An Incredible Journey of Discovery!

The journey of discovery!

The final truth!

August 24^th – September 18^th 2012.

4 1/2 years ago as I lay dying, my life's moments flashed before mine eyes and through the blur of pain and humiliation of looking like a leper all that I could ask myself is WHY?

Why me?

Why now? When I had everything going for me? A great job at The Oberoi, a great boss, great challenges and a great life!

When my life was well balanced on every front and Utopia was mine to explore.

A simple 0 had brought my life to naught. 

An incorrect diagnosis, a mistake in the prescription - a 300x3 mg dosage instead of 100x3 mg with the hospital unable to diagnose correctly in time had resulted in me being afflicted with Steven Johnson Syndrome.

Which if undetected within the 48 hour safety window leads to a very painful existence and even death.

After 1 week in hospital during which time they were unable to diagnose the ailment, my skin had suffered 80 degree burns. Due to the toxicity of the dosage my skin had melted and had started to peel off my body, my nails had begun to separate from the epidermis and the mucus cells had got infected. I was now a mass of blood and puss.

Anesthesia, pain killers…nothing helped as I lay writing in pain, delirious and incoherent.

Overnight I transformed from a human being to a rotting piece of flesh, decaying by the day.

Steven Johnson Syndrome! 
A very painful life threatening illness as a result of  incorrect medication! My hand on day 2-Puss infected!

I could not even hold a piece of paper without wincing in pain?

The fresh air that came in through the air-conditioning ducts was like needles tearing through my body inflicting unbearable pain.

The irony of it all:

On 25^th December (2007- 5.00 pm admitted to hospital) when Christ came into the world to save us and take us to heaven and salvation, I entered the gates of hell on a journey that took me to death and back.

And it all came flooding back.

What had I done over 44 years that I deserved any better? 

So what if despite all odds I had succeeded beyond my wildest dreams?

Silenced my critics and pleasantly surprised many?

So what if I had realised most of the materialistic goals that I had set out to acquire.

Had I succeeded as a son, a brother, a husband, a father and a lover?

Had I fulfilled the hopes and dreams of those who loved me, for what I was?

Had I not started my journey causing pain to many- broken many a heart, bloodied a few foes , humiliated those who were unworthy in my eyes the and dashed the dreams and ambitions of my parents?

That of seeing their son succeed as an engineer at Tata Iron and Steel company.

But for me this small town was a prison and I was not going to be caged within the walls of a small town called Jamshedpur.

Shackled within the limitations of an unimaginative existence and a 7-5 job.

But for me the only walls that existed had to be broken down.

Every shackle that tried to hold me down had to be unshackled.

I lost no opportunity to excel and exceed expectations.

A President scout, an all rounder- award winning Javelin thrower, debater, theater artist and a good student. Where even at the age of 32, despite being the youngest student, I had topped the class in an alien country at NUS, Singapore.

Every win for me was the exhilaration. Losing was never an option.

All that mattered was winning. But for me the means was as important as the goal itself. A virtue I inherited from my Father and Mother.

But despite all the bravado, beneath all the highs, had I not inflicted pain on the ones who chose to walk besides me through thick and think with my adventurous and carefree way?

Did I deserve better?

As you sow, so shall you reap!

But now while I lay helpless and useless, in a hospital bed, deeply sedated, the voice of the loved ones spoke otherwise.

God loves you and will bring you back from the brink. God be praised. God?

The figment of a weak mind…hah! , the last straw to grasp before one finally drowned and he looked on with not so much a care in the world.

The only side benefit was that in one  week I shed 20 kilos as I lay fighting for my life.

Now, 5 years on, as I look back I did come back from the brink..on both the personal as also the professional front -From the jaws of death and also from a failure for the first time as an entrepreneur because I gave up without a fight.
I now believe that the past has the answers to what the future course of action I need to take. But I need to unravel the mysteries of  4+ decades of existence on this planet.

Does God really exist?

Do you exist? Are you a figment of collective insecure  imaginations in dire need of the supernatural?

With fancy names and fancier avatars.

Jesus? Ishwar? Vishnu? Allah? Khudah? Brahma?

A chance meeting with Yossi Ghinsberg who survived a death defying 21 days, lost  in the Amazon, friends who died while he was rescued in the nick of time now a motivational speaker who told me that my tryst with death was for a purpose. I listened to him and pooh poohed him.

