Alaska Diaries - Friend's Nightmare becomes my Beautiful reality!

So we had planned to end our trip by Kayaking next to the Aialik Glacier. It was a full day trip with a water taxi ride of 2.5 hrs one way, about 4 hours of Kayaking and then 2 hours back to Seward. We started at 7:30 AM from Seward, and were back at 6:30 PM in the evening.

From the shore where we started kayaking

Well, I don't know what makes me pick up some of these activities, considering that I don't know swimming, neither have I kayaked ever in my life. So to try this for the first time in an open ocean, was let's put it as Stupid. Hey, but it is me, and most of the times logic does not work well with me. And precisely the reason that my parents hear about it from me only after I get through it safely, to relieve them of the burden of being worried for me the whole time.

Anyway, so I was paired with Jacob, a college grad who was alone on this Kayaking tour. My friend and his wife were on another Kayak, and our guide Ryan on his Kayak. We started kayaking by the shore on the left till the glacier, while the other kayaking groups were going to head through the middle of the bay area till the glacier; and then each one of crossing over to the other path; making a loop; and not getting in each other's way.

While kayaking by the shore, almost an hour into kayaking, we were almost close to the Glacier, when we spotted a black bear, getting out of the water onto the shore, picking berries on its way. Ryan, the Guide is pretty fascinated by the bears, so were we. We kayaked pretty close to the shore; let's say Ryan and my kayak were just around 200-250 meters away from the shore. My friend and his wife, they stayed far off behind us, and did not close in. Apparently, they were trying to stop me as well from getting closer, if only I paid any attention :D

Anyway, I asked Jacob "You think we can Kayak further close to the shore".

Jacob asked Ryan "You think we can kayak faster than the bear if the bear swam towards us"

Hahaha - I had got my answer in his question :D

Ryan replied "Of course we can"

Aialik Glacier view

But we stayed where we were 200 meters away, looking at the bear through binoculars that Ryan had handed over to us. It was walking towards us picking the berries (or whatever) from the shrubs, but I kept telling myself, "well it just got out of the cold water, I don't think he or she will get into water again to attack us" Well, in times of fear try whatever makes you stronger right :D

So all good, we stayed there for about 15 mins or so, and then started kayaking towards the glacier. Had a mesmerizing experience of kayaking in rain, Glacier Calving, that thundering sound, the rainbow over hills, those small floating pieces of ice on water as you come up close to the glacier. And of course the wildlife like Whales, Otters, Puffins, Bears, Sea gulls, Starfish, Sea lions. It definitely is a much different experience than seeing glacier from the flight or hiking it or ice climbing it; and I must admit, by far the best experience of all elements of nature one can have.

Here is the video from Kayak Adventures Worldwide, the group we signed up with for the Kayaking day tour; pretty much sums up everything I was lucky enough to see and experience. I am yet to scan my Gopro videos, and given my schedule, I don't think I can get to them until Christmas holidays :) I have the video of the Bear closing in, will upload it when I get a chance.

https://youtu.be/HyhGfAYSJPc

On the way back, in the water taxi, my friend starts the conversation "We kept calling you, to stop you from going so close to that bear. You weren't listening."

I was like "Well, what happened? I dint find it so intimidating, and even if I did, I was here to experience every bit of it."

And then they shared their story. Couple of months back my friend had a nightmare; this was when we had not even planned this trip yet. He woke up middle of the night quite shaken by the nightmare. He said, he saw that he, his wife and some third person , he dint know who, were boating next to a hill. And they see this huge bear coming down the hill towards them. They start boating as fast as they could, but the bear was catching up on them pretty fast. And that's when he woke up.

I was gaping at them with my mouth kinda open in amazement. They were like "When we saw you kayaking so close to the shore, we just had the nightmare replay in our mind over and over again. That's why we were so scared to kayak closer, and then we could see that the third person was you, and you were going so close, we were really worried"

Hmmm. I din't know what to say. I don't know, if I knew of this before, would it have changed anything (considering how lost I get in nature at times). But nevertheless, for me it was a beautiful experience to see the bear so up close, open in the nature, doing its thing and me out there completely vulnerable.

So a nightmare, turned out to be an improvised beautiful experience for me. Might have been a real deal, if the bear really chased us down :D But hey, there are a lot of might haves and could haves in life right. What's strange is how close that dream came to reality; was a nightmare for him but of course a beautiful dream come true for me.

