Peaceful WaterIndus River

Long ago there was a city that was located near

the Indus River. It was called Mohenjo-daro. It

was a densely populated and lively city. They

were always the first to start the trends. They

were the most advanced for their time.

The Great Bath

It was only natural that they create a bath.

Not the same bath tub you’re thinking

though. This bath was the size of a

swimming pool and roughly nine feet deep.

It was a hit. Everyone loved it. Except King

Rajan. The king did not know how to swim

and was not ready to learn how. He was

stubborn and persistent. The people love

their king, but they also love their bath. They

encouraged him to try it, but he would not

budge.

Meanwhile, the water spirit the town

worshipped, Madeesh, was growing very

angry. How could the king not like the bath

he had given the people? The more he

thought about it, the angrier he got. He

decided to go to King Rajan in a dream to

trick him into going into the pool. So

Madeesh worked all day concocting the

dream he would present to the king.

That night, King Rajan had the most fantastic

dream where he spoke with the water god,

Madeesh. Madeesh told him that if he was to

go in the water he would float and not worry

about drowning. For as everyone knew, Kings

did not drown. Or so the spirit said. Now the

king did not want to disobey the god, so the

next day, he made a public announcement

that he would enter the bath because

Madeesh had instructed him to do so.

With the whole city watching, the king did

a belly flop into the water. At first

everyone cheered, but as the minutes

ticked by and the king did not emerge,

whispers started to pass through the

crowd. Surely they could not have lost

their king. Who would restore order to

their city? What would happen to them?

And most of all, What of the King?

A mist suddenly appeared above the bath. Slowly,

a shape started to take form. It spoke to the

crowd, “I am Madeesh. I am the water god who

gave you this bath. Your king is the first example

of what happens when you do not respect a god.

You won’t need to worry about him anymore.” He

finished with a mischievous grin. Then, as

suddenly as he disappeared, he transformed into

a miniature statue of himself and plopped into the

pool.

The people were disturbed and frightened by what

Madeesh had said. They quickly left the bath. Many

of them packed their bags and left as soon as they

could. When the water god checked to see them, he

found only half of the people left. He was enraged!

How could they all leave him? He was so good to

them and even took special measure for their

beloved king. Madeesh swept up all the water from

the bath and used it to flood the remaining people.

They were carried away on a wave never to be

heard of again. All that was left was their city and

the remains of their precious bath. And of course,

there was still the statue of Madeesh who had

condemned them all.