After Thoughts of an incident

Went to the Cauvery Water Sanctuary a couple of weeks back... and had the experience of my lifetime
Saw my friend Rahul get sucked in a tremendous whirlpool of water .. and inside of the rocks of a mountain while we were enjoying a lovely afternoon bath at one of the tributaries of the Kaveri.. across a cascade of small large water falls.. falling from heights... forming pools... merging togther... and away..

The water seemed pretty placid.. just some occaisional turbulence... and now when I think of it... it looked calm on the surface.. but was almost like how you see boiling water.. churning water from down to up.. yet.. pretty calm on the surface...

The last thing that he told me was.. "The water seems deep... " Then I just saw him suddenly take a dip in... then at the next instant I saw his head at the farthest corner of that waterpool... and then again a dip.. and then Underneath the rocks and he surfaced at the bigger pool... exactly in the opposite direction of where he had been headed first... then then into the huge boulders.. as if he was some small insect who had been sucked in into a basin .. or a drain... right inside of the rocks of the mountain ...

I had no clue.. what had gulped him.. where had he disappeared.. just saw the river . with its swirling currents of the mini pool.. Negative thoughts came to my mind immediately.. and then concern about whether i would even be able to even see him again .. in whatever form fate had left him? was there a huge water body inside the mountain.. where was this water going?

I scaled the rock to see the other side.. and I saw the water merging with other smaller bigger streams... a 10 foot fall... and a bigger pool..
Was he there in that pool? No... This one was pretty scary, I could see rough edges all throughout the pool bed.. a fall could have ripped any man apart..

Then again ... i could see no exit.. but even here the water seemed to have an outflow.. from somewhere inside of the rocks... I hoped that I could get a better calmer pool ahead but the dreadful realization was.. if he hit any part of his body on the rocks.. with the speed of the torrents.. he would be sliced into shreds..

I was stunned.. I didnt know how to react.. I shouted at my other friends..Akhil and Kalpana.. to come along.. and ask for help (which was atleast 15 mintues away.. ) but they were equally in a shocked state.. in the melee Kalpana tried to move towards the direction of the boatmen / fishermen.. and her foot hit a sharp rock and split it open. with blood gushing out of her foot..

I somehow summed up courage to scale this higher bigger hill-of-sorts in front of me.. and see what was there at the other end... I scaled up around 60- 70 feet..

and looked the other side..

And then I saw him,

A Big pool.. with a half of the whole waterfall's water... coming from all directions... with waves.. showing the depth and volume of water that lay underneath... and a massive flow into the biggest waterfall of that area ... maybe a drop of a 100 odd feet.. ending up in a big lake.. from where we had started our climb to see these cascades.. the dinghymen were at the other side of the lake.. Even If we motioned at them from the cliff tops.. it will take them 15 minutes to cross the lake and then start scaling the cliffs and come to any rescue.. I was uncertain they would even attempt to help him..

But then i saw him going along with the flow... towards.. his doom... the biggest waterfall...i started shivering at the summit.. just looking at him downbelow at the pool.. flowing with the current.. just crying out hoarse.. his name..
being hysterical... I didnt know what to do.. I thought I would just see him fall.. and disappear.. I muttered what all prayers i knew..

But then it started to happen .. I sincerely feel it was something impossible...
He made deft moves... fought against the current... He fought for 5 minutes and reached a shore..

Believe me.. there was ONLY ONE possible foot hold.. a rock jut out in that 100 meter radius pond... and the rest were all sharp perpendicular cliffwalls.. and he managed to swim right next to it.. It was God's Grace.. Nothing else.. The whole water body didnt have even a single other hold... it was all huge mountain walls.. and water inflows...

he heard me ... infact for the first time now... telling him that the rock was just 4 hands to the left... and then he managed to grab it with his left hand.. and as soon as he did that.. he took a dip...

I couldnt see him anymore...
seconds went..
half a minute.. or maybe 20 seconds.. or so..

Then I saw him again... his head came up.. and he grabbed the rock with both hands...

