River Rage

He's been rafting for 20 years, leading runs on some of the most breathtaking rivers in the world. Akshay Kumar reminisces about life as a white water junkie…

Having come from a family of mountaineers and adventurers my course in life was predestined. My father Colonel Kumar led numerous expeditions on mountains like The Everest, Kanchenjunga, Nanda Devi and the Siachen Glacier. My sister Shailaja is till date the only woman to have represented India in the Winter Olympics. But in 1985 I heard news of my uncle Major K I Kumar slipping off the ridge close to the South Summit of Everest and falling 2,000 feet to his death. His team members attempting to summit Everest carried on and also died after they were snowed in for days at camp IV. The biggest tragedy to hit Indian mountaineering changed the course of my life. Mountaineering was definitely out for me and I decided to stick to safer escapades in white water. Or so I thought. It didn't take me too long to realise that rafting was no less exciting or scary. On the other hand, I have never once regretted my decision.

Even though off road driving, skiing and trekking are my passions, my love for white water started when I was selected in the first batch of youngsters to train for rafting in Canada and the US. I returned from my training in 1985 when there were not more than five trained river guides in India. My rafting career started with the first attempt to raft down the turbulent Chenab in Kishtwar area of Jammu. Even though the expedition had to be abandoned due to two accidents, the bug had bitten me and I decided to make adventure travel my profession. I returned to set up the second permanent camp on the Ganga in 1986. (Now of course there are more than 30 camps).

In late '80s when rafting was at its infancy there was a race to go for first descents of virgin rivers. Nothing was impossible and everything was attempted, from the Brahmaputra and Teesta in north-east, Chenab and Satluj in the north to Narmada in the centre. White water junkies (as we like to call ourselves) tried to map any moving water body available. I personally was lucky to lead trips on some of the most breathtaking rivers in the world.

The good old days saw numerous army expeditions on the Alaknanda. At first we were happy to just raft down from Srinagar (Garhwal) to Rishikesh. When this got boring we moved further upstream to Rudraprayag and Karanprayag. The next few army expeditions were quite interesting. Bent upon setting new records every time, the expeditions now started looking at innovative means to get publicity. We did the fastest descents, non stop descents, swimming descents and catamaran descents, anything to beat the last expedition. Then we moved to other virgin rivers in India.

I got my big break in 1990 when the Indo Tibetan Border Police asked me to train and lead the white water descent of the Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh. Just the name sent goose bumps up my spine. Known as the Tsang Po in Tibet the river originates from Lake Mansarovar and covers more than 2,000 kilometres before cutting itself a mighty gorge through the Himalayas and dropping into India near Bona in Arunachal Pradesh. This was to be the first and the longest descent down the entire section of the Brahmaputra from the Indo Tibetan border at Bona all the way down to Dhubri at the Indo Bangladesh border covering a total distance of more than a 1,000 kilometres on river .

The team comprised of the Indo Tibetan Border Police and members from the Japanese Alpine Club. We decided to get into the river fully prepared for the worst. We trained for a month on the Ganga, swimming down its entire white water section. Aware of the steep gorges we would encounter we trained in rock climbing, rappelling rescue techniques.

On January 2, 1990, all set with just two rafts we were airlifted by the Indian Air Force all the way to Dibrugarh and then in helicopters till the start point at Bona. As we flew over the river I realised that I was gasping in anticipation to get my feet wet. The silver white river, 10,000 feet below us, was winding its way through impenetrable tropical forests and steep gorges on each side. Known as the Siang in Arunachal and the Tsang Po in Tibet the Brahmaputra is perhaps the only male river in India.

Landing in the village of Bona, we were greeted by the entire village dressed in their finery and dancing out a welcome song for us. Arunachal Pradesh till date had been completely restricted for foreigners and the local villagers had walked days just to see what the Japanese looked like. They could not hide their disappointment when they realized the foreigners had the same Mongoloid features as them. They decided that my colleague Ajay Maira and I were the Japanese foreigners.

The next ten days and 300 kilometres breezed past in a rush of adrenaline, fear, awe and excitement. We did lengthy scouts of all the rapids, prepared our line ups, set up rescues, ran some of the biggest white water in the world, flipped our rafts and swam through some of the rapids. We also realised at places that our rafts would need to be carried around the big Grade 5+ rapids, there was no shame in accepting that nature is supreme and as a sign of respect we were willing to portage a couple of rapids and walk out in one piece.

More than the actual white water, what was even more interesting was the lifestyles and hospitality of the local tribal villages. We encountered witchcraft, poison tipped arrows, hunting forays into the forest, a passion for dancing and singing and a heart of gold that just opened out to visitors. Not one night during our expedition in Arunachal Pradesh were we allowed to set up camp. Entire villages were evacuated to accommodate the first expedition. In their own simple ways they have left an impact on me which will last a lifetime.

The expedition did not finish when the white water stopped. At Pasighat we got into larger motorised boats and carried on for another two weeks down the calmer sections of the Brahmaputra. We floated though the ever-widening river which at times stretched more than eight kilometres across. All the way down to Dhubri we floated past Guwahati, Kaziranga and Tezpur. We camped on huge deserted islands and raced with fresh water dolphins, which followed us for more than a hundred kilometres.

The month long expedition finished at Dhubri on the Bangladesh border and we bid a sad farewell to the river which carried us safely on our epic and historical journey. Not able to forget my experience in Arunachal I have returned thrice since then to run the Brahmaputra and will carry on with every opportunity I'm given.

Another great river journey is the rafting trip down the Zanskar Gorge in Ladakh. One of my most interesting descents down the Zanskar have been with Jack Wheeler of Wheeler Expeditions USA. A well known personality Jack used to be a mercenary in Afghanistan fighting against the Russian forces. His exciting career spans across five continents. He decided upon the Zanskar to celebrate his son's 12th birthday on the river. His son's past birthdays had been on the South Pole, North Pole, Great Barrier Reef, Kalahari Desert and Tibet to name a few. We took the exciting road journey from Manali to Leh and then on to Padum via Kargil and the Umasi La pass. The five-day river journey from Padum to Nimmu took us through the breathtaking Zanskar Gorge. With 2,000-feet high rock faces towering on each side and the freezing cold waters of the Zanskar the trip offers an uncanny combination of awe and fear, all at the same time. The river at times squeezes into a narrow opening of just 15 feet with the freezing water boiling in the form of strong eddies on each side. Not keen on a swim in these temperatures we were extra cautious to ensure no incidents took place. The river emerges from the gorge at Chilling from where it is an easy float till the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar at Nimmu.

Even though the Brahmaputra and the Zanskar are two of my favourite rivers but I have been lucky to lead first descents down many more challenging rivers like the Teesta, Suru, Lidder and Narmada to name a few. Virgin descents are however getting harder to find but I'm always on the look out for an opportunity to attempt a new river.

(The author is general manager, operations, Mercury Himalayan Explorations, one the largest adventure tour companies in Delhi)