Memoirs of a Power Rafter

“Aag Se Khelna” a statement glorified from my VESIT years...worship the unnatural; carry out activities which fall into the far end of the imbecility spectrum. A reunion of my undergrad memories brings to fore such actions…correctly typifying the above statement. So equipped with a Level I rapid experience (with a couple of glorified losers at Letchworth Ntl. Park), hydrophobia and zilch swimming skills, I still had the stomach to face the Cheat river. When I told my buddy Vivek about the idea, he completely freaked out….these were his exact words “Bala bathroom mein nahaneko hi fat thi hai…udhar jaake main Rapid Stilling karne wala hoon!!!”

Nevertheless off we went in 2 separate cars to counter the raging River. As destiny wud have it we never got a chance to meet the other group…whatever be the reasons…but fate was benevolent…for once. A reasonably uneventful drive took us to West Virginia…the only noteworthy incident being the speeding ticket that we got (my car now has the unenviable distinction of having got a ticket both times when we went rafting!). Having reached the place we had no clue of where the rest of the gang were…no cell fone signal u see (I have to admit here that an IR port doesn’t help in such situations). The wait was killing us…so were the rest of the ppl who were waiting for Capt.Marwadi & Co. (or shud I say Capt.Proxy & Co.).

They finally made a call and put us on to the raft (though had to endure the usual rafting technical mumbo-jumbos). With Rupil and urs truly at the front end of the raft (apparently the power paddlers), Srikant in the middle (to avoid raft toppling over) followed by Ajju, Viv and the guides, we set sail on the hallowed waters. Since I was right at the front, the sonic fury of the water totally cut me off from our guides instructions. Sri used to chip in his bit by repeating to the guys in front what the instructor said. A second late, we wud have all gone swimming….thats y Sri’s part was extremely crucial.

Waddling through calm waters initially, swatting gargantuan horseflies and psyching ourselves up to face the uncertainties that Mother Nature had in store for us, we reached the First Rapid ‘The Big Nasty’.

Big Nasty: (Level5) The first Rapid and really a Nasty one at that. Our guide’s psychogenic talks really helped us in a way to bear the onslaught the river had to offer. The Big Nasty was nothing but a hole that sucked objects towards itself and spat them right out towards a huge rock…that was the scary part u think…no sir. We cudnt see the rapid at all in the first place coz it was at a place where the river turned right (u take a right and viola…ur there swimming/gasping and hoping God gives u another day!)…this made it all the more dangerous. The trick here was to keep the raft at an angle and avoid the hole by taking a left.

With feet deeply rooted in the raft…paddles cutting through the skin of the water and pounding hearts we took the turn. Within no time we realized that we had ‘hagged’ badly and found ourselves right in the hole. The raft was quivering like an autumn leaf on a decrepit oak tree. This is when our instructor screamed…’don’t panic…row harder…more Horsepower!!!’. And guess what…we did just that and absolutely CREAMED the Big Nasty. A bunch of abt 20 ppl standing on top of the rock that I was talking abt cheering us on at every motion of our paddles…real adrenaline pumper that un! High-fives, shoulder charges and hugs all around…it surely was a helluva confidence booster tonic. After our raft, none of the rafts made it…a few broken noses and busted ankles galore. Bring on the other Rapids baby!

Even Nastier: (Level4) Yeh that was the name of the next rapid. A pieca cake according to me after the Big nasty. Twas a level 4 rapid and after a level 5 rapid, it felt as smooth as the creamiest “tiramisu”!!

Rooster Tail: (Level 5) This was easily the most enjoyable Rapid of em all. The water level drops abt 10 feet and rises up again giving a roller-coaster feel to the entire experience. Its called the Rooster tail coz as the water rises up from the crest, the force of the water splashing takes the shape of a Rooster’s tail. Awesome experience and ofcourse no casualties again.


Middle and Lower Coliseum: (Level 5) Ahh this is where the fun part starts. A set of 2 quick rapids within touching distance of each other. Our guide had warned us that if u screw up on the first un, the 2nd wud killya. But as luck wud have, we (I to be precise)did just that…fucked up real bad. Cudnt hear shit that the instructor said and completely froze. Rupil saw me doing nothing and screamed at me….now that really stirred the Hornet’s nest. Both Power paddlers were screaming on top of their lungs with the Rapid a few feet away from us.

As we hit the rapid, call it sleight of hand or twist of fate, Srikant was thrown out of the raft. The buoyancy that was created yanked the instructor out of the raft too… ‘Eureka’!
This is where the genius of a man called Vivek Shekar comes in. Instead of offering his hand or his paddle, he throws his paddle towards Srikant…’Le Pakad’… another cult dialogue from the bevda. U shudve seen Srikant’s face at that point in time…the expression was priceless…zoink!

The rest of the rapids weren’t as eventful…except for Rupil’s foolish bravado that had him almost swallowed by the rapids…water water everywhere and all u cud do was drink!

After 3 hrs of pure mayhem, we finally reached the shore. Rafts had cut our skin real deep and the mucky shore waters were kissing our fresh flesh. Trudging along, barely managing to carry our dead limbs and sore butts we reached the bus to take us back to the office. White water rafting is a thrilling, adrenaline pumping activity and I wud seriously recommend that to Freaks who haven’t tried it yet. As I look back at the experience, I have muddled thoughts in my mind…thoughts of fear, pleasure, anxiety and satisfaction. And given a choice I wud be out there again defying gravity and flouting the raging river…
Ash to Ash…Dust to Dust…Fade to Black…But the Memory remains!