Fighting the odds.....

A long bus ride along the winding Western Ghats lined with coffee plantations brought us to Coorg, a small town known for its home stays that are willing to let you enjoy the plantation life under the clear and carefree skies and raw wilderness. A place which is surrounded by forests and gurgling streams, where people light bonfires at night and watch the fireflies light up the horizons, where many an evening is spent playing their favorite game – football and where entertainment still means a trek in the wild or a day spent at fishing, where mobile signals are hard to get, thus, giving us every opportunity to escape from the humdrum of city life.

 We arrived at the estate owned by a middle aged gentleman and his family – it was so large that by the time he had finished telling us of the area that belonged to him we were wondering how he managed all of it. But Coorgis are a nice lot and the people are honest and he had been around this place for a while, so it had been easy for him.

After the initial conversations and welcome drinks, we were asked to carry our bags down a slope till we approached a tiny flat clean space filled with colorful tents much like in the movies; we were excited. A bunch of sixty people, all of us were really looking forward to the next two days of fun at this corporate outdoor activity. We soon settled down in the tents excited at the thought of spending the evening in this wilderness. This was going to be very different from our regular corporate schedule.

By late evening it was dark and all we had was torches to guide us, that’s when the organizers asked us to line up for a nature walk – ‘A nature walk in the dark, you must be kidding?’ we thought. But no, they were serious and soon we were heading into the jungle. We were asked to be very quiet so that we could ‘enjoy’ the sounds emanating in the night. ‘Enjoy?’, it felt like a horror story and they kept hissing instructions ‘please be careful if you feel something cold touching your feet, it could be a snake and try to stay on the track, if you move off track, you might be attacked by leeches.’ We froze, and held each other’s hands and we moved forward, chanting ‘Om Namo Shivay’ at least I did, though a few brave souls did declare that they were ‘cool’ with this.

 It was a good half an hour before we were back at the camp only to be welcomed by the warmth of a bonfire. We forgot all about the scary walk and enjoyed the rest of the evening singing songs and sharing stories. This was fun; it was a clear sky with thousands of stars twinkling down on us and a mild breeze refreshing our tired faces and the sound of the tiny stream flowing down the other end in the background. We wound up early as we had a long trek planned for the next day. I came back to the tent really happy. Couldn't have ever done something like this on my own, but thanks to this trip I knew I was going to cherish this forever.

The next morning after a quick breakfast, we lined up for our trek. We knew this couldn't be difficult as we had done treks earlier too, but they weren't letting us away with it so easily, so the deal was that we would be trekking up to the first hill top and from there to the next and our return would be by rappelling down the second one. ‘Rappelling and me?’ What with my heavy weight and never exercised body, I could never make it and if I failed, I would be the subject of many a gossip sessions in office. I tried to chicken out, but it was too late, we were already half way up the first hill and since this was not a regularly used track, the trail left behind was very faint so there was every chance of getting lost if I tried to return alone. I really had no choice but to move uphill, sometimes on my own and sometimes by being pushed up by my colleagues who were very helpful. Another thing that kept me going was the fear of being left behind in this wilderness, so I had to match my pace with everyone else’s.

Trek went on well and now was the big one – rappelling....we were given ‘time off’ before we started, when our guides were informed by the locals that they had seen a snake at the rappelling site. ‘Thank God!’ I thought, glad that it was going to be cancelled after all. My prayers weren't heard at all and the snake was soon removed so that we could complete our task. As I approached the site, I was almost shuddering in fear, how would I do this? ‘What if the rope snapped?’ ‘What if I just fell flat?’ ‘What if the gear didn't fit me?’ Soon the person before me went down and next was my turn......

Step one – put on the gear...the gear fitted me perfectly.... ‘Thank God’ and now I was holding the ropes with the rest of the office staring at me. I guess even they had the same fears like mine – ‘Will she make it?’ The lady guiding us at the bottom of the site kept asking me to look down so that I could have an estimate of where to go. One look at the bottom and I knew I had to move fast and get over with it as soon as possible. The longer I kept myself hanging there, the longer would the fear overtake me. So there I was moving downhill, not quite like a professional, but successfully nevertheless. This was the end of my first attempt at rappelling and once I had touched base, I could hear my colleagues clapping and congratulating me. ‘Yep, I had done it, with my fears, my heavy weight, my thousand excuses, I had still done it.’

Today, when I look back and think of this episode, I feel quite proud at this feat and secretly give myself a pat my back. Had I actually chickened out as per my plan, I would not be writing this today and imagine I would have gone back to office after a two day trip with no adventure and learning.

I don’t know if I would ever volunteer to do anything like this again, but if a situation arises, I know I am better equipped to face it.......  Thanks to my team and yes my willingness to ‘give it a try’.