Rafting xPedition...A trip to God's country - 1

Preface:
The Cast...

Lead's...

Rishabh: The Foody, Zilch swimmer, Knee Head, PeaNut Slinger, RoadHog.
Aparna: The Philosopher, Void Architect, Road Sign BroadCaster.
Kunal: The Iron Man, Knee Head, Systematizer.
Raghavan: Mr Funda, Witty, Jaundice Crusader. [a.k.a. Raghav]

Supporting Crew:
Pappu and Garry: The Saviours, River Messiah's

Special Thanks To...
Neeraj, Sushant: The Organisers

Guest Appearance
The bufallo who made full use of the traffic and licked the rear glass of the car as per convenience.

Uncertainity, if's, but's, how's and whom's. These were the questions when the idea was first concieved. Some people walked off right at at the onset, some screwed up the next day, some said "Sure thing. Just tell me when to leave." Finally it got set. Four of us were all set n xCited to leave on the rafting xPedition. Everyone was charged up.

Friday, 15'th April
The day begins as usual. Stuffed my bag in the car and left for office. The plan was to pick up Kunal in the evening and then the rest two. Reached office, took some driving precautions and route directions from felllow colleagues. Recollected the ToDO and Checklist of the stuff to carry with Kunal and Aparna. Also Drafted a plan to pick whom from where.

Aparna left for home 5:40 to pack her stuff. Kunal went to his room. Initially he waited patiently for me to wind up my work and leave to pick him up. Finally the iron man lost his cool and I had to leave office with work finishing just on time. Drove the car to his place. Collected his belongings, some cash and in the process committed a mistake. On enroute to my aunty's place to collect the camera and waist pouch, Kunal suggested to take the Kapashera Border route instead of National Highway. Any other day the mind would have clicked just on hearing Kapashera Border but that moment was just not ours. Got stuck in a massive damn jam. Finally reached aunty's home, collected the utils, did some shopping, had a decent dinner and left to pick up Aparna and her brother a.k.a. Raghav. After a small search/find exercise, we found these two looking for us on the streets.
So everyone was there. The luggage was placed in the boot, damaging the left speaker wire in the process. Kunal in the pilot's seat and me as the co-pilot. And in 15 minutes, we left for the place of the Gods.

The drive was a pleasant one, Raghav gave all the route directions, roads after roads, reached Delhi Border and then the highway to heaven. the journey had begun.

Saturday 16'th Apr, 00:00:00, Somewhere in U.P.
Tried to get some air for the car tires but simply failed. So continued what we had...stopped on a dhabba to straighten our backs. My one quote was challenged and tossed around in the entire journey. I commited a sin by asking my fellow wanderers if they need a break (infact brake, as i realised it later) as they were sitting in the same location for more than 2 hours. The penalty...they kept asking me every then if i need a steering or a clutch or an accelerator throughout the journey. Couldn't get rid of all car parts until i reached home. It was a great time travelling. Had discussions on varied topics...physics, trucks, their families the names of their children and wive(s) etc. The weather was pleasant and the wind was chill. There was pitch darkness on the two sides of the road. We were moving @ an average speed of 80 kmph. There were a few thrills with some of my breathtaking turns and maverick driving, so recieved some deadly stares and safety fundas from the other passengers. Agreeing to almost every voice in the car, we zipped ahead.

Crossed the beautiful and well planned Roorkee Cantonment city. Last time i visited this place, it was raining like bulls and elephants. Never witnessed such a downpour in my life. This time it was very calm and serene. Aparna and Raghav were almost sleeping with nodding sometimes to mine and Kunal;s comments and talks. Kunal was feeding me with wafers, cookies and soft-drinks every 15 minutes to calm my starving self and also ensured i do not sleep while i'm on the steering.

Then came some adventure n xCitement. I made a general comment that we'll touch Haridwar in 20 mins. It was still around 40 Kms. from our location. Suddenly my statement turned into a bet. Me versus Kunal. Aparna was the time keeper. And Raghav, i'm sure by this time was humming Hallelujah's and praying hard for safety of everyone. I raced, the car, speedometer touched 110 KMpH, still kunal was sure about his victory and i was about mine. But the luck wasn't on my side. After a fine strech which lasted around 5 minutes, there were trucks and more trucks on the road. The road also had no mercy on me. And to top everything, there was a security barricade in front of me. I lost by 5 minutes. I now owe "something" to Kunal.

So, we reached Haridwar. Time around 03:45 A.M. The weather was just getting better and better. We could also hear the river Ganges flowing nearby. We stopped the car just after reaching Haridwar and decided to take a "break" for sometime. I was sitting on the road, Kunal almost disappeared to answer nature's call, Aparna and Raghav preferred to sit in the car.

Here comes a dilemma. Where to go next? 'coz it would be so early to reach our base camp. And too late to check-in the hotel in haridwar which was booked for us! I suggestedan option to unwind ourselves near the bank of river Ganges. Kunal had a better idea to drive to the base camp and relax our bodies before the real thing begins. But Aparna gave a superb idea to go to an area called "Triveni". It was a small bank of the river with mountains all around it and white sand on the shore. We all agreed unanimously. we drove to the place, it was beautiful. Although there were people there taking holy dips and doing some religious stuff, we found the place amazing. The water was chilly and the flow was quite rapid. It was difficult to stand in there even for two minutes. We laid a bed sheet there and lied down. Kunal slept for whatever time he had, while Raghav and I appreciated the flute play by Aparna. Me and Raghav talked about the mountains around and the sunrise time and Aparna was practicing meditation. We were there as the first light of the day was about to unveil itself. And when this happenned, we left for our base camp with a zeal in the eyes and envisaging the things to come. We were headed towards some supernal experience.