Challenging the river!
Well, after a thorough research, I came to know that Tons river at the border of Uttaranchal- Himachal region offer best white water rafting. So, I along with my guide headed towards our destination. But on our way we got huge Chakka Jam, (another word for Jam in India), at Hardiwar region. After hours of waiting in the long queue, the Jam broke and we progressed towards our ultimate goal.
But to be frank the discomfort that I faced mattered little in the greatness of the vistas around me, the hill tops green and serene, the shifting clouds playing peek-a-boo. Technically the Tons is graded as grade 4 river.

I enrolled myself in the Camp, that was majorly occupied by Americans. So, I didn't had any problem in adjusting with them. The Manager, Alok, guided us and gave us instruction about the activities and the rules in the camp. As the manager introduced me to the other crew members, I glanced at the camp that had cluster of tents flapping mercilessly in the wind.

The manager over there told me that there are two kinds of rafting-Paddling raft and rig raft also known as oar powered raft. Tons being the rocky river we used rig raft. In rig raft the guide sits in the middle and rows it down the river. A paddle raft is all about team work. Here everybody has to paddle and the guide only changes the directions.

Antics with White Water!!
Finally the time arrived when I had to actually try my antics with boat, paddles and water. As I boarded the raft, fastened the imaginary seat belts and awaited our tryst with the very rapid water. A sudden splash of cold water lefts me a little shocked. But then as I crossed each hurdle, the fear within me disappeared and I actually started enjoying the process of fighting the water.

We soon hauled our boat and exchanged pleasentaries of successfully completing our trip. The guide of our rafting team told me that a good rafter is the one who falls in water as many time as he could. "Wow! I am a veteran" I thought. As I almost fell down every time the raft used to bump up :-)

Soon we reached our camp and ate good Indian food that was quiet spicy...and danced along the bonfire and waited for another adventure story to start.