Sky Diving at Mauritius. . .

I personally feel Bharat is one of the best tourist destinations in the world. There are deserts, mountains, jungles, rivers, beaches; then there is heritage, culture and history. There is everything, it truly is Incredible India, but there is one thing missing, hospitality! Yeah yeah, we believe in ‘Atithi Devobhav’, but do we really? The worst thing while travelling in India is interacting and coming across, rude, uncooperative and of course cheating Indians.

My boss said, Mauritius is just like Kerala, in terms of beaches, cleanliness, tourist attraction and of course in terms of people [not rude though]. I saw so many south Indian style temples there then I have seen anywhere in Bharat, but then again I have never been to Kerala or for that matter any place in South India.

However there is one thing which is almost completely absent from Indian tourism picture, and that is adventure sports. Except for the white water rafting in Rishikesh, and few mountaineering and trekking sites, there is not much for adrenaline junkies. Except for the daily living in metros like Delhi, where driving to the office is an adventure in its own.

I still remember the night when I found out about Sky Diving in Mauritius; I always wanted to do it, but for me the best place to go for it was either Australia or the US. But finding it over there was actually eureka moment for me [God bless internet]. So here I was sitting in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by sugarcane farms and wearing my jump suit in a hanger. I can’t explain the feelings I was having at that time. It was something totally new, excited, happy, scared; adrenaline pumping through my body and worry in my mind.

Over the past few years, I have realized the journey is always more fun and enjoyable then the actual destination. It is the journey to the place which makes the experience worth remembering and the journey to 10,000 feet height in a small plane with Leo and my pilot is something I will never forget, not in this life. The scenery was splendid, picture perfect. Blueish-green Ocean, light blue sky with white clouds, it couldn’t have been more beautiful; the fear was increasing with every moment, the blood rush was at its peak and the constant excitement of achieving something new had already made me jumpy; but as we were approaching the jump spot I was becoming little apprehensive about it.

When Leo told me that soon it will be time and if I still want to do it, I won’t lie, there was a moment when I thought of calling it off; ‘are you crazy dude, what is the fun in jumping from a plane? Normal people don’t do that’ were the actual words which crossed my mind. But I didn’t give it a second thought, I had not come this far to go back; there was no turning back now; it was now or never. Within fraction of seconds my brain had processed so much and the very next moment I just said yes and gave him thumbs up.

The amount pleasure and excitement I felt at that time, was mind boggling, the thumbs up was the moment of actual triumph. Yes jumping was fun, exciting and mesmerizing. Falling from 10,000 feet, shouting my lungs out with no thought in brain, just blank and then all of a sudden a halt in mid air and floating, admiring the beauty, looking at the ground below which was so far and slowly descending towards it was liberating. On the ground it felt I was still flying, not able to control the sense of achievement and excitement. A feeling never experienced before, but nothing like the one I have had in the plane a few moments ago.

Am not sure, if second jump will be as much fun and exciting as this one; there will be no fear to overcome, no second thoughts just a jump. But there might be some new excitement to cover, some new thrill to experience, some new fears to overcome and unless these elements will be there the experience will never be complete in itself. Guess it is more about re-living those moments again.

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