Creative Leap !

Yes - I have already done one of the 101 things to do before you die !!! ( see previous post)
Sky Diving !!! Tandem Sky Diving to be precise - you jump out of a plane along with an instructor who is attached to you ( or you are attached to him rather !)

It is all very professionally handled. My jump happened on December 13th, 2005 in Queenstown, New Zealand.

It had been a dream to do this for many years and I was just waiting for two things - the opportunity and the COURAGE required to do such a thing !!!

Fate and the Universe allowed the opportunity to arise when I found out that my company was going off for an International conference ( from India) to New Zealand.

I found out that NZ was one of the best places to do Sky Diving in the world !

So, I realised that the Opportunity had presented itself - now it was coming down to the Courage !

After a day in Auckland ( where the formal conference happened), we ( 140 of us !) set off for the Adventure Capital of the world - Queenstown !

The moment we hit town, I enquired about the jump. I realised that besides the Opportunity and the Courage there could have been one more barrier - Cost !! The jump was not exactly cheap !! ( infact - it cost NZ$ 295).

So, my mind went into a turmoil ! ( Should I do it ? Is it really worth it ? When do I actually do it ? The schedule for the group seemed to be quite packed. So, if I had to take out time to do this, I would have to excuse myself from one of the scheduled group activities. That may not look nice !)

Then I just decided to SURRENDER ( not like what Saddam's forces did in Operation Desert Storm), but more of a LET GO.

I trusted that since the UNIVERSE had brought me to the edge of Opportunity, it would guide in jumping off it as well ! So, I decided to attend all the group activities - which I must admit I did not regret - as we visited one entirely divine place on earth - called MILFORD SOUND.

The Universe responded to my SURRENDER. The return flight schedules were put up ( Queenstown to Wellington) and I realised that I was on the LAST FLIGHT out ( in the afternoon). This SUDDENLY gave me time to do my jump !!!

But, as this nail biting build up to the jump continued, I realised that GOOD Weather was also a cruicial prerequisite for the jump to happen !

And the weather on the day before the jump was exactly the OPPOSITE - Grey skies, Cloudy and lots and lots of rain !

My mind, always trying to play the devil kept goading me, pointing out that maybe sky diving was not meant for me !

This went on till 8:30 in the morning on the day of the jump. The bell captain of the hotel promised me that he would call me after checking with the Skydiving operator whether the weather would permit a jump to happen for me or not that day !!!

I could not wait. I took my bag and headed off to the lobby assuming that IT WOULD HAPPEN !!!

I approached Bob ( I think that was his name !) who was on the phone. He suddenly got off the phone, looked at me, smiled and said, " You sir, are going to JUMP off a Plane today !!!"

Those words stung me !!! I had 2 instantaneous reactions. EXCITEMENT that it was going to happen. And, FEAR that it was going to happen !!!

I went off to the skydiving shop, went through some videos and photos of the diving. I chanced upon the literature of NZONE ( the sky dive operator) - and saw a quote on their materials which made a lot of sense at that moment !

I must not fear
Fear is the mindkiller

Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration

I will face my fear

I will permit it to pass over
and through me

And when it has gone past
I will turn the inner eye to see its path

Where the fear has gone
there will be nothing

Only I will remain

FRANK HERBERT


WOW !!! I thought to myself - "Did Frank Herbert ever do Sky Diving ?!"

After a short wait, we were whisked off to the Drop Site.

This was close to the airport and in the background were the beautiful, snow capped and panaromic REMARKABLES mountain range ! ( Yes - the very same from LORD OF THE RINGS !)

The Instructors briefed us on the basic mechanics of the jump. There were two others who would be jumping with me - a young Brazilian guy and the other one was English. There was an instant and silent connect between the three of us as we realised that we were sharing the same fate !

This when I realised that though we were harnessed to the instructors, we would be the first to jump out of the plane !!! My mind would see the plane, the sky and the earth below first !!!

The only comforting fact was that my Instructor - Sasha(who hailed from Serbia) had been jumping for 20 years and had performed almost 10000 jumps !!

We huddled into the plane. There were 9 of us. 3 instructors. 3 sky diver camera men ( These would shoot our memorable experience on video !!) and 3 silent sky divers ( Us !)

There was no looking back now. Our jump was scheduled at 12,000 feet !

The "dreaded" moment arrived and I was the last one to jump out ( Thank God !)

General George Patton once said that Courage is fear holding a minute longer ! And thats what I went through !!

The moment came... and went ! One moment I was getting into position to jump. The next, I was falling down. I got into a somersault action. I first saw the Earth. Then I saw the underbelly of the Plane ( I was upside down) and then I stabilised and I was in HEAVEN !!!!

I cannot describe the feeling that I went through for the next 60 seconds ! We were in Free Fall. This meant that the Parachute had not opened yet and were descending at a speed of 200 kmph !!

But the sensation that I got was of FLYING !!!!

It was me ( with the instructor on top of course !) and Mother Earth - and a very very pretty, divine and beautiful looking Mother Earth - a beautiful blue lake surrounded by lush green fields and the majestic Remarkables mountain range !

There was nothing in between the earth and me. I could see 360 degrees of the Earth ! This was nothing like watching the scene from an airplane window. Here, I was part of the scene !!! The other difference was there was wind ( a lot of it !!!)

I felt a loving vibe beckoning me from Mother Earth ! I was definitely in heaven and in love !!! I posed for the Skydiver Camera man who was covering my entire journey !

And then, there was a tug of reality - the parachute had opened and we were ready to drift onto land ! ( How sad !!)

We had a perfect landing and it was OVER !!!

I knew it would take a lot for me to forget this experience ! I still haven't and its been 9 months since !

The only thing that came close to the experience after this was ... watching it on DVD !!!

That was the closest to sharing it with the others ! I was only the one amongst the 140 who had ventured into this and I knew that I was now a Hero !!! :-) Indeed, I was soon nick named SKYDIVER during the rest of the trip !

I don't know what Gautam Buddha went through when he was enlightened, but I sure as heaven went through 60 seconds of that when I was in FREEFALL !!!

Thank you UNIVERSE for making all the right connections for me !
Opportunity , Courage and finally Bliss !

After this post, I am tempted to share my SCUBA DIVING experience. And this time I was not strapped to anyone else !!!

Until then, CIAO !!!