The long weekend of July 4th!!

                It was the end of the world. I was completely numb for that second. You get the feeling that it’s all over. I was trying to reach for something beneath my feet, but I couldn’t. My lower half of the body was desperately looking for something to rest upon, but was unsuccessful in doing so. My heart-beat was faster than a F1 circuit race car. Luckily, I wasn’t alone though. When I look back at it, even today, as I write this I get the chills. Phew, I got over it. I could calm down only as I got back on to the boat.

                Yes, I had life jacket on me, but the fact that I cannot swim, which is a shame, and as long as that fact resides in my mind, would I calm down if I lost balance from a tube and took a dip nowhere but in the middle of a lake? That’s not possible. Is it?

                Back in July, for the long weekend, I have been to Finger-Lakes which is upstate of New York, The Empire State. I was stressing for a nice comfy hotel room. But, my friend Indu would deny that idea after calling it a stupid one, and instead plans for a tent in the middle of what I thought was a forest. I mean, for the laziest of a person I am, who’d go to the extent of building a tent, cook food on a grill, sort of a barbeque and sleep in a tent. I was totally against it, I would want a royal sleep in the hotel tucked under layers of sheets. But, that visit to the finger lakes and those couple of days, changed my opinion. It was a different experience all together. The cooking in the darkness, the uneven floor in the woods, trying as hard as you can to stop mosquitoes from entering your tent. The weekend was actually a smooth ride, I was enjoying the scenic waterfalls, clicking pictures, gobbling the grilled half baked food. As I am a sport enthusiast, I was trying to catch up with Wimbledon and World cup as much as I can, even if it means to stream the games on iPad on Cellular network. So, it was a smooth sail until I was baffled by this incident.

                So, we happened to rent a boat, a six seater per se, although we were just over half of the total capacity. We were given a tube, not the one that looks like a donut(doughnut), but a fully stuffed one. The adventure part here is the boat pulls the tube as it is hooked off by a rope. This opens to a window, the faster you drive the boat, the more distorted the tube gets because of water waves creating a better chance for you to lose the balance and eventually take a dip into the lake. However, this doesn’t sound like a big deal at all to the people who can actually swim.

                After everyone finished their turn, I was the odd one left behind, as three other friends of mine can swim good. After a lot of push, I finally decided to get on it. As I was about to step on to the tube, it just occurred to me that I was going to be in WATER. I pulled back, just by the mere thought of it. But, I was being convinced that they wouldn’t drive the boat and I would just be floating still on the tube. However, I wanted to experience the waves and the water, although I was worried sick at the same time. Thanks to Raj, he was hanging of the tube just like that, where as, I was equipped with a life jacket, not one, but two. I got on the tube, gained the balance, easy-peasy. But, I was standing still, in fact we were standing still, just like that in Water, although the boat was moving. It took us more than 30 seconds to realize the rope got off, off the hook of the boat. I dint panic much, cause there I was hugging the tube comfy and Raj was with me too, ofcourse in the water. My two other friends, Indu and Varun circled back to come get the rope, and there I was moving along the water. The speed wasn’t that much initially and I enjoyed it, until, for some reason, I felt like I was tumbling forward. I don't know the reason, may be it was cause of the increase in the speed or may be Raj tried to move forward. I tried to stay still, but I couldn’t, eventually dropped myself into the water.

hugging the tube :-D

the rope got off the tube and we were stranded..

                Feelings rushed in my head. The very next second I was in water, I felt like my feet was slipping down, desperately searching for something to land on. Nope, I couldn’t get anything. I was immersed completely. Water filled up in my nose. Trying to get hold of the tube, Raj was in the water too, asking me not to worry. How can I not? He asked me to calm down, I held on to the tube. During this entire process, the fact that I dint realize for a while was, I was staying afloat cause of the life jacket. I was barely speaking. I gathered all my courage to speak “mere pair ke beech mein rassi hain” to Raj. The rope that was hanging off the boat, I somehow got my feet tangled to it, which I got out of, don’t remember how.  But, in my defense, that was my first time right? As I was struggling there in the lake, the ‘kamina’ friends of mine on the boat were clicking pictures of my panic struck face, instead of pulling the rope and get me on to the boat. Eventually, I caught breath, and in no time I got on to the boat. Hmmm. Well, am I ever going to forget that little adventure?

But, yes, as I to try re-collect every bit of it, still gives me jitters.

               As were heading back, I noticed a little kid. He was hardly as tall as my legs are, he already had a little life jacket on, his mother or some lady was on other side of the boat, he came up front, jumped into the water just like that in a snap of a finger, slid to the other side and the lady pulled him up. I said to myself, really? Its not that easy. Come on.

                Well, the fear is in my mind at least for water. I don’t fear heights. Dangerous of roller coasters, I don’t care. I have a plan to sky dive as well. I can do it. Water rides, I’m good. But, such things, nah. Not really!

                The whole experience of camping, travelling upstate NY, escaping the city traffic for a peaceful atmosphere, people coming out in their RV’s was all good. On the morning of 6th, which was a Sunday, I noticed every one pack their stuff up, heading home. So did we. And thus ended our long weekend with some more scenic waterfalls. We were finally back to our NYC! Nothing beats the city for me!

Life was all watery that weekend, yet picturesque and beautiful.

Stay tuned for more.

Eat Healthy. Keep Smiling. Just Breathe!

Vasu.