Living on the Edge! :)

One of the very few things I did this summer was White Water Rafting. A lot of fun it is, I'd heard. The outing was duly planned and reservations were made at the White Salmon River close to Portland, and two brave cars spanned the distance worth 4 hours to the place. It was good fun, with a mix of level 4 but mainly level 3 rapids. And a very small patch of 5+ as well. It was great fun, surely. But then fun is just not enough for the likes of yours truly. The kinds who like it 'thrilling' and who are always creating ripples (quite literally) and memories!
So there was this patch of 5+ rapids, a 4 feet high water fall from which we were to descend. Our guide Brady showed us how to respond to a few commands and even made us practise before we went on to the real thing. He shouted commands and we (read Tulsi, Abhijat, Atul, Sumithra, Gautam and Jalpa) ably demonstrated our ability to respond to them... Row forward, Paddle right... xyz! So we were ready to literally take the plunge! We were looking forward to the excitement and were aptly rewarded. What a leap it was through the water. We were ACTUALLY completely immersed in the water for 1..2...3....4...5 secs... an eternity... OH MY GOD. It was Astounding!!!! The breaths were knocked out of our lungs, the cold water was all inside the body suits, we were gasping and laughing. And exclaming. Wooow! It was some experience. The raft came outta the water and we were back on slightly stable ground...er water... and excitedly exchanging how it felt... and who was watching the next rapid that came along? Obviously, no one. And who was sitting on the wrong side of the raft, and not careful enough? Obviously, I. Next split second, I was off. Out of the raft and into the water. And it wasnt a bit like diving. After you dive, you stop. You dont go swiftly zooming far far away. I was trying hard to remember the instructions that the head guide had given for 'emergency situations'. Dont struggle, dont panic. Dont try hard to swim. Well, I wasnt in panic. But when u are flowing away with no control over your body, the mind does tend to wander a bit. A bit far actually! And I know to swim, but I didnt know how to not let the water go into my nose and mouth when my head was constantly bobbing up and down. And then as I was whizzing further away, I caught a glimpse of Sumi's face in the raft... white with terror. Gulp... am I a goner or what? I could hear some shouting, but my entire effort was concentrated on somehow trying to stop my motion away from the raft. Stay put against a large rock or something. Wham! Not so easy! And then... wow... the biggest thing happened. Before I knew it, I was under the water and there was something hard over my head... and it took a split second to realise that it was the raft!! I was under it! I was alternating between guessing whether this was a ploy to stop me from moving further, or an accident, or whether they had just given up. :( I learnt later that it wasnt meant to go over my head, and no, they werent trying to kill me and erase all evidence of the incident. :) I could hear my best friend's voice above and realised from it's tone that I was safe. :) I actually smiled a wan smile at him at he pulled me up. He laughed and said, "You poor thing!" and all was well again! :) And BTW, I forgot to curse the stupid hat that had covered my face - my eyes and my nose and almost had me drowned! And BTW, just in case someone wonders, this lasted just about a minute, and no, I didnt see my whole life pass in front of my eyes :) Guess I was sure I wasnt dying! :)
It was fun, and it's been even more fun to recount the incident to all others with more vigour each time! :)