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Why does the Seti River flow partially underground at Pokhara?
The folklore has it that Seti the white
river, and Kali the black river, that flow from Jomsom are
sisters born to the same Himalaya. Once they had a bet as
to which of them would make it first to the ocean. In their
wild, adventurous jour- ney to the big sea, they ran an amazing
race. Their shooting down from the Himalaya, their falling
from the cliffs as waterfalls, the breaking down of rocks,
the knocking off of mountains, hills and highlands that stood
in their way, was an incredible sight to behold. Upon reaching
Pokhara Seti saw an old woman plough- ing her field and another
working on the slanting roof of a village house. She felt
sorry for these women and went under- ground to avoid any
such encounters.
Kali, on the other hand, came across a different
situation in the course of the journey. There were male porters
in bare feet carrying heavy loads on their backs on narrow
mountain trails, to support their wives and children at home.
Kali too after Jomsom decided to hide her- self by digging
the deepest gorge on earth.
Then both Seti and Kali during their fur-
ther journey to the ocean joined a number of big rivers. By
the time they reached their destination they had learnt a
lot more about human suffering on this planet. That was when
they decided to visit their parental home, the Himalayas,
in the form of rains, but maintained the usual course of their
river without complaint.
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