120 seconds at 250*sin 60˚ - ∞ fun

Title shows one line which can describe the first parasailing experience of my life. A lot of speculations, wavering minds and ever-changing plans finally did end up in us seeing the world from 200 odd feet in air.

The story dates back to Sunday 26th November when I saw an entry on Anurag Jain’s blog about a parasailing event around Bangalore. Immediately I made up my mind that I was going for it. I floated the idea in my office and friends circle, but somehow no concrete plans could be made till Saturday. Saturday evening, after lots of maskafying, Ravi relented and agreed to go for it this Sunday. It looked very late to plan as we were supposed to inform the organizers and then go. So with lots of hopes (or actually none of it) I mailed to the organizers Care India on Saturday night 8pm or so. And I forgot about it.

Next morning I and Joyesh were on the historic walk in Lalbag (historic coz it was the first time I went for a walk there, though I have been living close to Lalbag for more than a year now). And I got a call. It was from Care India. They said I could come there on Sunday and it was possible for us to parasail that day. I got so excited, I called Ravi (actually woke him from his sleep) and told him to get ready. We completed our walk and then rushed back to home. As soon as I reached home, I woke up Arpit and Chandu also. And they both agreed to join us for the trip. Soon we had one more person in our gang, Saurabh (arre I meant Modh, our long int). So it was five of us ready to try our luck. I called the organizer and fixed up the plan. We left from home around 11 am and then rode through the busiest of Bangalore roads.

With some difficulties, we finally reached the parasailing ground. It’s a barren land, close to Hoskote village. The excitement of parasailing made us sail through Bangalore traffic without any pain.
As expected there were lots of people there trying their hand on parasailing. We had to wait for more than 1 hour for our turn. Luckily the sun was not angry with us and thus we survived in the open field. The place is a barren land with nothing around it in any known direction. No food, no drink, luckily cell phone does work here. Else you would feel as if you were in some pre-historian place.

Your turn comes, you fill some undertaking later and then you are all set for preparation.
The safety arrangements are done properly. They check all the hooks before the flight and then only give a go ahead. I didn’t see any first aid kit though. So after all the security check, you get ready for the take off. The parachute is tied to your belt, and then it is opened. With the speedy wind flowing through the field, you start feeling the pressure. The vehicle is not yet started. Very soon, you are all ready for the launch. The vehicle starts and you are instantly in air. Within few seconds you are at the height of 200 odd feet. From there the view is superb. You are so securely tied to the parachute that you can free your hands without any fear. Enjoy there for some moments and then its time to come back to earth. The span of flight is too short and should be more. But the organizers say that with the fast wind conditions it’s not safe. How does it actually affect, I could not understand.

So within a minute you are on your landing journey. Landing can be bit painful. If you are not careful, your leg might get a jerk. Though, it does not hurt. I fell down actually after the landing. The guys there supported me to get up and then untied the parachute. Then I boarded the gypsy and started on the victory march. My two minutes of excitement were coming to an end. I was back to normal human being. My wings were dismantled.
We paid the organizer and thanked him for the wonderful experience.
And then we headed back to home sweet home.
With lots of memories in our heart and in our cameras.

The group is organizing one more round of parasailing on next weekend. If you are interested you can contact them through their website http://www.careindia.in/

More photos from the trip shared at:

• http://prits-eyes.blogspot.com/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/38765580@N00/