-Sarita
Dated - 26th August 2017

Comments

Ahamasmi Yodha - My First Tattoo

I finally did it. It isn’t a great achievement to show off, but for me it’s one more item on my bucket list getting fulfilled. So I am very happy about it. What did I do? Oh like I said nothing great – I just got my FIRST Tattoo :) My first Tattoo Artist I had done a lot of research on it since last couple of months. I wanted to get it done on my birthday, but it somehow dint work out. For all the first timers, I wanted to list out my personal experience, just in case it helps :) First of all, I felt it will be very helpful if you have some friends who would have got it done already. But I dint have that privilege. So I went through lot of blogs and articles in About.com, Wikihow, YahooAnswers etc… Well Google, the new lord of knowledge :) has all that you need to know. So, in summary, what I got from all these sites were First decide on what you want to get tattooed and where. Go over it again and again, since it is permanent, you will have to live ...

Life... A Blank Page!

Whenever I open a notebook and come across the set of blank pages; my mind goes blank. For some reason, it always reminds me of my life. It forces me to start thinking about my life; about the past and the future. Being part of the age of computers and belonging to the IT industry, I hardly get an opportunity to actually pick a pen and write in the notebook. I write lot of blogs, poems etc… but I write them on the webpage or in Microsoft word in my laptop. Once in a while I like to go back to traditional form of writing; using the actual pen and paper. And in last few years; I noticed that every time I try doing that for some reason the blank paper gets me all philosophical. Although I never have that thought while opening the book; but whenever I see those blank pages; I just go blank. I always feel that my life is staring back at me with all those unanswered silenced questions, doubts, thoughts…forcing me to think – What does my lif...

Zindagi Gulzar Hai - A feast to ones eyes!

Today I am here to make a much interesting comparison of our current Indian TV industry with our neighboring country’s television industry. Interesting because I never thought I would ever engage in watching any of the Pakistan TV series/movies or listening to their music. My disinterest in Pakistan entertainment was not because of the tensed relationship with the country. But I myself am not a big fan of TV serials. The kind of drama that is filled in Indian TV Channels today is just exhausting and tiring to watch. I hardly follow any Indian TV series. When I visit home on vacation, I join my family in watching the program they watch and that’s how I keep myself updated with what is trending in the TV industry. I love listening to music and I listen to all genres of music. I did start listening to Pakistani music since last few years and have admired their music. Strings, Fuzon, Kaavish, Jal, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ghulam Ali, Parveen Abida, Quratulain Baloch and many ...

Uncovered, Not Exposed

After ages of procrastination, I finally decided to try formal art classes. I had always feared that rules would take the fun out of my art. Art is where I go to unwind and let my mind wander, and the idea of placing boundaries in that safe space never sat well with me. But this year, I signed up for weekend spring classes; telling myself to keep an open mind and take in only what resonated. I was intimidated - I didn't know if this would draw me deeper into art or push me away. To my surprise, it was overwhelming, but in the best possible way. The reason for this post is however not to cover my art journey ( I have just started so I will give it some time to settle in ); but instead to capture my thoughts upon observing a profession in real life that I have only watched on screen - Live nude models. And the quiet power of their bare form. I spent an entire day observing nude male and female body for figure drawing, and it blew my mind in ways I had not expected. ...

Alone & Happy, not Lonely!

There's a difference between the two states of being; being alone & being lonely. I am single and have been alone in new places all by myself; with little or no acquaintances; let alone friends. When you are single, it's a common norm for rest of the world to investigate about your companionship needs. Single people are often surrounded with friends and family that give them company. In my case, I have got used to staying alone as well. And trust me I do just fine. I do miss them but I don't get depressed or frustrated when I don't find the company of my friends or family. So I am single and alone and happy. That said, it's not that I don't have friends or I am not social. I am very social, enjoy parties, hangout with friends when I meet them; I am not an introvert, am more of a happy go lucky kinda person. When I say I am alone, I am in company of myself. And I have realized that I enjoy my company a lot, so I never feel lonely. ...

Solitude Meets Homesickness

I get asked a lot about my experience of staying alone. I stay alone, and hardly attend any social events apart from visiting couple of friends, once in 2-3 months. I reserve all my social energy for when am back home, where I throw myself into meeting all the loved ones I grew up with. And that happens once a year (due to Covid, it's over due by 2 years now). Anyway, my standard answer is although it comes naturally to me, to enjoy my solitude (the very definition is to be alone without feeling lonely) , I have learnt that it's not otherwise easy. And it isn't really something that everyone's personality blends into. My natural state of restlessness, forces me to indulge in numerous activities, keeping myself engaged, intrigued and entertained. And with time, it's become next to impossible to allow someone new to enter my personal space - whether as a roommate or a partner. That doesn't mean I am an introvert. If you meet me in a social gathering, you can easil...