But then I decided to venture forth on my own journey of discovery.

To the place where Yossi found his peace and his answers.

To the Amazon rain forest in South America.

With a good friend, Akbar- Managing Director of US Pizza, a company I was closely associated with for over a decade.

I set out into the jungle to seek  answers to the existence of God-The Almighty.

To my wife and Mother in law, this was blasphemy, from the lips of an atheist, who God had saved.

But I needed proof that all the misery around, was part of Gods larger game plan, but more importantly that He existed?

He? She? It did not matter. I needed proof.

Show me that you exist!

Show me in the snake.The original sinner who dared to rebel. Show me in an  Anaconda in the Amazon where I now journey forth.
My family was stunned into speechlessness with the audacity and stupidity of my thought. 
But it was a lose statement  to silence the 1 question- Why the Amazon? Why this crazy journey?

But for me this this casual statement became an obsession. 

Show me Oh God that we connect and that like some people who saw in my resurrection the fact that I am here for a greater purpose? Hah!

Are you there my lord, my father? My nemesis, my enemy!

Or are you a mirage in this pain filled world of reality?

Prove to me that you are for real.

Show yourself to me.

The Journey!

Started a journey once again into the unknown, seeking answers, raising questions about the who, the what, the why and the how?
Why is it that I am chosen to suffer unimaginable pain- physical, mental and emotional?

Why is it that every time I am near the pinnacle I am pulled back to the brink.

Why is it that my wife and child who believe in me and love me have to bear the weight of the cross with me?

Why?

Will this journey deep into the jungles of the unknown provide me with answers?

Will the onward journey to the land of the Incas throw light on my own evolution?

Is there a greater purpose?

Is there a destination this time with a place to rest?

With great trepidation and excitement I venture forth into yet another journey of discovery.With a friend who seemingly had it all figured out- one who was at peace with him self and his environment - Akbar, friend philosopher and now fellow traveler.

Day 1:The entire day which lasted just over 24 hours, from 1.56 am on 24th Friday till Sat 25^th August  2.00 am, India time was  spent on 2 aircraft traveling between Bangalore to  Paris and then onto Rio.

Landed in Rio on the 24th at 5.30 pm.

The city like any city in India was bustling with the success of modernisation where Brazil as part of the  BRIC economy was forging ahead of the rest of the world, carving a place for itself in the new order.

With the chasm between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ ever widening.

Friendly people, interesting street food -what lies beneath the first layer is yet to be ascertained.

Day 2:Woke up at 4.22 am and saw the amazing sight of Christ the redeemer looking down on the city with his arms stretched out as if welcoming every resident of Rio, visible from every part of Rio.

Went to sleep and woke up past 8 am and decided to pay Christo a visit. 

Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio:
Oh Lord!  In your death, God forsook you, so that humanity survived?
Why?

Truly a remarkable experience drowned in a crowd of humanity, some visiting to experience the new

wonder of the world  while many  experiencing Christ in their lives at close quarters. The journey by tram provides glimpses of the panoramic view of Rio the city spread out below. But the breath taking view comes from the base of this iconic statue. People from all over the world make a bee line for this place once in Brazil. We spent 7 hours walking the streets, taking a tram, admiring the view from Corcovado, the hill on which rests the statue, and then experiencing the street life of a bustling city.

I was feeling the growing excitement of hitting the jungle  2 days hence and the impatience to explore the unknown getting stronger. We shopped for breakfast and water, with my mind and body set for the journey into the unknown.
Day 3:Sleep evades us once again. We woke up at 5.00, surfed the  net, replied to a few emails.
Oh the travails of modern living.

How on earth did we manage without the cell phone and the internet and survive for so long?

Decided to visit the ‘must visit’ beaches of Rio. Made breakfast of eggs and tea and then off to Copacabana-Rios’ most happening beach. After 30 minutes decided to give our eyes a rest and enjoy the scenic view from the beach. And what a sight!  With temperature at 19 degree C and the water ice cold.This  was such a contrast to  the beaches and the crowd back home in India.

Copacabana was a clean,cold  beach, full of energy, with a sea of humanity cycling, kissing, dancing eating and surfing ...or just day dreaming. But my mind was on the day after..and the experience that awaited us.

