Relishing The challenge- Fly like a bird

If you were to ask me- What is that one thing which when done you would say "ah that was what relishing the challenge was all about"?, I wouldn't bat an eyelid before answering. For as long as I can remember, there has been just one wish in my mind. One daredevil act that I want to do before I bid adieu to this beautiful world. One that I have seen being done a million trillion times by others, on TV, in movies and reality shows. 

I want to go to New Zealand. No, that is not the challenge. I want to go to New Zealand and do Bungee jumping. Yes. 

Sounds crazy? Hell no! I have no idea when this desire crept into my soul, but it has been slowly eating its way within me and is now ready to come out bursting like a volcano. Incidentally I have a dear friend in New Zealand who has done this act once, a few years ago. I recall having a conversation with her about how i long to visit her country for this very purpose. She keeps pulling my leg saying "you don't want to come here to spend time with me, you only want to come here so you can complete your wish?"

Image courtesy- google.

Will it happen? I don't know

When will it happen? I got no idea

Why no skydiving? I might do that as well 

Aren't you afraid of heights? Nope

Why do I want to do this? I cant really put a finger on it, but probably just to feel the rush and do it in a place where it is most famous.

What if I die during the act? Well, so be it.. at least I gave it a shot :)

No matter what anybody says or does, this is a wish that will always linger on in my mind. It holds the Numero Uno spot in my Bucket list [yes, I do have one] and shall be ticked off before I complete the journey called Life!!

Wish me luck!! oh and if you want to send me flight tickets, or contribute to the "aarti wants to go bungee jumping fund, please do" :D 

Relishing the Challenge- Chugging along the coast

It was around this time 5yrs ago when my friend called asking if I would like to go to Goa? I was excited and replied "ofcourse". She then went on tell me about her dad's timeshare in Sterling and promised to get back to me with dates. After a few emails, the dates were finalised- 30th Oct to 5th Nov. She then forwarded the email her dad received from the resort with the confirmation details. I was eagerly looking forward to the holiday and had informed another friend of mine about the same. She chimed in saying she would like to come with me. Since her contract at work was coming to an end around the last week of Oct, she was all set. It was around 4th or 8th Oct when I began looking for flight tickets, found them expensive, went on to look for train tickets and nearly booked them when she dropped a mini bomb. Her contract was being extended and she couldnt take time off. 

Yikes, what do I do? Do I go alone or cancel the reservations and think about it at a later date? These were the questions running in my head. I spoke to my friend who was gifting me the holiday and came to a conclusion. I was going to go ahead, albeit alone! I dint know if this was going to be Relishing the Challenge or dreading the same. But all I knew was I was back to being excited. I packed my bags, including the laptop [yes, I carried a bit of work with me], camera and just about everything else I would need. 

Want to know the highlight of the trip? The train journey. I had booked myself on the only direct train to Goa. The train leaves Chennai every friday around 2pm and reaches Goa the subsequent day 1.30pm. Yes, you read it right. 23hour journey. And I was booked in a sleeper class compartment [meaning non AC].. People around me looked at me as if I had lost my mind. 

"You are going to Goa alone?"

"You are going to be on the freaking train for nearly a day, and that too alone?"

"What? non ac , that too nearly 24hrs- you are mad"

"How will you manage in Goa alone? 

"Cancel the trip and go later"

These were some of the not so positive comments I received. And there was this one friend who called asking what I was upto. I did not tell her about my trip till nearing its end. I knew she would give me a earful for going alone. No, she is not the "women should not travel alone" kind of person. She worries about me and smothers me with love, so would be freaking out had I told her ahead of time... 

And so there I was, in the train, in a near empty compartment. There was a lone guy besides me, he was sleeping in one of the berths in the next booth and looked like a vagabond/drunk/tramp.. I was a wee bit scared, especially since I had quite a bit of luggage with me and there was no way I could even go to the loo without worrying about my stuff. 

Luckily, another couple boarded the train just as it was about to pull out of Chennai station and it was good to see other faces. The tramp guy was chased out by the TTC. 

What a train journey that was. I enjoyed every minute of it and now when I look back, I wonder what I did to kill those 23hrs.. I must have listened to music for a while, read a book, slept, walked up and down, observed the people around in the platforms and stared at the watch to see how much longer was left before the train came to a halt at Margao. I do remember sitting on the steps near the door as we approached Dudhsagar falls and gaped in awe at the beauty. 

