" The Subansari river is the biggest tributary of the Upper Brahmaputra. For more than a hundred kilometres, the river passes through verdant wilderness untouched by roads and isolated from habitation. So one gets to see nature and wildlife in its raw beauty and at its most primal. I had been following an adventure company’s expeditions on the Subansari for many years, but when I contacted them, they said the trip for 2017 was on the river Siang ( also in Arunachal Pradesh) and not Subansari. Suddenly a few days before the trip, the company contacted saying the Siang river had suddenly become muddy with sediments and rafting was not possible on it . So the expedition was being shifted to Subansari. I was so thrilled at my dream wish having come true! Only 200 people had rafted down this river before us. This was perhaps my last chance to visit this beautiful place before the pristine route, along with its flora and fauna, got submerged by the dam being built downriver.
We were a group of four Indians and an Englishman named Al, along with a support staff of nine . No roads alongside the river meant we had to carry all supplies along with us too. While travelling to the river in a jeep , we were narrated stories of the tribes in Arunachal Pradesh who were still not very friendly with the outside world. One story was about the massacre of a British regiment in pre-independent India which left Al very nervous. The tribal locals are fond of a drink called Apong each evening which makes them boisterous. The support staff advised us to not go chatting with the locals to be on the safer side.
We were a group of four Indians and an Englishman named Al, along with a support staff of nine . No roads alongside the river meant we had to carry all supplies along with us too. While travelling to the river in a jeep , we were narrated stories of the tribes in Arunachal Pradesh who were still not very friendly with the outside world. One story was about the massacre of a British regiment in pre-independent India which left Al very nervous. The tribal locals are fond of a drink called Apong each evening which makes them boisterous. The support staff advised us to not go chatting with the locals to be on the safer side.
The first night we crossed the river and camped on the river bank. As we sat on the bank, we saw two boys come from the village to the river and there was a huge blast. We were startled but were reassured that the blast was from the dynamites the boys had put in the river to catch fishes. But the blast unnerved Al even further.
It got dark and we retired for the night in our respective tents. It was pitch dark with our torches being our only source of light. Suddenly, I heard a blood curdling scream! I came out of the tent and my torchlight fell on Al frantically filling up his socks with stones and small rocks - the only self-defence weapon he could think of! As it turned out, one of the support staff had the habit of shouting in his sleep ! "
With Sonali Ogale
With Sonali Ogale
Picture credit : Sonali Ogale
First time I am visiting this blog and the gripping first post has riveted me to this blog.It has all the emotions,curiosity,adventure,scare and finally a smile.I would not have ventured into this rafting in a desolate stretch with no roads and human habitation except the unfriendly tribals who become boisterous. It calls for daring.I hope it has more posts to follow.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Mr Parthasarathi. This new blog is a year long project of sharing real life experiences /stories I have heard from my family, friends. I hope to publish one each week. Keeping my fingers crossed!
DeleteAnd yes! my friend is very daring indeed and I so admire her. So had to start the blog with one of the countless experiences from her life.