Came back after a hearty meal of sea food to a stomach full of pain..we decided to experience the night life..the samba way..but a quick nap of 30 minutes turned into the sleep of the  dead. Fatigue had finally got the better of us.

Woke up past midnight with a throbbing pain in my left shoulder. I guess I had slept in an awkward position. The searing pain brought me to my senses..it was simply unbearable.

Why now? Why should this happen now? WTF?

Why are you even now making things difficult for me?  

The pain refused to go but my thoughts were on the unknown?

Will the pain make the journey possible?

Once again I decided to fight the might of the Almighty. And win. I went back to sleep, wishing the pain away like a bad dream.

Day 4: Woke up early, cooked breakfast, packed and cleaned the house and decided to see the work of a mad painter whose purpose in life was to line a street full of tiles. The pain now unbearable.

Tiles from all over the world.
The madness of a genius.Or a genius gone mad?

Madness! But what a delightful experience of madness! A man with a mission so it seems. I don't think even he had a clue what he was upto. But what a crazy purpose. Line the streets we walk with tiles from across the world?

And to think it caught on and people from across the world came to marvel at his madness and even sent tiles from every nook and corner of the world. There were tiles even from India, We saw a tile with the image Durga Ma and the Nandi bull.
Visited a museum marveled at the paintings on Don Quixote. Reminisced on another mad man as the world remembered, fighting sheep and windmills in his mind. We returned back and boarded the bus to the airport, with bevies that took ones breath away. But the mind was on the journey into the unknown. 

Took off for Manaus, the gateway to the jungle.

Landed in Manaus late at night. The pain in my arm a strong reminder of the power that be and the reality that this journey too for me, like many before would be strewn with uncertainty, seemingly impossible odds and pain. But the fact and that once again failure for me was not an option egged me on.

This time I was taking on the biggest adversary of the them all…this time my fight and challenge was not some Monolithic Airline out to kill us, or the need to create a new market or turn around a loss making company or deliver record profit. This time it was taking on God.

I slept the night in a small hotel with the searing pain and was up at dawn for the journey into the Amazon rain forest.

Day 5: Woke up that morning with mind numbing pain which was unbearable.I was unable to put on my shirt.It was like my arm was being wrenched from my shoulder every time I moved. BUT the  determination to once again fight and succeed as before (the thoughts of the few failures went unneeded)  despite  the pain managed to start the journey.

Deep in contemplation - WHY now? Why me? Why the fxxx don’t you leave me alone.

As I strapped on my haversack, my arm hung lifeless and I needed Akbar’s help to lift the burden of both the bag and God onto my back.

Stopped at a pharmacy, explained my predicament to a very pretty Pharmacist who momentarily took my thought away from all the pain—It was a bad muscle catch with the possibility of a torn ligament which with proper rest and time would heal. She insisted I take an Xray. She warned me not to proceed into the jungle, telling me that this was not for the physically challenged. She made me feel like a paraplegic- Handicapped?

Was I not one who fought against all odds and won?

Turned around Contract after 7 straight years of loss in just 4 years post taking on the crazy assignment.

Leo Burnett after 4 straight years of loss in under 2 after joining?

Won the Hitachi business with 2 legs in a cast and helped take an Airline In India to US $500 million in revenue in just 3 years with no money? Had I not cheated death and survived? Not once--but thrice!

In my eyes I was a rock star and I had a mission to complete. So I bought pain killers and a balm and set out on the last leg of the journey to seek answers. Would I return empty handed? I was warned not to take pain killers and enter the jungle with numbed senses.

Would this fight with the power that be- end in a stalemate or will he finally pay heed to this mortal who no longer had anything to prove or lose.Who never prayed to Him with asks and forgiveness.
Most important  someone who did not want any favors.

We traveled  by car to a jetty and by speed boat crossed the meeting of the rivers, the Amazonas and the Rio Negro- one coming from Columbia and the other from the Andes.

One as dark as hell and the other as muddied as the concept of God.

The meeting of Rivers- The Dark Rio Negro and the muddied Amazonas

Reached shore and drove for an hour again and then by speedboat again till we reached a point where I felt the rush of adrenaline - stretched before us was the jungle--peaceful yet daunting.

By now my arm was useless and carrying the haversack nigh impossible.

