Paragliding at Shelar - an unforgettable experience
Saturday, April 3, 2010 we were told to assemble at Rangoli restaurant at 1pm – the usual assembly point. Because of the Easter weekend there were a lot of holiday makers as well flyers. We encountered a lot of traffic in Lonavla, but reached around 12.30 and had lunch at Rangoli. I was having a very uneasy sensation on waking up, something telling me not to fly today, but I had a friend who had come just to watch and decide for himself whether he should take up the course, hence I decided to go.
After lunch at around 2.15pm we left for Shelar, two Bullet motorbikes, two jeeps and my car. On the way, the jeep which Avi was driving had a close shave with a drunk villager on a motorbike. I was behind the jeep and had a clear view of the incident. The road ahead was clear in my line of sight, which means the motorbike was on Avi’s side of the road (guy must have just returned from the US) driving on the wrong side! Suddenly I saw the bike as he swerved out of the way of the jeep and a small plastic bag containing biscuits hit the side of the car and fell down. Avi stopped his car and I stopped too. The bike rider got off along with his pinion rider to collect his bag of goodies, seeing that they were ok, Avi started his jeep and I followed – this must have got the drunks goat, as he turned his bike and came and stopped in front of the jeep, and forcibly tried to get cars key. Whereupon we all got out of the car and tried to pacify him but being drunk, there was no question of him calming down – ultimately it was left to TJ to get out of the car and tell him off. He left threatening TJ that he will “see him” in the village in the evening.
We reached Shelar at around 3pm, and the site around 3.15pm with our gliders. The weather was wonderful, bright and sunny with steady winds at around 25 kmph when we reached. While chatting casually Vinod, asked me about my wrist watch and I told him that it was scratch proof, whereupon he jokingly commented “scratchproof yes – but is it crash-proof?” (almost prophetic) but I very confidently told him that I had no intentions of crashing!The P2’s started their kiting sessions and the P1 their hops. At around 4.30pm we were asked to go up the hill with our gliders to take off at around 5pm. We climbed up the hill with our gliders – believe me at this age it is a grind, but I still managed the climb with a little bit of effort. Took some water from Vinod and was more or less set to fly. Avi, briefed the P2’s on flying and for me it was a kind of refresher as I would be doing a long flight after almost a year. I was the second to take off after Harshal at around 5.20pm. The take off was smooth and I flew straight and then turned right under radio instructions of Ganpat. I flew the ridge line - right to left and back till I gained some height. I was very comfortable flying the ridge line and I gained height till I was parallel to the top of the cliff. At that point Ganpat instructed me on the radio to fly in the ‘V’ of the cliff at the right of the hill side. As I turned right and left in the V, I found myself soaring ever higher with the lift being achieved due to the ‘V’. I must have been at around 3000 feet, when I started enjoying the panoramic view from that height. I was in a more or less thoughtless state repeating a chant in my mind. The view was so awesome that for a few minutes, I forgot myself and I kept absorbing the silence and the beauty and the peace up there. After the initial calls of ‘good flying’ by Ganpat, there was radio silence, I realized that whatever maneuvers I was trying were not working and my glider was stationary. Then after a few minutes I thought I was caught in a venturi, as the glider started moving backwards, it was then that I was waiting for instructions which never came, it was only after the glider had gone way over the ridgeline that the radio crackled and I heard TJ’s voice asking me to find a place for landing. The glider by now had gathered speed and was taking me far away from our actual landing zone. I passed one village below me and then I heard Avi’s voice telling me to land in a very large open area which was just below me. I must have been at a height of around 50 feet, and I decided that is where I wanted to land, but as I was flying after a very long time, the basic of increasing descent were in the cobwebs of my mind. The ‘ess’ turns and the big ears would have got me down but the recall did not happen. I started pulling the brake lines to slow down and descend, but I guess I pulled the brake lines to the extent where the glider would stall, one of the fundamental and most stupid of errors. My mind was blank and I think my body was following Avi’s instruction of landing in the open area. The glider stalled, that’s when I realized, I had goofed up big time and I corrected by letting the brake lines go free completely. The stall sent me feet up into the air and then the pitch took me back, I saw the glider above me ballooning again and I took control again by pulling on the brake lines slightly till it steadied. The last call I heard was TJ’s, asking me to find a place for landing.
