I had never done rafting before but somehow my friends talked me into it. I was never a water baby and that reminds me I had bunked all my swimming sessions in school too. When ever I went close to the pool I used to go hysterical. All this time these phobias and manias, i.e. my panic attacks, kept me miles away from all sorts of water reservoirs, not that I missed it.
But the moment I saw Ganges it had a very soothing effect on me. The water was so calm and peaceful. I stood gazing at it for quite sometime until I heard all my friends shouting in excitement. The next moment I remember we were all set with our life jackets, helmets and paddles to go rafting. I had heard all the safety instructions carefully and I was watching my every move. But here I was, carefree and excited already rowing my boat and looking forward for my first set of rapid to come. And our guide Jitu was one hell of a smart fellow. He did not back off at all from the job of scaring us, if the icy cold water of Ganges did not put a lump in our throats, our guide certainly did. “The next set of rapid would be the toughest and if you all don’t synchronize your rowing then… there was never an incomplete threat and a “god help you” look used to come on his face with a nod which finally used to confirm we have no chance if we all don’t get our act together. And then a story would follow, “did I tell you guys what happened last week with those bunch of people who had come down from Delhi?” We would all nod our head in “No” with an anxious look on our face and he would flash his vicious smile and we would all breathe in relief.
But as we progressed, to my surprise I was enjoying it even though I did not know swimming. Our guide was very patient with us and we were too behaving like good kids and would follow all his instructions diligently including his “all forward” & “all backward” which he said often. And it was not so bad infact it was easy and fun. All the set of rapids we came across had funny names and it was all the more funny to link the rapids with their names and derive the connection.
After going twenty kilometers down and being in the water for close to three hours right under the sun we were starving for more. For once we had forgotten all about getting tanned and were thoroughly enjoying ourselves.
And precisely at that time no one could make out that how hydrophobic I used to be once upon a time or rather was sometime back.
Guess I have left that behind. It was in another era, another lifetime.
But the moment I saw Ganges it had a very soothing effect on me. The water was so calm and peaceful. I stood gazing at it for quite sometime until I heard all my friends shouting in excitement. The next moment I remember we were all set with our life jackets, helmets and paddles to go rafting. I had heard all the safety instructions carefully and I was watching my every move. But here I was, carefree and excited already rowing my boat and looking forward for my first set of rapid to come. And our guide Jitu was one hell of a smart fellow. He did not back off at all from the job of scaring us, if the icy cold water of Ganges did not put a lump in our throats, our guide certainly did. “The next set of rapid would be the toughest and if you all don’t synchronize your rowing then… there was never an incomplete threat and a “god help you” look used to come on his face with a nod which finally used to confirm we have no chance if we all don’t get our act together. And then a story would follow, “did I tell you guys what happened last week with those bunch of people who had come down from Delhi?” We would all nod our head in “No” with an anxious look on our face and he would flash his vicious smile and we would all breathe in relief.
But as we progressed, to my surprise I was enjoying it even though I did not know swimming. Our guide was very patient with us and we were too behaving like good kids and would follow all his instructions diligently including his “all forward” & “all backward” which he said often. And it was not so bad infact it was easy and fun. All the set of rapids we came across had funny names and it was all the more funny to link the rapids with their names and derive the connection.
After going twenty kilometers down and being in the water for close to three hours right under the sun we were starving for more. For once we had forgotten all about getting tanned and were thoroughly enjoying ourselves.
And precisely at that time no one could make out that how hydrophobic I used to be once upon a time or rather was sometime back.
Guess I have left that behind. It was in another era, another lifetime.
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