Went   into the jungle 30 minutes by a smaller boat and reached a settlement of 3 shacks which was to be our base camp for the next 7 days. All through the boat ride one could see the banks of the river lined with trees with the trunks in 2 different colour-black till about 3-4 meters above the  water line and a lighter colour higher up, the darker shade was where the  waters rose during the  monsoons. The river waters in the jungle, rise and ebb about 10-12 meters in a year. Saw a Cayman basking in the sun and it slithered back into the water when it sensed the urban killers approaching

Our first night in the jungle. The silence was deafening!

We checked into a small room and at noon had a meal  of beans, fish curry, rice and pineapple. Then at 3 in the afternoon we went in a boat to explore the river, to learn some important lessons about survival and do Piranha fishing. I caught my first Piranha, the fish that can strip a horse to it's bones in under a minute.To see it hanging on my line and to see the sharp teeth that could strip me, one was taken aback by the sheer ferocity of this killer in it's razor sharp teeth..it's aggression even in death and then to see it dangle  helplessly once  out of it's habitat..in as much the same way we from the urban world  were in the jungle. Unhooked it and threw  it back into the water to strip some innocent wanderer to the bone..

Night 1 in the jungle: In the evening armed with flashlights we clambered into a boat to go Cayman hunting. You shine a flashlight into the thick undergrowth..and if one spotted 2 tiny spots of   light reflecting..you know you have paralyzed a Cayman into  submission..they are stunned by bright light on a dark moonless  night..Alan our guide then pounced on a Cayman and we brought it  back  the lodge to examine it on a dining table in the same way a frog is studied in a laboratory -we analyzed the breed in detail..Caymans are predators that live on fish and other animals and grow to lengths of 5 metres or more. It kills it's prey by holding It in its jaws and performing the death roll.There have been a few humans too who have fallen prey.

After a thorough medical examination by a bunch of enthusiastic urban fools we let it back into the  water and then proceeded to hit the sack in preparation for our first long 3 hour trek into the jungle.

:A baby Cayman:
They grow to 5 metres in length and are powerful hunters.

Some important lessons were shared that night

     1. Leave your egos behind and listen to your guide/ mentor and pay heed to the lessons. It would be the difference between life and death.

      2. The jungle could be your best friend or your worst enemy. Treating it with respect and knowledge was the only way to befriend it.

I recollected the words of Sun Tzu- The Chinese General in 2000 BC..

Know your enemy and the battleground and you need not fear the results of a 100 battles.
Isn’t this what being an entrepreneur was all about?

After 3 entrepreneurial stints, was glad to note that some of the lessons learnt in the Urban jungle would come in handy here for the real thing.

Night 2 in the jungle: Slept in the log hut with no fan and the searing pain..a strong reminder that the power that be, had thrown me into the battle field called life, with just my wits around me to survive. But my survival in the urban corporate jungle would in no way come in handy to save myself from piranhas, cayman and the jungle.  The night was uneventful with questions still buzzing in my head and just one raging desire to overcome the pain and complete the journey..to hell with God and the quest.He just did not deserve to be found! 

Woke up at 5 am to hear a rooster crowing at an unearthly hour -5 am,as if it too had lost  it's bearing and was forsaken. After breakfast went in a canoe deep into the rain forest and  for 3 long hours like explorers, we unraveled the mysteries of the Amazon rain forest..hot,humid and unknown..I peered into every nook and cranny to spot the elusive Anaconda and the God that controlled my life and that of 6+ billion on this planet and more elsewhere..

The canoe –our connect to the world.

Life is a jungle with mankind choosing to either walk the well-trodden path to obscurity or the more adventurous choosing to blaze new trails to glory or oblivion. My trail blazing seems to be taking me to the edge of a precipice where on a few occasions I have fallen off. To fall hard on a ledge of pain and frustration with none but my wife to sooth my frayed nerves and ego and help me with another leap of faith to greater things. Never once did she try to dissuade me save once when she cautioned me when I put up our house as collateral to take a loan to pay salaries.The rock that not even once wavered,despite all my madness.Come to the edge ..And ? Fly? Die?

The Amazon Vulture- no dearth of death.

