Rishikesh - A Reverie (Part 2)

Three Blind Mice

[In continuation to the previous post : Rishikesh - A Reverie (Part 1)]

As our bus took us higher and higher, we saw the Ganges gain momentum, and obviously got excited about the fact that soon we all were going to raft in it. Even after the gruelling trek upto that pseudo-waterfall, we were as fresh and spirited as the Ganga below us. We didnt have the slighest clue of what this mighty river had in store for us for the rest of the evening.

We reached the starting point from where we were to raft downstream to our camping site - a distance of about 10kms. During the briefing session, the guides warned and informed us of any and every possibility that could arise. Every sentence was tailor-made to thwart our confidence : "In case you fall off the raft...", "In case you start drifting away from the rafts...", "In case the boat flips...", "In case you get caught in a whirlpool..."! And every sentence was suffixed with a suppposedly-condoling phrase : "DON'T PANIC!".
Ha! We won't panic.. If something like that happens, we won't get that much time. Would we?

In no time, we were sitting in our rafts, ready to take on the river. Gauri kneeled down in the middle of the front-portion of the boat, with Ankit and Hitesh sitting on both sides of her. I was right behind Ankit and three more of our friends arranged themselves behind us. We were told that there are in total 6 levels of rafting, and we'll encounter upto Level-3 rapids today.
After a brief practice session and splashing water in attempt to sink others' rafts, we started out for the actual journey. "ALL FORWARD".
It was fun rowing the raft with the paddle. We were enjoying the fascinating surroundings, while singing in unison.. "O maajhi reyyy... Apna kinaara.. Nadiya ki dhaara hai..", with intermittent bursts of "Dum Laga Dum Laga.. Laga re dhakka rey...".

Ahead of us, we could see a patch of briskly flowing water - our first rapid, we thought. "ALL FORWARD" shouted our guide sternly. Water came splashing at us, our raft wobbled, and we paddled with full force out of the quickie in no time. Bubbled with excitement, we all broke into a victorious banter. But as we got to know later, the one which we just 'victoriously' crossed, did'nt even qualify for a Rapid.

After a few minutes, our guide told us to concentrate ahead. We could hear the flow of swiftly flowing water, barely 100mts away from us. "Three Blind Mice - Level 2.5 Rapid", the guide informed us. We got amused at the name, but never lost focus. "ALL FORWARD", came the command, and we all headed towards the speedy flow. The rapid started getting the better of us as soon as we entered it. "FAAASTERR", we heard the guide scream. But paddling wasn't easy. The raft swayed up and down, left and right. We tried to paddle as hard and as synchronously as possible, but all seemed to be going in vain. Half of the times, the paddle didnt even touch the water. We were struggling desperately to steer away from the flow. It seemed as if the waves, and not us, were in full control of the raft. Water splashed at us from all directions. In such circumstances, a slight jerk could easily knock you off the raft into the monstrous waves.
"THUD!", the boat behind hit us amidst all the horror. And before we knew it, we were submerged under the lashing waves. We ducked inside the raft, holding on to whatever came in out hands. Water poured at us from all directions. We shouted helplessly to assure of everyone's safety. We took a sigh of relief as we got back into calm waters. But to our horror, Ankit was missing. We cried out his name, looked frantically everywhere around. "There he is...", shouted a relieved sounding Deepika. He was being held out of the water by another raft. We all thanked our Gods.
But that wasnt the end. In front of us, we saw three of our colleagues, which were in the raft that hit us, in the water, crying for help. At that point, we were left with just 4 paddles to row the raft. Me and hitesh took the front positions and headed for their rescue. Gauri vehemently bucked-me-up : "Go Pranay.. We gotta save them.. Come On!". Our shoulders were crying for rest, but we kept paddling with full thrust. Another boat got closer and threw the rescue bag at them. They were rescued the next minute.

We were acutely fatigued by then. It felt like a miracle to have escaped that anguish. We looked at each other's faces and laughed in disbelief at what we just experienced. The guide told us that he hadnt experienced anything like that since 11 years. "Had the boat behind us not hit us, the water would have torn and blasted up the raft", he concluded.
"Haan bas isiki kasar thi!", our sentiments echoed.
A lot of water had got collected in our raft so we had to stop by on a bank, and turn that thousand ton raft to get the water out of it. With thrashed confidence, and sinking hearts, we again hopped into the raft to cover the rest of the journey home.
We werent singing songs for the rest of the journey. There was a chilling silence and tension all around. Breaking the silence, our guide enthusiastically announced his latest discovery - "I know why this happened. Aaj maine 'khaini' nai khaai na! (I didnt eat betel-powder today!)". We felt like kicking him out of the raft immediately.
Two more rapids came, but none could match the measure and power of those three naughty and wicked blind mice.

