[amods]

So as the first post on T-BHP, I am sharing my experience of a life threatening(to me) trip to shivanasamudra from bangalore. I am lucky to be here writing the story.

It was in April'13, when 6 friends decided to put apart the office pressure and have a short trip on weekends. So we zeroed in to shivansamudra.

And on a saturday morning, engines of 3 bikes roared from marathahalli. While my friends were on powerful bikes(pulsar, apache) I decided to test my Twister's reliability.

We decided to take the conventional route since it was saturday morning and we didn't expect much traffic. We zoomed through heart of city through KR Market and in 25 mins we were in kengeri, where we stopped for tea. It was reddish sky and we could notice people heading out of city for short trips in cars/bikes.

From there we started and the planned route was through Ramanagaram->channpatna->maddur-> malvalli->shivanasamudra.

Since other bikes were powerful, they were easily doing at 80+ added mysore road is good and traffic was less. I was maintaining 70-75 and was following them. Then we stopped for breakfast at McDonald's, 18 kms before Maddur. We tanked up since there is petrol station in same vicinity, and didn't need to refill till our way back. We took left from maddur town and the road is pathetic upto malavalli since there is a sugar mill and the movement of trucks and other commercial vehicles is more, I also mention the ignorance of authorities.

So, we reached shivanasamudra at around 10 AM since we had a long stop for breakfast.
It was quite heated up by that time and the heat was unbearable. Never mind, we parked and got down by steps upto the falls and whoa ! there was very little(and dirty) water there.

Nevertheless, since we had come this far, we decided to have a bath in water down there and entered the water.

Here starts the story of accident: I and my friend decided to have a swim upto the base of the fall, where some good swimmers had reached(that tempted us). By looking at the amount of water, it seemed doable. I am an average swimmer, but don't know the art of getting out of water where I don't have a floor beneath my feet(as in swimming pools). Forgot to mention, it was my first adventure of having a swim out of swimming pools and I was going to swim after a 3 year break and no practice

The stretch we had to swim was some good 75-80 feet(3 pool lengths) and we had no idea whether there is any land/rock in between. My friend jumped and made it in one stretch. I was on top of my confidence and jumped after a thought. 25 feet of swim and I am out of breath in the mid of water! The fear of drowning came to my mind, and I swinged harder. And bingo! I made it to the base.

The happiness was incomparable but somewhere the fear of going back was haunting me. Anyhow, we bathed and enjoyed for some 20 mins under fall and whole energy was gone.

Time to swim back to the shore. My third friend was swimming near the shore and he was standing on a rock some 15 feet towards me, so I thought I can make it to that rock at least. I jumped and after a few jolts, managed to reach that rock, but it was 5 feet under water ! I managed to stand on it with some swings of my arms. Then my friend left that rock and started swimming towards shore. That wave was the reason or the current of water, I lost my grip on that rock and dipped inside. The lack of inexperience of coming out of water, and the freaking out caused me to swing my arms relentlessly and I went further inside and shouted for help. My friends on the shore thought I was kidding and within 10-15 seconds, I had drank water through my mouth and nose.

By that time my friends had realized the situation but they were not of any help since none of them knew how to swim with a body.

Say it god's miracle, the the boatmen near the base of the fall had realized the situation and one guy(I say him god himself) rowed those 70 feet in no more than 10 seconds and when my head went inside the last time, he grabbed my hair and pulled me up, and hello world ! I am with you again. He made me hold the boat(the basket shaped boat) and helped me climb to the shore. I was shaken by witnessing death so closely and was shivering by fear. That guy simply went off without any word back to his work(I thank you from bottom of my heart gentleman !) .

When I gained my breath, All I had was 100 rupees(since I had planned to visit an ATM later) . I called him and gave that money(I am an idiot, i owe him my life) and ton of thanks.

