I recently went to learn paragliding and got an Elementary Pilot’s license. I was excited and at the same time really anxious as to how on Earth will I be able to glide on my own from high mountains. All sorts of what ifs popped in my mind. What if I bump into a mountain? What if I lose control and crash? What if my glider tears? What if the wind is so strong that I am taken away? These things happen! I am not even kidding. I had absolutely no idea how it was going to turn out. But I went for it anyways because from the day I had experienced a tandem flight, I had wondered what would it be like to do it on my own?

When I went there, I didn’t only learn how to paraglide, I also learnt how to predict weather from the cloud formations, how the wind flows in different landscapes and which factors affect the flow. I also learnt about geography and met people from around the world who had come down to learn paragliding. I went out of my comfort zone, made friends, learned new things and gained trust in myself. I realized how having confidence and trusting yourself can help you take wise decisions in critical situations like when you are in air and something goes wrong.

We also had a fitness check before the training started so we can take care of ourselves and our gears. I faced some issues because I was a little light weighted in this context. I had to stay back when there were strong winds. The fitness check was also done because when we were taking small flights from hills, we often had to carry our gliders and harnesses ourselves so I had to go for some stairs climbing and fitness building sessions before we went for the course in order to be prepared for the worse. I did have to juggle with my studies a bit to prepare myself but the excitement kept me motivated to wake up early or to skip hanging out with my friends and going for a workout session instead.

I think my hard work paid off when I saw the world from 200 ft above like a bird on its own and not sitting in an airplane buckled in my seat. I am sure to go back and get advanced pilot license in the future but for now, this remains as one of the most unique achievements on my list as this is not a very popular adventure which people would choose to learn and do on their own.