Ganga made a Spiritualist

Well, to begin with, this is a just a testimonial about my recent visit to Uttarakhand where I went rafting at Hrishikesh.  For me, it was the second time that the holy river of Ganga had invited me, to appreciate her beauty and magnificence. We were staying on the Paudi part of the Shivalik range, also known as the lower Himalayas. The river ganga flows from gomakh, its mouth and all the way to the bay of Bengal providing bread to all living by her banks.

It was the goa-nizzamuddin train we were boarding to travel by rail to Delhi, the nations capital and then travelled my road, by bus to hrishikesh. Beach 17-questrailas was where we stayed and overlooked the Ganges.

We reached our destination rather early and got our tents allotted. Right then when I looked at the river flowing gracefully through its course, it looked like she demanded respect. She demanded love. She demanded trust. She demanded purity.  Possibly every Indian is thankful to this holy river, but I exceptionally am.  The purity that she demands is not of the external one man displays, but the inner, soulful one. Looking at her flow, makes you ease out, relaxes your mind, your heart and your soul. And that’s exactly what I needed. In the past few days I was feeling rather insecure back home, even with the familiar faces of my friends. I felt wasted. I felt lost. I dint want to be around anybody I rather knew. I wanted to be on my own. Give myself some ‘me’ time.  Family is an aspect I never get bored of, but friends, sometimes make me feel insecure. So attempting my first go as a volunteer I went rafting. Looking at the river, gave me my answers because I was peaceful from within. Yup, that’s the power she possesses. It was not my friends making me feel insecure; it was me, feeling insecure in this group of people having familiar face but changed habits and traits. People change and so do their thoughts. And I drove to a conclusion that if I want to not feel insecure, I only have two options. Change myself, or meet and find new people with whom I am compatible and feel comfortable. And there I was! With a group of 20 unknown people, amongst whom; I never thought I would find 4 other individuals with whom I am ‘compatible and comfortable’.

The first day of rafting arrived. Geared up in life jackets, helmets, ores, and one inflated raft. We jumped into it, chanting Ganga maaiya ki jay! I praying the holy river for a safe sail… gave the orders of moving the ore upfront and downward. Somewhere deep down I felt very comfortable and calm with the atmosphere around me. Very pleasant. Very enthusiastic. Very focused. It was amazing. And there came the first 1^st grade rapid, namely good morning. It was the perfect one for me. It was my wake up call. It was realization of appreciating and understanding the way things work. Our stretch for rafting was from NIM to shivpuri. It was a beautiful stretch. Sand on one side and the tehri range of the Himalayas on the other. The next stretch we approached the third day of our stay there was from NIM To Marine Drive. This one was eventful. I was with a group of my friends and we were rafting merrily. Suddenly my instructor gave us commands to sand on the edge. I gave it a shot. The shape of a raft is rather like a very broad banana. I was rafting in the front position and it being slightly slanting, I lost balance. A third grade rapid approached and there I fell a few meters away from the raft. I started panicking. I was scared. But then it dawned up me. Ganga  demands trust. I trusted the Holy River and body surfed singing the hanuman chalisa so aloud that maybe half of the shivalik could hear it. Usually when something drastic happens.. the f word comes to my mouth. But when its something related to life, faith comes ,in the way and god comes to your mind. I body surfed that little bit with water in half my lungs. But I was alright. I trusted the river. I trusted myself. I trusted nature. And I was fine. Shivering. Slightly traumatized. I wasn’t strong enough mentally to do cliff jumping. But then again. My friends supported me, warmed me up and when I saw down, I dint feel scared, I felt invited and jumped with a thud. It was amazing.

We went for a trek which also was awesome and gave us a chance to encounter the people who actually are blessed by ganga. It was great. We went to the Ganga aarti. Oh it was magnificent. People from over the world had tripods set up for photos. It was glittering. They were praying to mere water. But water with immense power. With immense force and total elegance. That’s when I realized I was in the midst of the most wonderful moment. When I got answers to some confusions. Practically I had got my answers myself. Nature showed me the direction to think. It gave me calmness and peace. It gave me a soul. I think I borrowed it from her.

Thank you