|| POEMS & POVS ||

dhuadhaar

:: Short story ::

We were cramped up inside our cars, couldn't they afford more vehicles for us? I would rather choose to stay at home than to be stuck here. I continuously looked outside the window, the sprinting trees and running roads gave me a little bit of comfort, but it was ruined when my brother started playing those loud and unpleasant pop music, I sighed and asked my mother where were we going to now, I was tired after visiting the famous Maihar temple, as if I had to climb up the trikut mountain all by myself, well I had always been a low stamina girl, I just wanted to sleep now.

My mother told me we were going to the famous Dhuandhaar waterfall, I became happy. I was such a nature lover and seeing a waterfall was always on my to do list, now I was excited, I think even my sleep is long gone now. "We will bath there." That one sentence made me scrunch up my face, I didn't liked that at all. It is just so awkward to bath in public. But anyway, I was going to see a waterfall, and that even sounded so refreshing.

I was again lost in my thoughts while staring at countless of unknown people mind their own business, It felt good to see them from afar, I didn't knew anything about any of them, what kind of people they were? How many things they must be dealing with? The world's a strange place isn't it? Filled with different people and species but still connects them in a chain of interdependency.

Soon we reached the Dhuandhaar location, it was filled with huge rocks, the tourist guide was continuously babbling things we couldn't understand, his accent was way ahead of my understanding capabilities. I peaked outside the window to see the beautiful scenery of rocks surrounding us from everywhere, I didn't knew they could look so pleasing to eyes, then our car started entering the main place, it was filled with small shops of these local people.

There were many temperory tattoo shops and a lot of people were selling things crafted from the rocks, It was my first time being in a place like this, I was fascinated and my siblings were just begging to get one tattoo, I just shrugged, I wasn't a fan of getting my skin printed with inks, I was eager to see the sight of the waterfall, I could hear the sound of it, its music was turning me inward into eagerness of wanting to see the most beautiful side of nature, I saw my brothers start running ahead, jumping around on the rocks.

I followed them and ran behind, I suddenly found a small, cute rock, I kept it with me in my pocket and soon, infront of me was the Narmada river, and the waterfall. I was mesmerized by it's beauty, a sight that would leave you froze for a moment, my eyes were glued onto it, "Whoah! That's Awesome!" My sister yelled and I also joined her, we got closer to the waterfall, it looked so breathtakingly refreshing, so that was the biggest waterfall of India, the Beauty of Jabalpur. I took a deep breath, it was scary but thrilling.

People were clicking pictures and making videos but I was busy staring at the scene infront of me, how dare I try to capture its beauty in a mere camera roll? I didn't want to loose the beauty of the moment, I looked around and saw some boys swimming in the water, they were locals, I was amused at the talent they had, they could easily challenge the harsh flow of water and swim like a fish. People threw coins in the water and the boys would pick them up and keep them with themselves.

I walked ahead, the river looked calm and less thrilling just feets away from the edge, people were bathing on it's bank and I tried to ignore their voices,  I sat on a rock and let my feets be soaked in the water, this water travelled here from so far, ahead of me was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my life, this beauty could even grow the dead into life, could throw a mere fool into  the depths of intelligence, so that was the meaning of nature. I was strongly intoxicated by the sight infront of me, the sound of the water, the movements of the waves and the morning sunlight splashing on it's surface.

I got up and tried to go ahead, I went to the very last rock and sat on it, my mother tried to call me back, fearing I would slip and fall into the water, I told her I was okay and again looked at the water, I wasn't scared at that moment, I knew it was scary, one wrong move and I would be flowing down with the water and probably not surviving, but it just felt so good to be so close to the danger, the beauty that danger held was something else, but it was worth it to experience once in a lifetime, it was a place that didn't just comforted you but made you courageous enough to face anything in life, I took the beauty of that moment in my heart, and I must carry it forever.