BOY, THAT SINKING FEELING IS INCREDIBLE!!
KOLAD: “Is the water deep?” was the
first question that was voiced after posing for all those Facebook
photographs decked up in helmets and life vests. The enthusiasm
transformed into fear as we walked the couple of paces to the rafting
point. Our guide Rambo, a sweetheart from the North-East, was quick to
answer with a sly smile. “It is, but you don’t need to worry as long as
you follow the instructions.”
“I don’t know how to swim. Is it
okay?” comes out the second one. It is echoed by everyone. “So do we.”
And that makes her even more scared. “No one here knows swimming?! What
if something happens to me?”
And more questions tumble out of
our hearts like the swift-flowing waters of the Kundalika: What if I
topple into the river? What if I can’t catch hold of the emergency rope?
What if I this? What if I that?
And we gave vent to some more
fears with nervous laughter till the mock drill was over and we set sail
on our inflatable raft with cries of “Jai Kundalika.” The tension in
the air was palpable. Everyone was was saying a silent prayer in his/her
heart. And there was an uneasy calm. It was pierced by the guide’s
shouts of “Paddle Forward”. And once we got into action, we only had one
choice: either to sink or get out of that sinking feeling.
The guide made us do the mock drill all over again: “Paddle Backward”,
“Stop”, “Hold the Rope”, “All Down”, “All Up”, “Paddle Left”, “Paddle
Right”, till we became familiar with our paddling exercises.
And as we laughed at our weird actions, he gave us the loudest of
shouts, “Paddle Forward”, “Faster”, “Faster”, “Faster”…. We rowed as
swiftly as possible synchronising our paddles, when all of a sudden we
were asked to “Stop”. We were sliding down into a mass of treacherous
waters, called the rapid in rafting language, and as we hit the waters
came the guide’s shrill voice “All Down”. You wouldn’t believe the
swiftness with which we went ducking into the raft.
As the
raft hit the waters, it rose at a 45 degree angle and the swirling
waters hit us in our face and drenched us totally. And the force with
which the raft landed in the proper position sent our hearts soaring to
the skies. Woooo-hoooooo!! We survived the first rapid. Boy, that is an
incredible feeling!
And when we came to our senses, what we
feared would happen had happened: two girls, not from our group, fell
off their rafts and were desperately trying to hold on to the trees in
the waters. Rambo threw the emergency rope, and we pulled them up into
our rafts.
And this gave an opportunity to our guide to tell
us what happens when we panic. He advises us once again not to be
scared, to lock our legs, sit on the edge of the raft, and keep rowing.
To relieve whatever tension was left in the body, he encouraged us to
splash water on the guys in the nearby rafts, and it triggers a whole
load of competitive splashing.
And when we were in the middle
of the fun, Rambo’s clarion call comes once again, “Paddle backward”. It
was a sign that we were approaching another rapid. We did. “Stop” came
the next cry. And as our raft hurtled down into the second rapid, came
the shrieking cry “All down”. We ducked once again and rose as swiftly
once we were out of the swirling mass of waters. We survived the second
one too. Wow, it is getting better and better!!
By now we had
got used to the rapids and were no more scared. We actually waited for
the next rapid, and we paddled with joy hurtling from one rapid to
another with fun names like Butterfly, Crow’s Nest, Fisherman, Rajdhani
Express, and the most dangerous of them all, Johnny Walker. Wonder who
gave those names? In all, we crossed a dozen rapids, when all of a
sudden the river turned hermit-like and went into a silent mode.
Our guide asked us to jump into the river and make merry. Before that
he made us stand on the moving raft to dispel any fear left in our
hearts. So, we slid into the waters gingerly, one at a time, as if we
were testing the waters, and once we were confident that we were safe in
our life jackets, we had a jolly good time playing in the waters. But
the best of all was the floating lying on the waters. It was the
greatest nirvana after a good workout rowing the paddles.
If at all you get an opportunity to go for rafting, grab it. For it is the best way to celebrate your fears!!
Written by: N Venugopal Rao
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