Bird’s eye view

Three friends were spending the weekend at a quiet farm stay in Govitri village near Kamshet. Went for a walk to the nearby Vadiwale Dam built on the Kundali River and returned back to our farm house, where we met the supervisor who had come visiting. Our talks veered towards paragliding in Kamshet and suddenly the supervisor Praveen, mentioned he was trained paraglider pilot himself and detailed the place from where paragliding took place. Got me all excited and I said I wanted to try it out. One of the friends agreed, the other was a wee bit skeptical but he was won over. We discussed with Praveen and the rate was fixed at Rs.3500 per head that would include a tandem paragliding (with a pilot) and photography + videography. Roughly 15 minutes of flying. On weekdays, the cost would be Rs.3000, he said.

Next morning at around 9 AM, we were off towards Hotel Rangoli on the service road off the highway, that was our meeting point. Praveen had mentioned that he would be up at the paragliding spot and we were to meet up with one Sagar here. Sure enough, there was Sagar waiting for us in a battered Tata Sumo that would be the only mode of conveyance to the paragliding point. We parked our vehicle in the hotel’s parking lot and moved towards the Sumo, that already had 7-8 people inside. We managed to squeeze in, albeit with different degrees of discomfort and we were off. Pre-boarding instruction was — Pick up some water bottles as absolutely nothing would be available on the hilltop.

The Sumo rattled along for about 10 minutes along a good tarred road with a slight incline, as we chatted up with fellow passengers. One was a couple out to try tandem paragliding, just like us. There were a couple of trainee pilots with their huge backpacks. Yes, there is 11 day certification course that enables one to qualify as a paraglider pilot. The training involves ground activities first, followed by tandem flying, then sol flying and later flying with a passenger. One young man was from Hyderabad and was staying in one of the hostels that provides accommodation for these trainees. Soon, the Sumo swerved on to a narrow mud trail in the thorny jungle and moved ahead. The window glasses had to be rolled up as the branches of these trees would otherwise graze the occupants. The road was so bad that we felt our body parts were exchanging places inside as we swerved, shook and bounced. Suddenly we saw another Sumo coming down. Expertly, our driver Sagar maneuvered our vehicle in reverse to a small enclave, providing just that wee bit of room for the other vehicle to pass. We were constantly moving up an incline and in another 15 minutes, we reached an open clearing. James Bond would have said ” Shaken not stirred” but as we got down we were both shaken and stirred. Sagar collected Rs.100 from each of us for the trip and asked us to walk along the narrow trail to reach the paragliding point, that was nowhere visible from here. Further, he said, we were to call him, once we started walking back and he would make his way to this point, if not already there with his vehicle.

We began our trek along the trail of a dry stream , then along a narrow mud trail constantly moving downhill. Little vegetation only giving way to open meadows as we kept walking briskly, when suddenly we could see some small hillocks towards which we moved walking uphill. Twenty minutes later, we were there. A large green canvas (or was it washable waterproof material?) that was to serve as the airfield, deflated gliders and other allied equipment and a small group of people standing there was all we could see. Met up with Praveen who said gliding had been stopped for a while as the wind was too high. His team members came and asked for our body weights, ostensibly to adjust the glider/parachute attached to the pilot. A stiff wind was blowing as eager enthusiasts waited. The view from the hilltop was amazing. A sheer drop from the ledge with fields and roads below and …… we would be gliding over these places. Thrilling, a wee bit frightening too. What if? What if the wind was too strong and we dashed against the hill face? What if the strings of the glider broke midway? What if the parachute did not open?

Now some of the gliders were taking off as the wind had dropped a little. As we watched the prelude to a take-off, it became a bit more unnerving. A lady fully strapped with harness and a bright red helmet was standing for take-off. Behind her was the pilot. They both walked a few steps forward, the glider which lay limp on the ground, now sprung up in the form of a canopy ad now the lady was asked to sit on the small seat as the ground personnel gave a final push to the flight off the cliff, and……… she was away in the air, swaying to the left, a little to the right, then moving higher up even as we could see her hand holding the selfie-stick. One more, one more….. now many gliders dotted the sky. but no sign of our turns.

Some gliders were coming in to land now and again the ground personnel swung into action. As the glider came down with the pilot’s feet touching the ground the green tarpaulin aerodrome, the ground personnel quickly latched on to the strings of the glider to slow it down and then unbuckle the harness of the passenger and helping her get up from her seat on the ground. She was all smiles, her face flush with excitement as she narrated her adventure to her family.

