ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS….

“GLOBAL WARMING” what do we understand by this word?
In simple words, it is increase in the temperature of the atmosphere due to human activities, which are causing certain loss to the environment like the quick melting of glaciers, less rain for agricultural activities, etc. might be the world cares about it. It is the government of every country, asking the people to contribute bit of time from their busy schedules for the sake of our mother earth. There are many schemes of government informing us about the loss we are causing to the environment.

The population is increasing, the rains are decreasing, the increase in the demand of food grains, production of food grain not able to keep pace with the needs of the people, resulting increase in the costs of regular use items, increase in taxes, poor people suffer; these would not matter a rich man much because he needs passion worthy cars, a huge house and all. But for some time, keep these all things aside and think if the story of the movie 2012 comes true, will these all things be of any use.

Global Warming is also affecting the adventure games. Paragliding in India starts generally around October but the rains started late, therefore it will end late and the paragliding season will shorten it’s extend as the heat is also increasing day by day. It is in these couple of years, that it is raining so light even in the month of July in Panchgani [a hill station in India which is known for its rains and schools].
What we can do for our earth is trying reducing the use of private vehicles, plant lots of trees, prefer walking or cycling for short distances than using cars or bikes and mark my words if each of us follow these small instructions, we can increase the life of our earth.

So let’s stop speaking and start working because actions speak louder than words.

THE WAVING FLAG...............

A beautiful song by k’naan which is an inspiration for all people in this mighty world. Though India doesn’t play football internationally but it plays cricket which is the most famous game and is seen in every corner of a road; this game was brought by the Britishers to India and it is said that 70% of the income of the International Cricket Council is by the people of India. It has millions of rupees which are given to the players for a match but more than that is representing your country though it is any sort of game.
Paragliding is a game courage and presence of mind but it doesn’t have much scope in India. There are many competitions like world cups but people are hardly interested to know about it.
We are all recognized as a representative of our country and not our religion or the work we do. I am proud that I am called an Indian first and later a young paraglider pilot though my country people don’t have any idea of my game. I’ll surely represent my country, my people, my religion and later myself which would be a great opportunity of me. I’ll start my practice soon for the pre-world cup though I know that I am not going to win for the first time. But I’ll surely see to it that my name is registered as SHRIKANTA POL-INDIA and I’ll be waiting for that day when I represent my country.

FLIGHT FROM THE HIGHEST FLYING SIGHT OF INDIA.......

 

Flying at the highest flying sight of India, which is Bir, [Himachal Pradesh] was a privilege for me. I was always said that height wouldn’t matter me if I have the guts to fly in such a small age, but that isn’t true. Not just me, but anyone in this world would be scared if they suddenly go so high. I have been flying on a considerably small mountain, in the start of the autumn vacations, I was said that I have to fly in the great and huge mountain range which includes Mt.Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga; the three highest mountain of the world, it was THE HIMALAYAS. Sounds too interesting!!!
I left my house, wishing everything would be fine. I reached Bir, late at night, unfortunately I didn’t see the mountains due to the darkness, but I asked for other pilot’s advice about the sight and the weather conditions and all said that it would be fantastic after certain flights.
The next morning, I made up my mind to fly on a new sight and sat in a car which was going to drop me at the flying sight. It took a really long time to climb the mountain and finally I was near the takeoff point. It was my first time on that sight; so many experienced pilots were advising me. They all showed me a place which was visible not more than 2cm from that height, as the landing area.
I opened my glider and pined up my harness. It was my first flight so I decided to do a bottom landing. I pulled the glider and was in the air. After that I was on my own. That time was the most beautiful time I ever had in the air; the huge work of nature and the wonderful greenery around which felt like heaven. I enjoyed that scene for a long time and later concentrated on the landing area. I didn’t have much flying experience that time, so I couldn’t judge the landing area. It took a really long time to reduce a feet of distance and at that time I was scared by the height I gained unnecessarily during appreciating the work of Mother Nature. That time what I was supposed to do was try for some S-turns and I did it but after a short break. And after some time, when I went closer to the land, I couldn’t believe my eyes, the landing area not 2cm but so big that two Olympic size swimming pools would easily fit into it and there were hundreds of people sitting down and seeing the other pilots fly. I landed down safely with no more fear of great heights because I had done a flight from the highest flying sight of India.

IT HAPPENS!!!!!

We all check our equipments before we take off, I did the same on that day. It’s been a really long time that I have learnt to take off but that day was really unlucky for me. It had been a long time but I was not able to take off. All people around were getting hyper watching me fall so many times but I never cared. My lines were all getting jumbled but they were again getting cleared on their own.
At last, I took off from the ridge but there was a huge gust which picked me up with a great speed. My glider was pushed to the other side of the valley, all pilots from the ground were screaming “BRAKES UP” I lucky heard that and did the same when I looked up to my glider I saw a knot on my left brake line. I was yet being pushed back to the other side of the valley. I decided to turn and land in the other valley side but as I turned and faced the other valley; there were huge gusts which collapsed the sides of my glider, I was parallel to my glider. It was acting really weird and was doing wing overs on its own. It reduced my height and got me to the ground with a great speed. I was banged on the ground and the glider dragged me for a long distance but at last I was safe, there were many of them who came running but I stood still and started checking if anything was broken in my body. But I was totally in one piece. Ya! But I had got a slight jerk on my back but that was fine. When I returned back on the take off, many pilots said that I am adventurous, but I know what my condition in the air was. I was not panic, nor I was scared, I just didn’t understand for a few seconds that what was wrong with my glider. I was on the ground till I could understand that!!!
That was my last flight of season 2009-2010, the wind grew quit violent later. Now I am waiting for the rainy season to finish in Panchgani [India] so that I can again go for some crazy things like this!!! FLY SAFE!!!

