gay.
I pray every single moment I flow…
Are my prayers answered? I know not
It might be in a long queue
As hundreds and thousands of people
Come to bath in me and pray…
Even if their body is contaminated, they care not
Some pure Spiritual seeker, some soulful contaminated body
Some soulless life, Some fire consumed ashes after funeral pyre
Floats on me… Takes bath
To purify their past deeds, they say
Did I come to purify you?
Oh yes, I came from The Shivji's hair
At Bhagiratha's call….
To purify the ashes of his ancestors…
And from then, I have been flowing on
Witnessing all that I have witnessed

Oh! Just let me flow my way
And silently sleep along the lines of bay…