The jungle provides one everything that one needs to go through life as one chooses to. For the wanderer there is food, berries, fruits, nuts, water and fish and wood and leaves to build shelter. For the hunter there is the palm tree Maraja with which one could create a blow pipe to hunt and kill and the vine to swing from or make ropes to create hunting spears.For the weary traveler the medicine tree Bengue to provide menthol to fight the cold or the milk worm Amapa for stomach aches and energy.                                

Sapupema-Telephone tree   

Tabipa- The jungle mosquito repellent 

For those lost in the jungle, the Telephone tree, was the life saver. A hit on the trunk with a hard object would ensure that sound dispersed through its inverted dish ‘top’ would reach people within a 5km range and bring rescue more often than not.

Mosquito repellent? The Tapiba or the ‘termite ants’ who in their death sting you but provide you with the jungles own recipe for repelling mosquitoes

Night 3 in the jungle: We trekked deep into the jungle, slept on hammocks, ate around a fire, set up jungle camp-,hammocks, mosquito nets et all. 

A hot meal in the jungle. Thank God for small luxuries!

Eating a hot meal around a campfire was interesting, just reminded me as to how we take common every day things like even hot food so much for granted. Woke  up in the middle of the night to attend to the call of nature amidst nature, stumbled out of the hammock and without thinking (forgot  an important rule -always check your shoes before putting them on..there could be a tarantula nestled inside to give you the sting of death).froze when I realised what I had done, quickly took my foot out and banged the shoe to get rid of some imaginary evil..not realising that had there been one..I would have been a step closer to finding the elusive God. Peeing in the jungle in the wee hours of the morning was an eerie experience..half groggy with sleep, being watched by a thousand eyes..and spraying all over ..in a hurry to get over with the never ending flow..oh what an experience ..

The morning walk through the jungle after freshly brewed coffee into the dense and deep unknown was as exciting..

Returned to the camp to hot coffee and bread and jam and pineapple.We were off to see an Amazon family..fancy catching the 16 year old daughter sitting on a  bed painting her toe nails was such an anti climax,..but I guess aspirations in Mumbai, London or deep in the Amazon are the same..

Returned to lunch and then we were off on the most humbling experience of it all..paddling deep into  the forest in a canoe with me the oarsman and Akbar the great, in front.On several occasions we almost capsized when Akbar  would suddenly stand up in the canoe to direct the canoe by holding onto a branch above.At one time so much water entered the canoe that we found a fish swimming in the canoe..imagine catching a fish using a canoe as a net..a first in the Amazon. We traveled deeper  into the undergrowth with eyes in the water and out on land  tracking our every step ..waiting for us to to make that one mistake and be the meal for a hungry Cayman or Piranhas.

We once hit a dead end..a dead decaying tree in front, a thick canopy of foliage above, vines and thick shrubs behind ..how on earth did we get into such a situation..the sense of hopelessness made worse with the  setting sun and the sounds of the jungle as if victorious in its hunt ..shouting for help proved in vain and after some maneuvering and a few more shouts  we had our guide come looking for us..and led us to safety. Another valuable lesson learnt- team work..and proper co-ordination can get you out of seemingly impossible tangles.And never Panic. Not in the jungle. Not in your every day life.The beauty of the Amazon can often lull you into a false sense of tranquility, a tiny mistake can lead to certain death.

3 hours of paddling..and. 2 stiff  Caprianis later .had dinner..and then hit the sack ..yet to see the elusive anaconda..The pain now a gentle reminder of the suffering caused by the great power above who pretended to be looking after me....taking credit for the success and passing the blame when I failed.Our guide for the next 3 days was to be Ralf, a tribal who had not set food outside of the jungle…his teachings to us are still fresh in my mind ‘The jungle can be your best friend. Or your worst enemy’. The difference lay in the way we approached it, with respect, fear and knowledge.

Ralf would show us what to befriend and what to avoid and what to use to survive. Isn’t the corporate world the same? 

Night 4 in the jungle:Hot and humid -sleep eluded me for a while, but the pain killer and the fatigue took it's toll..woke up to a new day in the Amazon..another jungle walk..uneventful..but saw the versatility of the Amazon palm. Saw Cayman, scorpions, and Jaguar claw marks a day old.

Returned back to base camp in preparation for yet another camp out in the jungle..We set out in a thick downpour..and reached another camp site deep in the jungle..this time helped light a  fire and cook..sausages,chicken  bread and pineapple..The setting sun with its Red burst of colour reflected on the river was truly mesmerizing.

