Book Summary- A River Sutra by Gita Mehta

A River Sutra

                                      by Gita Mehta

Viking – Penguin Books India, 1993 282 pp,  Rs. 299/-

          This is an interesting book made up of stories either experienced or told on the banks of the River Narmada.  There is a narrator (Sutra-dhar), an ex-civil servant, who takes up the job of the Manager of the Narmada Rest House, a Mughal vintage building deep inside the forest on the banks of the Narmada, as if only to symbolise his entering the Vanaprastha stage of life.  One finds vivid descriptions of the building and its neighbourhood but the thread (Sutra) that runs the book is the River Goddess herself.

Ullala Beach and Netravati : Sagara Teeram, Nadi Samuttaranam, Suryastamayadarsanam

          One evening in Mangalore, we decided to visit the seashore.  We reached the Ullala beach (the place Ullala being famous for a dargah) and walked around.  May be I was not in my elements, I only greeted my friend Samudra from a distance and not by touch.  I noticed that there was a slope in the landscape.  Even if the waves seemed to be low, one could never accurately gauge the depth of water so it appeared improper to venture into deep water (not that it was a valid enough excuse to keep away from Samudra).  A true friend understood silence, it was said.  Samudra did just that.

O butterfly, butterfly

Recently, I was able to catch a monarch butterfly on the banks of the Mahanadi serendipitously..just have a look, friends!

Thee Monarch is unaware of me!