We packed up and headed back. On the way back, I and other 3 guys went to mandya via a shortcut to visit some relatives. We took back mysore road and came back to bangalore at 7:30 PM.

The total trip was some 340 Kilometres(I did it on twister, which is not comfortable for that hop). I rode the whole way(minus 20 kms where my friend took over to give me rest after that accident).

Overall that was the experience of a lifetime. I suggest people reading this to keep away from water bodies unknown to you. Enjoy on shores and use boats if possible(I was 5 feet away from shore rock where I was saved !). Enjoy your trips but don't do out of your league adventures.

p.s. the first thing I have plans to do next time I go in water to learn how to come out of water without land beneath your feet

[SJD@NewDelhi]

That was a remarkable experience, amods! However, it was immature of you to embark on swimming when first, you knew you weren't proficient and second, when you were on a bike tour. Keep an eye out in the future and thanks for sharing

Btw, welcome to Team-BHP family. Do read the rules (link below) relating to posting carefully which will save you from earning infraction points:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/introd...e-posting.html

[GTO]

Really glad to hear that you made it out okay. Hats off to the good Samaritan who jumped in & saved you without a second thought

Very easy to get carried away in a group, we ought to let better sense prevail. During college days, we used to take our motorcycles up to Gorai beach pretty often. Remember a time we went so far in the water that we could barely see the shore. Man, that was a scary experience.

Again, happy that you're safe.

[planet_rocker]

Glad that you are safe. Thank God!

When i was young, my mother took me to a swimming club to learn swimming. I was happy to be away from studies for those 3 hours in the pool. All i had to do was practice paddling for hours. Soon i was bored. The trainer felt that i was getting bored and took me to the middle of the pool and i was swimming with the hand of the trainer as a support. Suddenly, i realized that he was not there and i was swimming alone in the middle. Panicked and soon went under water and touched the base. the trainer pulled me out.

I never went back to the pool again - Big Mistake. Now, all i do is to stay on the pool side, sweating and watching my friends enjoy the lovely pool. I think i am too old to start again.

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by amods

The stretch we had to swim was some good 75-80 feet(3 pool lengths) and we had no idea whether there is any land/rock in between. My friend jumped and made it in one stretch. I was on top of my confidence and jumped after a thought. 25 feet of swim and I am out of breath in the mid of water!

A typical pool in India is 25 meters - roughly 82 feet. However, the standard pool size, internationally, is 50 meters! So, what you were swimming was essentially only half a pool length.
Going by the numbers you have mentioned, I'd really suggest that you work to improve your swimming, and more importantly - Stamina, before you venture again into a natural water body. Also, learn the art of resting in water without moving a limb, and paddling like dogs. These can save your life in dire situations.

Originally Posted by amods

I suggest people reading this to keep away from water bodies unknown to you. Enjoy on shores and use boats if possible(I was 5 feet away from shore rock where I was saved !). Enjoy your trips but don't do out of your league adventures.

Totally agree, and something I have been telling all my friends for a long time. I have learnt this the hard way as well (but somehow got lucky), in spite of swimming since I was a 4 year old.
Since then, I am very cautious about under-currents, weeds, and crocs in unknown waters.


Welcome to Team-BHP, and may you have a lot more 'Twisting'. Cheers...

[ritz3645]

On my first non stop 50 meter streak in a Pool, I faced the same situation in last 10 meters, exhausted, drank lot of water and was going down, then a lifebuoy saved me.

It happens and is all part of a Teaching called life !!!

Totally agree with roy_libran ' resting in water without moving a limb, and paddling like dogs. These can save your life in dire situations' as overreaction compounds the situation.

Also every day is a new experience.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Reminds me of when I fell off the raft while rafting near Rishikesh a couple of years back. Let me assure you, swimming in a river with a natural current is a lot more exhausting than swimming in the confines of a swimming pool. Just a handful of strokes take as much out of you as a couple of pool lengths.

