White Water Rappelling
Standing at the edge of the cliff near the not so large waterfall I looked about twenty feet below. I didn't like very much what I saw. The water was rushing down the cliff at a speed I could not imagine. Down below I could see the sharp rocks staring at me. A lone tree stood just at the edge of the cliff that will be used as support to go down. Looking at the tree I wondered how many people till today it must have helped in the rappelling expedition.

 For a moment my excitement of coming here turned into fear. I wondered will I be able to go down this rocky cliff with the speeding waterfall by my side?
I was not sure!

 The journey to this destination had started at six in the morning on a wonderful lazy Sunday when we all gathered at the railway station to board the six thirty local train to Lonavla. The trip to Lonavla was to last one and half hours. It is not often that I get up at four in the morning and that also on a Sunday. But today I had as I had promised myself that I will bring some adventure in my routine life. Living in a city I seldom get the opportunity to watch the natural beauty. So this was a great chance to see the clouds coming down to kiss the mountain peaks. All through the journey I ensured that I did not miss seeing it.

 At eight we were at Lonavla and as the group of about twenty came together, a question was on everybody's mind – 'Where to from here?' Few wondered aloud – 'Will we be taking a vehicle from here?' Except for our guide Mr. Pundalik and his assistant we didn't know where we were going and how we were going to reach there. Everybody was excited including me. I realized, in life sometimes we must let go of trying to know everything; trying to give a reason to every action that we take. We should surrender ourselves to someone who will take us there where we have come to go. So here we stood looking towards our guide to lead the way.

 When he said that we will be walking I was very happy because I am Eveready to walk.
After a light breakfast we embarked on a journey of White Water Rappelling. This was the first time ever I was attending a Rappelling adventure.

With all enthusiasm, enjoying the rain we started marching towards are destination. The entire journey took us about one and a half hours and it was just five kilometers from Lonavla; but to us it appeared like we had covered more than fifteen kilometers. The reason we thought so was we were crossing the mountains. The route made us travel through streams of water and curvy paths that moved up and down putting us under the impression that we had traveled a lot. When we came to know it was just five kilometers we were a bit disappointed, but that is life. The rain pouring down from the open sky added to our excitement of being so very close to the mountains which we usually see from a far away distance or only in pictures.

 This one and a half hour of trekking taught me a lesson in management. It was a wonderful insight. Go to this link and read it:

 http://maverickentrepreneurclub.blogspot.com/2011/08/marching-ahead-together-team-building.html

 Most of the journey, more than an uphill task was going down. We wondered where we were heading by going down the mountain. Some paths were sharp curves like in the alphabet 'S'. Surrounded by thick dense forest we wondered if we would be greeted by any wild animal. But there were none and we had a safe journey to our destination.

 Finally, when we reached our destination we saw it in real. It was a spread of vast green plane surrounded by the mountains. We could see the big and small waterfalls gushing down the hill from the peak of the mountains.

 The team of instructors who were going to help us with the Rappelling were already there with their equipments and gears.

 Soon we were joined by the rest of the team an now everybody was ready. Mr. Pundalik made us do a round of introduction and we all came to know about each other. We all were from various walks of life and had come here to live a life that most people back in the city don't even know about. They are happy sitting at home watching Television, giving excuses or just simply not daring to do something like this.

 Let me confess again – 'Yes! I was a bit terrified when I looked down the cliff from where we had to go down Rappelling.'

 One of the instructors gave us the demo on how to go down the cliff. He made it appear very simple and did everything to build the confidence in us that anyone can do it.

 Soon the first person was ready to do the rappelling – all geared up! As he went down all cheered for him! When he came back up after his stint his elbow was bruised. It had a bad cut. But he had a really BIG SMILE of ACHIEVEMENT on his face. He was proud of himself.

 After awhile it was my turn. I was helped in putting on the gear and finally I was strapped. Then came the helmet and I was ready. Ready to go down the path which I believed will change my life. I have learned in life that if you do this kind of activity for the first time in your life, whether you do it right or wrong it will change your life.

 My friends cheered me up as I got ready for my maiden Rappelling venture. The most exciting part of this Rappelling was after a point we didn't know what lay below. I had watched people go down before me. After a point they just disappeared below. The support of the team was there but this was one journey that everybody, including me had to cover on my own.

Not knowing what to expect below I positioned myself to go down. I let myself go and I started to maneuver myself to move down. I don't know whether it was just me or it is a human tendency – whatever you are told not to look for, you look for the same. The instructor had clearly mentioned not to search for grips on the rocks, but as I went down I started to feel for the grips to my foot hold. I was not finding any but I was trying disparately. All I was to do was bounce myself off the rocks with my legs. But I was not ready to leave my comfort zone of struggling to find the foot hold. It felt much safer but it was not right.

 As I sit to write this experience of mine, I remember a saying that I had read – 'Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.'

 Somewhere I was not ready to lose sight of my grip which was never there. Soon I could not see the people above me. I was on my own with the huge waterfall gushing down from my side. As I moved down, I came in the line of the waterfall and I was soaked. With water rushing down my face it became difficult for me to breathe. I struggled to get away from the path of waterfall and deep down my heart I got this feeling that I could not do it. But the place I was hanging there was no turning back. I had to go down. I told myself - 'I can do it!' I did a little swing to get away from the line of the waterfall and got my breath back. I looked down, I couldn't see the ground, I looked up, I couldn't see anybody. I didn't know how much more I had to go down. I let myself glide as I once again maneuvered my way down. Finally what I thought was a never ending journey came to an end as I touched the rocky floor. The instructor down below unbuckled the rope and set me free. He showed me the way to go up but I was not ready to go up yet. I sat down on the rock, all soaked up and breathing heavily. I looked up from where I had come down. The entire downward journey had taken just about one and a half minutes. I thought – just to experience this one and half minute of adventure we had come all the way here.
But boy! Every second of Rappelling down the cliff was worth it! I will not exchange this experience for anything else.

 As I was looking at the cliff above, I saw one more thing and a realization hit me – If the instructor had shown us the cliff from below I would have maneuvered myself more smoothly. From below I could see the entire picture of me Rappelling down.

 In day to day life of ours, we seldom look at the bigger picture of our goals, so we fail to plan our Right Path. We just start walking the clean path that we see and when some rough patches turn up we always have a choice of going back. More often we give up and retreat back to where we started. Here in Rappelling there was no retreat; the only way to go up again was to go down and complete our Rappelling. I could not go back without achieving my goal.

When I came up, I returned my gear to the instructor and sat down on the rock – silent. My friend, who had still not done her rappelling sat beside me and asked, 'What happened?' I just looked at her. She again asked me, 'Tell me what happened?' I didn't know what to say. It appeared as if I had lost my voice. I was still in that state of my one and a half minute journey.

 Later, I sat in the running water for one hour, letting the running water bathe my feet. When we trekked back home I was a different person. Even today that different person is in me. He will be in me till the time I take another journey that will make me yet another different person than what I am today!

 “Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.”