Rafting in Rishikesh
As she descends from her glacial fortress, winding through gorges and verdant valleys, river Ganga’s torrent of purity delights the spiritual and adventure seekers alike. Whether being bounced over rapids or slipping silently on her emerald waters, rafting is one of the best ways to experience the playful side of a river and majesty of a Goddess.
Rishikesh and Ganga draw millions to their side day after day for one of the most popular adventure sports in India, white river rafting. There can be nothing more exhilarating for the adrenaline seeking enthusiast than to test her skill, while rafting in the mighty river. River rafting requires enthusiasm, love for adventure, and nerves of steel. With proper guidance even the uninitiated can take to the sport like the proverbial duck to water.
After a detailed briefing from able instructors we feel a sense of mounting excitement as we slip into the essential safety gear, helmet and life jacket. Rafting is about teamwork and as we find our place in the raft we are given instructions how to maneuver the raft as a team. As we start on a relatively placid river we are mentally preparing for battling the rapids ahead. The first plunge into the cold river literally takes our breath away. We soon find our raft plunging headlong into the swirling rapids. The raft is tossed like a cork but we hold on. With each successive dunking in the rapids, we let out piercing screams of excitement. We are children once again. All inhibitions have disappeared as we let down our wet hair from under our helmets. It now seemed as though we had rediscovered the joys of screaming. We couldn’t care less if people were laughing at us. Others had ceased to exist for us. The instructor could have been invisible but for his constant commands.
Rafting not only made us realize our latent strength but made us aware of a beautiful bonding which came into being with our sisterhood. Now all that mattered, was us women and the gorgeous Ganga.
