They say memories of your first
kiss never loses its charm. I guess, there are a few others … smoke billowing
from a wooden cottage perched atop a small hill, snow capped peaks right
outside the window, the euphoric scent of kingfisher-strong, the shrill honk of
a solitary engine cutting through dense fog, Momos and Sizzlers!!! … But if you
are a adventure freak… you may replace all that by one word …. RIVER-RAFTING.
And we left with a huge roar. -- Cold water splattered and sipped through neck vent freezing lungs and stopping our breathing dead for a while.
After fifteen minutes:
We? drenched. What happens to raft? drenched. Rapids? overtaken us. And here comes a big rapid striking head on with our raft. “Hooooooooooold the rope guys! This one is tough”. I clung to the front ropes and watched a big dreading water wave surrounding us.
Time stopped and life went into slow motion mode.
Splash!! Aahhhhh!!
And again a cascade of splashes.
Someone put thousands of liters of water over us. Drenched and cold!
For a moment, we were concealed under blanket of cold water. Shout and live the passing moment as much as you can. We cherishing an opaque world for an instance.
Water chilled our bones to the
marrow. We still had miles to go. -– Each time we met a rapid, we met with
Niagara Falls in a barrel.
Somewhere around 29th mile along Teesta, we met final rapid. It appeared as though somebody was pushing our raft from behind. Facing the truth, I was moving on the fastest ever raft.
Thug!
Tons of water spilled over us. It was crazy. We had narrowly escaped rocks and minutely avoided striking against standing stones.
Raft slowed & Heart regained the normal beating rate.
We got out senses back working and Transported back to the reality of life.
Dipankar Dutta and
Ranjan Biswal
5
folks, named Chandu (The Money-man), Amaresh (The Initiator), Ranjan (The
Planner), Dipankar (The Executor) and Satya, all from Finance Team went on a
trip to Sikkim/Gangtok in Feb 2014.
After
a hectic journey of 15 hrs, all the way from Kolkata, we were finally at
Melli….. with white sand, cold green water, rushing air and fast-moving
waters….!!!!
It was the none other than “Teesta” where I, CP and Ranjan would put down our naked legs inside cold water just to see who resists the colder water for longer time..
It was the none other than “Teesta” where I, CP and Ranjan would put down our naked legs inside cold water just to see who resists the colder water for longer time..
What
lay ahead?
The raft was all set to float
through slow rapids later turning into giant waves amid high hills of Teesta.
All set to leave the white sands behind and plunge into green Teesta.And we left with a huge roar. -- Cold water splattered and sipped through neck vent freezing lungs and stopping our breathing dead for a while.
After fifteen minutes:
We? drenched. What happens to raft? drenched. Rapids? overtaken us. And here comes a big rapid striking head on with our raft. “Hooooooooooold the rope guys! This one is tough”. I clung to the front ropes and watched a big dreading water wave surrounding us.
Time stopped and life went into slow motion mode.
Splash!! Aahhhhh!!
And again a cascade of splashes.
Someone put thousands of liters of water over us. Drenched and cold!
Shouting like anything by flow
of splatter in the middle of monster-rapids had transported us eternally to
some other world, while physically we were left behind on earth. --Totally
unaware of the mundane world on-goings...
and…….
Another cold wave chilling down
our spine, beautiful like a frozen rose. Raft crisscrossing through
rock-pivots, getting stuck in drifts and sometimes left on mercy of currents.and…….
For a moment, we were concealed under blanket of cold water. Shout and live the passing moment as much as you can. We cherishing an opaque world for an instance.
Somewhere around 29th mile along Teesta, we met final rapid. It appeared as though somebody was pushing our raft from behind. Facing the truth, I was moving on the fastest ever raft.
Thug!
Tons of water spilled over us. It was crazy. We had narrowly escaped rocks and minutely avoided striking against standing stones.
Raft slowed & Heart regained the normal beating rate.
We got out senses back working and Transported back to the reality of life.
Alas!
we had to step down. Fully drenched..
We turned behind, saw the
raft, the thing on which we lived thousands of years in a moment was smiling at
us. Yup buddy it was a lifetime
deal…
Perspective: Back
to work, we all have unrealistic goals to achieve, stringent bottom lines to
meet, momentary euphoria of achievement drowned in months of despair, but it is
the memories of trips like these that last a lifetime, perhaps bringing a smile
on our faces as we recollect in the months and years to come.
Acknowledgements:
Amaresh Gupta
CP JainAcknowledgements:
Amaresh Gupta
Dipankar Dutta and
Ranjan Biswal
