CHITRAKUT AWARD 2019 MATE PASAND THAYELA SHIKSHAKO NI YADI..

CHITRAKUT AWARD 2019 MATE PASAND THAYELA SHIKSHAKO NI YADI..Man has through the ages craved in vain for an imaginary elixir oflife, the divine amrit. But the true elixir

oflife lies near our hands. For it is the commonest of all liquids, plain water! I remember one day standing on the line which separates the Libyan Desert from the Valley of the Nile in Egypt. On one side was visible sea of sand without a patch of green or a single living thing. On the other side lay one of the greatest, most fertile and densely populated areas teeming with life and vegetation. What made this wonderful difference? Why, it is the water of the river Nile flowing down to the Mediterranean from its source. Geologists tell us that the entire soil of the Nile valley is the creation of the river itself. Egypt, in fact, was made by its river. Its ancient civilization was created and is sustained by the life-giving waters which come down year after year with unfailing regularity. This common substance which we take for granted in our everyday life is the most potent and the most wonderful thing on the face of our earth. It has played a role of vast significance in shaping the course of the earth's history and continues to play the leading role in the drama of life on the surface of our planet.Water adds much to the beauty of the countryside, be it just a little stream trickling over the rocks or a little pond by the wayside where the cattle satisfy their thirst of an evening. The rainfed tanks are a cheering sight when they are full. These tanks play a vital role in South Indian agriculture. In Mysore, for example,much of the rice is grown under them. Some of these tanks are surprisingly large and it is a beautiful sight to see the sun rise or set over them. Water in a landscape may be compared to the eyes in a human face. It reflects

    the mood of the hour, being bright and gay when the sun shines, turning to dark and gloomy when the sky is One of the most remarkable facts about water is its power to carry silt . This is the origin of the characteristic colour of the water in rainfed tanks. This colour varies with the nature of the earth in the catchment area. Swiftly flowing water can carry fairly large and heavy particles. The finest particles, however, remain floating within the liquid in spite of their greater density and are carried to great distances. Such particles are, of course, extremely small, but their number is also great and very large amounts of solid matter can be transported in this way. The colour of the water changes successively from the muddy red or brown of silt through varying shades of yellow and green finally to the blue of the deep sea. Such land, consisting as it does of finely divided matter, is usually very fertile.