I asked him
"Rahul , theek to hai?"
He nodded...
I shouted back..
"Can you hold on?"
He motioned that his head was spinning and then gestured.. 2 .. he spoke for the first time
"2 mintues"

I couldnt understand why two minutes... I thought that was it... I kept shouting to him.. to keep holding on.. to the rock... to grab more of it...
then with a final thurst.. he put half his body.. till his stomach... on the rock... and lay there motionless on his chest..

there was a moemtary sense of relief. I now knew he wouldnt be drowned... unless he had some spasms or sumthing.. . constant attempts to keep him at conversation.. were done.. sometimes i felt he had blacked out... anything internal could have happenned..
I realised the real threat...

Then from that cliff itself.. I started waving frantically to the fishermen.. maybe 1/2 a km away.. and across the shores of the lake below.. Akhil was doing the same.. from a different hilltop They saw us.. 5-6 men came..
in 10minutes...

with their circular dinghys...

An old 60 year old was one of them.... and I have seen loads of AXN mountain climbers on the telly.. but I dont think any of them could have the deftness or even the guts to do what he did...
With awesome dexterity... he scaled from the cliff head... the 60 feet height that separated me from Rahul... Sometimes relying on thorny shrubs for foot hold or just small crevices where he could place his fingers.. and swing there looking for the next foothold down below..

He reached rahul.. placed one of his foot on the rock...
Moistened his small everfamiliar.. checkered towel with the cold water of the river... and started massaging my friend...
I felt as if God had worked the miracle.. now he had sent the angel....

He massaged him for close to 15 minutes... slowly.. Rahul came back to about normal... He told us from down below.. .. there was no head injury... he managed to stand

35 minutes after the incident.. the fishermen took Rahul to the place I was standing and shouting him advices... cheers.. questions and all junk talk.. from... up the hill cliff

And when he met. me.. He just broke down... I felt like too... The overwhelming feeling I could get was of joy .. that he managed to overcome every peril that I had seen before my eyes ... and innumerable times in this half an hour, at every stage,at every moment, when I, far away from danger myself, just a hapless spectator, had given up my hopes, had despaired, he had overcome it..

And it was only then I realized the importance of his "Just 2 more minutes" answer ... His calf muscles had become big hard rocks... They were Red.. and had protruding veins... The main reason for this dip once reaching the moutain wall was cause he had had a fit of cramps.. and that had brought him down... and still he had managed to rise up.. His feet were a pity.. contusions everywhere.. but that was what had saved him maybe when he had gone under the rocks the middle pool to the bigger one.. He must have gone feet first...


Kalpana is okay now.. maybe her wound required a couple of stitches.. or could do without.. he blood loss stopped after sometime.. she managed to cover it up properly... We were in no position to help her...

Me and Akhil still remember the incident... and feel we thought we had lost him forever...
Rahul has gone to his parents at Alwar... he could get the next day flight itself... He needs a bit of a rest .. atleast for sometime.. and I am amazed at the force he would have put inside of him to fight the current... Human strength is unimaginable.. .These incidents bring them out time and again.. He described how in the first moments when he was inside of the big pond ... how he saw his whole life.... and his parents.. and everyone... and how the whole life flashes before you.. when you are at the brink... at the corridors.. and when you still put in your best.. .collect all your energies.. for the glimmer of hope that you see... maybe the hue of sunshine.. from deep beneath the waters... And how Hanuman chalisa or any other devotion .. can power your mind and with it your body... to achieve the unachievable..
I am proud of my friend.. I am sure he wouldnt have realized the extent of this battle.. but from above the cliff ... whatever I saw of him and his fight for his life... made me sumhow think of the magnificient inner strength and the will power he has in his person... to survive... to make it... to achieve it.

Life is back to the normal... I promise not to be that foolish anymore... Fun and Frolic are the essence of my life now.. I have excursions every weekend.. but its important to have the extra step of caution.... and that is what we overlook all the time... I have some resolutions and learnings:
a) Never Underestimate the Power of Mother Nature.. Anywhere.. anytime
b) Local people... in tourist locations.. might be poor people and hagglers.. greedy ppl who want to empty you of any money the think they can get out of you... but always ask them for advice.. and pay heed to those... say when on a mountainous terrain.. near the sea.. inside of a jungle... or even religious or crowded places...
c) Learn Swimming Properly


Its been some time now.. I hope and wish Rahul all the best.. Its a second life of sorts.. for him..


And for me... the experience of a lifetime.