Whitewater...

This story is a bit old... last October I had gone whitewater rafting in the New River Gorge in West Virginia. It was one of the best trips I ever had. Its about 6 hour drive from State College. New River gorge is a really scenic place with lots of hiking trails and other opportunities for adventure sports.

The Gauley river and new river have some of the best class 4 and 5 rapids in the Northeastern US. There were 6 of us in the raft and our guide (or captain I should say) Carl. Carl gave us a few rudimentary lessons in paddling in the beginning. Then after asking us to hold on for our dear lives...started yelling commands at us...like "all forward".... "Stop" to align the raft and make it go the right way into the rapids... within minutes we were totally drenched with water. I even had a chance to get out of the raft and swim (rather try to swim) in a rapid for a while... after the initial shock and panic subsided... that experience seemed very amusing... I even wrote a little poem on it.

Here it is ...

"WHITE WATER"

There's a mix of anticipation and fear..
Along the banks we check our gear...
We push the raft into the river....
Climb up n' hold-on to paddles dear...
"All forward" yells Carl....and off we go...

We learn a few tricks.. early in the trip..
Lean forward to paddle....hold the T grip..
The currents are swift n' the water is cold...
Paddle for your dear lives we are told...
The rapids are waiting for rafters adrift...

We pass the "insignificant"...
A little class four....
Everyone's still on board...
Soaked wet and cold....
But our little success..makes the heart grow bold

We are passing another rapid...I forget its name
As the raft turns and tilts through the current...
"Stop"...I hear Carl shout..paddles are out
One moment I am in there.....
And then I am OUT....

"Whitewater" all around me.....
I am not in my saddle....
Floating free with the river...
I have lost my paddle...
Panic first..n' later I grab hold of the rope....

I struggle...n' my mates
Pull me up...out of the water....
I've gulped a bit of the Gauley....
And seen its might....
Tasted adventure...but up for the fight...

I am ready again....
Many more rapids await...
we hunt for my paddle....
Going down with the flow....
"All forward"...there's Carl again....and off we go..

I like going out into the nature.... in fact most of my hobbies are kind of built up around the outdoors... adventure sports, hiking are a good way to get out... photography is a good way to record your adventures and capture the beauty of nature... skygazing or amateur astronomy is a great way to spend a night beneath clear skies...

I look forward to going to New River gorge this summer and fall...

Transmogrified???

"What kind of a word is that?" some would ask.

Well, its a word I borrowed from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. It's derived from the name of a machine that Calvin invents. This machine can transform Calvin into whatever he wants... an elephant, a dinosaur (which he likes to be most of the time). I think it is a really cool idea. Interestingly "The Transmogrifier" (which is really a cardboard box) can also become an intergalactic spaceship when turned upside down...and Calvin a.k.a. "Spaceman Spiff" can ride in it to fight aliens!!

I like the immense amount of imagination in that strip. It also reminds me of what Einstein said about imagination... "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world". I think Calvin's imagination is of this kind...

The beginning

I wanted to start a blog for a long time. In fact I wanted to starting writing my thoughts again everyday... for a long time. I used to do it when I was a kid. I used to write a diary pretty regularly. But for some reason I stopped somewhere during my undergraduate years in Pune (which is a city in India). For the longest time I could not decide between blogging and a simple diary kept only for myself. I guess now I have made my choice.

I dunno how many people really would care for my thoughts but I want to note them here for what they are worth. I think writing my thoughts kind of makes things fall out in an orderly way in my mind. Its like when you shake a jar full or marbles and they somehow settle down in a neat, aligned way. It also helps me remember some of the ideas I had today or some of the thoughts I would like to hold on to for future.

So my blog will primarily be about my thoughts (which I have many and about many different things). So I hope it won't be too boring for anyone who ventures to read them.

Thats good enough for now.