Ecstasy of the Fall...

13th April, 2008

Man…this was an experience of lifetime!

How many times in life you do something that puts you on that level of ‘High’? Level that makes you think back and relive the moment ‘n’ number of times…again & again…how it happened…what else could have happened…worse…better…? How many times have you planned an exhilarating event and everything went haywire and still it came out as a moment of lifetime, better than your plans? All that happened to us today and much more…

As we had already done the 16 km stretch in Rishikesh from Shivpuri, we decided to raise the bars and try out the longer 38 km stretch upstream of Ganges from Kudiyala to Ram-Jhula, ending up in the same Shivpuri stretch.

Though there is a lot that we experienced & imbibed in that Voyage of turbulence, this blog is about the first and the most elating Grade 4+ 'rapid' named “The Wall”. This 'rapid' is like a hole in the river creating a huge bowl of turbulence with rocks on one side and mountain on the other. What makes it most dangerous is the fact that the underside of the mountain has caves kind of profile, that acts like a trap for rafters. If trapped, it’s tough to rescue because of accessibility issues - with water turbulence only adding up to the problems.

We can hear the roar of the 'rapid' from quite a distance…tearing apart the serene ambiance of the landscape, challenging us to it. The turbulence of the 'rapid' is at its peak this time, making the river shake up from a good distance before the actual 'rapid'. Just the sight of the 'rapid' is making the adrenaline in our body rush full throttle. ‘Oh man…that looks great…!’ thought is working in this slowed-down moment of thrill & anticipation, soaking-in the images of the 'rapid' in ultra slow motion. The contrast of the furiousness of 'rapid' and unimaginable calmness of surroundings is making it a picture of a lifetime. It’s as if we are gladiators being watched by a mesmerized audience in the stands around. “Ganga Mayiya ki Jai…” we all yell out in excitement just before entering the 'rapid' to pay our tribute to the holiness & greatness of the river.

Eddies of the river are thudding the floor of our raft to add beats to the music of the water. The paddles are rowing fast forward towards the bowl of turbulence in full speed, only able to balance the direction for the raft being sucked by the centre of the chaos. Up and down we go uncountable times with the flow towards the heart of the 'rapid'. “There it is…the hole of the river”. An eddy of flow throws us up in air just on the edge of the bowl and down we go inside the bowl…now a part of it, with water from other end coming towards us like the fingers of a hand trying to grab a feather in palm. Moments apart we are on top of those fingers surfing on the concave profile, just about to get out of the grip…a slight flip of the middle finger and we are going back down to the middle. “All Down…” someone is shouting…may be the guide! All of us are inside the raft now, with side rope in our hand. We are a part of the contents of the bowl now…being mixed like sugar in coffee! Are we ingredients of a recipe now?

Down in raft, every one is flaunting different expressions…tension, fear, horror. Who’s this guy in aviators shouting "Yeehhh...!"…excitement? I am calm, devoid of thoughts. I have spilled them in water I suppose, observing everything like a movie. Everyone is a character it seems. The water is showing us its power, shouting with deafening roars, hammering itself on us from each side...huge splashes. Much to the contrast of our anticipation we are not getting toppled. We are getting churned! The great Ganges want to do some value addition to us it seems… one…two…three…

We are into our sixth churn & here comes another character in the movie to spice it all up…another raft! We are about to get crashed. A dying down eddy from the bottom of this raft throws us out of the bowl, toppling us out of the rapid. Down we go into cold water. Few feet down and I finally find my thoughts back…‘One hour’…it will take another hour for us to be rescued I am thinking. In these few fractions of second that it’s taking me to come back to the surface, I can count 1 to 100 I bet…it’s too slowed-down. Oooh…! I am finally out. ‘Where is the right side? I am supposed to swim towards right!’ The flow of water is making it all the more tiring to swim past the width. Few meters swim across and I get a paddle of help from another raft.

Getting on the raft I can see everyone holding on to any help they can, except one…he’s stuck up. “There’s another guy out there…!” I shout. “We’ll save him” they say & row me to the rocks.

The sheer ecstasy of the moment starts hitting now. Every one of us is sharing a big Five with a yell of joy…“That was great, isn’t it?” We do a head count and are relieved that everyone is safe…except the one who, though safe now, is still floating in water…drifting with the flow!

Everyone is busy digesting the moment in his own way now...staring the rapid…shouting, yelling…laying down on white beach. ‘That actually happened to us. This dangerous rapid…we just survived it…’ thoughts are taking rounds. Some minds though are planning for another take next time to conquer it. While one is still busy thinking about the next rapid he’s flowing into, waiting to be saved!

One thing, one thought, one emotion common to all at the end though is ecstasy...ecstasy of getting over the fears…ecstasy of a fight well fought…ecstasy of living that moment of lifetime…

Ecstasy of the Fall…!

Later we got back, with that guy obviously, and completed our 32 km voyage ahead of “The Wall”, facing more rapids of lower grade but the thrill & the excitement - the moment of the day was that half an hour that we are going to live many more times in our minds. A moment that surely will change our lives, adding to the chaos…in a positive way I hope…!