Navigatio

Everything was transfixed except for the light. Dawn was breaking over the mountain, shell pink and faintly gold. The magic was about to begin. The sky was ready to burn with brilliance. Every dawn seemed to promise something wonderful; today’s dawn was no different. And so I will try to tell you, while I can still remember how it was then, before everything changed.
We felt like a little kid who just walked into the candy store. With our life jacket and helmet on, we were thrilled to board the raft. We were handed a paddle each and then our instructor guided us with basic techniques on paddling. It was easier said than done. First few strokes and I was already feeling the burning sensation in my upper arms. Seeing my friends’ row, it fueled me up. Few more strokes and I was as good as a professional.
The main course of our rafting stretched from Brahmpuri to Rishikesh. As we paddled down the river, we met with the first rapid, splashing the water all over us. It was called the T-Off grade-I rapid, completely friendly for us the newbies. That was some experience, getting all worked up, ears alert, waiting for the instruction and coordinating our strokes. It was a mini mission accomplished and we couldn’t wait for more rapids. We were screaming with excitement. The river threw Hilton and Terminator rapids at us after that.
A few more kilometers and Double Trouble was waiting for us. We cheered for each other and proceeded forward just to get ourselves right out of the raft. The next minute, we were in the Ganges. Breathing became difficult and I didn’t know how to swim. As a matter of fact, none of us knew. I was struggling hard to get my hands on the loose rope from the raft and at the same time I was worried sick for my friends. I managed to look around once I was on board and three of my friends already made it. We helped our other two friends and laughed out loud, once we knew we were safe.
I found my gaze losing into the distance. Somehow I felt uncertainty. It reminded me of what Peter Pan would say, ‘To die would be an awfully big adventure.’ And I wondered how big an adventure it really will be, diving into the unknown. It would be the last experience of life. For now, I live, and there was still more adventure to look out for until the ultimate adventure of death.