The night! As bloodied as the death that lurk in the darkness.

Night 5 in the jungle:Next morning off for another uneventful 3 hour jungle trek saw wild hen, the ‘paxiuba ‘ a walking palm tree, the Monkey ladder tree and a jungle that was as benevolent as it was dangerous.

Reached the home off a local family -a 8x4 metre house on stilts -living room, bedroom, kitchen cum dining room with a mother, her daughter, son in law, grandson and 3 of us…outside the house was a stray dog, one of 3 who survived a Jaguar attack. .went spear fishing in the night..felt like Poseidon with the spear..speared 5 fish..had dinner of fish curry, rice and pineapple ..slept on the  floor,uncomfortable as hell while Akbar decided to sleep under the stars – despite being warned about the perils of being dragged away by a predatory Jaguar.

Spear Fishing in the Amazon- blind the helpless fish with a torch light. So one sided!

I woke up to a  the rooster crowing at 4 am. I wish the roosters in the Amazon had a sense of time.

I was told about how Akbar had brought the roof down at around 2.00 am. Akbar had tied his hammock to a tree a slight distance from the house and had got under the mosquito net with his torch and a machete  and decided to go to sleep. A few hours later the silence of the night was shattered by the screams of a human being attacked by a wild animal. Ralf ran out with his machete to save what was left of Akbar only to find him shooing the stray dog away.What transpired I guess will now be folklore in the jungle.

Apparently sometime past midnight the dog to ease its fear and loneliness decided to snuggle in with Akbar..and in doing so stirred the creative juices and demons  in Akbar's head..and he thought he was being attacked by the Jaguar whose claw marks we had seen earlier on. I think the Jaguar too would have fled the scene hearing the ruckus Akbar created. I for one slept through it all waking up only when the rooster crowed cock-a-doodle-doo. Another important lesson learnt- the demons in our heads are often given life to by subliminal messages we imbibe during our journey which erupt when emotions are fragile.

 Early in the morning after a quick bath with the sleeping Piranhas, went off with the local fisherman to examine the 10 fishing nets we had set ..caught 3 big piraracoos..2 sixteen kilos and a third at 1 1/2 metres and 30 kilos..then helped him skin the fish..and fed the waste to the Piranhas..who devoured the same in seconds.

No sign yet of the anaconda.

Today a feast on a 30 kg Piraracoo fish.

Traversed through thick jungle and undergrowth To look for the elusive anaconda-saw poisonous plants and tarantulas but no sign of God..

Today was our last night in the jungle..we go bow and arrow fishing tomorrow..

Will He?.Won't He? Show himself to me...the exploration continues..

Now dying to hear my wife on the phone..the pain in my shoulder now lay defeated in some corner of my mind..yet the journey continues . No internet. No telephone. No Cell phone. Just strangers, a guide and the jungle to keep us company.

And God defeated in my mind with the pain now a distant memory.

 Night 6 in the jungle:Another uneventful night..even the tribals found us Indians strange..people normally come into the Amazon for just 3 nights. But these 2 crazy Indians for 7  days? In the morning after coffee and the standard fare went bow and arrow fishing. Our guide showed us his prowess-with 1 arrow spearing 2 fish together..tried for hours and while I got the hang of the shoot was unable to spot fish under water at a distance. You need patience, a fine eye and lightning speed..returned after 3 hours unsuccessful..save for the 3  hunted by our guide.

Time to pack now and and bid adieu to the jungle which had so much to give and only your life to take. This was the most amazing trip of my life..

We are so insignificant in the larger scheme of things where there is everything you need given to you  on a platter. We fail to appreciate and recognise the value of all things and people around us. We crib , rave and rant and fail to realise the greatest gift of all that we have. Life

As simple as can be which we over time complicate beyond comprehension with our ridiculous wants, desires and petty emotions.

With a heavy heart boarded the boat to Manaus.Saw the result  of natures fury ..the year before the Amazon Rose 14 metres..and submerged everything in it's way for 100s of kilometres..wiping away roads, homes, offices and life..but the resilience of the human spirit ..and life a year later continues as usual..

