magic of brahmaputra-1

Traditional ferry boats dangerously overloaded with passengers cross the river Brahmaputra between Majuli island and Jorhat on August 23, 2011 in Jorhat, Assam, India

mighty river that decides a

terrain’s destiny

K A Beena

travel & flavors April 201346

On a summer dusk, this vast expanse of water acquires the serenity of an ascetic

face – outwardly calm, hiding the multitudes of whirls and currents underneath. The placidity is occasionally interrupted by the fishermen in boats creating small ripples and waves as they row about looking for the daily catch. In the twilight, as you sit there watching the mammoth flow of water, you experience absolute harmony with nature.

We (me and my family) are on the banks of the Brahmaputra, which is the soul of the Assamese people. They address this free-flowing great river as Baba Brahmaputra with immense respect as though it is their uncle. They also call him Borleuit and Burhaleuit with the attachment, authority and affection to a friend.

The river is considered to be a boon given by the creator of the universe, Lord Brahma, to the Assamese people. According to legends, the river is the son of Brahmadeva and Amogha, who was the wife of a saint. The existence and destiny as well as the course of the day-to-day life of all plants and animals on the banks of this river and the surrounding mountain ranges are eternally controlled by this huge river.

We had lived for two years on the banks of the Brahmaputra. We include myself, my son Ritwik alias Appu, and my husband Baiju Chandran. Baiju was working at Dooradarshan’s Programme Production centre in Guwahati as a part of his North-Eastern service, which is compulsory for Central Government employees, especially for those who are with Doordarshan. Baiju was unaware of even the preliminaries of culinary skills, an essential factor of practical life.

However, that wasn’t the only reason for me to join him. I was mostly ignorant about the North Indian regions beyond Delhi, especially North-Eastern India. My knowledge regarding these areas was limited. I only had a picture of North-Eastern India from some TV documentaries and the movies of Janu Barua and Santhwana Bardaloi, books by Indira Goswami, news about terrorism, floods of the Brahmaputra and memories about the Assam agitation, which I had read earlier.

I took this as an opportunity to experience and familiarise myself

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with those regions and the people living there – an eagerness to rush to an entirely different world of experience. These were the reasons which inspired and instigated me to apply for a transfer to Guwahati. I was working as Assistant News Editor at Thiruvananthapuram Akashvani, and was transferred to Press Information Bureau of Guwahati in November 2002.

The Brahmaputra is not feminine like the Ganga or the Godavari. According to Hindu mythology, the Brahmaputra is one of the rare male rivers in the universe. The Ganga is often addressed as Ganga Mayya (Mother Ganga), but people call the Brahmaputra ‘Baba’ with a tinge of fear, taking its fatherly aspect into consideration.

Legends describe the Brahmaputra as an ocean. The river’s unusual size and majestic nature gives it an oceanic appearance. Such a big river is incomprehensive even in imagination. Other rivers are only rivulets compared to the Brahmaputra.

Its intrinsic aggressive nature makes it all the more masculine. The river is affected by even minute changes in nature, when the rhythm of the people’s lives on its basin is disrupted. During the torrential monsoon rains, the Brahmaputra attains a demonical form, greedy to swallow the whole populace and demolishing all obstacles in its way. After causing myriad calamities, finally, when the turmoil subsides, the river goes fast to its afternoon nap, having had a substantial meal.

Lord Brahma had named his dear son Lohithya Gonga. The river, it seems, is mentioned in the legends by the name Lohithya. ‘Lohithya’ means ‘the river of blood.’ Parasurama attained salvation from the sin of matricide by bathing in the river Lohithya. However, Jamadagni, who gave re-birth to Renuka, failed to give salvation to the son. Even his meditative powers could not remove the axe, which got stuck to his son’s hands after killing his mother.

The ascetic advised him to go on a pilgrimage as a means for solution to his sin. At that time, Lohithya was an ocean-like lake in the Brahmakund, amidst four mountains, namely, Kailasa, Gandhamadana, Jarudhi and Sambavarthaka. Even the gods and goddesses came to bathe in Lohithya to receive blessings.

Legend has it that Parasurama drowned himself in Lohithya and the axe fell from his hands. He was so pleased that he blessed the river to be of use to the whole humanity. He created a furrow with his axe and made the river flow downwards. The stories about the origin of the river proclaim its flow through Hemasringa mountain, then filling the plains of Lohithya, Kamarupa, and later falling into the southern ocean. To be concluded...(Translated by Ayisha Sasidharan)

The river is considered to be a boon given by the creator of the universe, Lord Brahma, to the Assamese people. According to legends, the river is the son of Brahmadeva and Amogha, who was the wife of a saint

travel & flavors April 201348