Whatta fall from heaven!!
This is one death-defying fall we love to indulge in during the monsoon.
Even if it means rising up pretty early in the morning and travelling a
100-odd kilometres to keep our date with death. Free-falling from a
height of 80 ft with the gushing waters pounding the face is the dream
of anyone, not necessarily those who have a streak of adventure in him.
I am not talking about the dead people who are caught between the
cacophony of their mobile phones and the virtual reality of their
luxurious laptops. For them adventure is a spectator sport that is best
experienced on National Geographic or Discovery channel. So, let’s leave
them to their gadgets.
But, for some of us who love to keep
the adrenaline flowing, Nisarga Bhraman’s waterfall rappelling session
at Bekre village was a splendid chance to come face to face with our
fear of the unknown.
So on Saturday, I woke up before dawn and
got on the Expressway to Bhivpuri. And as the early morning light
pierced the dawn, it opened up a magnificent grey-and-green world
dripping with waterfalls in all their monsoon glory. Once I hit the
rising ghat between Lonavla and Khandala, the fog and the rain played
hide and seek with the visibility spicing up my thrilling journey.
And as I sped past the E-way to join the Khopoli link road, I stopped
wonderstruck at the maze of waterfalls flowing in the mountains to my
right. It was an absolutely gorgeous sight. Joining Rohit Nayak, Parag
Jadhav and Pankaj Borole at the Karjat Chowk Phata, I downed some nice
vada pav and hot, hot bhaji with some steaming chai.
And off
we went to Bekre collecting the rest of the guys from the Bhivpuri
station. With the rain lashing us, we got on to our feet for the trek
into the hill behind Bekre. Admiring the beautiful paddy fields, we
walked under narrow canopied pathways, trudged through ankle-high slush,
and hopped over fast-flowing streams. It was great fun.
On
reaching the base of the rising hill, we could hear the hoary sound of
the waterfall which sent our hearts into raptures. And as we went a
little ahead, we had a glimpse of the swift-flowing waters, and soon
enough we were in front of the thundering fall dancing down in all its
grandeur. The cameras went clickety-click, and everyone and his
girlfriend took a picture standing in front of the fall.
The
photo session over, we climbed up the last stretch of the hill to reach
the rappelling point. By then, Parag, Hemant, and Sameer had made all
the arrangements, and Sameer had even rappelled down. Basically, it
means that everything was ready for the down-fall.
After a
quick introductory session, I was called on to go down first. I started
off well, and I was pretty good till I went to the fall point, not
because I excelled at it but because Parag was there gently guiding me
to take the baby steps.
But once I lost sight of Parag, it was a
scary descent. I couldn’t find anything to rest my feet, the rock was
covered with slippery moss, and the water started pounding my face. In
other words, my spirits were going down under. Oh God! What do I do now?
In that state of momentary panic, all of Rohit’s
instructions, before I started out, to let go of the rope in the left
hand and put the hand to the rock to avoid getting hit on the face just
didn’t come to mind. And hitting my helmeted head to the rockface, I was
hanging in the air swinging from one side to the other.
There
was, however, one good thing going for me. I was in control of the ropes
and tried to find a foothold in the midst of the pounding waters. I
couldn’t find any despite my long legs! When fear overtakes you, you
can’t see anything nor can you hear anything. And I wasn’t trying to
hear anything anyway.
I kept my cool and lowered myself down
slowly with my knees scraping the rockface till I found a crevice to
rest my legs. I stood there for a while, when I heard Hemant’s voice
from below to swing to the left where the force of the water was less
and rappel down from there. And after that it was a lovely descent into
ecstasy.
If last fortnight’s waterfall trek to Ulhas valley
sent our spirits soaring to the stratosphere, this weekend’s waterfall
rappelling helped us build a nest there. It was so breathtakingly
beautiful!!
Thank you Rohit, Parag, Hemant, Sameer, Pramila and
Parag Jadhav for making this wonderful experience come true. We owe all
of you a ton of thanks.
Written By: N Venugopal Rao
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