River rafting in Kundalika river - part 1

"Thanks to the mega NH-4 highway, one can travel from Mumbai to Banglore without seeing anything !"

Every time I hit this road, such thoughts come to my mind. Thankfully, today we had nothing to do with this road. A brief encounter at Chandani Chowk and that's all.

We were on a different track. On the Mulshi Road.

Mulshi road is amazing. It takes you to ghat sections, water bodies, forts, hills, valleys and last but not the least, the hill stations for the rich (Lavasa and Amby Valley). Yes, one can go to Amby Valley from Mulshi Road by taking the Ghusalkhamb road. But being rich is not enough on this 'Ghusalkhamb' road. You need to be adventurous. Even with your SUV's. But that's a separate thread. Coming back ..

Mulshi road is a fantastic road for photographers, bikers, trekkers, investors and prospective civil engineers ("How not to build roads for Dummies"). I have been all of them, one at a time, excluding a prospective civil engineer. Today I was in a different role. The role of an adventurous guy. White water rafting is an adventure in itself, the bigger one is to take your spouse & her relatives, especially when they dont know what white water rafting is. Brave guy (I mean yours truly) !

Kundalika river offers a unique white water rafting experience for rich enthusiastic people. Its the only place in India to support river rafting 365 days a year. And that's because of the hydro power generation plant by Tata Power that pushes lots of water every day in the Kundalika river at around 8:30 AM. The water is discharged only for two hours and that's the time to do water rafting in the fast moving river. Which means one should reach the starting point before 8:30 AM.

It is almost impossible to convince IT folks to get up early & start moving at 5 on a Saturday morning. But Smita (wife), Ashwini (Smita's sister) and Ganesh (Ashwini's husband) know enough about my planning & were eager to follow the instructions. After all, the day was going to bring up some surprise for all three of them.

At 5 AM we were in my car. Chandani chowk at 5:15, Pirangut at 5:30, Paud at 5:45, Male at 6:00, Nive at 6:40, we were doing pretty good on the time front. Time for the breakfast in the Tamhini Ghat at 7:15. A seasoned trekker can spot Kailasgad, Raigad, Telbail and Ghangad on this way. We reached the main office of the rafting agency at around 7:45 & parked the vehicle.

The starting and end point of the river rafting session are different & are typically 10-15 km away from each other. I mean its not like boating where you board the boat at some point and the boatman takes your for a ride :-) and drops you back to the starting point. River rafting is different in many ways including this one. It starts at higher elevation, uses the natural (and fast moving) flow of water and takes you downstream. This poses a commute problem. There are two solutions for this at Kundalika.

One is to get a chauffer driven car. The other is to park you car at the office (which is yet another place @Sutarwadi), get a 6 seater (taxi, AKA Tumtum). The 6 seater will drop you at the rafting start point and will pick you up later (in time and space, both) at the end point. They charge a fixed rate per 6 seater (Rs.700).

River rafting was adventure for us & business for locals. And the meeting point was money, I mean Sutarwadi :-). The moment I parked the car, a 6 seater suddenly arrived from nowhere. I confirmed our booking at the prevailing rate. I was told to show the rafting booking challan in the office. (BTW, you need to pre-book your rafting ride through internet). The rafting folks were preparing their rafts for the session. A quick exchange between the 6 seater driver and the rafting agent was overheard.

"Kitne aadmi hai" (how may people have booked the ride for today), the driver. "Sirf 22" (Only 22), the agent. "Pawasalyat khari gardi honar" (monsoon is the peak time), both at the same time :-). Suddenly they realized that I was party to their discussion. Without sounding offending, they suggested me to have tea. Thats when I realized that the three co-passengers had opted for a quick walk around the small village. While they all liked to see 'village life', having a tea at the local tea shop was not their cup of tea. I went to the chai shop and got a special cup at Rs.12. Business is flourishing in Sutarwadi :-)

It was time to board the Tumtum. The journey started. The road was scenic, going up and down. A quick 30 minute drive took us to the starting point.

To be frank, the scene was disappointing. There wasn't much water in the river. Reminded me of mutha river :-( Believe me, it was that bad.

Within few minutes the 3 rafts arrived. The rafting guides and the agent were looking comfortable. They told that within few minutes the gates will be open and the Bhira dam will push gallons of water in the river. At that time an alarm was heard, which was apparently the indication that the water will be released in 15 minutes. 

In few minutes 3 other groups arrived. With each raft carrying max 8 people, accommodating the 4 groups without disturbing the groups was a (routine) challenge for the Lead guide. He decided to take 4 of us + a mother & daughter pair + 2 members from another group in his raft. Each one of us was supposed to carry helmet, life jacket and a pedal. That's when most of the folks realized that its not just a ride, but "do it yourself" sport ! That was the moment of truth for some of them.