DO NOT USE OTHER’S EQUIPMENTS!!!!

 

You are always told that ‘’DO NOT USE OTHER’S EQUIPMENTS’’. Well, I was never told that when I started paragliding.
Two years before, I went to a trip to Bir, it was raining there when I reached. After 2-3 days the weather cleared and was suitable for flying. I went on the site and saw that it was too windy for me, resulting; I had to sit, observing others fly. My friend Ram, from manali, gave me a lot of information about that site. He wanted to fly but he didn’t get his glider, so I gave him my glider to fly as he was in that weight range. I never knew that he changed the settings of my harness.
The very next day, the weather was good for flying. I opened my glider, pined up my harness, and was ready for a flight. I picked my glider up and felt that I had no feeling on my glider, I thought it may be because of the extra weight that I am carrying in my harness to equalize my weight. I pushed myself off the ridge and leaned forward everything was normal. But when I tried to sit in my harness, it took me back with it. I got damn scared!!! I was not getting the judgment of my brake lines nor could I see the landing area. I don’t what happened but I got a strike in my mind and tried for weight shift though I never practiced for it any time, a picture of a biker came in my mind while doing weight shifting to sharpen his turns. While doing this I made a judgment of landing, the mountain was too high so I could take as much time I wanted. At last I landed down safely, in the landing area, without any damage to myself and my glider.
That day I learned a lesson, never use other’s gliders and don’t let anyone use yours.
PLEASE NOTE: IT MAY RESULT MORE DANGEROUS, OTHER THAN JUST A LESSON.

Equipment maintenance.……………..

We all do respect our equipments, but I feel, we should again recall its maintenance. This knowledge is mostly given in a beginner book.
The proper maintenance of our equipment is critical to maintenance airworthiness. Taking a few simple precautions we can significantly extend the life of our canopy.
• Do not expose your canopy to more sunlight. Keep the paraglider in the bag until you are ready to fly and pack it up as soon as you can after flying.
• Do not expose your canopy in excess of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not store your canopy in your car, or in your trunk, or in the bed of a truck. Extreme temperature can also degrade the rubber bands used for the proper deployment of your reserve parachute.
• Never use a knot to tie a broken line together. It changes the line length appreciably and reduces the breaking strength significantly.
• Keep your paragliders dry. Paragliders are flight certified while dry & a wet glider may behave quite differently. If the canopy gets wet, dry it in the shade or indoors. Do not sore it packed up wet since it may weaken the fibers. If your paraglider gets wet in the ocean, you must flush the salt water out of the paraglider thoroughly, and then dry it thoroughly before packing it up. Crystallized salt may abrade and weaken your lines, and therefore the lines may need to be replaced if soaked in salt water.
• Avoid washing your paraglider with any soap or detergent; it is normally best to only use water. If dirt gets ingrained in the fabric then a mild non-abrasive detergent may be used with a soft sponge. Never scrub the canopy with anything other than a soft sponge or cloth as you may damage the lightweight fabric and the UV coating.
• Do not make any attempt to repair the glider yourself. All repairs should be done by a qualified repair technician. An exception to this rule is small tears in the fabric that are not located on high-stress areas may be repaired with special self-adhesive rip-stop nylon sail repair tape. Do not walk on or kink the lines.
• Avoid dragging the canopy along the ground.
• Do not pack up the canopy on hard surface with objects that could cause puncture damage (rocks, sticks, thorns, etc.).
• When storing your glider for extended periods, loosen the ties to reduce the stress on the fabric and allow better air circulation.

(Reference- PARAGLIDING: A Pilot’s Training Manual)

PRACTICING WITH WORLD'S BEST PILOTS!!! ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES.....

Being a junior pilot, I was flying with the world ranking pilots. It sounds too energetic. At first glance you feel like being at their place and enjoying the flight. Those deep spirals, wing over, B-stall, etc. which was impossible for me that time. I saw many senior pilots like Mani, Mike, Pascal, Antonio, Dave, etc. whose flying taught me many things in Paragliding.
If you see them flying, you learn many things like weight shifting, deep turns, flying close to the ridge, etc. these are the advantages, but you need to be a good observer for that.
But their flying can also teach you some bad things, if you don’t learn them the right way and right time, they all did that and now they are highly experienced pilots. Well I tried that many times and it was deadly for me as a junior pilot. That day I was trying to go for deep and fast 360s, I don’t know what happened, but my glider went in a spin and I performed a stunt ‘HELICOPTER’ I had a good control on my glider so it recovered, but everyone thought that it was a stunt. And I was called ACRO after that. Paragliding is not an easy game and I understood this later. This event took place accidently but it taught me a lesson.
Please note: ‘Observation is good, but you should use it on the right place’ FLY SAFE!!!