No amount of words can adequately convey the thrill of deep sea diving, bungee jumping, water rafting or any other adventure sport for that matter. Man has loved sports that make one’s adrenaline rush since times immemorial. Sometimes, this love to overcome obstacles has come at almost the cost of one’s life.
Animals also take risks but these are usually directly related to their need for survival. Man alone embraces risk for the pleasure of the moment. Man’s addiction to adventure can be best described as an extreme form of wanderlust, the desire to fly like a bird and overcome his human limitations. Life is short and therefore to live it to the full is the need of the hour. Thus one can share the joy of rowing in the company of similar brave hearts across a furious torrent.
Can you even think of escaping the philosophy of the stream, representing the flow of life full of risks, and the men struggling on the boat—with all their protection—represent the brave warriors on the battlefield of life who dare to venture out and explore the perilous seas so that they may discover some virgin land? Lovers of such adventure sports are the ones who never fear the darkness of death.
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Trekking, wildlife safari, angling and sport fishing, scuba diving, skiing, paragliding, parachuting, mountain biking, river surfing are all different examples of adventure sports currently in vogue. One becomes apprehensive about the risk factors involved but what is the point of leading a sluggish life? Thinking at a deeper but very obvious level, every moment of our lives is a risk in some way or the other.
Can you gain anything without taking any risk? So why can’t we risk a few moments of our lives that can thrill us and enrich our awareness of the world? For example, no amount of imaginative probing or explorations can ever recreate the undersea scene we can witness if we go scuba diving or snorkelling. We can learn a lot more when we trek or bike across the Himalayas or directly experience the atmosphere while paragliding or parachuting instead of just reading about them.
Opportunities coming our way should not be missed for the sheer force of the Ruskin Bond logic—till death comes, everything is life! If the Almighty has given us health enough, ‘To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield’, in tune with Tennyson’s Ulysses should be the universal motto of humankind.