Shaam-E-Dostana: Tying a harmony knot through music

Heart’s earnest desire always comes true: Sonu ji tathaastoo-ed my burning wish to watch him live again in 2016! Sonu ji has always used his music as a healing instrument to bring a spectrum of social issues to light : like tribal children funding, transgender equality, Tihar idol, swachcha bhaarat, only to name a few. Indo-Pak harmony is a cause that he has been attached to through various means: be it Shaam E Dostana with Atif Aslam, Chhote Ustaad with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, or respecting the freedom of Pakistani singers in India (unlike many singers who vehemently oppose it!). Not to forget, all this after he and his family narrowly escaped a bomb blast during his Pakistan concert. Kudos and a Big Salute to Sonu ji’s love and amnesty!

The show took off with the Pakistani heartthrob Atif Aslam entertaining us with his hit numbers like Woh lamhe, Tu jaane na, Piya o re piya. A style unique to himself, he totally wooed the youngsters to sing, dance and crowd up near the stage towards the end of his performance. But I, like many others was waiting for the second leg of the concert: So, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Sonu Nigaaammm!” (Quote ref: Tu)

Kicking off with Jeene ke hain chaar din music, the orchestra and dancers set the stage for the much awaited performance. Like Sonu ji himself, ‘Magnificence’ is what defines his entire troupe. Sparkling disco lights shone helped Sonu ji sneak onto the stage singing Shukran Allah. Clad in a slick red jacket, Sonu ji was greeted in high spirits by his blaring delirious fans. He warmly reciprocated his love to the crowd, continuing with – Nazron se nazrein.. One would only be amazed by his gamak-ing and breath holding skills listening to Mera Rang De. It’s only his voice that can move me to tears, make me smile and have goosebumps in awe – all at the same time.

Now and then, Sonu ji played with the orchestra and dancers, graciously introducing and applauding them. My most favourite bits were his classical touches to the Bollywood numbers which are exclusive to his concerts. Climbing higher scales, he levitated the ending of the fast-beat Soniyo to a different level altogether. He enjoyed musically teasing the audience before finally giving in to Main agar kahun, the prominent tabla beats in the antaraa sounded lovely. Junta’s excitement was apparent when Sonu ji announced the genre switch to masti numbers.  Swapping between old and new peppy songs like Dil maangta hai to Kajra mohabbat waala made sure everyone from oldies-youngsters-kids shook a leg on the dance floor. His style and elegance is par excellence; dancing and singing with the audience and not a whiff of breath on the microphone left us all astounded.

Now came the song I have been yearning to listen to live, a prayer that he only sings for lucky audiences like ours – Abhi Mujh mein kahin… All instruments played their roles towards this beautiful composition, although the keyboard and violin distinctly struck a chord (pun intended!). Sonu ji’s soulful offering was savoured in silence – it was beyond divinity. He brings the concluding ‘Ab hai saamne’ to the lower octave and deftly makes a transition in mar jaun ‘yaaaaaaa’ to the octave higher: I WILL EAT MY HAT IF THIS DOESN’T BLOW YOUR MIND!! Sonu ji’s ease of playing with the notes, pitch and breath belies the arduous concerted effort by his vocal chords and lungs. He pushes his endurance beyond boundaries – he probably creates energy by defying the law of conservation of energy! Time constraints made it a rapid fire concert, nevertheless watching Sonu Nigam perform live is a lifetime experience….

Aslam bhai joined Sonu ji towards the end when they paid tribute to music from both countries; segueing and knitting together beautiful melodies like lambi judaai, kya hua tera vaada, hothon se etc. It was lovely watching the duo perform together and how music can create belongingness, thus asserting ‘Sarhadein insaano ke liye hain’.. – sangeet ke liye nahi.. Now I am becoming greedier with every concert: May Sonu ji ‘amen’ my next aim to attend his ‘Klose to my heart’ concert soon. 

SG Diwali: Memory Down the Lane

We are now into third year of UTown Diwali celebrations: huge group of friends and extended members, potluck dinner, antakshari, dumb charades, chatting away the whole evening - it has indeed become a tradition we eagerly look forward to. This year was different in some ways, we ordered yummy indian food and just took chill pill. Pratik and Ranjit played quiz masters for 'bollywood dialgues' and 'general knowledge' games, with much thought and effort put in, it was great fun! Many of us in our final years, might or might not be a part of THE Utown Diwali bash next year. And.. I won't be a part of NT #10-208 next diwali, and my heart wrenches at the very thought of that. That gave me this idea to compile these legendary diwali celebrations, the memories we will always cherish. Pardon me for the cheesy background songs, but that's as much I love you guys and miss all this. (Some of the pictures are distorted: ignore the quality, reminisce the memory!)

