As a kid, I have always enjoyed playing in the water. I do not remember any time being scared of it or any feeling to avoid it. Joining swimming lessons at the young age of 7 helped with making me much more confident. Even though I cried a lot in the lessons, I never hated water. I'm normally the first to jump into a river or seashore and end up staying there for a long, probably the last to get out also.
Just being comfortable in water has helped me many times, especially 16 yrs back in Goa. Goa sinking experience was definitely a scary one.
I have always enjoyed fast-flowing rivers, waterfalls, canals, etc. There was this one time we visited Kere Thannur which is one of the biggest lakes around Mysore. The lake feeds the villages around and one of the canal pipes was broken creating gushing water at the start of the canal. I sat under it for an hr just feeling the water thumping on my head. And there was this crazy experience in Chunchi falls with college boys where I was almost washed away from one of the small falls. Kathe grabbed my hand and pulled me out in the most brutal way you can imagine. As usual, the cocky me did not thank him, I would have survived with a couple of broken bones anyways was my justification :)))
So basically you get my point, I love water and especially the fast-flowing kinds.
19 yrs ago I was in Oracle and was a complete adrenaline junkie. Like an absolute mad cap who could jump off a building just for the thrill of it. I was into all adventure activities, and trekking was at the top of the list. I used to have a big gang who joined for treks and we used to find small streams and falls to rejuvenate at times.
One of my senior directors, KK was a US return and was absolutely crazy about adventure. He used to be an avid biker, and hiker in the US and was continuing his passion in India also. The adventurous me was a big fan of KK. He was built like a bull, rough with a thick beard and was really chill about things. I think in early 2004, he told me of his 2 weeks plan in and around Rishikesh which just blew my adventure-driven mind. Along with hiking, he had booked a 5-day long rafting trip in the Ganges where he will raft for over 300 km. Raft 50-60 km a day and then camp on the river bank overnight and continue the rafting again. I had heard a lot about rafting in the Ganges but never thought of it seriously. When he returned from the trip, he was so elated and gave me an amazing explanation of the place and the experience. Since then, rafting in the Ganges has been a big dream.
I have tried rafting a couple of times in other places since then just to get a feel of it. The first was in Coorg which was a small distance and I absolutely enjoyed the feeling. The idea of controlling the raft in fast waters was such a rush, super feeling.
The longest one was in Switzerland where we went on a 3 hr raft in a local river. Unfortunately, it was a much-controlled river. Even though the flow was fast, there were no interruptions to create rapids for the up-and-down experience. But the water was super clean and cold and I loved jumping in and floating away for an hr.
A couple of yrs back we did it in Dandeli, Kali river. We wanted to do the long one but the river flow was not good enough for the day. The next day we did try the short ride and was a super experience. We hit a couple of rapids and also carried the raft upstream to try it again. It was short but fun, the splashing water, the speed, and the directionless motion added to the thrill.
I did travel to Rishikesh once in between but did not get to raft. I was with family for 1-day kinds and did not get the time to explore. I have been planning for a 2-week yoga retreat and rafting trip for ages now but never materialized. Probably coz I was in the UK for a long period and also I wanted to go in a gang or wanted company :D Strangely my cousin was suggesting we do a week in Rishikesh later this year but his plans are not too concrete.
So when we were planning a Xmas party in multiple locations in India in Dec 2022, Delhi came up as one of the locations. The first thing that came to my mind was Rishikesh. I was supposed to travel with my boss to 3-4 locations and thought of taking a small detour to visit Rishikesh on my own. But the plan was not confirmed as there were so many moving parts and I almost gave up the detour. We finally planned to visit Hyd, Rajamundry, Delhi, and Punjab (Punjab was to meet a colleague's family who helped us with a medical emergency). I had put my detour on hold as I wanted to accompany my boss to Punjab which was not clear yet and we had not booked our return flight.
On the day of the travel, my boss feel really ill and had to cancel leaving me all alone. I was completely lost and did not know what to do. I attended the party in Hyd with a small gang which was good and then flew to Rajamundry for a colleague's wedding. I was a bit aloof and that is when it hit me. I should do something for myself for a change. So I decided to go to Rishikesh and booked the tickets.
For a change, I wanted to be in a hostel and explore the place a bit more. The main intention was rafting. A quick search showed multiple options and narrowed it down to 2, a 4 hr 16 km or a 6 hr 36 km one. Unfortunately for 36 km, there has to be a group or wait till the group happens. And as I was only for 1 day I would have missed the Ganga aarti. So decided on a 16 km one.
After the Delhi event, I took a night bus to Rishikesh and took a shared auto in the bitter cold at 5am to reach the hostel at 6am. The first thing I did was book the rafting for the day and the pickup was 9am.
9am sharp the rafting van was at the hostel to pick us up. I realized 3 girls (Dee and others 2 whose names I do not remember) from my hostel were joining me. after a 40 min drive, we reached the start point and were given instructions about the event. We carried the raft down to the river over poking stones which made it painful. Once down, we geared up and I took my first pic.
