“Agar Barish me waterfall Rappelling nahi kiya toh kya kiya”

Well this thought prompted me to scribble few lines which goes like this,

5 Minutes of Thrill,
But without a Pill.

5 Minutes of High,
And you can feel the Sky.


Its very easy to dismiss waterfall rappelling as just 5 minutes Thrill but let me assure you that Woh Panch  minute (as Sharukh Khan says in Chak de India ) 

Shayaad aap ki zindagi ke sab se khaas Panch minute honge, 

Yeh Panch minute tumhe zindagi bhar yaad rahenge,

 isiliye kahoonga yeah Panch minute aap je bhaar ke jee lo,

Kyo ki kal kuch rahe na rahe, kuch ho na ho yeah Panch minute 

Aap se koi nahi le sakta. Khuda Bhi nahi !!


I feel you live  a life time in that 5 minutes…jo shayaad aap ne  apni puri zindagi me na ji ho.

I am an avid trekker but I do make it a point to do waterfall rappelling in Monsoon for the very simple reason Aap kitna bhi aacha khaana Kha lo, Bina Dessert ke baat nahi banti , Same is the case of waterfall rappelling , How much treks you do, it doesn’t matter  until and unless you top it up with sweet delight of Waterfall Rappelling.

On the way to Lonawala

The Start
For me my journey this sunday took me to Dudhiware Waterfall near Lonawala. This event was arranged by Backpack Holidays headed by very dynamic and enthusiastic Dimesh Patel. Matter of fact it was my interaction with him during the course of this event which gave me lots of insight to the whole event of waterfall rappelling.Dimesh was there at the lonawala station to receive us and take us to the waterfall.We had a breakfast of Idlis and Tea provided to us by the organisers.

Insight into the world of Rappelling
To any onlooker or even the participants it may be an 5 minutes event but I was surprised to note the hard work and dedication that goes behind the rappelling event.There are atleast 6-7 people arranging the rope management, coming up early in the morning,setting up the whole system so things happen without glitch,Taking dry run and ensuring that all the safety measures are addressed.During the rappelling event co-ordinating all the efforts day lots of energy.Sometimes when the rappelling event is for 2 days the technical staff has to re-assemble the whole set up next day. 

It was 9.30 am when we reached Dudhivare Village.

Picture Poetry scene

Picture Poetry -Thats how I can describe the village,Lovely Waterfalls of different size and height, Lush greenery with streams flowing and a majestic mountain standing tall.

Lush greenery and the mountain view

Lovely view of the waterfall that we were to Rappel Today

I just stood awestruck the moment I arrived here it was only when Dimesh tapped me on the shoulder that I woke back to reality. “Time to move buddy!! ” said he. So we all started our Micro trek of 10 minutes to the top of the waterfall ( 1st timers were heard saying arre yaar upar kab pahuchege ..LOLz)

On the way up (Micro Trek), First timer pushing themselves and Dinesh and Raka sir working out the plans for the day

Once we reached the top Raka sir started to give out instructions viz.. Dos and don’t of Rappelling.What I like about Raka sir was that he was serious and affirmative while giving out instructions but yet left no opportunity to crack a joke making listening to the instructions quite easier.

Raka Sir giving out instructions

In our group today there were around 70 people and out of that only 10-11 people has rappelled before, rest all were First Timers.Hats off to the spirit of Adventure !!! Raka sir assured everyone that Rappelling is very safe and all safety measures has been taken care of so even the 1st timers need not worry. 

View from the Top of the waterfall

All the participants dumped there bags and sat down on the ground waiting for there turn to rappel.Luckily the view from the top was so awesome that waiting for me was a pleasure too Here I would like to add that rappelling event does take time so the participants should be ready to be patient and wait out their turn. In the meanwhile few of us went to the mouth of the waterfall and enjoyed there. Akhir time to pass karne ka hai na, jab tak apna turn nahi aata…bas maje se time pass kiya.

