'Swimming, survival, seva': Tales of families living in Delhi's Yamuna Bazaar

Along the Yamuna Bazaar area here, children are taught to swim almost as soon as they start walking.

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For families living on the riverbank, swimming is not a sport but a survival skill passed down generations for protection against the river's dangers.

“At first, we get a little rash. Not all of us are strong,” nine-year-old Sameer says laughing, as his friend teases him for being weak. “But it is fun to swim,” he says.

Families here train their children from an early age to keep a watch in summer, when the water levels in the Yamuna are low, and respond fast during floods.

The youngest are asked to alert the elders, while the older ones learn to pull back people who stray too close to the deeper parts of the river.

“Even this year, when the water rose, it was the children who were the first to spot people in trouble. Some even helped pull them out,” Ghanshyam, 60, a longtime resident of the Yamuna Bazaar area, told PTI.