This was one memmorable journey that I shall remember for years to come. Who knows, I might even end up sharing this tale with my grandkids.. :D 

Relishing the Challenge- Race home

Invariably every week I manage to meet up with this gang of friends. We either meet for a cup of coffee or dinner or a movie. During one such meet I was whining about how I've been grounded for too long [2months] and was itching to get back on the road. A friend Nagarajan countered saying he had been grounded forever [since his accident a few months ago]. And that  is when we decided to share interesting incidents from our trips. Couple of us took a go at it, but Nags's story takes the cake. Here is what he went through... 

The background: Nags works for a leading IT company and was being sent to Canada on work. To complete the Visa processing, he had to go to Delhi. 

I was in Delhi, but was missing my home terribly since I had not been away much and was very close to my family members. I had booked train tickets for the subsequent not knowing how long the Visa processing formalities would take. But then, I was done within a few hours and instead of spending the rest of the day exploring Delhi, I decided to get back home. Alas, Chennai isnt a hop skip jump from Delhi. I wondered what would be the easiest quickest way. Flights were not an option, I had no intention of shelling out 10k to the airlines. Instead, I threw caution to the wind and got to the station and looked for an alternative. 

I managed to hitch a ride from Delhi to Bhopal thanks to a physically challenged person in the handicapped compartment. From Bhopal onwards, I shared seat with zillion others in the compartment reserved for army personnel. I sat the entire journey, with not a wink of sleep. And finally I had made it to Chennai. The entire journey was with an unreserved ticket but without getting into the unreserved compartment.. I consider this quite an achievement. Who would have thought ~ Talk about Relishing the Challenge of not having a ticket but just the drive to get home :-) 

My family was surprised to see me home earlier than what I had told them and when they heard the tale, they dint know if they should scream at me for being so reckless or be happy that I persisted and got home 

Relishing the Challenge- Braving the storm

During a recent movie meet with friends, we were talking about going on a road trip to Goa. Then came the discussion of when is a good time to hit Goa, post rains, before new years, etc etc. And before we knew it, each of us was sharing an interesting incident from our travels to various corners of the country. The most exciting was from Karan. An IT boy, he has been in Chennai for a while now and loves driving around on his bike, his pride & joy.  I share his experience here. 

I was in Kerala, at home for a few days. And true to Kerala, it kept drizzling constantly. It was Friday evening and I was bored of sitting at home.  I wanted to just up and go somewhere but none would come alone using the rains as an excuse. D'uh!! On saturday morning, I woke up, had chaiya [tea in malayalam], put on my jacket and just took off on my bike. As I hit the road, the drizzles began and pretty soon it was pouring cats and dogs. I had no clues where I was headed, but I dint want to stop, I dint want to come back to an empty house. There were quite a few mountains and green fields around, luckily I knew my way around this part of the country. I kept riding and the rains got heavier. 

Along with the downpour, mist started settling in to a near zero visibility. I paused for a moment, wondered if maybe I should not be so foolhardy and just return home. But then, some craziness kicked in and I just kept riding it out.  The 1st break I took was an hour later. I was drenched to the bone, but there was such a big grin on my face. Feeling the wind and rain on my face, I experience excitement like never before. I stopped at a road side tea shop for a cup of tea and something hot to eat. There were a couple of elderly men sitting there sipping chaiya, who looked at me like I had lost my mind. One man asked me if I was from out of town and another commented "youngsters these days, no care for life, look at him". I was tempted to ask them what was the most crazy thing they had ever done. But then decided against it. Paid for what I had and got back on the road, this time heading back home. The two hours was exhilarating, giving me a sense of "freedom". 

No sooner had I parked the bike, mom came scolding me for going out in the rain. My mind was already cooking up plans for a longer drive, maybe to Kochi or Nagercoil the next weekend. Talk about Relishing the Challenge and living life to the full.... 

Relishing the Challenge- Up the Mahasu Peak

I was in my 1^st yr of college, infact it had been about 3months since college began when we came to know there was a trip being planned to the Northern part of India. I was all kicked about it and my parents had also given their consent. It was to be a 12day trip covering Delhi, Shimla, Kulu, Manali and around.  I barely knew my classmates leave alone our seniors, but that dint faze me.

