01 January 2016

The One-Flight Stand with Touching Lives and Temple Pilots


The Wait

‘Eat nothing two hours before the flight’, they had told us. So we ate heartily when we had the chance. He met us just before we were due to fly. The flight was going to be delayed, he said, due to the winds. We ate together since we had the time. That was a great chance to get to know each other. 

The Temple Pilots were taking the bunch of our Touching Lives' team paragliding! So there we were, the group of us, excited for our first taste of the sky. Sachin, a core team member of the Temple Pilots, greeted us, ate with us and accompanied us to the hill where we were going to take off from. Excitement was present from the very beginning. The road to the hill was narrow and tough. The driver took us there safely and we waited for the wind to settle down. The wait too was beautiful as we sat with a big group of flyers, new and experienced, staring into the valley, mesmerised by the sights and thrilled to bits already.

Soon it was time. One by one they strapped us in and we were out there in the sky, for real!!

The Flight

Insane!  It felt insane to leave the ground and reach for the sky. Really, actually, scientifically, up in the air! Flying. I shouted for joy and for my life. ‘Everything is alright.’ Ankush, my instructor, said to me. I was myself again in a second. ‘You can let go. It’s alright.’ he said, encouraging me to un-clutch my hand from the belt. So I let go and stretched my hand out into the wind. I looked around me. The mountains and the sky were right there. Just as they were before we took flight. But they were different because I was flying. ‘So this is what you do for a living!’ I said to my instructor. ‘How cool!’. What a stupid thing to say when you are up there in the air. I said it all the same. He did not reply. I am not sure if heard me, I hope not!

I had just begun to enjoy my flight, when he said, ‘Let me know if you’d like to do dips.’  
I was like ‘Shit! This is awesome!’ Then, ‘Sure.’ I said casually. ‘Let’s do dips, in a couple of mins.’ 
He asked me in a while. ‘Are you ready now?’
(I was like, ‘Hell Yeah!’) ‘Yes! I am ready!’ I said casually and then shouted. 
The dips were soon followed by ‘a 360’ whirl in the air. That was more excitement than I could take. I was shouting again. This time it was more out of excitement than for my life. Never have I felt this safe before.  Never have I felt this alive before. Never have I been so close to the edge before.

The Goodbyes!

‘But it is it nearly dark already!’ she said. Tanvi, she was the bravest of our lot, I thought. For she had done it, in spite of her fears of leaving the ground. I had hugged her soon after. We were happy to have flown, and more so to have done it in the company and trust of such amazing people, The Temple Pilots. Sachin and the other pilots were like gods to us at that point - the gods who conspired to fly us. The adrenalin rush was still throbbing within us, while the photos and videos and thank yous and hugs took place. On our way back to the car, we were settling down to the orange ink spread out above us. The sky had decided to drench us in its favourite colour. What a beautiful sky it was. What a perfect way to say good bye.


But wait, it was more than a goodbye. More than just a one-flight stand. It was a pact. The skies will wait for us, until we return. The gods will conspire to fly us again. 

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