April 2013: Dandeli River Adventure Camp

One of the oldest clichés around claims that ‘Behind every successful man, there is a woman’, Well, I got to meet Mrs. Guruji and can happily say that I found a true example…The ease with which Guruji’s family (which included a Gorgeous Black Lab named Genie) accepted all the hooligans in their home was very comforting after our 12 hours journey…What followed after that is the stuff legendary stories are made of: P…

Just for the record, It included Kayaking in Kali River, Krav maga in picturesque backwaters, French invasion and missing our train by 9 minutes, which in-fact gave us time to sit and share an other meal together…after all they also say ‘ The Family Who Eats Together Stays Together’

Obviously, to open the door to a stranger is not such a big deal in this family. A warm welcome that we can’t find in France and an interaction with the nature that I nearly forgotten.

Some strangly nice time of checking my eyes to know what they have seen and sharing personal things.

Going out of the routine of Bangalore to sit around a fire and spend some hours with fourteen pair of open arms, plus a dog to start the adventure was more than expected (even if I suspect that some of them had tried to kill me with red chili in the train).

To conclude the week-end and to continue the french invasion, let’s quote Antoine de Saint-Exupery “Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.”

The Dandeli trip was an exquisite adventure, one which was filled with unexpected experiences in every corner of the journey. The trip was extremely entertaining and everyone bonded with each other as a family that was the most amazing part for me.

We visited gorgeous locations where we trained Krav Maga Israeli Self Defense and camped…  in all it was one of the best trips I have ever been to 🙂

Dandeli is a trip to remember. It was a hell of a ride on so many levels. Every single emotion was evoked and that too in span of 2 days. Meeting Guruji and his family was a very heartwarming experience, especially the verbal Krav Maga between them. It was an adventure through and through. From Kayaking in the serene parts of river Kali surrounded by lush forests to watching a beautiful vista unfold after treading a treacherous and uncharted path through the jungle.

And practicing Krav Maga in this place was the icing on the cake. Simply breathtaking, both literally and metaphorically. Not a single moment went by without something happening or the other, and of course, the night wasn’t spared.

Starting with a simple bonfire that bonded all of us to the wild fire that eventually caught on, everyone had their fair share of ‘masti’. Of course, your truly was blissfully shielded from all this, but the anecdotes given by each one of them aptly filled the void and helped me ‘partly’ experience the night that went by. This is easily one of the most ‘eventful’ trips I had ever taken.