My brother asked me what was that one thing that i really wanted to do in the US and I answered in a millisecond " I don't care if i don't go anywhere else, but i wanna sky dive!" On the day of Rakshabandhan , I got a mail of my skydive reservation. Quite a gift, right?
A Night Before The Jump
I wonder why people watch videos of other people skydive a day before they plan to jump. A real bad idea! Especially, for someone who could not sit on a roller coaster with a 300ft vertical fall, a 10000 ft sky dive was kinda something to worry about.
The Big Day
Well sky dive isn’t a big deal for a lot of people, but for
a few like me it definitely is(bucket list item you see). So yes, as a tradition, on
any important day my stomach gets upset (a lot of mixed feelings are a lil
difficult to digest I guess) and Oct 19th 2013 wasn’t less
important. With those innumerable feelings of fear, excitement, happiness,impatience
etc etc, we left home and drove to Chatanooga, Tennesse which is around
120miles from Atlanta. We as in my Dad, Sister, Brother, his friend and
me.
More than anything else, that drive was something I would
never forget. Three among the five of us were supposed to dive. To reduce the
tension, we would laugh on silly stuff and there was at times a sudden silence
after those giggles, the part when you say to yourself “Oh God! This is so not
helping. But it’s okay, it’ll be fine.”
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| Filling up the form |
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| Edvaldo checking my equipment |
This was the time!! I wore my equipment and sat in the plane with Edvaldo and 4 other pairs, ready to jump off a 10,000 ft. At the height of some 5000ft Edvaldo asked me “have you ever felt that you’ve forgotten something after you leave the house? Coz that’s what I feel now!” That was definitely not something I wanted to hear at that time and height, even though I knew he was kidding.
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| All happy and excited before the jump |
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| Ready to take off |
As soon as the altimeter said 10,000, the shutter was opened
and the first pair jumped. Oh God! That was the moment I could feel my heart
pumping louder than ever. One, two, three and four down the plane. Now it was
my turn. We stepped forward to the exit, he asked me to keep my feet behind and we jumped.
Wow! I screamed as loud as I could out of excitement. My eyes were wide
open, I was so high up in the sky and I felt like I was flying. I could see the
land so clear down there and the clouds and far off mountains right in front.
It was surreal! I was falling and I couldn’t feel a thing, no butterflies in the
stomach and not scared even a bit. Just that adrenaline rush and the air
hitting my face, which was bearable. I was stunned!
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| Floating in the air |
At some 5500ft, he pulled out the parachute. The free fall
was just for 30 seconds but I lived it for a lot more. Out of curiosity I asked him, " Why did you get into sky diving?"
He said " My dad was in the army.When I was small, I once saw him jump off the plane and I decided I wanna do this all my life."
So there he was after some 10,000 jumps, jumping with me. I asked him if he still feels the thrill, to which he replied, " Yes ofcourse! every single time I jump"
That says it all..You can never get bored of something you truly love!
Edvaldo gave me the parachute controls for a while. Isn't that difficult. Another 3 minutes of floating in the air and we landed safe and sound. Damn, you wait for something for so long and then it ends in 5 min.
Edvaldo gave me the parachute controls for a while. Isn't that difficult. Another 3 minutes of floating in the air and we landed safe and sound. Damn, you wait for something for so long and then it ends in 5 min.
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| Feeling accomplished after the jump |
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| With Edvaldo |
This was it! I just sky dived! The jump was beautiful, the instructor
was great and the pre and post jump was unforgettable. Next target- 18000ft ;)
Here's my skydive video -
To jump in one of the best places around the globe,
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