Wait a minute, there just might be i guess. Does crashing down on waves in a rubber raft and jumping from 30 ft high cliff into the river below and then standing under a gushing waterfall and feeling the water hitting you with bricks and stones and yet enjoying the experience, count as exciting? It sure as hell does, baby. Well this trip was the brainchild of our very own Bhatia (saab) and slowly all the players fell in through persuasion (if not bribe) save one. Hours of discussion to finalize the details and the itinerary went into the short trip and it would be right to say that every one was excited. So where do i even begin with this journey. The torturous train ride where we were forced to play cards in the dark and yet being yelled at in the middle of the night for having some fun or the fact that the train took almost 5 hours more to reach its destination. It's still fresh in the mind how each moment unfolded and although there were no untoward experiences, the trip was still quite Adve-ntur-ous.
Surely a ride in an ambassador through the fields with 8 people jammed in somehow was an experience of its own but the best part of the trip i believe was the water.
I mean the freshness of water was simply awesome. The cold temperature adding to the flavor. So what began as an adventure was soon turned into an experience of a life time. Whatever i had craved for to do all my life came together in a single trip. Bonfire at night with light music in the background, good food, great company for my part at least and of course the cards. So tired from the long journey, we still managed to play some shots for the benefit of Lalit Modi before heading for a dip in the river near the camp. The night passed by with lots of fun under the light of a lantern and warm cups of tea in our hands.
Saturday morning, 17/04/10 9:50 hrs: This is when we began what we all termed as THE BEST EXPERIENCE of our lives so far. Getting into a rubber raft and terrified of the water, still i desperately wanted to have this experience. Up it went (raft) as our guide yelled,"Forward team forward, fast, fast, ok relax." Up and down the 8 rapids we went from Roller Coaster to the Golf Course. All the time water splashing in our faces as our raft fought the waves and we rowed on as if our lives depended on it. No wonder we felt like the crew of a sunken ship in a small boat, trying to reach the coast, while mother nature is hell bent on destroying all our hopes. Water surfing at the end seemed like a walk in the park after the rapids though it did require some amount of cajoling from my inner self. To cap off the wonderful experience was the cliff jumping where i, afraid of even entering a pool, jumped from a 30 ft high cliff into the river and trying desperately to float with water in my nose and mouth managed to reach the land with pride and happiness scrawled all over my face.
No matter what adjectives i use, they won't be able to justify what i and in fact all of us felt after that 2 hour journey down the river. Surely it was an experience of a life time and no wonder i want to do everything all over again. One thing i did learn in all this is that there is a gambler in all of us and yes everyone is capable of witty or poisonous remarks. Its how we bring these qualities out makes us who we are. Compatibility and adaptability is an over sold concept i believe in all management schools as everyone can do all that to live. Having said that we had a great group to ourselves with current and future managers in the mix. So it was a big surprise to see no ego clashes among the dominating members of the group. Well it doesn't befit me to take pot shots at others while sitting in the confines of my comfy living room but i have learned not to let go of an opportunity as after all, "waat usse lagti hai jo rasta hum chorte hain."
So next stage of the journey began with a trip to Mussorie although this time the ride was much more comfortable in a scorpio. Trip down the mall road was quite an experience too with loads and loads of beautiful things to see. Sadly none of them were single and ready to mingle. So ogling at those beauties was all that we could manage through the night. Of course we did try out a few new styles.
Needless to say Colgate could use new brand ambassadors. Shyness is a word of the old millennium so it would seem. Self Obsessed would be an understatement :)
The night was wasted away at another round of cards and allowed me to silence my critics once and for all regarding the skill. Sunday morning wanted me to stay put in bed but sadly the lure of water fall and the biggest attraction of Mussorie was much too big to miss out on and yeah in order to keep the spirit of the trip, "Itna toh banta hai." (courtesy: Raju Srivastava)
So off we went after a not so healthy breakfast of paranthas with butter and heavy glass of lassi to the Kempty falls. So there we were 7 guys half naked standing in waste high cold water and lots of dirt. Felt like being beaten by brick-bats by the falling water but still it felt great to stand under the numbing water. Kempty falls did make me realise how unfit my body really is and that how much fat i had accumulated on my once slim body :( But not trying to dwell too much on this insignificant part of the trip (weight watching i.e.) we began our long and tiresome trip to Delhi only to be delayed by a massive traffic jam. Tired and weary we reached CP at 2 in the night and i must admit saadi dilli looked awesome in the night lights.
This brought curtains to our almost 4 day long journey along the banks of river Ganges and in the hills of the Queen of Mountains and surely left me longing for more..............
