From Cloud Nine

          Bharath gave me two options to choose from as my 25th birthday gift and I chose SKYDIVING! We finally did it today as we didn't get the reservation sooner. And I had to, had to compose this post today itself. I have to mention that I was really very scared and excited at the same time from the moment I chose it. We had booked our slot a month ago. 'Skydiving' by itself says everything and so I didn't want to Google it and get more scared or negative about it so I left everything to my imagination. Not that I had never seen videos or head about other's experiences, but I didn't want to acknowledge to the fact that I chose to jump from a plane soon after entering the 'second quarter' of my lifetime.

          It was 9 in the morning. We were all set to leave and turned the GPS on. It showed that we had an hour and 20 minutes’ drive before we reach the diving point. We saw "The plane" in the sky as we reached and my heart did not stop pounding from that very moment.

          It was time to sign our waiver forms. We had a training session which repeated the fact that there is a fair chance that the dive can turn into a disastrous death and they are not responsible for anything. This part was scarier than the actual skydiving experience. Also the trainer said they have people who have done 9000 to 12000 dives working in there. This gave me some relief although it din't help much to get me out of the nervousness. We had to wait for a while before they announced our names. We entered the diving area through a door that said "No entry without signing waiver forms"! I saw people diligently examining and folding something. I din't pay much attention to what it was then. After the dive I saw that they were folding the parachutes and pushing into the bag for the rounds to come.

          We chose tandem skydiving and it was time to meet our tandem instructor(TI). He helped me wear all the necessary harness. I inquired him about the approximate time it takes to reach the ground. He casually told that it takes about 7 minutes. At this time my heart had broken the cage of my ribs, came close to the skin and was all set to pop out. I got inside the flight and waited for the others to enter. From the time I got my harness, Bharath and I were completed separated, and were with our own TIs. Now the flight took off.

          Our flight could hold about 20 people and had one pilot. When we were waiting for our turn I noticed that it takes off with its door open. Also the pilot landed the flight on the lawn and not runway! By seeing that I thought it is better to dive than to land like that! I am kidding. I had made up my mind to dive AT ANY COST.

          Let us get back now. As the flight gained the elevation I clenched the handle next to me harder. My TI showed me the position that I was supposed to maintain at the time of the jump. I immediately made it clear to him that there is a very good chance of me forgetting it! My harness was too tight. but I didn't complain as I had other things to worry about. For example, what if my parachute doesn't deploy? I sat silently as he hooked me to his harness. I had crossed the level of nervousness and had reached black state of mind. I realized it was about time when my TI began to check my harness and wore his helmet. I asked him about our altitude to which he replied "about 14,000 feet" looking at a gadget mounted on his wrist like a wrist watch.

          It was time and I saw few people diving off the plane as if they were jumping off a stool. At this point I made my TI explain the position I had to maintain again. I reached the tip of the flight and held the bar that was right above me. My TI pulled my hand …wait for it… and jumped. I seriously have no words to explain the feeling. As Bharath instructed me a million times, I remembered to keep my eyes open. I had read that a free falling body doesn't experience any force acting on it. The presence of gravitational force is not felt since the body doesn't  exert any counter force . I wondered how that would be. Even though I was falling it felt as if I were stationary and that only the air around is moving past me. At that altitude I couldn't even feel the relative motion with respect ground which tricked me into thinking that I was still.

          I did a couple of somersaults until my TI deployed a small umbrella attached to the parachute after which the fall was steady. During the free fall, I forgot everything. The adrenaline rush made me forget everything including Bharath. I didn't care if my parachute opens or not. I literally had nothing in my mind. I was too amazed at the view to think about anything. I couldn't hear anything other than the gush of the wind. It is rightly coined 'free fall' and there is nothing but earth's gravitation. I felt a sudden jerk as my parachute deployed. It was as if someone pulled me with all the force. I have to quote my actual word, "oh my god, it was a-ma-zing". And I never meant these words as much before. We were above the clouds when we jumped.

          I totally enjoyed the ride down. I saw Chicago skyline, Lake Michigan, Milwaukee bridge, fields, vehicles, highway etc. I looked for Bharath's parachute which I couldn't find and I decided to concentrate on the view. Vehicles on highway looked like colony of ants marching one behind the other on interstate 94, which was a perfect line. Greenery felt like the earth was covered with flawless silk carpets. The ride down got even better when my instructor turned the parachute. I moved like a wave. It was truly a thrilling moment and I couldn't resist telling him that it was birthday gift. I truly felt like a bird, especially with every turn we took. And you cannot believe how smooth the landing was. Also we landed before our flight.

          I have to say it was the best experience of my life and I feel that nothing can beat that. Everyone SHOULD try this and I assure that you won't regret. Please don’t thinking that I am very daring because it is not at all true. I just have a thing for adventures. Once I jumped off the plane I didn't have time to be scared since I was too busy seeing and absorbing the view. This was the perfect gift for my birthday and I couldn’t have asked anything better. It has been 9 hours since I completed my dive but I am still floating and my ears are still ringing! I am too excited to sleep tonight. As always, I have attached our pictures. 

Bharath's jump

My jump

Just like a bird

I did smile for the picture

Parachute Deployment

Bharath's landing

Feeling like a bird

Me in 'landing position'