Sky Diving - The Jumps (with Photos)

All excited - I got on the flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad on Friday.
Was met by Sourin, Narottam and Harnish at the airport and we were
off to Deesa.
Met up with a few more trainees in Deesa - mostly from the army.
Nothing much to say about that night - don't remember much of what
happened as it was all wiped out by the experiences next day.

Got up early morning - had breakfast - and went to to the Deesa
airfield (with a slight detour as we lost the way and reached a dam
instead).

The winds were perfect - the weather was absolutely clear - just one
small hitch - our plane was stuck in Ahmedabad as it could not get a
take-off slot :-( -- then started a long wait - a few warm-up
exercises and another loong wait. Finally the plane touched down at
11:35 AM

By now the winds had become faster and all the first-timers were told
that we would have to wait till the winds died down and were to watch
the experienced jumpers and learn by watching them. To cut a long
story short - watching them was very informative - but by now we were
getting impatient and waiting for our turns. Finally I got my name
into the 7th Sortie - I was to jump second.

I was excited - got my parachute on (fit-chute) -- and was ready for
the jump. Soon I got into the plane with Surya sir and Narottam -
perfectly normal till now. Then as the plane started going higher - my
heart-beats started getting faster - I was actually afraid - it was
the beginning of a sheer terror an almost panic and I could not
believe myself - it was like one part of me is terribly afraid - and
the second part is looking on and wondering why he's afraid. We
reached a height of 3500' and Narottam jumped first - I got into
position - the position being keeping one foot on the strut of the
plane, the second inside and looking straight. I looked down - and
almost panicked. Surya sir tapped on my back and shouted 'GO'. Against
all instincts - against everything I ever felt - against my TOTAL fear
- I stepped into thin air and made the exit position.

Took a few tumbles and heard my parachute opening above me. As soon as I jumped
out the fear vanished (at least for the time being) - I was out of the
plane - I was safe (i.e. alive) and I was back in a state when the
panic was not controlling me anymore. I looked up and saw that the
lines of my chute were twisted as I had tumbled - I took hold of the
risers and pulled them apart to untwist - got my bearings and started
experimenting with the canopy - left turns - right turns - and finally
landed safely and nicely (about a 100m ahead of the target). It was
all amazing. But whenever I thought of the time I jumped I felt the
panic come back immediately - it was almost as if a fear was the only
thing !! I could not believe myself - on one hand I was telling myself
that I loved it had a lot of fun blah blah blah -- on the other hand
there was nothing but terror at jumping again.

Imagine stepping into that

I had brought the cash for the second jump thinking that I might go
for it if I enjoy a lot - I had enjoyed a lot - but found myself
making excuses for not jumping again - its too expensive - how will I
get to Ahmedabad - etc etc. However deep down I knew I was panicking -
I had managed to control the fear once in the air - but now it was
getting hold of me and I knew that if I did not jump again today - I
would never sky-dive again. I controlled myself again - paid the money
- asked them to get me on the earliest sortie possible. I took the
second jump not just because I had enjoyed the first one - but because
I had to control this fear.

I was on Sortie 11 - went up again with Surya sir and Jitin - again
jumping second. This time I kept calm - kept repeating the exit drill
in my mind - "GO - jump - slipstream position - 1000 - 2000 - 3000 -
4000 - 5000 - check". I fumbled a bit while coming into position - got
my wrong foot ahead at first - corrected myself and jumped at the word
"GO". This time it was perfect - there was no fear - a certain amount
of anxiety - but not the shear panic I had felt the first time - I did
not tumble - the chute had opened perfectly - I had time to experience
the flight - I tried 360 degree turns - made a full circuit pattern
for landing and landed safely. It was the most amazing experience till
date. Best of all I knew I had conquered my fear - I knew that now I
would be absolutely addicted to sky-diving. I was part of this group -
and not an outsider looking in.

The entire experience was a learning experience - not just about the
art of parachuting - but about myself.
Photos below:

2008_02_09 Parachuting - Deesa