Rafting on the Ganga

On my way back from zip lining across the Ganga, I chance to see groups of people wearing life vests and helmets, with paddles in their hands, and rafts being inflated. As I ride along, I pass vehicles ferrying rafts and along with their occupants.

Could this possibly be what I was thinking? Would the Gods have been so kind on me? Was rafting started before the date they were supposed to start?

I race to the market before I loose my chance to tick off one thing off my list! But not too fast so as to avoid skidding on the road that had gravel on it, thanks to the all the landslides. And yes I already skidded in the most funniest of ways!

After riding for a while in the market I was able to zero in on an operator and manage to book myself with them. I pay the charges and wait for them to prepare the raft. I also take a brief trip into market.

When I come back, I have to wait a while as the raft is still not completely ready, and yes more importantly they are waiting for other occupants. 

Once again the Gods were kind on me and I don’t have to wait too long, when a group of five gentlemen come to enquire, and finally sign up.

Once the raft is ready it is loaded atop our transportation, as we pile in into our transportation to the start point.

All through our ride I get to know that these gentlemen come from various part of the country, with one of them being a Mumbaikar from Borivali who frequents my beloved BNP.

At first I try to keep to myself, but then this is not a good time to be shy, after all this was supposed to be solo trip, my solo adventure, to put myself out there and make new acquaintances and friends.

As we reach our destination, we help each other to put on and tighten our life jackets. We put on our helmets and head down to the river below, while our instructors prepares the raft. But not before some selfies are taken.

As we make our way down, along with other rafters, we dodge rafts that’s heading to the river.

We indulge in some more selfies and pics as we wait for our raft to reach. Once our raft is in the water, one of the instructors shows us how to hold our paddle, the different ways to paddle and instructions for the same, (dang I could make an eLearning module with all these instructions), but most importantly how to sit and balance our weight without falling overboard because of the current of the water.

After putting our mobiles and purses in a dry bag, we pile into the raft, taking our position l and locking our legs. Our raft slowly drifts to the centre of the river, following others who were ahead us. We wait patiently for our instructor give us our instructions.

We paddle towards our first rapid, and then stop, bracing ourselves to encounter the first thrill. Well it was thrilling, not as thrilling as I would have wanted to be. 

But then to our horror, the raft ahead capsizes, throwing its occupants into the river. It’s a moment of panic, but thanks to their life vests and the calmness of the instructor, they manage to hold to the raft. Some even hold on to another raft that’s nearby.

Once we know they are safe, we continue our ride downstream, more aware of the importance of paddling in unison and listening to our instructor.

We almost miss the next, gentler rapid, missing out on the thrill factor. To our dismay our instructor signals to us to row towards the bank signalling the end of our rafting experience, and the vehicle will come and take us back.

We dejectedly get off the raft, but decide to take a dip in the river. But then luck favours us as the cops do not let them take the raft up as doing so would damage the road.

So we get into the raft once again and we are back on the river. Well there may not be much of a rapid but we get ride the current.

Our instructor lets us take a plunge into the river, one at a time, but we need to hold on to the rope at the side. 

So one by one we jump into the river and then we haul ourselves up by pushing down on the rope while your fellow rafters pull you back on board by your jacket.

As always I am the last person to go into the river, and although I am wearing my life vest, there’s still this tiny bit of panic that grips me, leaving you feeling like you are going under, making you want to immediately get back into the raft. 

So you try to haul yourself up, of course with the help of your raft mates (raft mates has a better ring to it). Now all that’s left is follow instructions of your instructor and reach the end of your rafting journey. But not before you can get some quick clicks, and a round samosas and bidding farewell to my raft mates.

Well, with this I can proudly say that I managed to do rafting at Rishikesh, even though I not ready to strike this off my list so fast. But all said and done, even though it was not as exciting as I thought it would be, I am happy I did it and thanks to  the Luck Gods for favouring that day and giving an opportunity to do something even before it was officially rafting season!!!