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Friday, May 25, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The Rishikesh Travelogue
My ears felt a gushing breeze, some ten feet above the river that flowed serenely, without the slightest disruption in its innate conversant drift – a portrayal of peace, depth, profoundness and mysticism coming to life. As it coursed ahead to my left, it surged around the piece of land that stood in its path, as if an obstruction was present to merely let the river reveal its supremacy. And the huge amused mountains watched forming a circle where they stood engulfing us all.
I was in a place near Rishikesh, on a trip with my team at office and a client, who was visiting India. We were to camp here for a day and then go river rafting to Rishikesh the next day. We had traveled by bus from Delhi – it was an overnight journey – and then trekked down around two kilometers to reach this magnificently beautiful place, where there was no Airtel network unlike the advertisements aired on TV.
After a fulfilling breakfast our adventures commenced with a trek to a nearby waterfall. Walking on rocks with water flowing on them seemed to be a tricky job and even more so because of the 'spirited', fearless company I was in. I remembered how as a child I knew no fear and would run up the hills in Ranchi without thinking twice. I longed to be a child again... but then again it's only a matter of practise or rather the lack of it.
We were to cross two main obstacles to reach the waterfall and that meant getting into the water and all drenched. People were enthusiastic – all of them splashing water all around, posing for snaps. They so completely seemed to belong to the place. We had to climb up a set of rocks that were around five feet above the water with the support of a rope even as the water kept gushing on us from above. And as if nature hadn’t created enough commotion, every being around added to it with their instructions on how to go about ascending the rocks. It was scary but lovely – the commotion. We did manage crossing this obstacle - triumph for the team ;)
The second obstacle was simpler and crossing it we reached the main waterfall, where water fell mindlessly from as high as we could see, collected in the shape of a little pond and then flowed out forming a small brook from the side. People took turns to stand below that huge jet of water that was never tired of drenching them. And of course, this was where Sameer posed for his 'Hritik Roshan' snap, flaunting the result of his workouts at the gym. The water’s craziness was intoxicating and the fun all these guys seemed to have fascinating. They danced, wallowed, floated, splashed water on one another and posed for snaps; the enthusiasm was elating. I was glad as long as I stayed away from the water – I did make an effort to go in and get crazy like the others but it was creepy when I was almost drowned. Though I realized later that it wasn’t really close to a near death experience :)
Well all that fun was not the end of the waterfall. The return, apparently, was more dangerous – we had to jump down the five feet high rocks into the water without hitting any of the rocks that bulged into our way from the sides. By now Kinshuk and Varun knew they had to keep Preeti and me in the front not giving us the option of running back. The guys went on jumping in one by one but Preeti and I stood there for pretty long, having a tough time fighting our fears. After I had jumped - almost imagining I was going to suicide - the guys found an easier way for Preeti. That was so unfair!! She finally used the rope to get down and the rescue team that consisted of Kinshuk, Manish, Varun, Jatin and the two guides we had, helped her with it.
Next we were at the beach on the riverside – some swimming, some kayaking, some cliff jumping. The cliff’s height here was almost 20 feet and it was a tough job first climbing up and then jumping into the water. Manish, Arun, David, Jatin and Kinshuk did this - kudos!! At the end of all these activities, David was buried in the sand and his ‘The Mummy Returns’ snap clicked. Some of us played volleyball for a while, then lunch and we then got some sleep.
Evening was another round of volleyball, which was followed by a bon fire party at the beach. The moonlit riverside made as such a splendid sight but we still lit the bon fire for some more light. The party was primarily a drinks party with very little for the non-drinkers to do. There were a few interesting conversations once in a while. I liked listening to David’s talks about his lady :)
Both before and after dinner, Preeti, Jatin and I spent most of the time sitting right beside the river, playing with the sand and chatting. We even managed a bit of philosophical talk. After a while Varun joined us too. The three of them kept trying to figure out the different constellations in the sky. I simply can't do without mentioning that the three of them are all crazy beings - each one in his/her own way. Anyway, we finally decided to get into our sleeping bags on the beach after the moon was out of our sight. Sleeping there would have been more mesmeric than frightening had there been fewer reasons to be scared of :)
The next morning, after breakfast, we trekked up to reach our bus and then drove to the point where we were to start rafting. With life jackets and helmets on and paddles in our hands we were quite an enthusiastic team posing for snaps. We were briefed about all the instructions we needed to follow when in the river and then before starting our real expedition, as instructed we went in sync shouting “Ganga Mayia ki Jay!!”
On our way to the rapids we had fun water fighting with other rafts and body floating. I tried getting into the water twice but as always I was scared. Once again the fearless people around happened to scare me more than usual. It was a cool sight though, all of them floating in the river and I the only one on the raft. They would be back in the raft when we approached the rapid. There were quick rowing instructions during the rapids and those parts of the river were the best. The raft would thrust into the massive flow of water and we’d get wet all over again and again. Every time we successfully crossed a rapid, we screamed together “Yo baby, Yo baby, Yo baby, Yo!!” – once again instructions from our guide. That was funny!!
Then it was again time for cliff jumping and almost all went for it. Preeti rather than jumping was pulled once and pushed the other time into the water.