Photo Courtesy: Dipanjan, Pratik, Krishna, Minnah, and ofcourse me!

Let's Kindle the Fire to read

Kindle, one of my most prized possessions, was gifted by my brother when I didn’t even know e-book readers existed! Anjan had pre-loaded it with enough fodder for reads and I absolutely loved every feature on this gadget. I went on to buy the next generation when I lost this Kindle on a flight, and I now own the super light Kindle Paperwhite (PW).

My friends around never fancied reading on Kindle earlier due to various reasons, but have now developed a great liking to it. There must be more than one good reason that Kindle has makes its customers so happy? Though you might miss the feel and smell of flipping through the pages of a new book, the pros of Kindle outweigh the cons much convincingly. Reading generally sedates me; to get up to switch lights off at that point can be quite disturbing and lethal to sleep. The inbuilt light on PW obviates the need to keep lights on at night while reading and you can drop the e-reader the moment sleep comes in. Primarily being an activity before going to sleep, it’s troublesome to keep changing sides on bed while reading right and left pages on a harcdopy, the sleeky reader saves efforts here as well. Not to forget its e-ink feature, which makes reading experience least stressful to eyes (just like a normal book), unlike flashing tabs and phones.

One generally comes across unfamiliar words while reading and this necessitates looking up a dictionary, I’m too lazy at times to do and save it for later. A directly linked downloaded dictionary, enables checking meanings and related information instantaneously by long pressing the word, this is one of my favorite features. The capacity to store a lot of books in this lighter-than-mobile device, allows voracious readers to read multiple books at a given period, saving the burden of carrying individual hard copies. The same applies to the library of books that occupy a significant amount of space in a limited room and all the hassle of shifting/shipping while making a move. Most importantly, this eco-friendly digital technology saves tonnes of papers killing hundreds of trees. Battery consumption is minimal, so Go Green!

While it’s a boon for readers, the low price kindle editions probably put the authors at disadvantage, which has initiated library rentals for e-books.  As a reader, I totally believe it’s a worthwhile investment to make your reading experience much exciting, convenient and enriching.

                 Musical High with the Maestro: Sonu Nigam

My boundless excitement and thrill to attend this much awaited concert after 6 long yrs was evidently palpable; all my friends bear a testimony to that. To keep the enthusiasm mounting, a hand made October calendar flew onto my fridge magnet, counting down to the concert day (10^th Oct), striking every day off by the midnight. The D day saw me able to focus little on my work with periodic whatsapp chats with friends for evening plans. Reaching the venue, Vinaya, Lavanya and I, being just a few rows away from the stage, were almost jumping on the seats imagining the legend live, conveniently ignoring the stares from people around. With a mindblowing orchestra set on stage playing a warm up piece, MC for the evening Shruthy Menon welcomed the audience and there came on stage Jonita Gandhi. Winner of Sonu ji’s MJ contest, Jonita kicked off the show with a few hit numbers like Main Pareshaan, Dum maaro dum etc. 

The auditorium was jam-packed to capacity; with a burst of adrenaline rush on, it was an impatient wait to see the man of the evening on stage. Dazzling dancers first made an entry blocking centre of the stage, when THE melodious voice from background went live with a beautiful aakar leading to Shukran Allah. The group swiftly gliding aside, exposed the Star of the Evening- SONU NIGAM; he was greeted by a deafening cheer and hoot by thousands of crazy fans. Ever-charming and ageing like wine, Sonu ji was decked in all-black attire, he paused a bit-- courteously acknowledging the audience, further continuing with the song. Sonu ji being an improvisation king, can twist the song in a way so as to keep the crowd guessing – next on the list was Mera Rang De with his brilliant modulations. A series of slow, melodious songs like Mannat, Sun zara, Chanda ki doli followed; scintillating lights falling complementing the song pace. One of the most powerful skills he possesses is engaging and interacting with the crowd, which totally keeps them bound and captivated. Giving the audience an opportunity to sing in one of my favourites- Tere haath mein, the fans threw themselves together into giving their best singing. Getting his hands running on his Pianica he shree ganesh-ed one of his most recent “Dildaara”; thanks to twitter I’m all updated with new ones too.   The music of what seemed like “Soniyo”, went onto one of the most soulful romantic songs- Chori kiya re jiya, with the audience swaying into the music. Yes! The divine out-of-the-world hit in Sonu ji’s voice, Soniyo followed it with the graceful dancers back on stage. Wittily enough, Sonu ji just stopped when the guys held female dancers on their shoulders, taunting them- “Kahaa tha, auratein bhaari padti hain”, leaving the audience of the lion city roaring in laughter. He ended Soniyo so beautifully taking “Tu bas de de mera saath” to higher scales and reaching highest octaves, leaving us all spellbound with his ability to recast every song in a different manner. 

