Ahh….I just love writing here……it makes me feel so much better…I think I’ll do this everyday… or whenever possible. Welcome to part IV.
So, I’ll pick up where I left this. So….I was the latest addition to the team. Daddy, Karan uncle and me. The rest of them waited. We were supposed to climb to the top....and get the bus down. It was getting darker – not yet….but I mean, the light of day was fading. We started climbing….the initial part was okay. Then, we were standing in front of a VERY steep rock…..this was behind another rock wall. Now none of those who were on the ground could see us, and we couldn’t see them.
Again, the damn pebbles….there were even more here. The worst part was that I wasn’t wearing shoes. I was wearing flotters. I didn’t know I would be doing this. So…..the moment I would try to take a step further, I would slip and be dragged down. Karan uncle and daddy were doing reasonably well though. So then, daddy would climb a few steps, extend his hand and give me a little pull to make things easier for me. I don’t know how he himself kept his balance and ALSO kept pulling me.
I really felt like I was making things more difficult for him….the pebbles were very small….and they were getting into my flotters. So I had to keep jerking my feet every now and then to get the pebbles out. Somehow, we made it past this first portion. Then there was some flat ’landing’ kind of thing after which there was another wall of rock to climb. It looked the same as the one before…..but it had some thorny bushes growing on both sides. And the SIDES were the only thing whose support I had been using apart from daddy’s help. And occasionally, dad and Karan uncle had to take support of the sides too.
I seriously hoped that they would reconsider and decide to turn back because this suddenly seemed like a not-so-good idea. But it didn’t happen. Again the same thing…..dad and Karan uncle were doing well in spite of the thorny bushes. Just the speed had reduced. With daddy’s help, I made it atop this wall too. The bottom of my feet was burning from all the pebbles scratching them. While climbing the second wall, I actually started crying. I was most certain I wasn’t going to come back alive. I was just scared…..and when you’re too scared, you cant think rationally.
I wanted to go back. But that would mean, somebody would have to come down with me….and one person would be left alone to climb the thing on his own….which was a chance we didn’t want to take….and daddy was of the opinion that he HAD tried to convince me not to come here earlier….but if I had chosen to do this, I must take responsibility for my decision…Also, he said "After coming THIS far, if you turn back, then it is a waste….if you have been brave enough to start it, ….I want you to FINISH it….just think ….by doing this, we three are saving the trouble of 20 other people downstairs…..do you think I’m right?" I was damn sure he was.
I was just infused with a reasonable amount of courage now….I felt ….new. Ignoring the pain in my feet, I followed them on rock wall 3. This time, without dad’s help. I was slow….he would turn back and look at me….and though I was slow, he let me do it on my own as long as I could. Only the occasional extended hand. After we reached on top of number 3, there was a VERY VERY steep slope….but it was very short….once on top of it….there was no going further….that was the top of the wall….beyond that, we presumed, would be flat land….but we really couldn’t see what lied beyond because it was too steep. Before, we could do anything, Karan uncle just started climbing….fast…..and he was on top….he just stood there….for a second. "We’ve come the wrong way…." He said "There’s nothing but another huge deep cliff on the other side…..we’ll have to go back."
"Okay….c’mon…then we better move…." My dad said. It was getting dark and we didn’t want to be stuck here after dark in the company of scorpions.
"You start going down" he said "I’ll just be with you in a few minutes…"
We started going down. Dad went first….I turned around and saw Karan uncle sit down on the ’ledge’ kind of thing that he was standing on…he had been carrying a small soft drink bottle with him….with only about a sip of the soft drink left. He just sat there and finished it off….and as if he didn’t care, he threw the bottle down…on our side of the cliff and just watched it fall…hitting whatever that came in the way.
Dad was calling me from down…"Sit down" he told me. "And slide….the pebbles will carry you"….I complied. He was right. Downhill was easier…the pebbles proved to be of some use for the first time. Karan uncle came after me…he didn’t slide down of course. He and my dad were going on foot….I was enjoying the slide. Just had to control myself a bit with my feet so that I wouldn’t start going down too fast. By the time we got to wall 1, we saw that the rest of the people had started climbing….we told them to go back. It was the wrong way.
I still remember, there was one lady…amongst those other people….who had started climbing. Somehow, she had made it atop wall 1. But she was so scared to get down now that she was on the verge of tears. Eventually, Alex went up…lifted her….and brought her down. I don’t know how he did it. He HAD to have really strong arms and a really good sense of balance to be able to do this. Real cool.
We had no choice but to walk all the way to the spot where we came in from….it took us a long while. It was already dark….I didn’t really give a damn about the scorpions now…I couldn’t care less. One more short sermon from dad and he convinced me that I had done something that saved 20 others from suffering. "But it was no good…." I told him. "Eventually, we HAVE to walk back….it was a waste."
He told me, "Its not a waste…..how can you know how something really is unless you try it?....You don’t always get success. But that doesn’t mean you don’t try. What matters is that we tried….wasn’t this an experience?"
I thought he was right. The Gita says – ’karm karo, fal ki ichha mat rakho’. That is so right. I felt a kind of satisfaction with myself. This trip would NEVER have been memorable for me if it hadn’t been for this experience. I would always have regretted not having taken this opportunity if I had been amongst those ’conservative’ individuals who chose not to come with us. The most thrilling things in life are also always the most risky. To get the thrill, you have to take the risk. Some will be content with just watching…they don’t even try to imagine what it would really be like to actually DO it. But the doer knows that he has felt 100% of what he wanted. He’ll be content, he’ll be happy and he’ll feel better about himself. (contd. in comments section).