Time pass at the Top

During the waiting period I also took the opportunity to interview few participants. What I like is the spectrum of emotions on their faces Koi bahut excited hai, ghadi-ghadi puche ga mera turn kabhi hai, Koi dara hai sochta hai mera turn hi nahi aaye,

 someone is afraid but still has a nervous smile on their face, There was this girl who kept on laughing I asked her itni khush kyo hai and she said because mere ko bahut dar lag raha hai. He he aisa bhi hota hai.

Aisa bhi hota hai…laughters and tension together

Ultimately mera turn aa hi gaya…Guys its Showtime now !!!
because its Waterfall Rappelling time now !!

Show time …Rappelling Time

Now watch out  meri nazar se what happens in this 5 minutes

Standing on the edge

1st minute:
Standing on the edge of the waterfall ,the technical staff is checking your ropes for the final time and you are feeling all the excitement over ridden by the fear, Heart thumping Chehre per smile aur ander toofan, Dil bolta hai chalo yaar bas karo mujhe neeche uttaro, Bravely you look out at your friends jaise marne ko ja raha hai but still manage to give smile ” Yaar ek photo toh lo !!!” saying this you move on to your next minute.

Moving down cautiously

2nd Minute :
Cautiously, you are moving down, but still your eyes are on the instructor, you start to get the feel of the water escaping under your feet and gradually you are into your own element and is flowing with the flow of events, lagta hai yeah ho jaye ga, mai toh aise hi darr raha tha with this thought happily and satisfied you move into your next minute.

Oh F@#$…Abbe yeah kya ho gaya

3rd Minute :   
You are not only happy but confident now, that the things are now under your control. Ab batata hoon, Mai kya cheej hu, Faltu me dara rahe the….. Confidence level satwe asman me hai …and you start coming down little faster taking giant steps.(Kyo ki ab toh aap expert ho gaye ho na in rappelling) and then Thud …thump…crash…and you call out  Oh F@#$…Abbe yeah kya ho gaya and you realised that in your over exuberance you have missed a footing and slipped and banged yourself into the rock,
2 second ke liye aap haath -pair marte ho and like a true soldier you are back on course Thode excited aur thode cautious you move into your next minute.

Hai meri shaas itni ruk ruk ke kyo chal rahi hai.

4th Minute:
By this time you have realised ki mai koi Tees maar khan nahi hoon and with this awakening you rappel more carefully but yeah kya yeah pani ka flow kisne bada diya bhai, water is hammering your helmet, ankho ke aage kuch dheek hi nahi raha , arre yaar  ab yeah helmet theek karni padegi. By the time more water is hitting you and suddenly you are realising that you are out of breath. Hai meri shaas itni ruk ruk ke kyo chal rahi hai.But like  a true junkie who enjoys his high with drug pill you are enjoying your high without any pill. Floating on this high you move on to your next minute.

yaar yeah katam hi nahi ho raha

5th Minute:
You are now in complete tizzy, You simply cannot comprehend the speed of the water flowing in front of you, the deafening noise of the waterfall is getting more loud and you are almost on the verge of asking yourself yaar yeah katam hi nahi ho raha  that you slip from the overhang, Suddenly the peace has prevailed, no more water hitting you, you recover your wits and could now feel the ease of rappelling down , the lost smile coming back on your face and the relief and joy of the life time on touch down.Yes you have lived your 5 minutes of lifetime today.

Believe me in the above 5 minutes  journey of yours you have jumped into an unknown territory, you have overcome lots of fears, your self-esteem is now pegged 2 notches higher . 135 feets is no mean feat, you have dared to do something and you have done it, a new person is born out of you.

Yes truly ,
who need any pill to get the highs,
when you can have them here .

Many thanks to Backpack Holidays team of Dimesh Patel, Raka Sir, Hemant Salunke sir and rest of the team members for giving us such a fantastic experience of Waterfall rappelling.

Most noteworthy thing was that 140 people did Rappelling in two days and more than 80% were first timers . Kudos to the team

 Looking forward to come again.  

Click here to watch waterfall rappelling photos