 

Well aware of people’s itching ichcha to dance, Sonu ji started with his high energy numbers calling it “asliyat pe utar aana”. A hybrid of retro lyrics, “Pyaar hua, Iqraar hua” from Rab ne.. got the audience on their feet, he effortlessly blending in some yesteryear hits like Sapno ki raani, bachna ae haseeno. Bringing in some humour, he mimicked a section of audience who had their hands rigidly clasping their cheeks, some of who seemed like attending a “Satyanarayana Puja”, encouraging them to leave their inhibitions to dance. He was also impressed with and appreciated the audience participation and synchronizing calling us a surili janta, while honestly it sounded harshly cacophonic contrasting with his melodious voice. Then came a super lively song Dil maangta hai, merging in Kajra Mohabbat waala; it was an awesome combo which woke up even the zombies from their slumber to come onto the floor. Jonita joined Sonu ji at this point for a couple of duet songs like Mahi ve, Bole Chudiyan, with some amazing dancing in the background; though went less noticed owing to the show stealer Sonu ji. He shared with us his challenging musical journey he started at the age of four, ofcourse there was a short teaser of his impeccable mimicry of singers, making the audience split their sides. There followed an amazing mix of old and new songs, subtly amalgamating different emotions, leaving us gasping for more. The most awaited song took its turn- Bijuriya, with crowd dying to watch Sonu ji do the famous step; his control on his breath simultaneously singing and dancing was beyond commendable. Style personified, his hands and legs were moving as fast as a buzzing bee in rhythm with the percussion beats, he simply left us in awe of him. Organizers of the day thanked and felicitated Sonu ji, he paid tribute to Jagjit Singh ji singing “Hothon se choo lo tum, Jagjit amar kar do”, marking his third death anniversary.

 

Sonu ji generously dedicated last leg of the concert to “Janta ki Farmaishein”, when his fanatics took their liberties to crowd up near the stage, catching a closer glimpse of him. Sonu ji being audience friendly, shooed the security away, allowing them to dance, swing, scream, some of them jumping to touch his hands (I remember when this happened with me 8 yrs ago, I didn’t wash my hand for 2 days!). From a rocking yeh dil deewana, he smoothly transited into a meditative state, dedicating “Abhi mujh mein kahin” to his mother, with everyone in rapt attention respecting its sanctity. The concert concluded with the song that hardly any Indian would be unaware of- Kal ho na ho, with a bit of somberness pervading through the air anticipating the end of this magical night. It would have been delightful to watch the Kolaveri rockstar Nevaan who sometimes accompanies Sonu ji, singing dauntlessly in front of huge audiences. I’ve had the opportunity to attend three concerts of his, each being uniquely memorable in its own way. Master of all trades, a nifty concoction of music, dance, wit, humour and mimicry makes him an absolute performer. It’s a task to comprehend his skills and innovativeness- he’s a music software/technology who can stretch at ease to a range of voices at any scale, pitch, frequency of humans and instruments: Massive respect.

 

I had a second time privilege to meet this human I have admired, loved, respected and looked upto ever since I can remember myself. With not an iota of pride being the most idolized contemporary singer, Sonu ji treated me like a kiddo friend; calling him humble would be an under statement. The meeting was surreal: it was unimaginable to have a casual conversation with this celebrity who is worshipped worldwide and was thronged with a multitude of crazy fanatics just ten minutes ago. I was shocked to know Sonu ji was ailing and on antibiotics for the past week and still performed with great gusto as he would have otherwise: a non-stop 3 hour blast performance. I’m still recuperating from the hangover of the musical high on Friday, with Sonu ji’s magnetic voice resonating in my ears. Wishing him a speedy recovery and hoping that his next concert here happens before I finish my doctoral studies (2016)!

