Mortifying fear transcending to an achievement is a powerful thing

This time it’s the Trail Survivor Course @ Mahindra Adventure Off-Road Academy, Igatpuri

One of the many amazing highlights of this whole thing was the confidence the instructors have in the vehicle and their experience. They don’t judge you as a driver, they push you in the pool.

We, Pooja and I, reach the gate at reporting time. Beautiful place, weather and the cars parked.

Manish, Head Off-Road Academy, asks Satinder – one of the 4 senior instructors, to fetch us to the training site in one of the Thars. Excited, we follow Satinder who says, “come, you will drive it from here”.

Our jaws drop! We have never even sat on a driver’s seat of any 4x4… and this is Thar – the boss!

The dilemma: get embarrassed by refusing him or get embarrassed by doing something stupid?! We chose the latter.

Remember that feeling when you were crushing over someone and they came up to you and said “Hi”? How that word promised the possibility of a beautiful forever? That’s how the first ‘vroom’ felt when the engine revved up under my touch. Afterall, I have been crushing over Thar for years!

It wasn’t adrenalin rush; it was oxytocin high.

From the outside, this rugged vehicle looks tough but worn out, so we are afraid it will be hard to handle. But it’s soft like a new sedan.

By the way, inside, the vehicle is flooded. Water on the floor, in the cup holders even in the glove compartment. Mud on all windshields, mirrors… assuring a great experience.

Satinder says, “Okay now we enter the track”. There is muck, puddles, some space between trees, but no track! He continues, “you don’t touch the clutch, break or the accelerator. Keep your feet on the floor and move the steering when I tell you, as I tell you.”

Excuse me?! What do you mean no clutch and break (C&B)? You can’t control a car without touching the C&B. And I live on C&B…4 hours every day…Mumbai traffic…clutch and break - it’s my rhythm. Hell, I do C&B in a taxi too!

Anyway, I start to move. It’s so soft, I love it. I’m on the first gear, automatically moving slowly, feet on the floor. Satinder is walking with us by the window, his eye on my feet, occasionally, giving directions. This feels safe, until we see a slippery descent ahead.

Satinder: “No clutch or break, just hold the steering.”

I realise my feet are already on C&B. He notices, chuckles and says, “move your feet”.

I hear him. My brain is commanding my legs to move.  

Legs: The car will stop if you do that now, you will lose control and it will slide down.  

Brain: Satinder knows better, he is a pro.

Legs: Nope. Years of muscle memory! Not moving.

Amazingly, the car doesn’t care about my Civil War. Within seconds it takes us through.

Repeat scene uphill, with accelerator.

We reach. All 4 of us are safe (Satinder, Pooja, Thar and me). I step out, I’m floating, I’m half in daze. Cargasm.

Now, one-hour theory and instructions where Manish sums up on how C&B and accelerator at the wrong time can tip you over or create a pit under your wheels, etc. And how, for the next 24 hours, we should unlearn everything about on-road driving and listen to the instructions from the 15 pros around us. “They are commanding your life now,” he says.

Sounds easy!

Obstacle 1 - Home Run:

There is a short 75-degree drop, then in a few feet we take a right, make a 45-degree climb while turning further right. Here we must “feather the accelerator” if and when the instructors tell us.

The drop was a rush!

Now a few feet ahead an instructor is waving his hands to his left and coolly saying now start to turn right.

My brain: who’s right. His or mine?

The now instructor waving his hands to his left: Right, right

Me: huh!

The steering wheel gives me a slight tug on My Right. It’s due to a wheel trail already made in the mud.

I move right. Now ascend.

Someone says, “now align the wheel, straight, and slightly touch the accelerator”.

I hear the word accelerator and I hit it hard. We are in a pit. Mud flying on our faces!

It’s dark, and I see Satinder saying, “who is it?” He comes close, looks at us and says, “Oh you”.

Should I feel offended? But Pooja, sitting next to me, cracks up hysterically and I can’t control either.

And since now my brain is busy laughing, I follow the instructions and before I realize we are up on the road.

Obstacle 2 - Pond Rush.

It’s pitch-black by now. No lights, dense vegetation, puddles and some traces of tracks.

We always walk the obstacle first, and at each point Manish tells us exactly what we will do when we drive there – what percentage clutch, break, how many degrees of wheel rotation and why.

We start. This one is complicated. Sharp left turn up 40-degree ascent while we are in a 2-3 feet deep pond. Then a few sharp curves in all possible directions including up and down. On the most difficult points the instructors are guiding us and calming us down - like pit stops for motivation and assurance.

Obstacle 3 - forgot the name because we missed the briefing

It looks like a straight 60-degree ascent. The catch is - a deep slush just before the top. We assume it will be the same old uphill drill – move steering left and right so you don’t create a pit, first gear, no C&B.  

I start. Near the top, we hear Manish’s voice, “go full throttle, push the accelerator hard”.

Me: huh! We just learned “feathering the accelerator”.  

Manish: Push it to the floor

I don’t.

I deepen the pit. I remember he had said ‘just stop the vehicle in such situations’.

I stop.

Manish calm like a monk, comes near my window, sits on a rock at my level, sees us and says, “oh you”. Pooja controls it this time!  

Manish: Relax now. Breathe.

It’s the experience in his voice. Wisdom. I actually relax - he will take care of this.

Manish: Forget everything.

I do.

Manish: Align the wheels.

I do.

Manish: Put it in first gear.

I do.

Manish: When I say, leave the clutch you leave it immediately, car will jerk, it’s okay. When I say hit the accelerator you hit it hard, completely step on it 100%.

I do.

And just like that, we are on top.

“Good job,” I hear, “Now go down the hill.”

What!

And in between a lot of ‘oh yous’ and ‘this not thats’, we keep finishing the obstacles. Sometimes we even hear clapping for being first to finish some tough ones.

Mortifying fear transcending to an achievement is a powerful thing.

And so, obstacle by obstacle we become confident. It’s not just off-roading anymore…you feel better about your life. Lighter like all your baggage is slowly disappearing, like you are healing. Can’t explain, maybe like getting high! But by evening of day 2, I was at peace. Just sat back on the Thar’s hood and enjoyed all the glory of the golden hour from top of a small hill. Life is beautiful, if lived right!

That’s the deal with adventures. It’s not physical, it’s spiritual. It's addictive. Mahindra Adventure’s HOD, Bijoy, says, “You get bitten by adventure”.

I have been lucky to have met the best of people on the worst of adventures. And that makes all the difference – miserable or memorable.

 

PS: And the team here, including the helpers and assistants, they are a different breed. Patience. Passion. Fun. Style. Another of the most amazing things about this whole thing, they will tell you, “don’t worry about the vehicles here, as long as you learn.”