The Jump

Somewhere during the second week when I was in California, someone in office mentioned that she had done skydiving couple of times and that its loads of fun. Ever since I didn’t want to leave the west coast without experiencing it once. The plan however didn’t work out and I was quite sad that my dream of soaring in air may never come true again. Yes…I have often dreamt of flying…just like a bird. It may have a different interpretation if you were to ask a professional but to me it definitely meant that I shall do something like hang gliding. Sky diving I had realistically kept out of the wish list as I didn’t know where in India I could do one without certainty of an accident. So when I got to know that I can jump out of a plane just couple of hours by road from where I was staying I simply couldn’t resist myself.

I tried and tried and tried but in vain as something or the other didn’t let the plan formalize. So here I was - whining and moping and suddenly just 4 days before departure, almost like a miracle, everything worked out and I got me a reservation for a Tandem Sky dive. Till the night before the scheduled event, I was quite excited about the jump…but as the day settled and evening turned into night I started to feel a bit uneasy and by next day morning (a couple of hours before the scheduled time) I was positively queasy, so much so, that I decided to skip breakfast lest I throw up in the air!

Once we reached the venue Vanita also decided to join in the fun (?) and enrolled for the dive. While she enrolled, I committed a big mistake, I asked for a sample video so that I can decide whether I want one for MY jump. And that was it - the video captured the heights, expression on first-time diver’s faces and now suddenly I felt sick to the stomach. But since money was paid-up (a good amount) I didn’t want to waste it. Video had a similar effect on Vanita and so while we waited for our turn (there was some delay due to clouds) we tried to figure out as to what made us sign-up for a jump from a height of 10,000 ft. Guess the wait (coupled with a blueberry muffin) helped settle my stomach and I was impatient to get into the gear and board the tiny propeller plane.

Finally the moment arrived - we were given 30 second training on the pose we would need to maintain, then harnessed into the gear by our respective instructors. Respective?...guess I forgot to mention that Tandem Sky Dive means diving along with a licensed instructor. He has the chute on his back and you have him on yours! Once the gear was on and adjusted and then readjusted, we boarded the plane…what a plane it was…had only one seat for pilot. Four of us sat on the floor - Pete & Vanita and Jim & me. No seats, no seatbelts and no door…wow! As we started to taxi on the runway, whatever little fear I had vanished. The climb felt awesome – we could see the buildings getting smaller, cars becoming tinier and people vanishing from the view. After a few minutes we were amidst the clouds and could see Pacific Ocean on one side. The moment was very near and while Jim was pulling and tugging and tying the two harnesses together, I felt fear creeping into my stomach again. But that moment didn’t last long as while we were getting done Vanita and Pete jumped out of the plane. Then Jim said, “It’s our turn now”. And before I could finish putting my head and arms and legs in place as instructed, we were air borne. Yes I felt some sort of strange fear when I fell out of the plane (fell? Jim just pushed us out even before I could realize what happened) but that was for just a split-second. The thrill of diving into the sky overwhelmed every other emotion and feeling. I didn’t want the free fall to end…it felt awesome…I finally was flying without any mechanical / electrical support. It was great…a thousand times better than I had imagined it to be. Alas, the chute was opened and my reverie was broken. But even that had its charm…caught between earth and sky and conversing with a very handsome young man – well such moments are to be enjoyed and cherished forever! We glided along for a while; Jim also did some tricks with the chute and got us a 360 degree view. And finally it was time to land and about 10 min after we dived out, we were back on the terra-firma.

It was an experience, I would love to relive again and again and again. Yes…I am hooked and when circumstances permit, I will get myself a sky-diving license. Am sure its going to be even more exciting to do it alone (or may be not…Jim is really hot ;-) )