तेरा सफ़र , तेरी मंज़िल..

जिस राह पे तू चलता है राही, कभी उसकी मंज़िल को पेहचाना है तूने जहाँ तक तेरी नज़र जाती है, बस वहीँ तक का सफ़र नहीं है तेरा वो जो अनदेखा छिपा है उस मोड़ की आड़ में, उसकी भनक भी नहीं तुझे फिर कैसे तू केहता है " मैं जानता हूँ कहाँ मेरी मंज़िल है" कभी सिर्फ धूप में चला तो कभी शीतल छाओं में कभी दोस्तों के संग मस्ती में तो कभी अकेले अपनी तन्हाई में कभी मेहबूबा की मुहोब्बत में डूबा तो कभी अपने गमों के सागर में पर चाह के भी रुक़ न सका तू, चाह के भी मुड़ न सका तू जिसे तूने मंज़िल समझा वो तो बस एक पड़ाव निकला लाख कोशिश की तूने पर उस पड़ाव पर डेरा ना डाल सका वो सब जो तुझे प्यारे थे पीछे छूट गए , चाह के भी तू उनकी राह पे चल ना सका नए लोगों से नए रिश्तों से बंधता टूटता चला, अपने आपको डून्ड़ता चला तू मुसाफिर है तो ये क्यूँ नहीं मानता की जो राह में तुझे मिले उनका कोई भरोसा नहीं जिस राह पे जिस मौसम में तू चल रहा है वो भी बदल जायेंगे जब तू अपनी मंज़िल पे पहुंचेगा तो पता नहीं किसे संग पायेगा. ...

You don’t know me

You don’t know me. And what you know of me is not even half of who I am. It’s not that I am too private. I say what I feel, and although I am on open book, I am just not too easily readable. But tell me, why would you want to know me? Or rather know EVERYTHING about me? We as humans obsess about knowing everything about each other, especially about the ones we love. We want to believe that we KNOW what they think, what they like, who they are etc.. I think it comes to us naturally. But, we don’t. No matter how close we are, there’s a part of us that’s always too private. That cannot be shared. Sometimes we ourselves don’t know who we are. I believe, you should just be happy with the part they share with you, and who they are when they are around you. And remember, who they are when they are with you depends on who you are around them. There’s always a disclaimer- they are a different person when they are with someone else. And they are a different person when t...

Missing the Golden age of Ghazal & Qawwali!

I was watching Zee Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – a Music competition on YouTube when one of the contestant Ranjit Rajwada sang “ Chupke Chupke Raat Din ” (Ghulam Ali-ji’s Ghazal) and one of the Judge; Shekhar Ravjiani mentioned that now the generation no longer listens to or has interest in Ghazals. And so true it is. I being a South Indian did not have a lot of exposure to Ghulam Ali-ji’s music, but I did grow up listening to Jagjit-ji/Pankaj-ji and have always loved Ghazals. When I started working and going places, mingling with people from different backgrounds, is when I heard Ghulam Ali-ji’s Chupke Chupke for the first time, which was 7 years back. From then I have always maintained a playlist of Ghazals, Qawwalis or Poems of wonderful people like Ghulam Ali, Aziz Nazan, Jagjit Singh, Talat Mahmood, Gulzar, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pankaj Udhas, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Javed Akhtar, Sabri Brothers etc.. They are so meaningful, soulful that you just get immersed in them; immensely pe...

Solving Life like a Rubik's cube!

I had bought Rubik's cube around 4 years back I think, and I would just keep turning it's faces around without any logic to see if color's aligned. I knew there was some trick and logic to solve it; but I never had a deep interest in learning it. So it used to lie around in my house with not much success. Last month, I got an urge to check this off my list. So, I sat watching Youtube videos and reading numerous webpages, learning about various tricks/moves to solve the Rubik's cube. I solved it. Then I scrambled it, to start all over again. I solved it again. I scrambled it again, and redid the process till I memorized it's move so I could solve it without any guidance. During, this process, I learnt something. There were times when I was close to last few steps in solving the cube, then I would make a bad move and cube would get messed up. I would scramble it again, and start over. There was this weird feeling of losing what I have accompli...

When Silence Speaks...

Search This Blog