Rivers have always left me in awe. And when it is the he-river – the Brahmaputra, the vast expanse of liquid makes me do nothing but stare. Whenever the train traverses the Saraighat Bridge over the river, I’m at the door. So many times I have done this, but it doesn’t seem enough. Whenever I think Brahmaputra, one adjective comes to my mind. Mighty.
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Every time I cross it I just can’t stop myself recalling Paul Robeson’s Old Man River There’s an ol’ man called de Mississippi;That’s the ol’ man that I want to be!What does he care if the world’s got troubles?What does he care if the land ain’t free..Ol’ Man River, That Ol’ Man River He mus’ know sumpin’ But don’t say nuthin’, He jes’ keeps rollin’, He keeps on rollin’ along. He don’t plant taters, He don’t plant cotton, An’ dem dat plants ’em Is soon forgotten, But Ol’ Man River, He jes’ keeps rollin’ along You an’ me, we sweat an’ strain, Body all achin’ an’ racked wid pain – Tote that barge, lift that baleGet a little drunk andYou lands in jail… I gets weary and sick of tryin’I’m tired of livin’ And scared of dyin’ And Ol’ Man River, He just keeps rollin’ along< HREF="http://www.africanamericans.com/PaulRobesonOldManRiver" REL="nofollow">click to download the song<>
Reminds me of Tennyson’s poem, The Brook. I come from haunts of coot and hern, I make a sudden sally, And sparkle out among the fern, To bicker down a valley. By thirty hills I hurry down, Or slip between the ridges, By twenty thorps, a little town, And half a hundred bridges. Till last by Philip’s farm I flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever.< HREF="http://www.poetry-archive.com/t/the_brook.html" REL="nofollow">Continue here<>
i’m not gonna quote any poem. but i too like this river. i’ve visit it twice only. but i like its vastness. ganga is also vast, but in kolkata, its filthy. but i love seeing the clear ganga at he farakka. in fact during our college excursion ,our friends were seeing it with torchlight at night and they have a verbal fight with the copassangers for that.