"My senses went numb, I was feeling like a rain-drop separated from a cloud and accelerating towards earth at 120mph, wind gushing past me...evaporating all fear and thoughts in my mind !!"
Most of the good things in life, result as a failure of a plan...at least in my case. So after confusing my friends about success and meeting the objectives of Miami trip, I put forward my vicious plan. And since everybody was depressed, they agreed to a plan, as crazy as sky-diving !!
Till next morning...3 of them realised butterflies not only existed in gardens but in their stomach as well. So, instead of 6, only 3 guys started for the great battle of Greensburg. On the way to the destination, we scared each other in order to pacify our own fear, just like kids do on exam day! When we reached there, we were surprised to see many other mad angles, I mean crazy people. It felt weird to stand in queue to even jump from a plane !! We are not far away from the day when, you ll ve to stand in queue even for ....... !!
Anyways, before we could take the plunge, we had to sign some forms which only said, that if we die during the stunt, our families wont be eligible for any sort of insurance. Now, I would ve been damn scared if only I had read it, so...I dint !!
The moment was still far away, as almost 20 people had to jump before we could, and that too safely. And its the wait that creates anxiety and its anxiety that haunts you not the fear itself. However it gave us some time to calm ourselves. See others arrive safely back and the instructors who were working like the elevator guy, taking passengers up and getting them down , walking on their own legs, was soothing ! Also we saw pictures of a couple who celebrated their 60th mariage anniversary sky-diving, that made us bit more relaxed. But afterthoughts like they had nothing to loose, not even their teeth..made us sweat again !!
And in the meanwhile, we got to talk to a "professional sky-diver in making", who told us, that some people , though very less, had even puked/ wetted their pants while returning back :)) Well, we had come empty stomach, to avoid that embarrasing situation but, what the heck...everybody else was eating if it were his last day on earth. So, we also ate some lite snacks, to make sure, we keep in senses when that moment comes, for which we were taking so much risk.
Finally, after waiting for 6 hrs, we saw our names on the next jump. That was it....our instructors came and introduced themselves. And though, its not the right time to interrupt but cant help it. I need to talk about it, right now! I dont know why this happens, but nobody ever takes me seriously, whether it be the street ice-cream vendor or a sky-dive instructor !! While my other friends were getting dressed uplike F-15 pilots, my instructor asked me not to wear the suit, as it was hot up dere...and I also agreed. But is it fair ?? I also paid the same amount they did, and I was being treated like the free third t-shirt, you get for buying two tees in a sale. Then, when other instructors were explaining the do's and dont's, my instructor was busy having his evening snacks !! I seriously wonder if its written on my forehead, "treat me the way you like, coz I m harmless just like a stuffed toy"!!
Anyways, my camera-person came to me for some bits n bytes.. and I felt a bit better getting some attention finally :D So in that mood only, we boarded the plane. And as it was getting up, our heartbeats were getting faster, hands were getting cold. But being a guy, had to pretend calm and cool..and so I tried my best. We kept talking and joking all the way up. I had to jump third. So I could see two guys jumping before me, dat made me feel a bit more confident about it. My instructor tied himself to me and started giving instrcutions and I could not even say, its too late to explain anything as I could hardly hear him. We moved towards the exit, the view was breath-taking..so I gave it..the breath. And again..cheating, without counting 1...2....3....he made me jump !! Woaaahh.....I engulped mouthfull of air at 13,000 feet...for the next few seconds, "My senses went numb, I was feeling like a rain-drop separated from a cloud and accelerating towards earth at 120mph, wind gushing past me...evaporating all fear and thoughts in my mind !!"
I had planned to think about few things while falling, things that need high thinking..and this was high enough to think about those things..the important questions about my future, my life... which was waiting for me below..if I reached there alive ! But I could not think anything else except just living the moment...free-fall....the scenary below and the camera-person poking me to give idiotic expressions, which I managed to give pretty easily !! And after that...the parachute opened and gave a big jerk, to climb up again almost 200 feet...ok 150 feet, fine ?? Then I had almost 3 mins to get to ground..if everything went fine. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for the next 2 minutes...everything below looked so tiny, so fragile...so ..you understand what I am talking about ?? And then, the landing...I wanted to land on legs but my instructor was hell-bent upon butt-landing...and so...we landed someway in between...on my knees....I had never felt so great about walking on my legs before..It felt so good.... So the jump was over...I was safe and sound... but whats this..why I was the one who came first on ground and my friends who had jumped before me came later....That means, I dint get value for money.... I felt cheated again... Whatever.....the free-fall was over....or was it ??
For two weeks, I was waiting for a deduction in my US account and it was not reflecting in any of the statement..why..I was not able to figure out this why. Ofcourse they cannot forget to cash it...then ?? One fine morning, I got bill of 45.000 INR on my Indian account !! I freaked out..whats this..I never did any purchase on my Indian credit card except my phone bill...Oh gosh...had somebody stolen my credit card ID ?? the very thought sent a chill down my spine !! The thought was more scary then the dive itself.....and then I realised, probably I had paid for my dive on my Indian card itself in sheer excitement....In short my Indian card had dived ahead of US card from my purse at the time of billing...!! Brave Indians :))