Lunch, and then we started our drive back. The return was quite unexpectedly lively, with most of us playing Dumb Charades and then Anatakshari throughout the journey. It was pleasantly surprising to see so many guys play Anatakshari that seriously and for that long. By the end of the journey we were all almost dead and when I went to bed that night I could feel myself floating in a raft :)
I was in a place near Rishikesh, on a trip with my team at office and a client, who was visiting India. We were to camp here for a day and then go river rafting to Rishikesh the next day. We had traveled by bus from Delhi – it was an overnight journey – and then trekked down around two kilometers to reach this magnificently beautiful place, where there was no Airtel network unlike the advertisements aired on TV.
After a fulfilling breakfast our adventures commenced with a trek to a nearby waterfall. Walking on rocks with water flowing on them seemed to be a tricky job and even more so because of the 'spirited', fearless company I was in. I remembered how as a child I knew no fear and would run up the hills in Ranchi without thinking twice. I longed to be a child again... but then again it's only a matter of practise or rather the lack of it.
We were to cross two main obstacles to reach the waterfall and that meant getting into the water and all drenched. People were enthusiastic – all of them splashing water all around, posing for snaps. They so completely seemed to belong to the place. We had to climb up a set of rocks that were around five feet above the water with the support of a rope even as the water kept gushing on us from above. And as if nature hadn’t created enough commotion, every being around added to it with their instructions on how to go about ascending the rocks. It was scary but lovely – the commotion. We did manage crossing this obstacle - triumph for the team ;)
The second obstacle was simpler and crossing it we reached the main waterfall, where water fell mindlessly from as high as we could see, collected in the shape of a little pond and then flowed out forming a small brook from the side. People took turns to stand below that huge jet of water that was never tired of drenching them. And of course, this was where Sameer posed for his 'Hritik Roshan' snap, flaunting the result of his workouts at the gym. The water’s craziness was intoxicating and the fun all these guys seemed to have fascinating. They danced, wallowed, floated, splashed water on one another and posed for snaps; the enthusiasm was elating. I was glad as long as I stayed away from the water – I did make an effort to go in and get crazy like the others but it was creepy when I was almost drowned. Though I realized later that it wasn’t really close to a near death experience :)
Well all that fun was not the end of the waterfall. The return, apparently, was more dangerous – we had to jump down the five feet high rocks into the water without hitting any of the rocks that bulged into our way from the sides. By now Kinshuk and Varun knew they had to keep Preeti and me in the front not giving us the option of running back. The guys went on jumping in one by one but Preeti and I stood there for pretty long, having a tough time fighting our fears. After I had jumped - almost imagining I was going to suicide - the guys found an easier way for Preeti. That was so unfair!! She finally used the rope to get down and the rescue team that consisted of Kinshuk, Manish, Varun, Jatin and the two guides we had, helped her with it.
Next we were at the beach on the riverside – some swimming, some kayaking, some cliff jumping. The cliff’s height here was almost 20 feet and it was a tough job first climbing up and then jumping into the water. Manish, Arun, David, Jatin and Kinshuk did this - kudos!! At the end of all these activities, David was buried in the sand and his ‘The Mummy Returns’ snap clicked. Some of us played volleyball for a while, then lunch and we then got some sleep.
Evening was another round of volleyball, which was followed by a bon fire party at the beach. The moonlit riverside made as such a splendid sight but we still lit the bon fire for some more light. The party was primarily a drinks party with very little for the non-drinkers to do. There were a few interesting conversations once in a while. I liked listening to David’s talks about his lady :)
Both before and after dinner, Preeti, Jatin and I spent most of the time sitting right beside the river, playing with the sand and chatting. We even managed a bit of philosophical talk. After a while Varun joined us too. The three of them kept trying to figure out the different constellations in the sky. I simply can't do without mentioning that the three of them are all crazy beings - each one in his/her own way. Anyway, we finally decided to get into our sleeping bags on the beach after the moon was out of our sight. Sleeping there would have been more mesmeric than frightening had there been fewer reasons to be scared of :)
The next morning, after breakfast, we trekked up to reach our bus and then drove to the point where we were to start rafting. With life jackets and helmets on and paddles in our hands we were quite an enthusiastic team posing for snaps. We were briefed about all the instructions we needed to follow when in the river and then before starting our real expedition, as instructed we went in sync shouting “Ganga Mayia ki Jay!!”
On our way to the rapids we had fun water fighting with other rafts and body floating. I tried getting into the water twice but as always I was scared. Once again the fearless people around happened to scare me more than usual. It was a cool sight though, all of them floating in the river and I the only one on the raft. They would be back in the raft when we approached the rapid. There were quick rowing instructions during the rapids and those parts of the river were the best. The raft would thrust into the massive flow of water and we’d get wet all over again and again. Every time we successfully crossed a rapid, we screamed together “Yo baby, Yo baby, Yo baby, Yo!!” – once again instructions from our guide. That was funny!!
Then it was again time for cliff jumping and almost all went for it. Preeti rather than jumping was pulled once and pushed the other time into the water.
Lunch, and then we started our drive back. The return was quite unexpectedly lively, with most of us playing Dumb Charades and then Anatakshari throughout the journey. It was pleasantly surprising to see so many guys play Anatakshari that seriously and for that long. By the end of the journey we were all almost dead and when I went to bed that night I could feel myself floating in a raft :)
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