We finally reached our campsite expecting delicious pakoras with steaming hot tea to welcome us, only to have teeny-weeny Tiger biscuits served with not-so-great tea. But diversiying the menu, we had Ankit aka Tape Recorder, playing on and on - his horror under-water tales with lots of added sugar and spice. He went on and on, and on and on. "You know what, i fell directly into the whirlpool. The water pulled me down like a magnet. And i was rotating continuously. Round-round-round. And when i got out of the whirlpool, i could see the surface of water above me, but i wasnt moving up!!! I felt as if my safety-jackets werent working! But before i realized, i was on the surface, flowing at bullet-speed with the flow of the river... Swooooosh! And to my horror, i wasnt even able to shout for help, and nobody was heading towards me! But luckily, a rescue-bag came at me, and i grabbed it. The rest, as they say, is history."

The whole night, he was heard reciting the same story to someone or the other; and twice or even thrice over to many poor people like me. Soon, everyone started running away from him... "Here he comes to bore us again... Bhaaaago!!!"

The death-defying yet extremely exciting day came to an end. The next morning, it was rafting again. This time, we were told that there would come Level-4 Rapids, and theres also Cliff Jumping. Despite zero-confidence levels and lots of doubts in our minds, we somehow gathered all the scattered courage and started off from our campsite and headed towards Rishikesh town - a distance of 12kms, on our raft.
But this time, it was all rollicking fun. Adventure, yes; Disaster, thankfully no. We enjoyed every bit of it. The Level-4 Rapid (Roller Coaster) saw our rafts tilting to right angles up-and-down. But we steered past it victoriously in no time.
Cliff-jumping was pure adrenaline rush. It gave us the ultimate high. The feeling of falling from a 25ft cliff and that 4 second interval when you are free-falling under gravity cannot be put into words. You feel that.."Shit man! Why isnt the water coming!". And splash! You hit the water in no time! The ultimate high!!!
I tried swimming after jumping into the river with Namita, who jumped right after me. We got carried away with the flow and started drifting away from the shore. Alarm bells rang in our minds, but soon we got an idea. I held Namita's hand and she kicked me towards the shore, while i tried to grab a rock.
We laughed at the experience throughout the trip back home.

Though its now almost a month since I experienced that thrill, i really feel like going back into the river, everytime the memories of it flash in my mind.

Rishikesh - A Reverie (Part 1)

The sudden realization - that its been almost a month since i penned down something for all you guys to read, is enough to wake me up from my over-stretched evening siesta. Unlike what the situation may point to, i wasn't experiencing any kind of writer's block (Ha! as if i am a 'WRITER'!!!), nor was there any dearth of things to write about. On the flip side, there are actually a bit too many things i wish share. And i dont really know from where to begin.

A lot has happened in the last fortnight of April. It was the fortnight which marked the end of my college life, and yet, gave me undoubtedly the best moments of these four years of my life!
The roller-coaster began with the Rishikesh trip. For me, the trip was especially exciting. It was after more than 12 years that I was heading uphill for a vacation. Otherwise, for all these years, a holiday had always been tiringly synonymous with the sea, white sands, and dozens of overgrown-paunch-flaunting sexagenarians.

We embarked upon the journey full of gusto and enthusiasm - just a shade of what we were to experience in the three days that were to follow.
Our campsite at Shivpuri seemed like a heaven's abode - colourful camps set on a rocky terrain, flanked by a humble stream on one side, and on the other - the majestic Ganga. I could somehow identify with the cult status of the river. Just its one meander displayed such immense robustness, wisdom and grandour that it rendered me completely speechless. Already hypnotized to the core by the beauty of the valley, we were soon greeted by thundering clouds and a modest drizzle. The grey-blue hue over the mountains made my heart skip a beat. I had been longing for this view since years. And it was right there in front of me, sparkling with all its vibrance and glory.
Ahh... it was hard to capture such a heart-warming welcome on the lens, but i tried my best :

As an icing(read 'chutney') on the cake(read 'pakoras'), we were presented with loads and loads of sumptuous pakoras. I can see you drooling.. hehe!

Once some fuel got in, we got back to our usual selves - hyper-active, hyper-mad and everything hyper. We jumped straight into the chilling water of the stream. Most of us thought of it as a great opportunity to pour water over our stinking bodies which hadn't been in contact with any kind of liquid since Holi. While some others - smarter, forward-thinkers - found in it, a good excuse for not bathing the next day!

No one bathed the next day. Its quite enough that we somehow managed to pass off the piling load in our bodies to the mountains - just to help breed a well-manured land for abundant flora growth! Everyone contributed whatever they could. Success ratios varied from 40-80%. Some full-blooded individuals managed a 90. Standing Ovation.

After the early morning ordeal, we went on to trek uphill to a waterfall. Soaked in sweat but brimming with zest, we reached the so-called waterfall. We never actually expected a Niagara, but climbing 2kms for almost a fountain that emptied into a algae filled pond wasn't exactly funny.

