Whitewater rafting at Rishikesh....Riding the turbulent rapids of the Ganges.

It was Wednesday eve; breezy, soothing atmosphere and a slight drizzle - the perfect weather one gets to hangout and relax. We had just had our second midsems over a few hours back, after a taxing time, and were going through a "group discussion" concerning "how to spend the coming weekend". One bloke suggested going places, another suggested having a "Meta Premier League" again (remember the last time? wrapped up after a few matches !). And after an hour of "bakar" including wayward propositions but none of them worthy enough to result in a common consensus, I finally departed to peace in my room to enjoy the one thing I had been the most deprived of during the past few days - sleep.

The next day, when I was still wondering how I'd spend the weekend while almost everybody else departed either home or to some other fun place, Mahajan conceived this great idea to go for river rafting on the Ganges at Rishikesh. And so it was decided. All necessary arrangements made, the weather forecast taken into notice. We were going on an adventure trip the next morning - the best I've had until now.

The nine of us set off for Rishikesh at the stipulated time. The scene at the spot(Shivpuri) was a serene, enthralling one. After the usual "nautanki" and "hulladbaaji", we finally paid heed to the words of the instructor who would be guiding us through the entire journey (he tried to, but failed miserably !). Only two amongst us knew swimming, but the rest couldn't rely on them to save our lives if we fell into the river (or so we thought), hence we listened carefully when he elaborated necessary precautions to be taken. (Besides, we had all the protective gear, so we never really cared). After the briefing, we set sail to face the mysteries of the sacred river beckoning us to explore its waters. "Gujju" was appointed the group commander, being the only one to accomplish this feat before (nobody ever listened to him though). The guide Mr.Deepak and his associate Mr.Dev had to strive hard to steer the raft in the right direction - clear of the rocks and boulders that could put a lame end to the expedition, while we were carrying out "logical" experiments with the rows only to take it wayward.

The journey began on quiet waters, and as we progressed further, we came across seven "rapids" - sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. The first one gave us the jitters, and we were unaware of the fact that there were still more taunting "4th degree" ones capable of giving us the shudders and the heebie-jeebies. I was the most bewildered by the names given to these natural formations in the Ganga river - "Golf course"and "Roller coaster" which were the most stupendous, plus "double trouble", "Marine drive", "T-off" and "Daniel's dip". For a moment, I wondered whether this was my homeland and if it was, whether India had yet to gain independence from the British marauders.

All the way, we kept receiving commands like "Forward !", "Right back left forward !", "High side !"and "Stop !" but it took a while to realize what they meant (anyways, why should we follow orders by anybody else when we can screw things up ourselves). Each time a rapid overlooked our path, two people squatted on the edge in the front, drinking up half the water gushing into their faces while the others rowed with all their might to pull out of the turbulence. At times it seemed the waves wanted a hitch on the raft too, intentionally forming crevices when we least expected them.

On reaching still water finally, we made the most of it by diving out of the raft to swim until we all were frozen by the chill while the "guides" took the least pity on our helplessness (why didn't they tell us we couldn't get back on our own), and jumping from a cliff into the water about 80 feet deep (any takers for doing so without a lifejacket?) before resuming the voyage. After the 3 hours, 14 kilometres stretch was over and we had just enough vitality to walk to "Chotiwala" for lunch - fully drenched in water, some rest was all we needed. And what better option than to lie in the sunshine in the sands along the riverside. A walk back to the agent's office was the last stage of this wonderful excursion that was my first outing for "adventure sports".

I hope many more such trips await me in the near future, because I kinda liked the thrills that are associated.