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Journalism of Courage
After returning from a rafting trip to Rishikesh with friends in November 2007,Karan Bhalla,30,got an idea. I had never done rafting before. But as soon as I returned from the four-day trip,I wanted to go again. But we were short of a few people, says Bhalla,a former employee with an international airline carrier. Bhalla convinced his rafting partner and wife,Anusha,29,and photographer friend Mohit Midha,39,to start a Facebook community,Ganga Panga,that would bring people interested in a rafting expedition to them. It was a crazy idea as we were never serious about the exercise and not sure we would get any response. But surprisingly there were many takers that left us with a sizeable number of queries, says Bhalla,who was off to Rishikesh with 20 people (mostly friends) for another trip to the Ganges in February 2008.
Bhalla has since quit his job with the airline he worked with and now designs various activities to make rafting tours more engaging. His signature activity is a game called,Ganga Panga,which comprises a team of two,with six players on each side. Two canoes are placed a distance apart on the white sands along the river bank,partly touching the water and the teams have to score points by kicking,slapping and tackling a football to touch the canoe. We allow 40 minutes for the game and it is a wild one, says Bhalla. There are other games like rope trick involving 10 people who have to entangle their hands in ropes,without touching each other,Limbo,which involves passing under a stick as it is lowered slowly and pranks like black magic where participants guess secrets of members at the camp. Newcomers to the trips are baptised into the group by dunking them into the chilly river unawares,says Midha,a veteran rafter who has made almost 90 trips to Rishikesh. I was on the first commercial rafting exercise on the Ganges in Rishikesh in 1985, he claims.
Bhalla feels efforts like these,make their trips different from other rafting expeditions. All activities are conducted under supervision of expert trainers from Snow Leopard,a local rafting operator.
In the past year,they have taken 10 groups with 60-70 people,with many repeat participants. We had a businessman from Sri Lanka,who was a keen rafter who came with us in October. In March this year,he came to India especially to join our rafting expedition because he felt we were more personalised, says Midha. Last year,a woman from Dubai came for one of their trips and returned earlier this year with her family and children. She wanted them to experience rafting in India, he adds. The community has also started trips oraginsing trips to the Corbett
National Park in Uttarakhand since last November. Trips to Ladakh,Himachal Pradesh and micro-flight lessons in Mumbai are also in the pipeline.
We are slowly drifting towards being adventure sports operators,with a difference, smiles Midha.
Only community members participate on the rafting trips as that allows them a close scrutiny of the people joining them. The members have to pay up in advance and forget about the rest. It helps us maintain a congenial atmosphere on the trips with like minded individuals, explains Bhalla.
For more information,email gangapanga@gmail.com
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