Knock Knock #10-208- Its 2^nd Anniversary Oredi!

Last few months have been quite uneventful to have found a place in my blogs, but time spent at home with flatmates doing random stuff has been wonderful. Two whole years flew away, with people, celebrations and memories turning this apartment into a homely haven. Mrinal and I were the first ones to move in, the initial months restricted to cold and formal hi-byes. Little did I know, that an overnight ice breaking conversation a couple of months later, would make her one of my dearest friends here. Six months later, Priyanka became a part of our family, to readily put up with a light sleeper (me) affecting her nocturnal nature. An ardent cook like Mrinal, second semester witnessed unprecedented religious cooking sessions almost every evening. One year passed happily, and it was time to welcome a new flat mate, all of us hoping for a like minded one. In fact, we even talked out that the new one has to accommodate acc to us, as the three of us were already living together agreeably. Then came Satarupa (Satty) – coincidentally an extended friend’s sister; we hit off well right on Day 1 knowing we shared the same school memories without even knowing each other- it’s THE Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) nostalgia. There started a beautiful journey with us four spending fun-filled times together, putting up with each other’s eccentric sides, comforting and taking care in the needy times, sharing each other’s “dark” secrets, gossip-gyaan (G&G) sessions and much more..

One of the reasons we have fun together is all the four of us work in different departments, and hence it’s a treat to spend time together sharing everyday’s happenings, news around, work stress etc. This usually happens over a cup of cold Milo at night on the couch adjoining the window; the view from the couch being one of the amazing things about our apartment location. A certain kind of humour (owing to some secrets) has grown within us four; with even a cue of it in presence of others, can leave us convulsed in laughter. For a healthy and destressing time back home after work, it helps to have understanding flatmates with good chemistry. Regardless of who’s throwing a party and who are invited- ours is one of the rare houses with a decent participation from all the four of us in every aspect of the event.

Initially all of us possessed inherently different characteristics and habits, now some of them are modified, hybridized or changed. According to the 3-time CSIR scholar (once not eligible) Mrinal Shah, Michelangelo phenomenon explains how people living/spending time together sculpt each other’s personality and behavior. One of the most tangible changes has been in our sleep cycles. I have always been an early to sleep (10ish) person, whereas Mrinal, Satty and Priyanka have been primarily nocturnal (1-2 pm sleepers). There have been alternate cycles where three of them converted to my timings. But now, almost all of us have synchronized our sleep cycles by averaging it out to sleeping at around 12 am. One of the reasons for which is also post dinner gossiping and “stating facts” about incidents.

Mrinal has inculcated in 3 of us the habit of brushing teeth at night; it’s a ritual to brush together, and not let the kin sleep before brushing; kudos! Satty is the bollywood storyteller, unsaid that she’ll make the coffee and breakfast- she’s the kiddo of our house. Priyanka has been my gyaan giver in my long dental ordeal; accompanying me during my tooth extraction, advising me on pain management. All of them looked after me in every possible manner during that painful period. I’ve felt so much at home and being taken care in the most trying times I’ve been here. Besides the amenities the swanky UTown offers, having such flatmates is “cake on the icing”.

Of course being girls, we all have indulged in trying fancy dresses, self + mutual obsession, hair styling, clicking pictures, having an impromptu girls outing on a school night (Monday!). The Friday night begins; our neighbours downstairs already start dreading thinking “Crazy party on the weekend begins”! We do make it a point to have atleast one meal over the weekend together, be it even breakfast; its usually filled with random conversations, singing songs that can be heard till atleast 2 levels below, watching a sitcom, Utown gossip etc.. With this unique comfort level and chemistry developed amongst us four, we earnestly wish to stay together till the end of our PhD’s. Cheers to us!

Hen’s Night with Chics, Theme: Russia

With one week to go for Joy’s D Day, we planned a bachelorette party for her, trying to incorporate some Russian element with every activity we did (She’s marrying a Russian!). Joy had no clue about it: was a surpriseee!

Aicha, Joy and I headed to the “2 degree Ice Art Exhibition”, located in proximity to the Bayfront MRT on a warm Saturday evening. Aicha explained to Joy the reason why we chose this: to make Joy get acquainted with the cold climate in Russia (No, she isn’t moving there so soon..). Fastening the long fluffy rented jackets, we entered the exhibition experiencing the sudden transition in temperature from 35˚C to what felt way below -5˚C. The exhibition had a display of monuments from all over the world sculpted in ice, with colourful background lights. Starting with a statue “Father of Singapore: Raffles”, there were various ice carved tourist attractions of Singapore like Merlion, Singapore flyer, Raffles hotel etc. There were a few famous ones from rest of the world like, Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, I must say I was surprised not to find Taj Mahal!

