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Ganges: A Mother, A TeacherBY: Archana Bahl | Category: India | Submitted: 2010-06-23 17:44:05
Belonging to the landlocked city of Chandigarh, I have never been too good with water. I learnt swimming because in those exciting teenage times, I just couldn't stand the idea of not making it to the swimming pool. Over a year I learnt swimming at the most basic level of what it can be, random flip flop free style enabling me to just barely complete the length of the pool with my breath coming is wide and strenuous gasps. I am giving this background as my best vacation yet was also my best adventure as yet and it was all about the white sparkling water of the river ganges. Water can be a number of things other than being cold or potable, the water that we saw was alive, angry, placid, welcoming, ruthless and a lot of other things. For one it made me believe in the power and soul of the river we rightly pray to, The Ganges. It began when I confirmed my participation for a trip to Rishikesh with the solution architects team in Delhi. My fiancé belonging to the team was an obvious but not the only factor behind my acceptance to this offer. The team lead by Raj is one of the most fun craving, lively teams of this organization and I can simply not imagine the Delhi office sans them. We were to be 7 members to drive down to rishikesh the next morning. Almost the entire solutions team, they were 5 guys inclusive of boss and one lady. The lady "swati" is a dear friend in office and I was looking forward to her company over the trip. As we packed and readied for the trip, I got a slight setback when Swati could not make it at the last instance because of some urgent family issues. Anyway we went ahead as planned. The initial drive was a bit rough and dusty driving through the country side of UP and then we were carried into Uttaranchal with a breeze of cool wind. The weather continued to be at its best when we reached the river side camps in Shivpuri just ahead of Rishikesh where we were to camp overnight. The night was at its beautiful best. As we sat next to the river, we couldn't see the river in the dark of the night, but we could feel it, the water lapping at the banks, waves from the ganges coming closer and closer as if wanting to greet her visitors. We sat under the sparkling cloudless sky, with a million stars above us and the moon shining down on the river. It was beautiful, we all sat and talked, each one of us holding a vodka or a whisky. The effect of the alcohol slowly taking over and the river enhancing the euphoria. We woke up to a clear sunny morning, the plan was to drive up to the point where professional rafters begin their downstream journey. I had issues, serious issues with this. Till now I was under the impression that we will raft downstream to Rishikesh from Shivpuri, which is what all 'normal" vacationers do. But I was made to understand that the plan was to go behind to the point where only rafting professionals venture into. No one seemed remotely bothered of the loud thumping of fear within me. My heart had never pumped so much of blood. I cursed Swati for not being there, I knew she would have stood by me. I knew she apart from me would be the only one sane enough to realize that risking your life over a vacation is not the wisest thing to do. As we reached upshore, I was frantically calling out to anyone who would bother to listen on how scared, unsure I am, I had heard our drivers talking about how furious the largest rapid of the river was today, they call it "THE WALL". While the others danced with excitement I cringed at the thought. Anyway, I thought, I have to fight my own battle, I will at any cost persuade our guide to let me walk on the banks and join the crew after the rapid "the worst one" is crossed. I was relieved at the thought that this maybe workable. As I announced my intentions to all, I heard murmurs of disapproval, but my fiancé backed me, he could not see the now perpetual frown I had developed on my forehead. But, things were not as I had envisioned, the guide was in no mood to relent, he would either have me on the raft and cross that horrible life risking congestion of water or would not have me on the boat all together, I pleaded but to no avail. I offered desperate prayers to my benefactor, and sat on the raft, my face stricken with despair and fear together. We had floated for a few hundred metres when what I saw before me wanted me to be anywhere in the world but here, anywhere means anywhere but here. Two of the rafts before us had been ruthlessly thrown and turned upside down like cheap toys. The rafters were thrown in the frantic waters and I saw before me how they gasped for breath and kept marginally afloat on life jackets. Our raft was the next, next to be thrown and I would be in the middle of that mess, gasping for my life. I looked helplessly at my fiancé, who looked at me. He had a look of concern I had never seen before and yet in his glance was a look of courage, a look of strength, a look of being there no matter what. He said it all in one glance and in the next second, I was no longer afraid. Before I realized we were in the middle of the WALL, the guide commanded us to buckle in the raft, and then to come back on and row, row faster and harder, row as if this conquest was all we were to live for. He cried, "Ganga maiya ki Jai" with an emotion which seemed to bring an unknown power in our arms. We all rowed together, with a force unconquerable, a force which could not be defeated, could not be sub missed. And soon, as if the Ganges opened its walls and carried the raft like a baby and laid it across it placid length. By the time we opened our eyes, the river lay flat before us, cradling the raft with its soft meanders, the sun shining brightly above us. We looked at each other, a sense of pride, sense of unity, a sense of strength beckoned us. The Ganges had tought us a lesson, a lesson of togetherness, of how a united us is far stronger and far capable of a divided us. The rest of the journey was calm and relaxing, but without this lesson, I would have been someone with one lesson less learnt. Thanks to Solutions team Delhi for this courage and Unity. You really deserve a cheers!! Article Source: http://articles.travelandtourisminfo.com/ About Author / Additional Info: Comments on this article: (0 comments so far)
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