Survivor Rishikesh

Legend has it that there was a Hindu King who had performed the Ashwamedha sacrifice 99 times . In a fit of jealousy - Indra the King of Gods stole his horse from the 100th sacrifice and hid it in the ashram of Kapila Muni .The 60,000 sons of the King who came looking for his horse mistook Kaplia Muni to be the abductor and attacked him .
An Enraged Kapila Muni burnt them all to ashes .
Bhagirathi who was an descendant of the king was advised that bringing the holy waters of the Ganga down to earth from the heavens would bring the dead princes back to life .
Bhagirathi was rewarded for his penance and the Gange rushed and roared down to earth in all her form and glory . Destruction was imminent . Prayers were offered to Lord Shiva to save earth . Then Lord Shiva held out his hair to soften ganga's descent to earth . Ganga then followed her own course through the Himalayas down to the delta at Bengal where she finally met the sea .


Weekend of March 3th and 4th , we decided to go and wash our sins away in the Ganges .After a long week at work we all packed and left at 3 am early Saturday morning . As our bus made its way from Delhi to Haridwar and then through the meandering roads to Rishikesh , I can safely say that the 22 of us were completely unprepared for the weekend .
Our camp was located on a sandy beach on the banks of an emerald green Ganga who had mellowed down in the valley to be now known as the Alaknanda . Colored tents dotted the landsacpe and tall menacing mountains looked softer in the afternoon sunshine.
Soon After we left in our rafts on the expidition of a life time .
At one point most of us jumped into the white rapids and body surfed . Soon we made our way to a cliff in the middle of nowhere . It was time to take a leap of faith .
As I climbed on top of the cliff and looked at the crystal jade green pool - I thought to myself ..This is life . Me ..alone at the edge of a cliff and nothing but a soft breeze and thin air ...this is what man was born for . Not to drive a car ...or pay credit card bills ..or fix software programs ..to be wild ..free and one hundred percent unharnessed . I jumped right in and I dont know if my sins got washed away or diluted ..but I definately emerged a changed person .

We lay out on the beach at night ..sometimes singing ..sometimes laughing ..sometimes silent .Its like we'd known each other for much longer than the past few months in ways that cement and concrete cubicles cannot fathom.
The stars put on a special for us that night and much after the bonfire last burnt out ..the smoke and the warmth from the flames embraced us as the night grew darker and softer .

The way of the mountains is theirs alone . We may try and capture that kind of fortitude and strength in our houses and buildings ..harness the rivers in our fountains and emulate that kind of beauty in our materialistic worlds ...but for us ..that is just a bubble . The only way to really recreate that kind of pure beauty and peace is to capture it in the minds eye , carry it in your heart and hold it in your smile .So the next time you see a mountain ..dont try to climb it ..or move it ...inside close your eyes and be moved by it .

Heres some pictures :