It was around 15 mins by the time we spotted the ice slide, Aicha refused to join us. Joy and I went up climbing stairs, with slippery surface and all crushed ice into my shoes, my legs were literally frozen and started to ache. Aicha and Joy have weathered such extreme temperatures, and wasn’t a big deal at all. Having experienced only tropical climates of late, I was shivering throughout and could even feel my teeth getting sensitive in the frigid air. It was a situation similar to Bikram Hot Yoga (42˚C) that I did last week, both having polar temperatures: I simply wanted to run away from the room to normal temperature.

 

Joy quickly did one normal slide along the sides, Aicha captured it on phone, and immediately we just rushed out: it was so difficult to run with my legs almost numb! We enquired from outside what the inside temperature was: it was -15˚C; misnomered to “2 degree ice art exhibition”! We just munched some snacks to warm ourselves up, by the time Joy’s friend Bilge joined us. We made a second (last permitted) entry into the exhibition and re-visited the initial part quickly, taking a lot of selfies; which was the only fun part. This time I joined Joy for the bumpy ice slide, we had to sit in the tire and slide down: this area predominantly had kids aged 8-10 years, so we moved ahead. By this time again it was icey cold, with the time-space continuum, it was hard to guess which parameter was more crucial.

We came out with all frosted peripheral ends reddened, for one time relieved to feel and breathe in the warm humid Singapore weather. We went to the Ice bar adjacent for having a shot of the almost Russian national drink: Vodka. With around the same temperature inside, the girls ordered Vodka shots, whereas I tried the beer in ice-mugs. Vodka shots were ofcourse quickly gulped, but I still needed their help to finish my chilly bitter beer. Following which, we proceeded to ice wall where the ice mugs had to be smashed at to be crushed into pieces: sole reason for me having beer!

It was great to have Aicha organize this, she being a vegetarian chose a Russian restaurant which had considerable veg options as well. The restaurant looked elegant with an affable modish waiter (Indian!) serving us, who specially customized menu for us on request. We started off with potato and mushroom stuffed Veraniky, with Russian bread on the side. Each of us ordered a drink, raising a toast to the end of Joy’s bachelorhood. I followed Aicha’s suggestions, she being a wine connoisseur, whereas Bilge and Joy ordered cocktails. We realized it was such a multi-national group: one German, Turkish, Taiwanese and Indian each with no Singaporean! Random conversations filled in the dinner: Intercultural differences, Industry vs academia, marriage, some jokes too! Everyone else except me got their maincourse orders soon enough, and the waiter was sweet enough to serve me as well some eggplant wraps for that time so that I wasn’t left alone; that was enough for the girls to start teasing me.

The waiter let us taste different wines before we could choose which one to go for next; red wine it was. By that time, I already started feeling funny in my head, so Aicha and Bilge strictly did not let me have much of the red wine before I finished a glass of water. Being a bit tipsy, I was too dazed to notice that Bilge actually took away the glass from me, and made me finish my dinner and had some bread. The waiter, who had a sound knowledge on wines, and did recognize Aicha to be a wine fanatic showed her around the various wine bottles they had preserved since 1900’s, a couple of which were known to have been on the Titanic. In sometime, a live band started playing and singing some music, but we already had to leave.

We then spent sometime in a bar at Clarke quay, drinking and talking on random topics. I felt slightly unwell, and had to make a move first. Others went clubbing until early morning and had a lot of fun; apparently here too the waiter played a significant role. It was such a memorable evening spent with company where everyone hit off well and comfortable; different ideas, opinions, conversations, sense of humour: it was refreshing! We all wish the bride a Joyful and fun-filled marriage and togetherness with her husband! 

                                  Aping the Primate - Adventure!

After spending a couple of anxious days overthinking if I should go ahead with the Forest Adventure, I finally decided for it, mainly because my friends Pratik, Aicha- Peter would be leaving Singapore soon. Feng Wei (FW) who initiated the plan tagged a friend along; My friend Satty jumped on hearing the word “Adventure”, and was excited to join us without even dwelling on what the courses consisted of. So it was a multi ethnic group of seven adventurers, all set to embark on the venture in Bedok forest!

