Prelude:I came back from Australia (on Jan) after my pilot training. Within few days i had been informed that i need to rush to delhi to take up exams in order to convert my Aussi license to indian. the day i reached delhi (Feb end), my journey through cultural diversity had begun....
Exams in Delhi: (mar/apr 2006)
I had my exams in delhi on the 27th and 28th April for whcih i had been preparing for 25 days staying in delhi..was amixed feeling abt delhi though it still comes second to bombay for me. but cant complain considering i made some good pilot friends and though started my coaching 2 months late quickly made it to the top3 in the class.which actually made me overconfident that i dint study the last 2 days before the exam, but go out to the bazzars of delhi eating local food (loads of Mishti dohi and chaats). the exam as such started off gr8 with a victory dance we did for the tamil song " appadi podu"!1 the songbecame famous after v played it to some of the bombay and banglore boys..for which they named it the "tamil party song"!!killed the exams, but was very funny to see the indian way of copying in the exams by students after 5 yrs!! :)!!(last seen in my 12th exam, my indulgence with it had faded by 9th std...beyond dat, uderstood easier to study than actually use other means!! (and by then my intrest in aviation and worldly sunbjects started and intrest in basic subjects degraded:P!!
Delhi --> Rishikesh:was an absolute cracker!!it was an unplanned one..jus the morning after exams me and my mate i met in delhi planned it. took the delhi state transport bus which was a adventure by itself..truly holy bus, considering its as old as india and still runs!! esp. my friend is a banglorean return from US after 10 yrs and everytime a traffic passed us, no diff. than seeing an horror movie.both were freaking out with the driving style on the highways here..we got an beautiful accommodation on the banks of gangus near laxman jula bridge. very neat ashram and peaceful. The next day was a big one.morning 10a.m we started off the rafting trip and felt special to know that only me and my friend dint know swimming and were the only first timers amng the 12ppl in the raft.(though life Jacket and helmet is mandotary for all)!!we all took our postions and i was to sit in last.started paddling..still water was all good.. then expirenced the first rapid..felt good when raft jumped abt 10ft of the water...then again still water which outta instinct made me to dive into the ganges..first held the ropes of the raft..then let it go when i felt confident with the life jacket...the journey went on smooth with four of us paddling and the 2 gujju girls in front of me using the ores more of a dandiya stick rather than paddling...finally they gave me the turn to sit in the front of the raft and i was thrilled not knowing we were nearing the most forceful rapid of the trip..as we approached dint look all that rough until we were in it..not seconds before the whole raft took off 20ft abve water 85-90degrees vertical and capsized...i was thrown abt 25ft above and last i cld see was blue sky and a grl over me..as soon as the raft set back the Nepalese sherpa instrcutor picked up the 2 girls first..and 3 other guys..while me and another guy were stuck in middle of the rapid for 5 mins as we cld see the raft row away faster in the downstream...first i panicked for few secs before i calmed down and practiced my survival lessons..kept still and jus went along the down stream and finally held on to a rock that came my way..climbed up the rock..took my t-shirt off and shouted..more of a castaway types..finally got into another raft that came after us....had a gr8 lunch after that ..a buffet in the beaches of ganges..after which was a peaceful trip back to our ashram...got a lift from a guy i met in raft back to delhi in his car..my friend thgt it wldbe the best , free and AC car and we cld jus sleep..but he was defnelty wrong,,the driver we went with hasnt even driven long once..suffered from night blindness....withn first 20 mins into the ride..missed 3 dividers and to top it all we saw in our prezence 3 head on accidents..raised abt every hair in our body, cld see my life in front of me.. and what was a 4 hr trip back home..we made the driver to crusie at 40kmphand reach delhi in 9hrs!!1 the car trip was more dangerous than Formula 1 car racing.,..in F1 the life of the drive depends on him..here my life depends on the driver!!
.but finally came back to delhi...AND continued with my expedition of exploring as much local food, heritage sites and activities arnd delhi:)!!..
well as i always believe in unplanned things r far better than planning anything!!!
CHEERS!
Hawk
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