The most exciting 10 seconds

I wanted to do bungee, ever since I first heard of it. It was back when I was in school - I still remember having learnt about it the very first time. A high bridge above Bhotekoshi and you jump off it with a rope tied to your ankles – I knew it was something I HAD to do !

That was a long way back, life has changed a lot since then but bungee was still always on my wish list. I could see that there were a lot of people doing it. And thanks to the social networking sites you can let the whole wide world know how courageous you have been right after you have done it. I am sure people would take bungee selfies if that was allowed or possible. Probably, a lot of people did it only for the sake of putting the pictures in Facebook. And though I always wanted to do it, I never initiate a plan to actually go there and do it. I think it was Fear that took better hold of my desire. I am not very fond of heights, or of freefalls. So, I told myself that I will try on all the other adventurous things (like rafting, paragliding, zip-fly, cannoning and others) and try bungee at last. 

But things always doesn’t go as we plan- does it ?

So, as it happened, a bunch of my friends from work were planning to go somewhere for a weekend. We were exploring a few places, somewhere, where we could hike, or just relax and have fun. There were lots of discussions, opinions, disagreements and then we finally decided to go to the last resort. The last resort, about 4 hours ride away from Kathmandu  is at Sindhupalchowk district, near the Khasha (Chinese) border offers a wide range of adventure activities including bungee of course. I realised, it was time.  

The place is a relaxing gateway with a tropical feel and adventurous environment with improvised tents to stay at night. There were 14 of us on the trip and five of us had planned to jump. We stayed there for a night and the jump was due for the next day. As we relaxed during the evening, there was so much of contemplation about the bungee…every pros and cons of the jump was evaluated. Every worst case scenario was analysed- I had to constantly shout at my friends to NOT talk about it so much. What if the rope breaks, what if it gets entangled, what if we get so scared during the jump that we faint…what if we hit the cliff on the sides- oh too many what-ifs were analysed and over-analysed. Even those who had planned to jump were now in doubt. I was scared too- but never for a moment, I considered not jumping. I had visualised the jump many times in my head and I knew it was scary, but it was something I was meant to do. 

Finally the day for the jump arrived. I couldn’t just sleep properly- got up early in the morning- went out for an amazing hike around the last resort- had butterflies in my stomach throughout.

As we were having breakfast, we were informed that it was Time. I couldn’t finish my breakfast properly. There was an orientation session before the jump. A friendly guy briefed us about the safety measures. There were about 15 people to bungee in that group – foreigners were in majority. 

They took our weight as the serial of jump is arranged on the basis of one’s weight - and to my dismay, I was the last one to jump. No, not at all that I am thin. The other jumpers in the group were mostly foreigners and males- so I was actually the last one to jump, which meant I had to stay at the bridge- waiting for my turn to come and watching everyone else jump. When, I was at the bridge initially, I avoided looking down. I just kept looking around and above- at the surrounding hills but not below at all. But as I sat there, waiting for my turn to come…I just became accustomed to the height, and in no time I was watching below at the river- watching others jump- and enjoying it. 

And finally after quite sometime of waiting- my turn came. Everyone else was down- two of my friends were waiting for me down the bridge, as they had already jumped. I had this wide smile on my face- I don’t know why but I was smiling like anything. I realised that I smile when nervous (I knew I laugh when drunk). One thing that I realised while sitting at the bridge was that, it was not actually as scary as I had anticipated. I had always thought that sitting there at the bridge and waiting for one’s turn will be the worst thing of all. But actually, as I think of it now- it was actually a good thing - I am glad that I was the last in the group. 

So, I was all geared up. The jump master told me to move to the edge and suggested me not to hesitate at the edge and jump off as soon as he does the countdown. So, I moved to the edge slowly- - I waved at my friends (the ones not jumping, and who were there at the side watching me), looked down - WOW – that was the moment of pure adrenaline  rush – I didn’t take a lot of time and just jumped. The instant freefall that you feel right after the jump is LIKE mind blowing – a moment that your head gets clear of everything. You start enjoying as you descend below gradually getting accustomed to falling. 

The bungee rope is a rubber rope elastic in nature- you bounce back upwards at least three times after the jump. I enjoyed each bounce - and the bouncing stops after the third one. And unlike, a few people who told me that you don’t really comprehend anything and remain at the state of blankness during the whole experience, I was very alert and conscious. I was consciously feeling everything that was happening. It is a matter of a few seconds, and it gets over before you know it. Once the bounce stops, the rope is lowered down slowly- and for a few seconds you just sit there hanging up side down, with Bhotekoshi raging wildly just a few meters below. It was this part which I wanted to get over soon. The person at the ground passes on a bamboo stick- I could see the stick below me- it was just a few seconds but I could not wait to hold the stick. Finally I got hold of it, they pulled me down. And when I looked above from there; it was another worthy moment - OH WOW- the bridge that I had jumped off seemed so far above. 

The jump was over. I had done it ! And it was definitely the most exciting 10 seconds of my life. It felt like an accomplishment; one of the huge thing from my bucket list was ticked off. Oh yes, I conquered my fear- I feel stronger and accomplished. (Oh life, bring it on- come what may- I am ready to face it head on.)