I am usually skeptical about long leave of absence from work since ‘chill out’ in its true sense leaves me more bored than anything else. However, when I decided to go on a leave for 10 days, I was excited since I had applied for the CP (Club Pilot) course in paragliding and it was to be my ‘dream come true’ of flying from high mountains and soaring for a long time.
Me and Ash left for Kamshet on the 27th November and on reaching the ‘Native Place’ at ‘Nirvana’, we met our third batchmate Kunal, while our fourth batchmate Anand was to meet us at the site the following morning. Though the four of us were not quite unfamiliar with each other, I didn’t in my wildest dreams imagine that we would gel so well as a group. Sanjay said we could party as much as we want for 2 days following which we were to be off booze and maintain an early bird schedule during the CP trainings; we followed his instructions to the ‘T’. We partied like crazy on the terrace for the first 2 days. Apart from us, there was a group from Sweden who had come to India for flying. Among them was DJ Atmos, who shared a wonderful collection of music that played while we partied. The second night was a Jam session as Anand had got his guitar and we had some more company from a group from Delhi that sung some and squealed some.
Our CP course commenced on Monday and we were up and moving by 6 am so we could get flying by the time the sun was up. It was an absolute fun experience as we had a wonderful instructor in Steve who would quip every now and then and be stern with his jibe when any one of us messed up. On reaching the site, Steve began with instructing us about the course and no sooner than he had finished that Kunal bombarded him with the first of his many questions to follow. Half an hour later Steve must have realized that we were still grounded and he figured out a wonderful way of getting of the question/answer session, not only for the day but also for the other days to come (Steve has not admitted this yet). He chose Kunal to be the first one to fly. In flying terms, the first one to go is called the ‘Wind Duffer’… rather ‘Wind Dummy’; ‘Wind Duffer’ was a term coined by me out of sheer jealousy (since they got to fly first) until I realized the brilliance of the idea behind it. Steve chose Ashwin as the second WD; guess Ash merited it. Since Steve had already made up his mind on the WDs of the group, he took them tandem first. While our WDs were having the sky to themselves, me and Anand were literally shackled to the ground to improvise on our ground handling techniques. The second day was good as we all got to fly for a bit. Third day was exceptional because of fabulous wind conditions and we got to fly while there were many paragliders in the air as well (air traffic). This was probably the day when Steve chided us all the most. Steve reprimanded us in this unique characteristic, the shades of which I have come across only in English novels. While he rebuked one of us for inattentiveness or gaffes, the others would inadvertently end up sniggering. I can’t help but recount a few here. An instance comes to mind when Ashwin was supposed to turn around left on the ridge, but kept going straight. The next moment we could hear Steve condemning him on our radios thus “For God’s sake, Ashwin, switch your brains on. Turn around left.” While we are left guffawing, Ashwin takes a silent left. There was a time when I was flying close to the ridge and I didn’t realize that I had to turn in order to make way for another glider ahead of me to turn. Steve’s voice comes hissing on the radio “Richard, why are you chasing the French lady? Turn around to your right unless you want to kill yourselves.” I don’t think Steve offered me an option there. And, I am beyond any doubt that the following conversation between Steve and Anand could find its way into the annals of business schools under the chapters of effective communication. Anand had landed after completing his flight and Steve commented on his flight to which Anand replied “Roger”.
Steve: “Who the fcuk is Roger?”
Anand: I mean I understand.
Steve: “Then why don’t you say so. #@& !#@^% &#$^ #%^^%. Do you understand?”
Anand: “Roger that!”
Steve: “#@& !#@^% *&#$^ #%^^%.”
If it weren’t for the chest strap and leg straps keeping me in check, I would have fallen off my harness.
I wouldn’t do it justice if I ignored this conversation between Steve and Kunal. On the final day, we had completed our flights and Steve had called us in the AV room to recount the points covered in the course. Once done, he asked us if we had any questions. Needless to say, Kunal pounced on the chance like a warrior with a polished sword, waiting only for a cue. He charged. Steve answered them all patiently. And Kunal asked. Infact he kept on asking even when it was Anand’s turn, Ashwin’s turn and my turn later. Once the Q&A session was over, Steve put on a video on paragliding that he wanted us to watch. Just as the video started playing, Kunal conjured up one more question and blurted, “Steve, I don’t understand…” “I know” said Steve before Kunal could go any further and walked away from the AV room leaving us in splits.
All our evenings were spent on the terrace and each one of them was laced with fun. Though, we played the guitar almost everyday, I particularly enjoyed on evening when a girl gang from Mumbai had come down to Kamshet. We were already done playing music and were having dinner when they arrived. One of them requested if we could play a couple of tracks and of course we relented. One song led to the next and before long it looked like we had only begun. While me and Ash played the guitar, the group lent their vocals to the songs played. If I get my hands on the video of this jam session that was shot by them (and I am promised a copy), I’ll definitely share it here.
Finally, I cannot express in words the gratitude I feel towards Steve, Sanjay, Ravi, Sandeep, Bond, Vinay and my three partners in flying i.e. Ash, Anand and Kunal, for making this a wonderful experience. Also, I cannot thank Pushkar enough for the lip smacking dishes served us during our stay. A week after I have come back to Mumbai, I still reminisce about everything that made this CP course special. And to add to it, I am still to come to terms about my longest flight that lasted 1hr.40mins. and my highest flight that took me 200-250 mtrs above the launch area (approx. 1500 feet above sea level). I look back and I say to myself “Wow!”
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And if you are interested in flying/chilling out, you can log on to www.flynirvana.com/ and get details.
