Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Upper Lake or Bhojtal lazily rolls through the west central part of Bhopal, the heart of the city. There are human settlements on the east and on the north. The verdant farmlands lie on the west. If you have ever sifted through the pages of And Quiet Flows the Don by Russian Nobel Laureate Mikhail Sholokhov (1905-1984), you are bound to feel sad for not having a Sholokhov to pen a few words to capture the beauty of this lake. The picture of the river Don, painted by Sholokhov in the novel displays to many extents, though loosely, the elegance of the Upper Lake surrounded by craggy chalky hills.
A recently built bridge across the lake recently adds classiness to the lake. An island, called Takia Tapu, in the middle of the lake, is covered with bottle-green grass and trees. The grave of a well-known Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Ali Shah Rahmatulla Alaiah, lies on the island. It is an embodiment of piece, harmony, and serenity. If you stand on the bank of the lake, and if you are acquainted with And Quiet Flows the Don you may hear the ripples of the Don in the steely-grey water of the Upper Lake.
Beyond the cement-iron fence of the lake, is the VIP road, like the back of a tortoise. As the lake is surrounded by moss-clad hillocks, it is soothing to your aching eyes. When the mosses turn grey in winters, the hilltops become chalky. In the rainy season, the Bhopal’s Don becomes dreamier, greener, and pensive. Then it drinks rainwater to quench the thirst of the residents of Bhopal.
When clouds hover over the city, you would crave for snatching a handful of clouds from the firmament, standing on the top of the hills. Sholokhov brushed Don with the tinge of his imagination. You may also do so. But you need Sholokhov's imagination for it. There is, however, a difference. The Don, the fifth longest river in Russia, flows from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia. In terms of length, the Upper Lake is smaller than the Don.
But in beauty, it is no less than the Don. At night, when the stars and the moon pierce through the half-lit horizon and pours down dim light on its surface, its waves give off murmurs of a lovelorn queen. At dawn, a thin mist rolls high over it. The sun rubs its eyes, looking down, but does not rise. Nor does it break the tranquility of his beloved lake. As the sleepy sun emerges from the morning bed, the banks of the Upper Lake are echoed with the trills of winged pipers – perhaps they sing in praise of the king who was behind constructing this vast water body which protects the environment of the area and the life of people.
The past of the Upper Lake delineates the story of the tenth century king Raja Bhoj of the Parmar dynasty (1005-1055). His story is the story of progress and development of central India. It was the king who constructed the Upper Lake to snuff out the thirst of his people. Lies a few kilometers away from it, the Lower Lake. These two sisters have created Bhoj wetland. They protect the environment, and are home to many water birds and animals.
The Upper Lake is blessed with hundreds of species of flora and fauna. Winged pipers begin to descend on the banks of the lake from the beginning of autumn and make it their home till the end of the spring. In winters, a blanket of fog covers the lake and crawls towards the cliffs like a huge, grey serpent, and mingles into the horizon with the approaching afternoon which turns into ashen twilight.
Then chilly evening falls. So Quiet Flows the Upper Lake, unfolding its mysteries day and night, as the Don does in Russia. Yet, Bhopal is yet to have a Sholokhov to tell the Upper Lake’s numinous stories to the world:
“All over the village slipped the days, passing into the nights; the weeks flowed by, the months crept on, the wind bowled, and glassified with an autumnal, translucent, greenish-azure, the Don flowed tranquilly down to the sea
– And Quiet Flows the Don, Mikhail Sholokhov
