ADVENTURE is an integral part of my
life. To me it is ‘A divine venture’. In my childhood doing a wheelie or slow cycling thrilled
me. I even used to ride my cycle on under construction roads in order to
maintain balance and take it as far as I could without touching my feet down.
These small ventures of mine gave me a much required confidence boost &
added stars to my self-reliance. And as I grew up, so did my thirst for the
escapades!
Last year I was on a spree of treks
and adventure sports. I started with moonlight rappelling at Duke’s Nose, then
a trek filled with Fireflies at Rajmachi, later on I trekked to Kalsubai at the
top of the highest peak in Maharashtra. River Rafting at Kundalika River in
Kolad was an intermission to my adventure last year, which without any doubt
will continue this time.
We started off early morning around 4am taking the bus to Kolad, picking
up my lucky friends who managed an extra hour of sleep as they lived at the
outskirts of the Mumbai city. Throughout the bus journey, we enjoyed singing
songs whilst passing through the lush green patches of land, truly a gift of
the rainy season, my favourite amongst all! Being a foodie, a stop at a local
shop serving us ‘Misal-Pav’ and ‘Cutting Chai’ was inevitable. It was a delight
to my tummy in this awesome weather. As per my memory, we went past a Gas
Station. Before getting closer to it this is what I saw:
Copyright 2015 - Abhishek Gorale |
To my imagination it looked like the
“Eye of Sauron” - Lord of the Rings. *Wide Grin*
We reached Kolad at around 11am. It
was drizzling as we reached the river. We suited up with life-jacket, helmet
and a paddle in hand. Our instructor was very polite and precise with his
instructions. One specific directive I still recall is, how to actually hold
the paddle for firm grip so that we don’t lose it while rowing in the rapids.
It has a ‘T’ shaped handle which gives a firm grip on the paddle as well as it
can be used to pull someone back on the raft just in case he/she falls out.
Yes!! People do fall out during rapids.
There we were 10 of us in the raft
along with our captain (instructor) sitting at the back to guide the direction
of the raft as well as command us in this rapid voyage. Before we actually hit
the rapids we were given practise of rowing to get a feel of it.
And boy, we set our course for the
main stream. Whoa!! It was such a thrill. It was bumpy ride; with water
splashing from all sides. The best efforts were put into staying on the raft
and hearing the instructions from the captain in the chaos. In between there
were normal patches were there was ‘splash war’ between us and the fellow
rafts. There were many instances where we bumped into the trees at the side of
the river. Going ahead on this rough route we learned that we need to work as a
team. #together we were strength and shield for each other. The pace and steadiness of
raft was admirable when both the sides of the raft rowed in unison.
After completion of all the rapids,
came the testing time of my courage. Captain ordered us to jump off the raft.
There it was, my moment of truth/realization. I can’t swim!! Though I was
wearing life jacket still I was scared like hell to get in water, forget about
jumping in!! Somehow I gathered my courage and sheepishly got into the water,
still holding the raft. My friends were constantly asking me to come and float
freely. But I just couldn’t. I could feel my breathing turn heavy which I dismissed
with the sight of my friends having fun floating.
That’s when two of my friends came
from nowhere and grabbed my hands taking me away from the raft. I screamed but
they paid no heed. Friends are friends after all!! After a few seconds I
realized that I wasn’t drowning. The way they were swimming holding me firmly
and assuring me that everything is just fine and that I am WEARING A LIFE
JACKET infused some confidence in me. To my surprise I asked them to leave me
but stay close enough. It was still drizzling; I controlled my breathing soon
realising that I was feeling light. Soon enough I was flowing with the time.
I was floating with my hands
stretched outward and head facing up the grey sky. I could hear silence. It was
peace/pure solitude!! For the first time in my life I felt I was breathing, I
was alive.
I floated back clumsily towards the
raft once done. Finally we got a click of our group with our accomplishment a
sure one to remember forever.
This adventure would have never been
enjoyed to its fullest without my floater or rather I would say floaters. My
Friends!!
Many thanks to https://housing.com/ for letting me experience the strength being #together once again.
Nice write up. Thank you for refreshing "River rafting" memories once again..Had fun to the fullest.. :)
ReplyDeleteThank You :)
DeleteYes it was one hell of a ride :D :D :D