Trickling Thoughts - Fear factor

The very first outing i went after coming here, made me realise one thing. This is my chance to really come out and try things that i've never even thought about before. A chance to really test the truthfulness of my fears. Many a time i mistake my timidness for fear and didnt even consider so many fun things in life. One such example would be - amusement parks. Never been a big fan of any of those rides, still am. But after coming here and knowing that its the major and main source of entertainment around these places, i had little choice but to participate. I am terrified of heights, but trekking had never been an issue. But somehow, the mighty water scares the wits out of me even from the shores. Always had huge respect for the all powerful sea. Inga vanthu pona first eventay turned out to be water skiing.

Bay of Bengal paathu bayanathavanukku Atlantic ocean back watersla athuvum swimming theriyaama water skiing :) I went in with an empty mind and came back with my heart filled with joy. Not sure whether it was the crowd pressure or the asattu thunichal that, i am in a andai naadu or a mere senseless act ( i go with this) i just climbed into one and the moment the instructor pushed the bike into water, lighta gathi kalangidichi. And after a while actually begun to enjoy the ride. Chennai/Banglorela, mazhai kalathula, roadla thanni thengi irunthu athula autola pona epdi irukumo..athey epect :) It became even more joyous when i spotted 2 dolphins swimming close by. Aquariumla kooda dolphin paakathavanukku pakkathulaye paatha epdi irukum. Was super thrilled. I was shouting to everyone who were riding near by to watch out for the dolphins. Athenamo therila, en sidelaye rendum suthi suthi vanthuchi. After a while the instructor whistled us to come back. Vandila yerararuthukku munaadi oru half hour antha aal kitta kostin keattu avan BP yeathinathukaaga..he romba karisanama asked me how i felt. He was sincerely concerned when i told him about the dolphins and almost cancelled the remaining session. Ennada matternu paatha..naan paatha rendum dolphin illayaam. SHARK!!!! Appo thaan avangalukku news varuthu..intha mathiri sharks have been spotted close to the shore and ask the participants to either postpone the events for next day or not to venture too far away into the ocean nu!!! avvvvvvvvvvvvvv....Apdiyum vidaama...aduthu went for "Banana boat" ride. This time it was a group of 4 people per boat and we went the opposite direction to the place where sharks were spotted. It turned out to be much more riskier a ride than the skii as water was splashing as fast as the boat, to which ours was tied to, went. Came back drenched to every single cell of the skin.

Athukaprum, another weekend again went to a theme park filled with water rides. They had a man made beach setup which was more of an open swimming pool but with controlled wave generation. Oru aarva kolaarula went upto 5feet depth and suddenly a huge wave took me under. One nimit enna panrathunnay puriala. But i realised i wasnt scared, yet. I was thinking furiously how to move back to lesser depths but wasnt able to. Right at that time my friend pushed me a bit and i was able to move back to relative saftey. That incident made me realise, more than the fear of drowning, it was shame that had held me back all these days, being ashamed to be embarrassed before others. When that pressure got lifted, i actually begun to enjoy these moments and the comfort that i wasnt the only one around who was having such doubts helped. Athukaprum went for few more rides, more to test my thought process rather than to enjoy. While every one else were shouting, i was holding tight to the rails with all i can and was surprisingly quiet compared to others. Ivlo thaana matternu terinjaprum, it didnt feel scary at all.

Last weekend went for a waterfall that was 2 hours drive from our place. Pora vazhi poora my friend was polambing, ivlo thooram poi waterfall vedikka paakanumaanu. But after we went there, it felt worthy of every single mile travelled. I've been to a fair number of waterfalls, which would still be less than the average tourist count. But never ever have i went inside one!! Here, again, enna reasonnu kaetta i dont have one to tell. But somehow, maybe getting used to the concept of getting drenched, i felt no fear and went and sat underneath the falls with others. Mandaila yaaro urutuu kattai vachu saathu saathu nu saathara matiri semma forcea water was pouring. It was a totally different experience. All the bathroom showers of the world, even if turned together in unison, can never repeat that feeling. Athuakaprum was playing on the pool at the base of the falls for sometime. Ennadaa naama mattum thannila erangirukom evanumay intha pakkama kaanumaynu realised after sometime. Karaikku vanthapum thaan solranga..usuala antha fallsla snakes adichikitu varumaam!!! Water snakes!!! YIKES. And right at that moment, saw a bunch of them coiled underneath a rock at the very place i was playing!!! Mayakkamay vanthuruchi. My friend calmly came near me and asked me to look at the top of the falls. Naanum appavia anga paraak pakkarappo he swatted my shoulder. Ennada matter nu paatha, all the while i had been hosting a huge beetle like insect on me!!! Ithuku melayum adventure thaangathu saami sollitu mootai kattified from there. The fact that i had an insect on me and the snakes became point of discussion throughout the trip back. We almost missed July 4th fireworks in that arattai!!

Ennadaa ivan..LKG pasanga pora mathiri excursion poittu essay adikaaran pakareengala :)  All these days i've been under the impression that, being embarrassed is the worst thing that can happen to me. Ofcourse, it still is. Aana, i've realised the huge difference between being afraid of something and being shy to try something. And moreover, intha mathiri goofy incidents are those which really gel people. Being a clean slate is boring. If we are not comfortable to laugh at the mistakes we do, aduthavanga sirikarachay azha thaan thonum. Atleast antha mathiri narrate pananvachum naalu incidents venum and athukagavachum appo appo intha mathiri madathanama yethaachum try pannanumn thonuthu.

There had been many things that i had avoided in my life athula rendu inga vantha first 3 monthsla try panniachu. Onnu intha mathiri water games rendavathu and most important one - cooking :) Ingenthu kelambrathukulla i hope i can tick off few more from that bucket list of mine.