GARDEN OF EDEN

Sometimes strange experiences teach you a lot about life. I owe this strange feeling to Garden of Eden at shooting point, Lonavala. After years I finally gave in for a trek. I was nervous and had no idea how Garden of Eden would look like. I had no plans to meet my Adam there, but certainly childhood memories came back to life. The stream was rough and the rains made it tougher.  We started with hope in our eyes to make it to the waterfall. As we were heading downwards, I was taken aback as I saw the water gushing down through hell of rocks. Even though I had my buddies guiding me and making sure that I was safe, I knew I had to take the leap of faith. When I held Maxim’s hand, he told me that the rocks were steadier than him. He asked me to have faith and keep moving down. Lesson 1: Faith has to be like a rock, it helps you become stable in life. I kept moving down with the support of the rocks. I slipped at one point and injured my ankle. Lesson 2: Never complain. I believed that my ankle was fine and moved on. I held a rock which was shaky and it made me think if it was a good option to hold on to it. Since it was not that heavy, I took it off from that place and placed it on the other side. Lesson 3: You have the power to choose. There came a point where I had only one way to get through and that was sliding down between two rocks. Lesson 4: Make best of what you have. It was getting more challenging as I was moving down the stream. I halted at one place which I loved the most. It made me feel like heaven. I held a tiny rock which looked magical to me. I called it , “rock of faith”. I felt like I was dreaming. Lesson 5: Experience the beauty of nature, it helps you appreciate yourself as you too are a creation. Finally, with all the strange encounters I reached the water fall. I had to take one step down and I would achieve my goal. It wasn’t that easy. I had to hang myself to a huge rock, then step on a rock which I couldn’t see. And to add on I had water rushing over my head. It was hurting and it also made me partially unconscious. I had Nirmal and Addy helping me to get there. Lesson 6: Take help. It is amazing when you complete your journey. Lesson 7: When you achieve your goal just celebrate. Don’t think what you went through. It was now time to get back to the top. Lesson 8: You might face difficulties when people pull you down. But at times it is easy to reach on top. My buddies played a great role to help me cross the first hurdle. The last step to make it to the waterfall was not easy and taking that very step in reverse to get on top was a nightmare. As I was trying to get on top with the help of my buddies, the hit of the water on my head, ear and nose made me unconscious. I couldn’t see anything and as I was falling back from the climb Leah said something that changed everything. She said, “Marina you have to move up, no turning back”. Lesson 9: Don’t fear, take a risk in life. I heard what she said and took that leap of faith. Lesson 10: Listen. I had no idea what I would gain or lose after that leap over that huge rock. When I came up I looked back down. Lesson 11: You never lose anything in life because you never had anything to lose. That moment I valued the gift of life. If you are breathing you can do anything in this world. Thank you Fr. Roy and AICUF NO Camp 2011 buddies. Lesson 12: Don’t  mind as nothing matters.