The Boat Rider


Last month I went to Mt. Abu for a mini vacation with family(maternal). It is a hill station in Rajasthan state of India. We stayed there for nearly 4 days. People ask me,"What was the most memorable thing you did there or What fun did you had there ?", and they expect answers to this question such as "The Sunset point" - which is one of the best sunset point in India because it has a deep valley and the sky is clear and its really lovely to watch, or "The climate" - The climate there is really pleasant. Warm pleasant breeze in afternoon sandwiched by cool weather in mornings and evenings or to some extent "Greenery" which is exceptionally beautiful.

My mom may have answered the above answers if she had her way.. but me, I like unique answers and my thinking is not totally what people tend to like or accept as general answers. Yes I did like "Away from the city" thing . But more over I was fascinated by the behaviour of a particular person , his "I am satisfied by what God gave me attitude" and kindness sprinkled with a lot of politeness..

Day 4 - My last day at Mt. Abu ,
It was my last day and we had planned a boat ride in morning around 8 a.m. away from evening crowds . Except my dad and myself all were rather interested in clicking pictures , posing here and there for photographs . I don't deny that I too like clicking pictures ( teeny trends) but to certain extend. My cousins were only clicking pictures from past 3 days . It had totally towered me with raging temper and ignoring them. We bought tickets and made way to our boat which was a normal boat , not a motor or duck faced or anything fancy but an old fashioned one..

He was not completely in rags but his clothes were a little mess . He wore a shabby white shirt and a pink pant . He looked old with shades of white beard and gnarled hands and wrinkled face visible but muscular body,difficult to predict his age .We all sat in boat as advised by him to maintain balance . I had had boat rides back in Mumbai and few other places before and had a belief that boat riders are usually grumpy about the tourists changing places and hopping here and there. This one was pretty cool . He smiled a lot . The first thing he did before we sat off was to take some water of the lake (called Nakki lake) in his hand and say some prayers and applied it to his forehead. As he set off my clan took out cameras and started their daily business . My dad and myself were more interested in seeing the beauty of nature and learning boat riding .

I must have been the first one in ages to ask him "can I handle the oars and ride ?". He was glad to give me and teach me all he had. I don't say i got it figured in one go , but I did learn basics in just 15 minutes . My arms started paining by the time I got the hang of it. My clan tried but just holding oars and posing for pictures was their mission . The rider was really enthusiastic when my dad asked him about the history of the lake and his daily living.

He was 55 years of age and started riding when he was 17 . That was his father's profession too who taught him to swim in that very deep lake and to carry people on his back . He was riding a boat since 1975 . He wanted a government job but fate plays its own way. He had no complains from life , totally happy and said God plans something for every person , this was perhaps his wish and he had the feeling of gratitude towards God for giving him food and proper health and family. I got to know that his daily wages were mere Rs.100. I was bewildered by the simplicity of a person and the heart of gold he carried with pride. By the end of boat ride he recited few stories regarding the historic lake and places in Abu . My dad, like me was totally impressed by him . Dad tipped him more than 3 days of his wages and he folded his hands before us. I can never forget that gnarled fingers due to rugged , honest labour....
Stupid me, forgot to ask his name.

Tribute to him,
Stay tuned to this page,
Thank You for reading,
Hetansh Shah a.k.a Hetu.


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