Night 7 out of the jungle: Slept in a hotel in Manaus after watching a spectacular opera in a 150 year old theatre. Woke early to go deep into the jungles again. This time on the river Negro..to go swimming with wild dolphins..and my last chance to see an anaconda .but this for me  was a lost cause.

God had decided to hide in shame at having lost to a mere mortal.

After a 2 hour boat ride we came upon a platform deep in the jungle on the Rio Negro- black waters, as dark as death itself with Cayman, Dolphins but no Piranhas. We sighted a solitary figure with a bucket full of fish on the deck to tempt the dolphins to come play with us.

But there was bad news, a fishing trawler was illegally fishing in these waters and the dolphins had followed it in search for easy prey.

We jumped into the water with 2 fish each  in hand…splashed, shouted, waved  and tried for an hour to no avail ..with  a heavy heart left to visit a traditional Indian tribe..well built men and semi naked women who danced a traditional dance and explained to us the rituals of a culture long lost with urbanisation. After the  dance ..went back to the platform,..sighted a dolphin..jumped in again with 2 fish in hand..those magnificent predators with no enemies in the wild save for mankind.

Worshiped as a protector by civilizations before..seen only on television and in captivity in a sea park..to have them graze by you, touch you and reach for the fish dangling from your hand..a game of catch me if you  can..where I lost  each time..and then there were 2 and then 4 and soon we were surrounded. 

Catch me if you can? With wild dolphins: Protector of the River.

The game continued..those magnificent creatures..so human..so playful..I even got a small love bite.a gentle reminder that if you let you guard down in the wild..you lose..soft,silky and powerful ..played with them for a few hours ..and then set out for  lunch. Met a villager who had lost his hand in the game of  life and death in the jungle..to a 4 metre Cayman..a strong reminder that we were lucky to have got out in one piece.

 Headed deeper into the jungle after lunch ..for one last chance to see the anaconda ..and feel the presence of the elusive god.

The boatsman had got wind  of a tribal who had a wild anaconda in captivity—which had feasted on his livestock and was held in a room to be shown to a forest ranger for financial reimbursement ..we were lucky..God made his search difficult and seemingly impossible ..with 5 hours to board a flight..I came face to face with a 3 metre anaconda..wild as could be ..raring to take a piece of flesh off any unwary creature..10 feet long ..before I knew it, it had lunged at me and was speedily foiled in its attempt by the villager. A reflex action I grabbed its head and as if on cue..and  before I knew it, it coiled around my neck with a vice that was cold and tight..while I held onto its  head with all my might..if I let go..it would sink his fangs into what ever piece of me it could sink its fangs into..slimy, slithery, powerful..it kept tightening its coils around my neck and my arms and I kept tightening my hold on its head..the eternal battle between man and beast..for what seemed like eternity I held on for dear life.

Did I find you? Or did you find me? 
The Anaconda, Not a distant dream or a nightmare..but all around me..

The journey for me now begins!

Now pray tell me what do you have in store for me ?

I now believe my escape from the  jaws of death in 2008 was for a greater purpose as Yossi had suggested.

Let me see what life has in store for me.

The task to give millions of domestic workers and their children a better life?

An invention to save the planet millions of gallons of water every day?

The job of helping startups with funding and mentoring?

I journey on, content with the answer that I had got..to the land of the Incas, to climb Machu Pichu.

Machu Pichu! The lost city. Decimated by human kind for greed.

The journey of  a thousand miles ..a quest for the eternal power …this discovery seems too far fetched to be true…my travel partner Akbar who took this amazing journey with me and my wife who knew the purpose behind this trip are testimony to the questions I sought and the answers that unfolded.

What seemed like a frivolous answer to an innocent question ‘Why are you taking this trip’ had a deeper purpose.

God is all around you and some like me stay ignorant for so long and  stupid not to realise it.

Life would be so much more meaningful and enjoyable if I had  journeyed through life just Believing.

In one self, in the loved ones around you and the fact that each one of us is here for a purpose.

We are all part of the circle of life, intertwined in the destiny of the Human race.

Lets make the best of it, knowing well that there is a supreme power looking after each of us.

Through good times and bad times.Especially through the bad.

I now am at peace. My journey continues, this time with a purpose.

To help in my own way, entrepreneurs and startups as they struggle to find their feet in this complex, cut throat and unforgiving Urban jungle.

God Bless.