The day was perfect with bright sun, clear waters and it was cold. We had 2 other rafts in our group and after the full instructions on how to sit (no footwear and the feet need to be below the front and back airbag and sit on the side walls, for leads, there is a flap on the front to secure the feet), paddle, manage big rapids, etc the instructor Gaurav asked who wants to be the lead among us 8 member crew. I did not give others a chance and just took one of the 2 positions. Thanks to my bike accident, my left ribs were hurting so I took up the right lead position and Dee took the left one as she had been rafting before.
We all got going with paddles and the instructor was checking our coordination skills. The basic requirement was to paddle hard in the rapids to catch the speed and make the most of them. The first rapid was small but definitely better than any other rapid I was on. Within secs I was fully drenched in the cold water which just felt divine. I just knew I am going to enjoy it and boy I did enjoy it.
There were 12 rapids in the course and 2 of them were really fast, like level 3 and above. We were well coordinated and really pushed hard in the rapids to catch speed. When there was no paddling, I just sat and enjoyed the scenery, it was out of the world. The quiet, the clean water, the chill, the sun, the fresh air, the cool breeze, just perfect. I have not enjoyed the surrounding so much, especially on my own.
When we hit 1st of the 2 big raids, my heart was racing. being the lead I could see the dancing water from afar and I just could not wait to go into it. We paddled hard and with Gaurav's maneuvering skills, we hit it at a decent speed and the crazy ride began. We were thrown from one side to another with very little control. I had to dig my legs deep into the raft pad just to hang on. We are so up and down that I could not find water in front of the raft to paddle :))) It was crazy like we were in a washing machine and it was so much fun. I can close my eyes and see the white water throwing me around and rinsing me of all thoughts. Such an adrenaline rush and peaceful at the same time. We took breaks from paddling in the rapid and got to it again to catch another side of it. It was the best few secs I have spent in the water :)
After a few rapids, Gaurav suggested we can jump into the river and float downstream for some time if we were up for it. I did not even need an invite, when we got to that area, I just jumped in. It was so cold, huh, thinking of it gives me shivers. I could feel my legs and ears almost freezing. But once I got used to the cold, it was blissful. I have never been in such clean, clear waters, even in Swiss. It felt like I was in paradise, the mountains gave the perfect background with the morning sun adding the sine to the waters. I swam, floated, and went away from the rest of them just to feel the isolation. I just wanted to be in the river forever kinds.
After 8-10 mins we had to get onto the raft for the next rapids. Gaurav pulled a few of us in and I was pulled in by others which were not great, felt like a gunny bag being pulled by a bear :)) Once we settled in, a couple of them changed positions but I held on to the right lead, it was too much fun to give away. We continued on a few more rapids catching them at the right angles to feel the tumbling. Near the end was the best rapid of all. It was long and fast and had too many ups and downs. We were tired but managed to paddle to catch it fast. It almost threw us in the air and we had to get down into the raft to manage from being thrown out. It was such fun, I just did not want it to end. There was a small area at the end of the rapid and Gaurav maneuvered us to catch that also.
After calming from this insane ride, we hit a couple more rapids and Gaurav said one of them was safe to jump in inside the rapid itself. When we reached that area, I just flipped over my head into the water. The speed of the rapid was crazy and made me feel I was actually in a tumble dryer :D it lasted 30 secs and then plain water. This time I was in no rush in getting on onto the raft and swam around just enjoying the whole experience. After everyone got onto the raft, I reluctantly got in for the last 2 rapids. They were small but did make us have a feeling in the chest.
We finally got to the calm area where the river widened and we could see other rafts on the bank. It was time to complete this crazy journey :( I took in as much of the scenery and was so glad that I could make it. My eyes welled up with joy and satisfaction. We paddled to the bank and got out of the raft. While waiting for others, I just drank from the river and poured some water on my head as a blessing from Mother Ganga and thanked her for this incredible experience. She welcomed me into her arms and made me feel really special :)
We carried the raft outside what stones poking holes in my frozen feet. We thanked Gaurav for his expertise and paid for the videos he took. While he was loading the pics, I settled in with hot tea, and Maggi and just stared at the river. Almost reliving the moment and registering it in my memories forever. And yes, it was so good that I registered it really well. I can close my eyes and go back to the experience.
I am definitely going back for more rafting, it is such an incredible sport, and everyone must try it.
I believe that I make memories well if I have lived in that moment. And this was one such memory I will cherish for a long time, probably till I lose my memory :D. I feel such things do not happen as a coincidence and life wants you to have these experiences to continue dreaming.
And yes, I can say, I lived a dream and it was awesome. So cheers to living many more dreams no matter how impossible they look. 'Who zindagi hi kya jis mein koi namumkin sapna na ho' :D
PS: the link has the videos and pics of this amazing experience :)
Rafting Rishikesh