I could hear village kids shouting below me because for them my antics in the sky must have seemed spectacular (suicidal?!). As I came closer to landing, the glider had a lot of ground speed and I tried slowing it down, but there were gusts of wind which were making it difficult to land, in fact as I came down to land, a gust came and took me over my landing spot and beyond to ground at a lower level, where I touched down at a run – like getting off a running train. I managed to land safely at around 6.30pm, and I was trying to figure out a way to clear the lines of thorns when I heard shouts and a gang of 20 odd village boys came shouting at the time of their voices. In the meanwhile I called Avi on his cell and told him that I had landed safely and all was well. Another elder villager, helped me untangle the lines from the thorn bush – this took about 15 minutes. After that I mushroomed the glider and started the long trek back. The kids were becoming a real nuisance, with some of them bordering on insanity, throwing stones and slippers into the mushroom. I really freaked out and told the guys to get lost before I became violent. One kid had a spoilt tape running all the time “money de na money de na” for the entire duration of the time – almost an hour of trek back. The kids were all misguiding, with no one wanting to help a stranger, only two kids were helpful, as they had at some point worked in carrying the glider with one of the clubs. They guided me to the village, by which time I was really pooped, my mouth totally dry for want of water. In the village I asked for water, and I got ‘lota’ of cool well water which was like manna from heaven – I don’t think water ever tasted so beautiful before.
A village elder then fired the kids and told them to get lost, that’s when I got rid of them. The trek back involved an up and down climb with the mushroomed glider on my back, avoiding thorn bushes to protect the glider, man I tell you I was really thankful that I run the marathon otherwise this ordeal would have left me down and out for the count. My trek was through bushes, sugarcane fields and what have you. After the water break, we got onto a plane area and with the help of the two kids, folded the glider and put it back in the case. By this time the harness was weighing like a ton on my back which needed to be removed for relief. I got it off and packed the glider and harness into the case. I asked the boys to carry the harness for me up to the car park. After the sun had set, the wind started blowing in cool gusts which was really refreshing. The trek back was tough, as the boys were now leading in the dark and trying to find their way – I used my cell phones torch to light the way. At around 8.15pm I reached the parking lot where Avi was waiting and my friend Pravin were waiting for me. I gave the glider, the helmet and radio to Parsha, and drank lots of water – as the 5km trek had really drained me. I gave both the boys enough money to see them go away smiling.
Later at the de-brief at Rangoli, Avi told me that I was lucky to be alive and I had used a lot my good karma to land in one piece. My fears on not flying were proved right – but I guess destiny has to play its part, and I am sure my Guruji has saved me from a far greater impending disaster as a result of these 5 odd seconds of madness which I lived through! Throughout the one hour ten odd minute flight I was relaxed and did not panic, as I knew my Guru was with me and nothing would happen – but that still does not mean that I should push my luck in the manner in which I did! But alls well that ends well and I look forward to flying again shortly, hopefully a much better and experienced pilot because of all that I went through!
After lunch at around 2.15pm we left for Shelar, two Bullet motorbikes, two jeeps and my car. On the way, the jeep which Avi was driving had a close shave with a drunk villager on a motorbike. I was behind the jeep and had a clear view of the incident. The road ahead was clear in my line of sight, which means the motorbike was on Avi’s side of the road (guy must have just returned from the US) driving on the wrong side! Suddenly I saw the bike as he swerved out of the way of the jeep and a small plastic bag containing biscuits hit the side of the car and fell down. Avi stopped his car and I stopped too. The bike rider got off along with his pinion rider to collect his bag of goodies, seeing that they were ok, Avi started his jeep and I followed – this must have got the drunks goat, as he turned his bike and came and stopped in front of the jeep, and forcibly tried to get cars key. Whereupon we all got out of the car and tried to pacify him but being drunk, there was no question of him calming down – ultimately it was left to TJ to get out of the car and tell him off. He left threatening TJ that he will “see him” in the village in the evening.
