Rishikesh Outdoor Prog 14th April'09 to 20th April'09

Day Zero was a Tuesday; fateful of course ;) for we TCSers rushed from office to catch the train for Delhi

from Kolkata. It was a great start, spirits and expectations parallelly high.

Day One saw the patience exhibited with the temperatures soaring as high as 42 degrees; whilst some amongst us continued with playing card game, another some followed their dreams in form of naps, and an entire lot in another compartment ended up in playing our very desi antakshari besides of course one of the teams playing pathetically slow; as in a speed of one movie per hour; yes of course very synchronous with the speed of the train;)!.We reached Old Delhi; steadily enough, and boarded another train for Haridwar from Old Delhi, the heat still trying to deceive our energy levels!

Day Two was all our dreams coming true with us reaching Rishikesh and the captivating view of the encompassing hamlets and settlements on both sides of the river Ganges was all but at its heights. All of us had a quick dip in the holy Ganges at Harkipauri and were all packed in two sumos’; a bumpy ride through steeply cut zigzag roads, and cornered turns awaited us, as we headed towards Muni Ki Reti .Once there, we experienced the first steps towards the true beginning of our trip; for minutes later we were hiking down, all our tireness suddenly disappearing ,with every approaching step towards the camps that flanked the alluring river side in Mahavir Chatti .Say it the help of our cool and helpful guides that the rest of the day was an underlying treat for all of us; we were getting trained to float in the still waters with help of life jackets besides natural rock climbing , rappling ,star gazing and navigation ! Bonfire helped as nights were cold and at par with extremes of the day; surely, it was once in a lifetime experience of staying in tents.

Day Three dawned with rappling in air, followed by a short trek in the plush greenery to a natural waterfall which proved to be a great visual treat. Rafting and related terms like kayaking, flip and first aid formed the length and breadth of the discussions and activities that followed. Beach-volleyball in the white sands heightened the day’s activities while a night trek further served as an ending note to our eventful day.

Day Four was lively and we were eager to extend our training in rapids ,having water height of 100 feet. We ensued for a 26km rafting spree from Marine Drive to Ram Jhula .The rapids consisted of The Three Blind Mice, Roller Coaster, Golf Course to name a few and the sudden pranks played by our friendly guides all the more added to the charged ambience whilst making us all the more confident in floating, amidst the unstill waters; body surfing too followed along with cliff jumping from a cliff of 30feet.The activities of the last day halted, it was one of the most memorable days during our stay ; The day ended ,as we packed off our bags and retreated, to Rishikesh ,and then to Delhi.

Day Five was a reverie while on our return way, by train from Delhi to Kolkata

Day Six arrival at Kolkata was a prompt victory for all we TCSers who had actively participated in the Rishikesh Trip thus individually contributing to its grand -success.