Live like a RIVER!

When I was a teenager, with an intent to glamorize things and be different -I used to fill slambook questions of my friends that my favorite teacher is 'Nature'. Then, I had many other amusing answers as well to some other questions which may be of interest to other teenagers these days - in case they still fill up slambooks - but of all the things - this answer amuses me now, more than ever.

Is it true? Is Nature really the best teacher?

Nature has vivid forms - it's destructive form often changes our lives forever. We have all heard of and sometimes experienced this as well. Earthquakes, Cyclones, even heavy rains or dust-storms have a tremendous effect on our lives. They make us realize that One Day we all Die.

"Memento mori (Latin: "remember that you must die") is the medieval Latin theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. It is related to the ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying") and related literature. Memento mori has been an important part of ascetic disciplines as a means of perfecting the character by cultivating detachment and other virtues, and by turning the attention towards the immortality of the soul and the afterlife." ~ Wikipedia.

But, the one form of nature which never ceases to amuse me is a River..

Growing up not far from the banks of Hooghly River - I was always attached to Rivers.
Whenever, I was in an emotional turmoil, or  even if I just wanted to be me ... I always walked down to the banks of Hooghly - sometimes with my friends Mani and Nitesh, rarely alone as well - but  everytime I used to sit there... I lost all my words. It used to enlighten a feeling of magnanimity in me. Nothing else mattered. As if I was able to drown all my feelings -- regrets, happiness and pain in this flowing river...

But Time persists. Hooghly became a very far-fetched thing. Life changes and you cant always go the the banks of that child-hood river just to sit and contemplate.

I may have cried so many times on that river-bank, I may have just sat down and listened to the temple bells or I may have seen pyres burning on the same bank  ... but there was something which took me really very long to realize... that you don't have to be in-front of a river... You can just be one!

Now, I am not talking about the geography classes of the different stages of a snow-fed river, but life is not much different either, isn't it?

A river teaches you to be persistent. You don't need to be powerful to pave your way through mountains and rocks - just persistent..
A river teaches you to be nourishing - most ancient civilizations originated near the rivers as it was nourishing and it gave food, in the same way when we grow older, we try to use our life energy in giving nourishment and happiness to those around us.
It even flows into an ocean and teaches us the meaning of life and death.

 Zongo Falls - DRC

But those are not the reasons, why I want to Live like a river...

I want to live like a river because I can just be myself - when I am sitting on those banks...

And the last time I remember, I was sitting on the banks of Hooghly around two years ago - while holding the hands of my beloved and telling her how high-tide and low tides phenomenon works, when all I wanted to say that I was in love..
I guess, Even rivers cant make certain things simpler, but then we can always try some other form of nature - like a Rose. :-)

"When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy." Rumi