Now came the call for one of us, the lightest in terms of weight. He stood fully strapped with the harness, a gentle walk, swoosh, he sat and away he went into the air. We friends cheered him on with Victory signs. After all, a paragliding senior citizen is a rarity, is it not?

He landed in around 15 minutes, smiling. Said he thoroughly enjoyed the flight, chatting with the pilot all along. Hmmm, more confidence to us. Now it was my turn. Ha, I stepped across to the spot, was suitably harnessed, helmeted and given instructions. I was not to sit on the seat till the glider canopy opened up completely and we were about to lift-off. Okay, I said confidently. We started to roll, moved forward a few steps, but alas….. the take-off was aborted as the wind was high again. WTF, I muttered to myself as I stood there with harness and a shining red helmet like a mannequin for about 10 minutes. Another attempt to take-off, canopy ballooned up , we moved forward, I sat down on the seat and we were off. Phew! Even as I looked around, the pilot was asking me if I was comfortable. ‘No issues’, I replied. We seemed to hovering close to the cliff without moving sideways or higher as the wind howled in my ear despite the helmet covering. Why no movement further? I questioned the pilot. Oh!, wind is too strong, he muttered. Still, I did not get worried at all. Felt quite safe. You yourself click the pictures, I told him as I wanted to enjoy the sights, rather than focusing on selfies. We were about five minutes in the air, when the pilot said we are landing. Shocked, I asked him that the duration was to be 15 minutes, so why land so soon when we had hardly soared in the skies. Sheepishly, he replied that the cartridge of the camera was faulty and a new one had to be inserted. Of course, I thought, if pictures are not there for posterity, what’s the big deal? We came down to land and the ground crew quickly held on to the strings and completed the landing. The pilot disengaged himself and said another pilot would fly me with a new cartridge in the camera. Why was my query. Another sheepish reply that both of us were ‘ heavyweights’ and a lighter pilot would be better. Ha, I saw the reason for the difficulties we had in the flight. The new pilot was taller and slimmer, named Prashant. He quickly got into position. When queried about the wind speed, he mentioned it was just right for gliding. Just before take-off, a small girl of about 7-8 years came, offered him a 5-star bar and requested a selfie. Oh, Prashant said casually, we had just flown a Trandem, meaning three people together — Prashant, the little girl and her mother. So…… a tandem with two of us was no big deal.

One, two, three and over the cliff we went, floating a while before soaring up. I looked around, looked below and was amazed. The green fields far below, the tarred road with some vehicles plying on them and on the other side the sheer face of the mountains. Prashant asked if I was enjoying the flight. Without a doubt, I said. A sense of calm and power descended over me, as though I had been freed of any bondage soaring over the sky like a bird having a bird’s eye view of the world below.

Even as Prashant kept clicking pictures and shooting a video, I looked around for spots I could identify. Oh, there to the right was the small clearing where our Sumo had dropped us and wow, right below, I could see the hilltop with the green canvas landing ground dotted with people standing all round. Now I was feeling confident enough to let go off of both my hands and sing ‘Udta hi phiroon in havaon me kahin,…’. Prashant laughed and then we got talking , even as the wind whistled in our ears.

Our talk turned to the business model. Prashant said, a complete glider kit had to be imported and would cost around INR 550,000-600,000 and which will have a life-time of around 350 flying hours after which the strength of the fabric would deteriorate hampering flights. Do you keep log records of flying hours, I asked. No, we do a rough math was the reply. I shuddered involuntarily for a moment — what if this glider was close to the end of its flying life. Prashant proudly proclaimed that since the late 1990s , when paragliding started in Kamshet , there had been no accidents on tandem flights, though there had been some mishaps on sol flights by trainees. What if suddenly, the wind becomes stronger and we are unable to land, was my next doubt. Prashant coolly replied that they have a Plan B, i.e. landing in the open fields far below.. The problem then would be to lug the heavy glider kit back to the main road before finding a vehicle or for the passenger to connect with his family/friends who may be on the hilltop. What is that below? Oh, that was another glider smoothly gliding way way below us. We were really high in the sky now.

Time to land now. As Prashant expertly managed the strings to the left and right much one uses a rudder on a boat, we were losing height, the ground crew was ready and a smooth landing. Back on terra firma with another item on my bucket list ticked off. The photographs and video were immediatley loaded on to our mobile phones.

Now began the long trek back to the clearing where our Sumo would pick us up. Quite hungry and thirsty, we made our way to the clearing. Interestingly, no advance payment is insisted upon for the flights. We made digital payments only after reaching Hotel Rangoli along with Praveen.

An unexpected adventure but somewhere deep down in the sub-conscious was this desire to fly.