We reached Shelar at around 3pm, and the site around 3.15pm with our gliders. The weather was wonderful, bright and sunny with steady winds at around 25 kmph when we reached. While chatting casually Vinod, asked me about my wrist watch and I told him that it was scratch proof, whereupon he jokingly commented “scratchproof yes – but is it crash-proof?” (almost prophetic) but I very confidently told him that I had no intentions of crashing!The P2’s started their kiting sessions and the P1 their hops. At around 4.30pm we were asked to go up the hill with our gliders to take off at around 5pm. We climbed up the hill with our gliders – believe me at this age it is a grind, but I still managed the climb with a little bit of effort. Took some water from Vinod and was more or less set to fly. Avi, briefed the P2’s on flying and for me it was a kind of refresher as I would be doing a long flight after almost a year. I was the second to take off after Harshal at around 5.20pm. The take off was smooth and I flew straight and then turned right under radio instructions of Ganpat. I flew the ridge line - right to left and back till I gained some height. I was very comfortable flying the ridge line and I gained height till I was parallel to the top of the cliff. At that point Ganpat instructed me on the radio to fly in the ‘V’ of the cliff at the right of the hill side. As I turned right and left in the V, I found myself soaring ever higher with the lift being achieved due to the ‘V’. I must have been at around 3000 feet, when I started enjoying the panoramic view from that height. I was in a more or less thoughtless state repeating a chant in my mind. The view was so awesome that for a few minutes, I forgot myself and I kept absorbing the silence and the beauty and the peace up there. After the initial calls of ‘good flying’ by Ganpat, there was radio silence, I realized that whatever maneuvers I was trying were not working and my glider was stationary. Then after a few minutes I thought I was caught in a venturi, as the glider started moving backwards, it was then that I was waiting for instructions which never came, it was only after the glider had gone way over the ridgeline that the radio crackled and I heard TJ’s voice asking me to find a place for landing. The glider by now had gathered speed and was taking me far away from our actual landing zone. I passed one village below me and then I heard Avi’s voice telling me to land in a very large open area which was just below me. I must have been at a height of around 50 feet, and I decided that is where I wanted to land, but as I was flying after a very long time, the basic of increasing descent were in the cobwebs of my mind. The ‘ess’ turns and the big ears would have got me down but the recall did not happen. I started pulling the brake lines to slow down and descend, but I guess I pulled the brake lines to the extent where the glider would stall, one of the fundamental and most stupid of errors. My mind was blank and I think my body was following Avi’s instruction of landing in the open area. The glider stalled, that’s when I realized, I had goofed up big time and I corrected by letting the brake lines go free completely. The stall sent me feet up into the air and then the pitch took me back, I saw the glider above me ballooning again and I took control again by pulling on the brake lines slightly till it steadied. The last call I heard was TJ’s, asking me to find a place for landing.
I could hear village kids shouting below me because for them my antics in the sky must have seemed spectacular (suicidal?!). As I came closer to landing, the glider had a lot of ground speed and I tried slowing it down, but there were gusts of wind which were making it difficult to land, in fact as I came down to land, a gust came and took me over my landing spot and beyond to ground at a lower level, where I touched down at a run – like getting off a running train. I managed to land safely at around 6.30pm, and I was trying to figure out a way to clear the lines of thorns when I heard shouts and a gang of 20 odd village boys came shouting at the time of their voices. In the meanwhile I called Avi on his cell and told him that I had landed safely and all was well. Another elder villager, helped me untangle the lines from the thorn bush – this took about 15 minutes. After that I mushroomed the glider and started the long trek back. The kids were becoming a real nuisance, with some of them bordering on insanity, throwing stones and slippers into the mushroom. I really freaked out and told the guys to get lost before I became violent. One kid had a spoilt tape running all the time “money de na money de na” for the entire duration of the time – almost an hour of trek back. The kids were all misguiding, with no one wanting to help a stranger, only two kids were helpful, as they had at some point worked in carrying the glider with one of the clubs. They guided me to the village, by which time I was really pooped, my mouth totally dry for want of water. In the village I asked for water, and I got ‘lota’ of cool well water which was like manna from heaven – I don’t think water ever tasted so beautiful before.
A village elder then fired the kids and told them to get lost, that’s when I got rid of them. The trek back involved an up and down climb with the mushroomed glider on my back, avoiding thorn bushes to protect the glider, man I tell you I was really thankful that I run the marathon otherwise this ordeal would have left me down and out for the count. My trek was through bushes, sugarcane fields and what have you. After the water break, we got onto a plane area and with the help of the two kids, folded the glider and put it back in the case. By this time the harness was weighing like a ton on my back which needed to be removed for relief. I got it off and packed the glider and harness into the case. I asked the boys to carry the harness for me up to the car park. After the sun had set, the wind started blowing in cool gusts which was really refreshing. The trek back was tough, as the boys were now leading in the dark and trying to find their way – I used my cell phones torch to light the way. At around 8.15pm I reached the parking lot where Avi was waiting and my friend Pravin were waiting for me. I gave the glider, the helmet and radio to Parsha, and drank lots of water – as the 5km trek had really drained me. I gave both the boys enough money to see them go away smiling.
Later at the de-brief at Rangoli, Avi told me that I was lucky to be alive and I had used a lot my good karma to land in one piece. My fears on not flying were proved right – but I guess destiny has to play its part, and I am sure my Guruji has saved me from a far greater impending disaster as a result of these 5 odd seconds of madness which I lived through! Throughout the one hour ten odd minute flight I was relaxed and did not panic, as I knew my Guru was with me and nothing would happen – but that still does not mean that I should push my luck in the manner in which I did! But alls well that ends well and I look forward to flying again shortly, hopefully a much better and experienced pilot because of all that I went through!
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