25th July, 2022, 1:17 pm.
My feet are pale with the thick, elastic rope tethered around my ankles. With the indistinct chatter of the jumpmasters, I look down slightly, my skin gaining a new texture with the layer of goosebumps forming on it. In that moment, I feel a rush of adrenaline shooting through my veins. The jumpmasters are tugging on several different locks and ropes attached onto my body and vest, as hundreds of thoughts are planting themselves in my mind. Eventually, they all come down to one single thought: “Was this a terrible, terrible, mistake?”
Here I am, 190 feet above the ground, standing at the very edge of a ledge that I am about to jump off from, leaving my fate to the ropes fastened around my body. The muddy water of the River Zanskar flowing ferociously, crashing into the rocks of the barren mountains echoed around me, screaming. Looking to my left, head heavy with the helmet firmly fixed on my head, I see my father, brother, aunt and several other people talking amongst each other, in anticipation, with phones pointing in my direction. Some were shouting out to me, but I couldn’t hear them over my own thoughts and the roaring body of water almost 200 feet below, threatening me. A strong blow of wind dries my eyes when I look back down at the formidable currents and waves – my numb and pale feet invading the view.
I didn’t think I could make it, so I faked it.
I took a chilling, deep breath with the relatively less oxygen in the air and pushed away the multitude of thoughts cluttering my head.
I tipped myself over the ledge…
Head first in thin air.
Trusting the ropes with my very life.
My insides felt hollow as I saw the mighty river approaching me, with indefinite urgency.
Zanskar and I made eye contact.
I could feel her all around me.
She was everywhere.
Coaxing me to her.
The mucky water could ricochet off the mountains standing silently on either side, and drag me down – swallowing me whole.
In what felt like a fraction of a second, I was being jolted back up by the white rope getting tighter around my ankles – completely depriving my already suffocating feet of any oxygen.
It was only when I was swaying in the slightly denser air that I understood, “This wasn’t so bad. In fact, it wasn’t bad at all.” I never rubbed elbows with the water beneath me, which now looked simply as that – a strange, organised mess of waves.
That was when I realised how much you can get consumed with your thoughts if you let them prevail. It was only when I was being pulled back up to the ledge (that I had jumped off of merely a few seconds ago) that I realised – because I listened to my gut, and my impulse, that I’d just had the most indelible experience of my life – Bungee jumping!
– Ananya Gurjepalli 9C