Saturday, April 11, 2009

Bungee...



- The Mounting Fear when you look down the platform into darkness from 110 feet.

- The rush of adrenaline when you plunge into nothingness..

- Amazing free fall for 2-3 seconds before the bungee pull-back..


Yeah.. I had all these experiences and much more this friday(10 Apr).


Only 2 other folks showed interest.... We, (Myself, Vachan 'n Millo) had our jumps slotted at 12 to 1 PM on Friday. When we arrived in the arena, there were about 100 ppl already waiting 'n the regn. was temporarily closed. We were asked to come back after lunch at 3.

We headed out to a dhaba, close by. Had some light north-indian stuff.. chatted around.. and when we came back, we had our medical tests done.. and I was the 82nd jumper. I would get to jump at around 6-7 pm. With over 3 hrs to kill, we cheked out the paintball arena near by. They had some cool deals for the jumpers. But sadly, we couldn't find an opposing team. We were only 3 and it won't be fun with just 3. We went out for a walk instead.

Found a good spot by the roadside, had some hot chai... We discussed interesting things about life, spirituality, fulfillment, career and a lot more. That 2 hr chat proved that my theory was right. "People are essentially good, however hard they try to behave as a**holes" .

When we reached station at 6, there were 10 more ppl to jump ahead of us.. As I got closer to the jump, I got more 'n more nervous.. WTH?? And a few more folks joined the queue.. They had come late for their jumps.. That'll delay my jump by an hour.. I wanted to jump before sunfall and It didn look likely.. the full moon was already out...

It was interesting to note that about 10 ppl had gone all the way up but didn jump. They only said one thing: "Dude, you get up there... then you'll know..".. That scarred me even more.. The guy standing close by started the gyan. "Just dont look the ground.. dont think.. Just let go when
you are told to..". Well.. I didn want such a blind jump. I wanted to experince the fear as well.

Finally, came my chance... I was called to be strapped. I kept asking that guy, if thats enough? can I get extra roping done... He assured me that this can hold up to 140 kgs.. I hopped to a chair near by and waited for my chance..

Strapped on 'n waiting...

And WTH? These guys want a break. It was almost 8'o clock 'n they wanted a 15 min break.. I cant move.. I was strapped.. Well. you dont want to push them.. you dont want them to say.. "Oops. minor mistake dude.. I just missed one end of the rope..".

And Finally, I was called up.. to board the basket..
Weight - 72kg check...
Red Bungee - Check...
Master lock - Check...
Bungee end 1 - Check...
End 2 - Check...

Vinodh, are you ready? I nodded.

The crane went up and in seconds, I was in the top..

Up.. up and away..

Wow... The lovely sight of the beautiful full-moon in all its glory... breath taking.. I could only think of MAD! Guess whose face did I see in the full moon??..
Vinodh, turn around to you right. - I did.
Take deep breaths - I did.
Leave the bars 'n extend your arms like a bird.. - I did.
Just lean forward and let go.. I didn't
I could hear my heart beating...
One question.. Is the cord properly tied? Yes. you saw us check it down there..
I cant see the safety net down there. - It is there.. you just cant see from here..

Take deep breaths - On count of five..
5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... And there I was, falling in the night sky.

I lost myself to the free fall for 2-3 seconds.. I wish I could put the experience into words... :) That was Awesome...

Yeah.. That was an Awesome Jump

Waited for Milind, Vachan to Jump, congratulated the organizers, had dinner 'n got back home!!!

That was an awesome day!

Bungee Jumping.. Check!!! One thing off my to-do-b4-30 list..

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Update: On 11 Apr, an unfortunate accident had happened [link] . Was it luck or fate? We could n get slots on Saturday and hence did it on Friday. May his soul RIP.

4 comments:

A. M. H. Nath said...

Dey loose!!! there wasn't any safety net da!!!

Vinodh said...

No da. There was.. Atleast on Friday, there was a safety net..

Naveen said...

Glad that it was a safe jump! was shocking to read about the incident in the paper early in the morning..

Balu said...

good write up doode.. the feeling must have been blissful..

Bungee in the night is an altogether different feeling ahh !
The feeling you get when the "Giant Wheel" in the loal fares is similar.. zero graviry stuff.. good job man !