Paragliding at Pawana

Paragliding at this site is always a pleasure as the site is so scenic and beautiful and in tune with nature that is sets you at peace with yourself. One can just sit there all day by oneself and enjoy the natural beauty with which one is surrounded.

I reached the lake site at around 2.30pm before the rest of the crowd got in and sat below a tree to protect myself from the sunlight. There was a gentle breeze which helped in keeping one cool. After some time a couple more paragliding students joined me and a while later Parsha came down in the jeep with the gliders.

There were a group of overseas students, probably French, from their accent, though I am not sure. I decided to get some kiting practice as I had a lot of cobwebs in my mind with my last flight experience where I had got caught in a “venturi” and had an interesting experience. I did some kiting for a couple of hours – I had assistance for about ten minutes, with all the trainers busy with the “new” students and not much time for an “old” student. I did manage to get to control the glider for a couple of minutes at a time, but it was hard going and extremely tiring as I had to rill in the lines and straighten out the glider every time it collapsed and then go back to raising the glider overhead for kiting. After doing this ‘n’ number of times, I told Ganpat at around 5 pm that I was bushed and too tired to continue. I folded the glider, again single handed – no assistance from anyone, except from a local who helped hold one end of the glider while I was folding it – God bless him! I folded the glider, and put the harness, glider, and helmet into the case and zipped up. Avi said he would climb up the hill and I told him I would join him.

The climb up the hill was fun – though slightly tiring (no glider on the back though) – and we reached the top in about fifteen minutes. I was carrying water and consuming it in gulps after climbing up every 20 meters or so. Avi mentioned that I was unusually quiet, and I said everyone seemed to be busy with others and it was ok. I told him, that I had to come this time to fly, else I may not have come back to fly ever again. I mentioned I had to get whatever fear was there out of my mind. As we reached the top, Avi went to get his camera from the car.

I sat down on a piece of rock and closed my eyes while facing the setting sun and tried to connect with the energy flowing in such pristine surroundings. For about twenty minutes with my eyes closed, I felt the energy flow through my body continuously – a continuous kind of internally cooling effect, moving in circles from top of my scalp down the body to my feet and back – it was an amazing experience. I just kind of relaxed, and waited for the jeep with the students to bring the gliders to the takeoff site where I was sitting. After the jeep came up with the other students, everybody was asked to pick up their gliders and get ready for take off.

I waited for my turn patiently, and was the second last person cleared for takeoff. The winds were beautiful and if the gliders had been brought up by about 5pm we would have had a much longer flying window. After putting on the harness, connecting the glider, and getting it ready for takeoff, my turn eventually came. I ran and lifted the glider, but somehow my mind was probably blank and I was not running fast enough and pulling the brakes enough for a take off, hence I hit the ground twice before eventually taking off. I had a pretty smooth flight, Avi asked me to chart my own course – I took a left as the glider slowly descended, then turned around again and found myself approaching the landing area. Avi realized I was in two minds and asked me to take a right as I was too high, then as the glider descended I turned left again for making the landing approach and landed light as a feather, just ten feet away from the landing spot. I killed the glider, mushroomed it and carried it in. By the time I had landed the last pilot had taken off, and as it was getting dark I decided to pack the glider. I laid out the glider perpendicular to the wind and spread it out completely prior to folding it up. Folding a glider without assistance is very difficult and again with some help from a local villager, I managed to fold the glider and pack it along with the harness and helmet.

At the debrief session everybody went through their flights and my turn came last. Avi again mentioned that I was unusually quiet, and I said yes probably I was trying to get over my last flight in the beginning of April, hence the not too smooth takeoff, though eventually all went well.

The other thing which kept me quiet was contemplating the lack of assistance from trainers, I can understand from the point of view of the training school I am an old hand and do not require that much assistance. With new students coming in every week I do understand that it may not be practical for having someone guide you all the time, but at the end of the day I am still a novice pilot aspiring for a club pilot rating, and should be helped and guided, especially as due to my professional pre-occupation the time gaps between flights is very long – in some instances a year or more. Given this situation, I do not think it would be practical for me to continue flying, as the time gaps between my flying is not likely to reduce.

I do recommend this sport to all who would like to enjoy freedom in the open skies – from experience I can telling you cannot get a better high – both figuratively and literally.