The ferocious October heat of Mumbai wants me to go back to
Kolad and jump in the Kundalika river as to be Alive is Awesome Bathing
experience.
River rafting is a round the year activity in Kolad and is
just a couple of hours away from Mumbai. At specific times the water is
released from the Bhira dam and the flow of the water is to be seen to be
believed.
You can book a river rafting ride with any of the many
adventure outfits that operate out there. Once done, you will be picked up at
the appointed time and taken to the point from where your rafting begins. A briefing
is given on the dos and don’ts while river rafting. All are given an oar and
told how to use it.
Having woken up late, had not taken a bath that morning and
all the way to the rafting launch point I was reminded of it. The instructor
however told all my tormentors that I had done the right thing as he would show
us what an Alive is Awesome Bathing experience!
Hahaha, I sure was happy to hear that as that shut the
mouths of all the smart alecks who had their boring baths in the Hotel showers.
I mean, come on standing under the shower daily can get to be so repetitive and
boring. Especially when you are on the verge of going river rafting, a jump
into the river would be so much more invigorating and refreshing. It would
actually bring you alive! The weather was hot and humid and we were sweating
just standing there listening to the instructions. I was just waiting for the
action to begin.
By the time the instructions were over we could hear a siren
that went off signalling the opening of the
floodgates! It was the birds that
led the charge of the water brigade! And soon the water came gushing and had
our adrenaline rushing. I rushed to the edge to check the temperature of the
flowing water and phew... it was cold!
Now I looked forward to the refreshing experience of bathing
in the chilly Kundalika river!
We were alloted places in the raft and we boarded
accordingly and off we went with the fast and furious Kundalika river! Soon we
saw other rafts joining in the fun and games. I was eagerly waiting to jump
into the river for my bath but had to wait for the instructor’s signal to do
so. We all had the mandatory life jackets; hence there were no worries of
drowning.
The raft was sailing smooth in the fast flowing water and
suddenly there came a dip and whoosh... the raft dipped and came up again with
the wave. We had a couple of more dips and then the raft steadied and then the
moment I was waiting for arrived! The instructor shouted Jump! And i jumped,
oar and all. Brrrrrr..... was the water chilly..
I threw the oar back into the raft and swam, floated around
for a while, dipped my head under the cold river water and man was it
refreshing! Wow!
‘Come on up, come on up’ shouted the instructor and had to
get back into the raft.
It was surely the most refreshingly awesome bath i ever had.
As the Cinthol ad says it was ‘Alive is Awesome Bathing experience’!
You can watch the awesome bathing experience on video too!
