Mud Bath And Rain

The fourth edition of the rainforest challenge highlighted two things—that being mad isn’t always a bad thing, and that there is more to goa than its sunny beaches.

- Govindan Kishwar

THE VIEW COULD not have been prettier. Grass as green as the familiar Windows XP wallpaper went on endlessly like a velvety carpet across the undulating lay of the land, and the overcast sky, the gurgling stream and the cool breeze complemented each other perfectly. If HBO wanted, they could have shot an episode of Game of Thrones here.

This, though, is not somewhere in the foothills of the Himalaya or the Western Ghats in South India, this is Goa. The same Goa that’s known for its sunny beaches, cheap liquor and a laid-back way of life where it’s never too early for a beer, and never too late for a drive to a beachside shack.

“Every year, countless people visit Goa, and almost 100 percent go to the beaches. When you say Goa, you think beaches but most don’t realise that it has some of the most beautiful hinterland in the country,” says Ashish Dukle as he navigates his way past the rocks.

Dukle is the Competition Relationship Officer (CRO) and member of the Competition Committee of the Rainforest Challenge (RFC) of India. “Other than the RFC, people so far had no reason to venture into these areas,” he says, just before slipping on a rock, twisting his ankle. He claims he’s okay and keeps walking, before finding a picturesque spot to sit down.

“This is quite a view, huh?”

It was, indeed, but it wasn’t long before the sound of the river was drowned out by something much louder—a V8 engine getting tuned to tackle (read plough through) the scenery in front of us. Now in its fourth year, the RFC, the toughest off-road event in the country, has become even tougher, dialling the difficulty level up to 9,000 rpm, making other off-road events look like a drive on the expressway.