When we got the river,
Ratna told me the cold and calm areas were to be found in the deeper pools, with the dangerous, turbulent water frothing and banging around on the surface. He picked up a rock from the boulder strewn shoreline and dove straight into one of the deeper blue areas. When he came back up, he clung to a smooth boulder and indicated I should do the same.
I found a yellow rock, oval and the size of a volleyball, and jumped into what I hoped was the exact place Ratna went into. Instead of being swept along with the current, the weight of the rock brought me stqight down to the sandy bottom, where I stood in the calmly swirling waters.
When I opened my eyes the would was aquamarine, and i could hear the muted violence of the river qbove me.