Autobiography of a Water Droplet

                      

I am the one that is eternal; I’ve been here forever and will do so in the future too. I was the one to quench the thirst of the water deprived earth. I supported Rama’s stone when he wanted to reach Sri Lanka; I was also a part of the Tsunami that hit the earth and will continue to do so for years to come. Today, I’m here tomorrow I won’t, I move all around the earth changing forms, nature and places. Sometimes I’m in a shower, sometimes blushing on the petal as a dew drop or sometimes condense as fog on a spectacle. I’ve got various expressions and I put them forth in various ways. I am the last drop of Gangajal for the one on the death bed and I’m also the first drop of sweat on a worker’s forehead. I am a water droplet, tiny may be me but without me there is no thee.

Let me commence by narrating to you the story of my birth. I remember getting formed by the chemical reactions of Hydrogen and Oxygen at the time of big bang and since then I’ve been here and will do so everlastingly. I recall being cramped up in a cloud with millions of others like me. All of us were unmapped to what were we supposed to do next and why were we there in the first place. The soft cushioning of the cloud attempted to comfort us while the lightening tried to frighten us. In spite of all our perplexity compelled us to hold fast to one another.

The lightening finally struck the cloud of our residence and ripped us all apart from one another. I screamed my lungs out only to find my voice coalesce with millions of others around. The wind rushed past my cheeks as the gravity of the earth forced me towards itself. I closed my eyes tightly to submerge into the acceptance of the thing that was coming next.

Thump, I fell on another one like me in a puddle, sprang up like a ping pong ball and landed on the ground beside. I took a deep breath and assumed that it was the end of the adventure but soon after that found myself sucked into a long tunnel. I slide down and landed up in a really cosy place known as the ground water. The stones next to me were totally smooth and guided me on my way. A number water droplets like me clung together to form a narrow stream along the path.

All of us arrived at a place of endless water droplets like me, the ocean. I danced to the melodious tunes of the waves; felt the bottom of the ocean at the depth. At one moment I was in a phytoplankton’s cell moving from one chamber to another while the next moment I was sliding down the shark’s abdomen. My experience in the sea was a jolly one. The rule was that the new comers would stay deep within the ocean while the oldies occupied the surface. I never really understood this rule and rebelled to sunbathe.

The heat was unbearable; the solar energy was actually trying to destroy me. I felt terrible discomfort but still decided to stay there to see what was going to happen next. The heat slowly and steadily ate me up. No sooner did I realise what was happening to me than I found myself floating up and moving away from my beloved sea. I was transformed into hot vapour and that temperature was high enough for my mind to go numb. The heat separated my soul from my body and pulled me up to the place from where I had emerged.

Once again on reaching the sky I clung to a number of other like me and together we rested on the cushions of the cloud. From the top I looked at the tiny world that looked so vast from the ground. I could see the sea, the ocean, the grass, the sand and all the places which I had visited during my journey to the earth.

Here I realised that life is nothing but a journey for me. For some time I will be floating in the clouds and the rest I may be sunk into the ground. This is my water cycle and it is my duty to abide by the rules of nature set for me.  Since then I have done millions of trips down to earth and back to the cloud and each time I’m on the ground I drench into a new experience. I, being a water droplet have realised the science of life but some heart breaking incidents on earth have made me question the existence of the mankind.

Life is like a swing

Sometimes you will be high, sometimes you will be low

And each time that you are low

Simply kick the ground hard and you will soar.

A water droplet that I am, I tend to be the cause of every life on this earth. But here let me not be interpreted wrong, I feel that it is my privilege to assist various life forms to exist and I wouldn’t hold this as a pride. I know that there are a number of others like me and a loss of one would hardly matter but a collective thinking of all could lead to a crisis, a dangerous one. I have had a number of experiences but her I would like to share a few of the memorable ones with you.

Once upon a time I found myself frozen completely and blended into a sheet of snow in the glacier Siachin in the midst of Himalayas. I slide down with the flow at Gaumukh and emerged out as Ganges, the holy river of the Hindus. This river felt very pure, pilgrims from all over the world worshipped this river throughout its banks. Aarti, pooja and a number of religious activities were carried in this water. I felt completely enlightened by the auspiciousness of this river. A number of people took a dip in it to wash off their sins and some of them carried this river water home for religious things. Here I learnt to play hide and seek with the sun rays to avert being the victim of heat for vaporization as I wanted to prolong my stay here as long as possible.

But after few miles the scenario changed abruptly, the heavenly river transformed into a hell. A number of industries let out their effluents; people discharged their sewage into it; garbage was dumped into it and a lot of atrocities the river was made to go through. The chemicals and the contaminants clung to me and ruined my neutral state. My peace and joy was over and I rushed to the surface to dissolve into the atmosphere of the sky.

The other experience that I would like to share is of the time I found myself in a well of Rajasthan. A lady filled up a pot with one of the water droplet being me. She walked for miles in the scorching heat without stopping at all. I could feel the walls of the pot heating up and piercing into my body while she walked bravely without halting at all. On reaching home she gave this water to her family for drinking and used some for cooking. In spite of having done such a tiresome job she chose to give most of the water to her family by consuming a minimum amount herself.  My heart poured out to see this condition and felt disgusted at people elsewhere who wasted water and had lead to this situation.

I have seen this earth transform from a deserted ball of rocks and sand into a cheerful ecosystem with a varied biodiversity. I have this entire development and though my individual contribution in the journey of the earth might be petty but still I do take the credits for this transition. I consider this earth as my own child and have always performed my duties to the best level for its nourishment. My job is to move about and enjoy the taste of this nature but at the same time I’m concerned about the damage.

There was a time when this earth was a happy place, the rivers would sing melodious tunes while flowing; the ponds were would quench the thirst of the passerby; the oceans would dance with joy; the streams would trickle down the mountain gaily. But now is the stage where my siblings and I look at the earth as a sad place, the rivers grieve the sorrow of all the filth and contaminants in them; the ponds are too polluted to be even touched; the oceans vomit the waste out into the shores; the streams push hard to make some way for themselves through the plastic and other waste that is choking the surface of the mountains.

Like I’ve said I’m just another creation of God and live to keep up with my job. All my friend water droplets, the rocks, the sand and others are working up to the mark. Our potential is only to do our job but we really don’t want to see our child, Earth being distraught. Let me be free, let me enjoy my journey, let me be pure and not made insecure by the chemicals around.

You’ve got more powers and can direct yourself your way but I can move only by the guidance of the ones around. But I see no difference in us as you have transformed into a demon from a once called man. You’ve got powers but you use don’t use them right and no matter what I feel that in character I’m supreme than thee. Because a true life worth living is the one in which you live for others but all you do here is satisfy your selfish motto.

I am immortal and now let me tell you a secret as I live because life is but a dream. You are no different than I am and have the same cycle like me the only difference is that yours lasts longer than mine. You are born with a shock and totally unaware of the things around, you grow, learn and finally coalesce with the supreme in the end. Both of us have to respond to the omnipresent in the end, I face no trouble with that but what about you my friend?