(In)Sanity!

That is one quality I will not associate with myself, and I think most of the people who know me well will not attribute it to me as well. I guess, it also does not go with the perception someone will form about me after the first meeting. So, I surprised myself last Wednesday when I accepted Vivek's invitation for River Rafting on Sunday. And I think the surprise was not that I accepted it, but that there were never any second thoughts. It was very clear, I was "Game" for it and it sounded perfectly sane!

That what I had decided to do on Sunday was dubbed as "Insanity" by (who else but) Aai. Now, I expected this reaction but again to my surprise all the rhetoric she gave me did not deter me a bit! I knew then that I was really prepared to nothing but enjoy the experience. So, the plan was charted out and we - the other two being Vivek's colleagues from Axis Bank - were on the road to Kolad on Saturday evening. The ride was wonderful, the Palio strutting along the NH 4 and later on the NH 17. We also managed to take a wrong turn, going towards Alibaug instead of Kolad. But the most memorable patch was the last 10/12 Kms to the Pooja Farm where we had booked a cottage for the night. The road was full of sharp bends, getting narrower as we closed in on the farm and we were tempted to think where the hell are we headed!

When we finally reached the farm and had a look at the cottage all our doubts were put to rest, for the sight was wonderful. You just have to see yourself to experience the same feeling. The cottage - built of all wood over a lake with calm water, made calmer by the darkness and the cool breeze - was a relieving site, such a welcome change from those cramped apartments in Mumbai. A sumptuous dinner was followed by a chatting session sitting on the extensions of wooden planks which formed the flooring of the cottage and extended behind the cottage just enough to accommodate us. We just sat there - our feet hanging loosely over the lake - chatting away, soaking in the cool breeze. We would have spent the entire night that way, but we had the rafting session scheduled for next morning.

As we headed towards the starting point of the rafting session in a brand new TATA Ace passenger vehicle (sorry, could not contain the TATA pride :P), I guess, all of us had a bit of nervous energy flowing through the veins. When we reached the point - a little downstream to the Bhira dam on the Kundalika river - we were informed by the guide for our rafting session that we would have to wait for the siren to sound that precedes the release of water from the dam. Till that time we were free to explore the rocky bed of the river. That gave Vivek a chance to show off his photography skills, as he went on capturing the birds hanging out on the river bed. When the water has flown out, the river bed is a nice place to hang out but when they release the water from the dam, you will hardly get to see any of it!

After more than an hour's wait the siren was finally sounded, and within 10 minutes we were all geared up for the rafting session. Before we lifted the raft - mind you, it is a pretty heavy object, even though made of rubber tubes filled with air - to carry it towards the river - which now had water flowing down the rocks - there were instructions provided by the guide on the rowing commands, safety measures and rescue arrangements! I felt a real jolt of nervousness when the guide mentioned that we were supposed to row the raft through the rapids, sitting on the edge of it!!! That was probably the only moment when I questioned my sanity :). I mean, agreed that we had the life jackets and the helmets on, but to row the raft sitting on the edge was still a crazy thing to do, wasn't it? Add to that the fact that I am not a swimmer and that completes a recipe for potential disaster! Nevertheless, I was back to normalcy once that moment had passed. So, we pushed the raft into the water, boarded it and were all set to go downstream.

And what followed was perhaps the most thrilling experience of my life so far. We moved downstream, attacking the rapids - the places in the river bed where the water flows rapidly due to the rock formations beneath - to avoid getting sucked in, the water splashing on us from all sides as the raft rode the waves. It was an "out of the world" experience for the four of us used to the daily routine of getting to the office desk, working on a PC and dealing with complaining customers. This was an attempt to conquer a challenge thrown by the forces of nature, which did not ask for any of our fancy degrees. All it asked for was power in the arms to use the oars and judgement of the way to traverse. The later was of course provided by our guide, Dipsan - a 23 year old from Nepal - who will probably get you down blindfolded, he knows the route so well! And not only him, but all his peers (there were 4 rafts in all) as well. It was some work of precision, each raft traversing exactly the same way out of the waves. For all of them, Kundalika is much less a challenge than the Himalayas they are used to, but none of them will show disrespect to the forces of nature. I think that is something to learn from - no matter how skilled one is, one can never become greater than the profession. The job has to be done with finesse and precision, every single time.

After about 90 minutes of the thrilling experience, we were into calm waters and everyone was given a free license to jump into the water. Vivek and Parag were too eager to show their swimming prowess and some diving skills as well! Even Sudipto and after initial reluctance even I (both of us non-swimmers) got into the water to test the life jackets :).  After initial jitters I managed to get hold of the technique of staying afloat with a life jacket - mind you, it is quite easy to drown even with the life jacket on. The 20 minutes or so that I was floating in the water was an experience of absolute serenity!

The jury will be out on whether I should have gone for this trip or not, when I go home the next time because I am sure Aai will open the debate again and question my sanity again. For me, things like these are beyond sanity. It is just a matter of following your heart!