While we did a round of introduction with the fellow passengers, I realized that the mother-daughter pair was supported (from outside) by father-son pair. It was really amazing to see the father (middle age) and the son (youngster) were not participating in the adventure while the mother & daughter were into it ! 

'Living young & living free' has nothing to do with age or gender or for that matter anything. Its an attitude. Gifted to me by my Guru.

At around 8:45, another alarm was heard. The gates of the Bhira dam were opened and within 15 minutes the dry river was converted into a flooded river. The guides took the rafts to the flooded river and we started our journey. We were total 9 people on the raft. 8 passengers and 1 lead guide. The first 15 minutes were spent on hands-on training.

Within 15 minutes the guide made all of us comfortable about how to paddle, instructions to follow, safety measures etc. BTW, the instruction were simple, clear & countable on fingers. FORWARD, BACKWARD, DO NOTHING, JUMP INSIDE THE RAFT, that's all.

'Living young & living free' is all about simplicity, clarity & keeping things minimum.

And then we were into the wild kundalika river ... the fun began.

Within few minutes we encountered our first rapid, 'Good Morning'.

The guide was extremely capable person. He gave us instructions, made us feel that we were driving the raft in the right direction, ensured that all of us got a chance to face the white water waves on our faces, and made if appear as an extremely simple and exciting thing.

What followed next, for 180 minutes, was a life changing experience. The river was flowing through a dense forest and hillocks on both sides. Rafting through the flooded waters was an unparalleled experience.  There were grade 1, 2 & 3 rapids on the way. After couple of rapids we came across a patch with deep waters. The guide asked us to jump into the river to get a comfort feeling about the life saving jacket. I was waiting for this opportunity (I am told that cancer is a 'water' sign, what an easy to way to find my own sun sign. If you get it, laugh ! Else forget it, it's not worth figuring out).

Swimming / floating in the flowing river is always fun, especially when you are sure about the safety aspects.

It was time to float on the back, eyes closed. Anyone who has done this in a fast moving flooded river would know what that means. Going with the flow requires much more than 'knowledge'  (swimming in this case or for that matter the knowledge that the safety jacket is safe).

There is something more  ...

It requires a strong belief that the flow will take you through the path of least resistance. 

It requires a strong belief that the flow knows the destination, much better than you.

It requires a strong will to go with the flow rather than clinging to the known safe river bank.

Elemental forces & nature have always been my best friends, philosophers & guide. Winds, storms, rains, dense fog, rivers, forests, hills, valleys, they all have something to teach.

River is all about life & flow.

Go with the flow ... live free .. each breath is new ... and is reminding the existence of time. There was no raft, no guide, no fellow passengers, nothing. For a split millisecond (or second ? minute ? minutes ? .. who knows ? .. and who cares ?) there was nothing.

Life is all about flow. Once you are 'one-with-the-flow' nothing matters.

While clinging to the river bank was a bad idea, clinging to the raft was not so bad, after all I was in a fast moving river. After floating in the river for some time, I came back to the raft.

Flowing in the river is different than

clinging to the raft while you are in the flowing river , which is again different than

being in the raft which is moving in river, which is again different than

being on the river bank, which is again different than

being in a city like Pune.

Wow, one can exist at so many levels and can experience so many different things, all of them being unique. 

The next section of rapids was going to start in few minutes. Now the entire team was assured about the safety. The confidence level was high. And then we were into the main stretch of the rapids.

Still interested in what happened next... check the next blog (available at http://thefortsofsahyadri.blogspot.in/2014/08/river-rafting-in-kundalika-river-part-2.html) that covers the unforgettable experiences including a break on the isolated river bank, catching mangoes while rafting through the river, and some real philosophy that a river had to teach that day.

By the way, photography during river rafting requires a water proof camera. I don't have one :-(  So no real photos while rafting. There are few photos and videos that cover the river. 

Rafting distance & time	12 KM (1 hour in monsoon, 3 hours in other seasons)
Difficulty Level	Easy
Endurance Level	Easy in monsoon / medium in winter / high in summer (during summer you need to paddle a lot in the last section where the water is not moving so fast)
Adventure Level	High
Fun Level	Great (In monsoon it is Great++)
Ideal for	* Young people willing to experience nature. * Monsoon is an ideal time, but expect crowd during monsoon. * Summer is an ideal time for a great inner dialogue. * Its many times better than going to a water park. * This is a sport activity and not suitable for physically disabled people.

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