We were dot on time (12:45 pm), and after signing the indemnity form, we headed straight to the safety briefing. The instructor explained and demonstrated to us the way to use the carabiner, pulley, interpreting the signage boards etc. I volunteered to demo the wearing of the safety harness and headgear, wasn’t as big a deal though. Being the most apprehensive of the whole lot, I dictated the sequence in which we would journey the whole trail, making sure every girl has a guy on atleast one of the sides’, FW being the first, and Pratik being the last.

The grand course consisted of four sites, each with increasing level of difficulty. The first site was essentially to register in mind the usage of the different safety systems, learning and applying the skills in a less risky course, while the instructor was monitoring us constantly. Anyone who violates two of the “don’t” or “do’s” rules, is kicked out of the course, so one couldn’t really afford to be mindless. All the sites started with climbing onto a tree with a rope ladder, I literally shivered while doing the first one, and Satty helped by holding the rope tight from below. It was followed by walking on a rope and finally a mini zipline to learn to steadily land cycling on the sandpits. During the later part of the same site, we climbed a longer rope ladder to a circle platform surrounding the tree. Securing the Pulley and Carabiner on the rope, we jumped from the platform swinging fast and landing on a cargo net, from where we climbed up the web like Spiderman to land on a tree platform. At all times, we would make sure there are two people on the same platform to ensure the locking systems were secured in the right manner and  bid a bye to the next person! Seeing me anxious, Peter would make sure I understand what all to do next before he leaves, whereas poor Pratik who took care of Satty, had nobody to check on him. Every site ended with super fast ~100 m long zipline running above the Bedok reservoir water, landing on the other side into the cushioned bed of sand.

Site 2 started with the rope ladder onto the tree, the first task of which was a child’s play- walking on the rope with wires on either side to hold on to. Peter and FW took the longer and complicated route whereas the rest of us did the V-shaped 2-obstacle path. Now came the task which freaked me out the most- walking on a rope with other ropes hanging from up to pull. Initially I held onto the loose and unstable rope where I had my pulley attached, and realized that I couldn’t balance myself. Aicha who was already on the other side, was screaming that I should hold onto the higher hanging ropes as they are tighter. At one time, I was shivering and shaking so much, Satty and Aicha could see how frightened I was and tried to buck me up. I tried to grab the hanging rope on one side, and couldn’t reach the other one, so clung on to the rope with my teeth. Had I lost the grip, I wouldn’t have fallen down, but it would have been so difficult to have made a come back – I anyway would have to be on my own to save myself. With my hands sweaty and panting, I let my breath normalize before I started taking measured steps again, and there came and end to my seemingly eternal trauma. Satty and Pratik managed this one with no trouble. As Aicha says its less about fitness/strength and more about the fear in the head.

Site 3 was the longest, most complicated and demanding of all the sites, it was however more doable for me than the previous one! There were different kinds of obstacles connecting the trees, each one being challenging in its own way. Having Peter ahead of me was indeed helpful, but it was always misleading as he would finish every task effortlessly, leaving me baffled and unable to perceive the difficulty level! Most of the obstacles consisted of placing one foot on the circular rope/small bamboo blocks, resting the weight on the hands to place the other foot forward. One of the most difficult ones had hanging metallic rings to place one foot on, where the taller ones having longer legs were definitely advantaged. This course also concluded with a swift zipline, which was the most relaxing bit of every site.

We took a short break after this to moisten our throat with chilled water, whereas FW went on to finish the last set of tasks soon after. Site 4 mostly had milder repetitions of earlier obstacles and thus was quite a relief. There were again two options to go ahead with. Peter went ahead with the Tarzan Swing, which was a 2m free fall, then swinging and dashing into the Cargo net with a high speed; our little daredevil Satty and Pratik followed doing the same. Whereas Aicha and I evaded this path to do normal rope swing to complete the remaining common obstacles. Except Peter, all of us landed on our butts during the last leg of zipline, which concluded the two+ hour forest adventure.

 

Climbing the trees, jumping from one to another; reinforced the fact that during the process of evolution, man has still retained some skills from our ancestors. I highly recommend everyone should experience this kind of adventure atleast once in lifetime to test the strength of your core muscles, and experience the adrenaline rush through your body while adventuring!

My video falling on the Zipline

Adventurous Uttara on Flying Fox!