That adventurous streak in us
Most of us enjoy programmes on television that cover men and women who undertake all kinds of adventures in all kinds of terrain. Some of us watch open-mouthed as intrepid participants enter races and challenges that others would shy away from and some of us even feel that we could do it ourselves were we to get the opportunity to compete ... Those are the people whose wilder sides surface from time to time and who are ready to take on anything, irrespective of age or level of physical fitness.
Thus, I have friends who celebrated entering senior citizenship with a para-jump and videoed every second of it for the rest of us to view with awe. There were others who dabbled with paragliding and white water rafting, taking to the air and to the water like they had been doing it for years. Their screams (also captured on video) sounded like shrieks of delight rather than screeches of terror and I clapped from a comfortable chair in their living room as they recounted every moment of each adventure.
Recently, on an “adventure” trip of our own, there were opportunities for similar activities and despite an abundance of grey hair and sundry aching joints, our group was more than game to try them out. Thus, they allowed themselves to be strapped in and zip-lined across a gorge and over a waterfall with only a narrow net strung below them as a safeguard. That net looked like it would be totally ineffective to actually catch anyone if the line broke, but the ones who zipped across certainly gave no thought to it. What they were more concerned about was the thrill of the “ride” and the selfies and videos that came out of it: certainly something to re-live during their quiet moments on the sofa when they got home!
Adventurous streak
Several of my acquaintances and friends have that adventurous streak in them and are ever ready to swing across on a vine or a zip-line or take a running leap off a cliff and leave it to thermals to keep them afloat or tie on a life jacket and get into a rubber boat that looks like it will eject them the moment the first swirl or eddy takes control of it. “Come on,” they urge. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! We’re all doing it!”
And they line up to sign up, so eager and excited that they do not notice that I have fled the scene.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for adventure — provided it grabs me from the safety of a television screen or from between the covers of a book or is conjured up in my own imagination with characters similar to those daredevil friends of mine and maybe even someone who bears more than a passing resemblance to me — but with the addition of that wonder ingredient that is known as fiction!
It was with great relief, therefore, that on a recent tour with friends, I had to “forfeit” a couple of excursions because one of our group fell ill. Quickly, I volunteered as caretaker in the hospital while the others went ahead and kept up with the itinerary. When they returned each evening, we were treated to a recounting of all they had done and I could see that my sick friend hated missing out on the adventures.
She would no doubt have been as ready as the others for a yak ride, to sway and swing on a seemingly flimsy suspension bridge or flash by on a zip-line, while I, having raced everyone to the top of the hill, would have abandoned all pretence of owning an adventurous streak and continued downhill and out of sight, my feet always on terra firma.
■ Cheryl Rao is a journalist based in India.