It
was 6 am …after a sleepless night of banter with my mates it was finally time
to sleep. On the way to the toilet, I met Mudit dressed up and backpack slung
on his shoulder, and asked the first question that would make the rest of my
day “Are you going somewhere?” Mudit, as always his smiling and excited self
said that they were a group of 11 riding to a place called ‘Ghatarani’ known
for its waterfall. He was looking for people who would come along and started
pestering me to join. One of those moments where the mind says yes and the
heart says no. I wanted to go …but with having wasted the entire night before
and the one before that, the ghost of pending projects and studies haunted me.
I came back to the room seeing others on their way to join Mudit. I sighed;
maybe some other time. When I entered the room Alok (my roomie) asked what was
up. I told him about the ride these people were going on and how I wanted to go
too. I had not even finished my sentence when his bike keys hit me in the
chest, “Go on bro!” he said. Those three words were the stimulus that made me
get ready in 2 minutes and on the bike with the others.
The
pack (if I may call it) started from our residence at IIM Raipur, heading northwards
towards NH-30 after fuel and air checks. On NH-30 and outside city limits, we
stopped at a ramshackle tea-stall for tea and cigarettes. After tea, it was
time to twist the throttle and burn some rubber as we zoomed away through the
green paddy fields of Chhattisgarh towards the small town of Abhanpur. With the
wind in my hair and Metallica pounding away “I disappear” in my ears I wouldn’t
have wanted to be anywhere else, that moment. To top it all, Partha zoomed in
from behind me throwing up a challenge. I quickly responded with a change of
gears and twist of the accelerator to get ahead of him; our little race went on
for a while before I left him in the lurch and put distance between myself and
the rest of the group. I finally reached Rajim and waited for the others to come;
meanwhile I bought cigarettes and had tea. Seeing that it was taking them too
long and fearing something wrong I turned back, to look for them. After going
back a considerable distance without a sign of the rest of the group, I asked
the second question that would make my day this time directed towards me.”Should
I go back or continue towards Ghatarani?” Still don’t understand why I chose
the latter but would be thankful to god later.
What
followed were few very anxious moments with all sorts of things bouncing inside
my head. Despite everything, I went on… The road had by now become a narrow
track with paddy fields on both sides and cattle in the middle (yes, on the road!).
As I weaved through oncoming obstacles, I brushed on more than one occasion by
their tails…. Not a good experience. But despite the thoughts going on in my
head and the trouble I was having in maintaining speed, I could not stop myself
from soaking in the serene beauty all around me, from lush green paddy fields,
fresh air laced with incense from a nearby temple to the sights and sounds of a
quaint village waking up. Not really the romantic.... I tried concentrating on
the road ahead but couldn’t help my eyes from wandering towards the simple yet
touching beauty. Stopping at a place to ask for directions, I was told that the
remainder of the group had passed before me. It was the moment of relief that I
was looking for, flipping gears and opening the throttle my bike reflected my
emotions.
Coming
down a slope I suddenly saw a blur of colors mainly yellow with some pink and
bit of others. The next thing I knew was that I was on the ground my clothes
dirty and some blood on my left leg below the knee. It was nothing serious
actually, I had taken a skid and a fall in the process of avoiding a collision
with a “family travelling on a bicycle” (man, wife and child on one cycle ….can
you believe it!). The bruises were minor and to avoid any further embarrassment
in front of a group of giggling schoolgirls, I picked up the bike and whatever
was left of my pride and rode on.
“Is
that them?” Yes, the third question which made my day came after about 15km
later …on a road with curves which could put Jennifer Lopez to shame, I had
arrived within seconds of the group and the anxious faces returned to being
their usual grinning selves. We went up to the waterfall and posed for
photographs trying to look the best we could while being semi-naked (Special
mention to Sumit Ranjan for this). Partha was in his element while under the
falls and surrounding forest, from making gorilla mating calls to dancing in
ways considered offensive in many civilized societies. The temple of Jamtaimata
at the head of the falls must have been at least many hundred years old, it
made me realize that no matter what changes, but man’s faith in god is
perpetual.
As
we sat for lunch in a sleepy dhaba in Rajim, the fatigue showed but what showed
more was joy. Everyone was happy about the trip and then past incidents were
narrated. The laxity in service at the dhaba only gave us more time to chatter
about, but suddenly it turned very formal more like a group discussion on
topics ranging from Clubs in college to the CR’s. Time seemed to have slowed
down (especially for me and Partha; the most uncouth in the group) ….and then
the food finally came…spicing things up a bit (quite literally actually).
On
the way back, I tried to reminisce all that I had seen on the trip and all that
I had done (The stinging bruise on my leg a mute reminder)…. I guess most of
all, I remembered faces…smiling faces, be it the bearded ‘Babaji’ at the first
tea-stall we stopped at, the giggling schoolgirls, the smile of relief on the
faces of my mates when they saw me come over the hill and many others; it
showed more than just happiness and contentment …what I saw in them was
resilience, for which I arrived at a new definition. It’s not really what
people say it is …. It is actually the ability of a person to curl his lips
upwards and display his dentures in times of adversity (so much …for an MBA).
I
can’t really describe the feelings my posterior had while riding into the
campus. Finally it was going to be relieved of all the weight it had been
carrying for so long …Now the 80 kg of man would be transferred on to the back
on a Godrej mattress, until we ride again!
This article is written by Aniruddh Mukerji, PGP 2013-15. He can be reached at pgp13063.aniruddh@iimraipur.ac.in .
