By the River

Amaravathi

Amaravathi

It was a Monday morning, after a boring ritual of going through Sunday in Vijayawada. I had woken up at 5 am, and I did not feel like sleeping again. The morning was cool and I decided to go out someplace on the Zahir.

By 6 am, I had taken bath and I was dressed in my usual jeans and tee shirt, shoes and goggles. ( mind you, it gets sunny by 6 am in these parts!)

I will describe the plan now, as I had it in my mind then. I would goto Amaravathi, and then spend some time there and come back by 9 am and then go to office as usual by 9.30 am.

Vijayawada to Amaravathi – 35 kms.
Amaravathi to Guntur – 34 kms - Highway
Guntur to Vijayawada – 40 kms - Highway

The road to Amaravathi is interesting. There is a place called the Prakasam Barrage across the river Krishna. This is quite at the edge of the city, and from this small dam a road has been carved all along the edge of the river. It’s a narrow, but good road. The road is raised above the terrain, with steep edges. On one side of the road is about a 100 meters of fields, and the then the river, full, this being the upstream part of the dam. On the other side of the road are fields as far as one can see.

This was the season for the plantain trees and onions. Some fields had already been harvested, and they were red, with onions scattered here and there, giving the land a glow in the morning sunshine that was just permeating the dew of the dawn.

There were a lot of other travelers too on this deserted road. That was because of the Buddhist Kalachakra festival going on there in Amaravathi. A lot of important people were descending on this remote hamlet, incl. The Dalai Lama, the CM of AP, a horde of other Ministers and learned people.

I would say this is the most beautiful road I have traveled in on the plains. I have never seen a river so full and so close, or fields that were fresher, or the air so fragrant. Devoid of all human inhabitation, so much that I could not have a coffee till i actually got to Amaravathi.

Soon the road that was hugging the river left the banks and moved inland and the road got wider too. It was wonderful stretch this particular one. Straight double lane road, with empty fields, with haystacks scattered at random. To top all this, there was a flock of birds, cranes I think, because they were white. They were flying above the road, not too high. They were going zig zag, in a uniform fashion, like they performing some sort of synchronized drill. I slowed down the bike, and they went on like this for a kilometer or so. Thank God no other vehicle was there to disturb their rejoicing.

There are moments when we see nature in all her splendor. We feel the hair all over our body rise and a chill resonating through the body. There is like a charge passing through the spine. It happens like a startling realization. Like the effect of a sensation wrung out of the soul, that was muddled within the limitations of the body. The God has just visited the mind. The mind now sees the possibilities, the variety and the beauty.

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began,
So is it now I am a man,
So be it when I shall grow old
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man:
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety. – William Wordsworth

I sped in and out of Amaravathi, after thorough checks done at check posts (The CM was coming). On the way back, I chose to come back through Guntur, after connecting with the highway near Amaravathi. I had to make up time; else I would be late for work. So I sped along till Vijayawada…….