Do It Now, or You Might Never Get A Chance Again

Finally on August 20th, 2011, I skydived for the first time, not only unheeding my friends’ suggestions to go for tandem first and then solo/Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) but also my own fear of jumping into the unknown. I didn’t know how it will be to fall from 14,000 feet, descending at 120MPH (193KMPH). I wasn’t sure if the instructors will be able to guide me ntil the pull; I wasn’t sure if the parachute will open fine or not; I wasn’t sure if I would land on Interstate-94 and get dragged down the road.

Why did I chose to do it then? I don’t know. I felt I can do it; they won’t be stupid enough to let first timers go directly to AFF if it was so dangerous. After watching a couple of YouTube videos of AFF level 1, there was no going back. The ground training boosted my confidence and reviewing the dive flow in mind over and over again just filled in the gaps. I was/am even sure about handling parachute malfunction and using reserve, however, I don’t wish it upon me or anyone else for that matter.

I was not really scared at first but then my jump kept postponing giving more time to think. I was getting nervous towards the end and it shows in the video. Last thing I told myself was that even if I die, it will not be a boring death; I’d rather die doing something exciting! Anyway, this post is to let everyone know that anyone can do it. If you want to do it, all you have to do is just do it because you might never get a chance again!

The video from my first skydive(homepage) - I dedicate it to the people involved in the India Against Corruption. I can’t be there during this historic moment, but I can still spread the word and support it. Just remember, You Might Never Get A Chance Again!

Edit: There was a copyrighted song on the video so I took it down. One other edit is here