I was lucky, I am a strong swimmer with decent stamina and experience, and I did not panic. The key is in staying calm in the heat of the moment and somehow keeping your head above the water. And don't try to fight the current.

But again, venturing into unknown water bodies is not the smartest idea to begin with.

[amods]

Moderator note: Please use Multi Quote [Quote +] instead of back to back posts. Thanks.

Originally Posted by roy_libran

A typical pool in India is 25 meters - roughly 82 feet. However, the standard pool size, internationally, is 50 meters! So, what you were swimming was essentially only half a pool length.
========
Welcome to Team-BHP, and may you have a lot more 'Twisting'. Cheers...

Ok my bad roy ! Seems I miscalculated the length in numbers, but it was essentially more than 2 pool lengths(maybe 3!). Apologies for wrong data.

Glad that you are safe. Thank God!

When i was young, my mother took me to a swimming club to learn swimming. I was happy to be away from studies for those 3 hours in the pool. All i had to do was practice paddling for hours. Soon i was bored. The trainer felt that i was getting bored and took me to the middle of the pool and i was swimming with the hand of the trainer as a support. Suddenly, i realized that he was not there and i was swimming alone in the middle. Panicked and soon went under water and touched the base. the trainer pulled me out.

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

I never went back to the pool again - Big Mistake. Now, all i do is to stay on the pool side, sweating and watching my friends enjoy the lovely pool. I think i am too old to start again.

I think learning a life-saving skill is not something we can be too old for. Try and get some practice, just in case

That was a remarkable experience, amods! However, it was immature of you to embark on swimming when first, you knew you weren't proficient and second, when you were on a bike tour. Keep an eye out in the future and thanks for sharing

Originally Posted by SJD@NewDelhi

Btw, welcome to Team-BHP family. Do read the rules (link below) relating to posting carefully which will save you from earning infraction points:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/introd...e-posting.html

Thanks a lot SJD ! I do realize this was little seedily constructed Will be more alert going forward. And I have wads to share since I am addicted to travel, mostly on bikes

[f1dotcom]

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

I never went back to the pool again - Big Mistake. Now, all i do is to stay on the pool side, sweating and watching my friends enjoy the lovely pool. I think i am too old to start again.

It is never too late to learn how to swim. And since you know the basics already, its just the finer points you need to learn. Hope you start sometime soon. Good Luck!

[one-77]

Thank god you're alive and well.
Please don't take such huge risks again. Your life is simply worth much more than you can imagine.
A senior of mine drowned in a waterfall near here some years ago when he went for a post-final-MBBS-exam swim with some pals. Such a sad thing to happen.
But it happens all the time down here in Kerala where water abounds. And the combination of youth and friends (and sometimes alcohol) gives one a very false sense of security.
I make it a point never to swim in unknown waters.
(By the way, I nearly drowned at sea when I was six or seven and was on a summer camp. First time I'm telling anyone about it though. The fear it gave me still lingers, though I'm a decent swimmer now).

[GTO]

Water, uncontrolled circumstances & no precautions = Disaster. Reminds me of this horrific incident:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qps7tG9rnMs

[josh.machine]

Shivasamudra has been a known where people have been drowning for over a decade now, i don't understand why there is so less awareness among people. I always caution people planning for a trip to the place about the dangers there are. I have studied my engg in Ramanagaram and during my college days i remember couple of students visiting the Sholay city and drowning in a very small pool of water. That small pool was apparently so deep that the firefighters had to dig into the bodies using a fork like too to bring them up!

I never venture into natural waters and stick only to swimming pools where i am comfortable.

[thoma]

Originally Posted by GTO

Water, uncontrolled circumstances & no precautions = Disaster. Reminds me of this horrific incident:

Oh GTO, you just had to bring on this video. Personally, this is the most haunting incident I've ever come across. Anyway, I wanted to educate my folks showing this one, but missed saving the link.

@amods, thanks for sharing and thanks to your guardian angel.