We were given a rough itinerary and told to bring warm clothes as some of the places we were going to visit would be cold or damp. It was the month of October, so most of these regions were just getting over the monsoons. We landed in Delhi and hopped into a bus heading to Shimla. After settling into our rooms, we were told that the 1^st site to visit would be Kufri. It was like the Dodabetta of Ooty, it offers a 360 degree view of the valley below. Kufri was once a part of the Kingdom of Nepal until the British took over the area as part of the Sugauli Treaty. Infact, legend has it that the region remained quite obscure till the British 'discovered' it in 1819. Since then, it has been welcoming tourists from various parts of the world.

Our teachers had consulted with the locals and suggested we make it to the Mahasu Peak before sunset to get this panoramic view. We walked along the winding roads till we reached a path that led up the hill. There were no proper roads, only stones and rubble with cedar trees on either side. As we made our way up the path, through the forests, we spotted quite a few tourist on horses, some going up while others were making their way downward. 

Mahasu Peak is infact the highest peak in Kufri. Took us quite a while, somewhere along the way a few of us thought we would not be able to go further, maybe we should just sit there and wait for others to return, but braving the rough terrain, we trudged on. Now, this was a moment where I truly did end up Relishing theChallenge. We finally emerged atop the mountain and it was beautiful. The flat terrain had a few hawkers; some selling fruit chat while others sold chai and soft drinks. We quenched our thirst, tried some fruit chaat and spent some time resting our tired feet. We also noticed a small spot that was the hub for adventure sports. Apparently, when it snows, the peak transforms into a skiing arena.

Relishing the challenge- (mis)Adventure

There I was, in 6th Standard when our class teacher announced we were going to do something different the next day. It was Saturday, we normally had school -full day. We wondered what it could be, but had no clues what was in store for us.

The next morning, as always we got to school, the only difference being all of us were in colour dress [no uniforms, a Saturday norm]. By 10 am, our teacher announced we were all to assemble outside the main gate. Curious, anxious and nervous,we all stood in a line waiting for some instruction or guidance. Within a few minutes, there she was, asking us to follow her down the road. And then she announced that we were going on a small trek. Now, this was a small locality Thazhayuthu in the town of Tirunelveli. We had not gone on any treks leave alone heard of the word.  

Those of us who had a cycle rode on, and others walked along with the teachers. We must have walked for nearly a kilometer when the teacher brought us to a halt and pointed to a row of hills ahead. "That is where we are headed" she announced. 

*Gulp* I had no clues what was awaiting us up ahead but had a bad feeling at the pit of my stomach. I can walk, but have never climbed anything that did not have steps on it. And I was on the big built side, so thoughts of me slipping sliding or falling down kept crashing into my head. My friends reassured me and what do you know, I actually made it to the top without any mishaps. And what a view we had of the town below. Too bad we did not have cameras back then. The teacher had one and this is a picture from her camera. 

I was the cautious one, who stood back while others went ahead wandering around exploring the hill top. And in an hour we were all set to descent. This is when I met my fate. A bunch of spotted a smooth rock and thought it would be easier to slide down and reach the bottom faster. In spite of our teacher's warning, we went ahead and began to descent down that path. I don't know how much time passed, but I woke up on the ground with the teachers looking down at me with a worried look on their face. I spotted the hill on my left but had no memory of how I made it down here. Apparently, I had slipped and came tumbling down all the way. I could barely stand, leave along walk; I was woozy and could feel blood trickling down my face.

Our vice principal came over in an ambulance and I was hauled away to the nearby hospital. Had quite a few cuts, bruises and gashes. But luckily, no broken bones or major damages. I was in and out of consciousness for a day or so and then was sent home to recuperate.I recall mom & dad telling me how I nearly visited death and was brought back to life. Even today, they talk about the incident with fear in their eyes. Took me about 10 days and I was limping back to school.

I recall the day I returned to school, our Principal was just entering and she saw me coming down the road. She enquired about my health and told me "this is a lesson for you, now you are ready to face your next challenge"

Now, this is one aspect of my life where I did end up Relishing the Challenge. I have since then been on quite a few treks, I do get scared, I freeze at times, but I have managed to complete the course...