Nevertheless, whatever be the scenario, we never cease to enjoy. So we gathered all our scattered dynamism and geared up for the one thing we all had been the most excited about - White Water River Rafting.

We could never have imagined what lied in store for us next. And it needs a full-fledged post to describe what all we went through during rafting - the thrill, the chill, the agony and the pain, the frustration, yet the expectation, and finally... the ultimate high!

For now, i'll just leave you with my most favourite photograph of the entire sojourn.

The Goan Odyssey : Part 3

Paradise Lost?

Let's get it straight - There's something terribly wrong with Goa and it's people. I know this may have come as a shock to many of you, but sadly, this is what i percieved during the last two days of my Goan Odyssey.

In Goa, most businesses thrive solely upon tourism. And most businessmen realize that its the fairer ones from the other side of the world, who bring in most of the moolah. At a restaurant, Indian customers are compelled to make-do with rickety plastic chairs, and a glass of water for them is dillydallied endlessly; while the foreigners enjoy an enviable view of the beach, seated on cusioned sofas, with waiters faking accents incessantly: "Anything aaelse ma'am?".
In the name of hospitality towards the foreigners, they end up being hostile towards the visitors from their own country. Did i hear anyone say 'Atithi-devo-bhava'!

The goras are entitled to a free entry in all the hippest clubs in Goa. But when we (poor, fellow Indians) asked the entry rate, the already sulking gatekeeper replied surlily, "Eight Hundred per person". A look at the well endowed (all at the wrong places!) bouncers, and we merrily restrained ourselves from arguing over the blatant partiality, else they would have kicked us right into the sea. And after that awful 'banana' experience (refer to Part 1), we were in no mood for anything remotely 'sea-waves'!

Shopping, we thought, would be a relaxing activity after all that excitement. But as we soon realized, 'relaxation' was almost a distant dream in this vacation!
We had to buy some souvenirs for friends back home, so we headed for street shopping in Calangute. "Hmm... these earrings are nice", my friend decided, "I think i'll buy this for my sis. How much?". Pat came the reply: "Only Rs. 550". And our jaws dropped open. We did expect exorbitant prices as the first quotes, but this was ROBBERY! "At a Delhi street shop, such earrings wont cost more than 50-70 bucks", we retaliated. "Jab lena hi nahi hai, to aate kyu ho! (When you won't buy, why do you even come!)", the vendor shut us up. There was no use bargaining, as we kept getting all kinds of derogatory remarks - "Disturb mat karo. Customers(read foreigners) se deal karne do"; "Wapis rakho usse... Rakhna bhi nai ata properly".
All the politeness and respect, was probably reserved for the foreigners only.

Call it attitude problem, or call it patronizing the west. But romanticizing the fair-skinned hominids, at the cost of the not-so fair ones, might drag us back into the imperial era.

The Goan Odyssey : Part 2

Goa in Pictures

The Goan Odyssey : Part 1

Adventures and Misadventures

I somehow always land up on a beach in every travel extravaganza I pursue. The memories of Andaman's spellbinding beaches were still fresh in my mind, when we (me and 3 friends) decided to head for a vacation at Goa. The idea surely excited me as it was the first time i had got a chance to step out of the comforting confines of my family and venture out with pals. "This is your chance Pranay... The exotic beaches, far-off lands, high-octane watersports...You'll have the time of your life!!!", I delightfully dreamt.
We reached the guest house (quite lousy, but who has to stay there? Not me!) and headed straight for Calangute Beach, supposedly the best and the hippest beach of Goa.
"Whoa!", I gasped at the sight, "Can we please get a square foot of space to lay our paining bums on!" The beach was choking with people! I have always believed that nature is at its best when in an undisturbed and uninhabited form. And my likeness quotient for a beach is inversely proportional to the amount of crowd that flocks the beach. Given the prominent position which Goa enjoys on every tourist's map, I gave up on the prospects of finding exotic and preserved beaches in Goa, and looked for other avenues for enjoyment.
In the quest for adventure, we trekked atop a hill at the scenic Anjuna Beach. The mesmerising view from the top was well worth the effort.
Then there were our trysts with watersports. We almost drowned in 10ft deep water while riding on some silly Banana Boat which was deliberately twisted to throw the people riding on it, into the water! They call this a 'sport'... Its MURDER!!! Huh!
And then there was Parasailing. This was an experience which i had always longed for. I was flying! The view from the sky was to die for. The fierce water waves lashing the beach, creating pure white lather, and then the water retreating as if to recollect all of its energy to pounce on the land all over again! Wow!
Adding a pinch of salt to the parasailing experience, was the grand finale. While landing, i was too busy shouting and making victorious poses for the camera, and ultimately ended up crashing on the beach!
It's unbelievable how I inevitably mess things up at the slightest provocation!