December 30, 2008 Astrid Rao

Christmas Flying at Kamshet

As I mentioned on the face book group the conditions for the past week have fluctuated drastically from strong winds blowing all day to weak no lift conditions. I managed some long soaring flights lasting between 1 and 2.5 hours although the compression tried its best to keep me from taking off. Visiting pilots Carlo [...]

December 14, 2008 Astrid Rao

CEO’s take flight with Nirvana Adventures

Last weekend CNBC-TV18, ‘Business with Pleasure’, a show that features leaders of corporate India at their relaxed best joined hands with Nirvana Adventures to take TIML chief executive A.P. Parigi on a paragliding adventure. The site was Tower Hill Kamshet and the the focus was on achieving the dream of free flight. Mr Parigi and [...]

December 13, 2008 Astrid Rao

My first flight from the stunning Lake View site

The hills behind Native Place are an amazing place to walk about. Easy meandering paths through leafy arbors, interesting boulders, caves, streams, sun bleached grasses, stunning views of the lake below and the hills all around as well as the chance to walk about in solitude are some of the things that draw me up [...]

December 7, 2008 Astrid Rao

Grounded for the weekend

I spent the weekend in Mumbai and felt like my friend Paulo who went back to Italy after flying in India a while ago and messaged me saying his body was in in Italy and his heart was still in India. Well that is exactly how i felt this weekend. I spent thursday through sunday [...]

December 1, 2008 Astrid Rao

Life is uncertain – fly high!

As Dylan and I drove up from Mumbai on Friday afternoon a grey cloud hung over the city and followed us up the expressway all the way to Kamshet. It reflected the mood of the city hanging low and despondent over us. The newspaper we were reading did nothing to cheer us and I put [...]

November 24, 2008 Astrid Rao

Kids want to fly

  Yesterday at the training site there were a couple of little boys barely 9 or 10 years old holding up bed sheets and running full tilt – they had no preconceived notions about flying with the sheets. They have been watching us train here and  have some idea about what one needs to be [...]

November 17, 2008 Astrid Rao

Angel Lift

Driving up to Kamshet on Friday morning was an exciting affair as always. Sanjay Dwane and I headed out at an unearthly hour to get to the training site on time.We had a luncheon party planned for the village kids and us at the site after the training and we were looking forward to an [...]

November 11, 2008 Astrid Rao

A Super Training Weekend

  The winds seem to have settled into a reliable pattern and sure were happy with the big leeway it gave us this weekend We stuck to an early morning schedule and our Elementary Pilot Course participants had super winds,  super flights and made super progress. They were a great bunch and we had a [...]

November 4, 2008 Astrid Rao

Diwali Week at Native Place

The festival of lights was celebrated in style with oil lamps adding to the warm glow at Native Place. Lamps, Fireworks great food and happy people set the festive mood and students, pilots and house guests all had a wonderful time, away from the noisy firecrackers and pollution in our own little piece of paradise. [...]

October 22, 2008 Astrid Rao

Reaching for Nirvana – The new Paragliding season ‘08 October to June 09’ opens

Drove up to Kamshet on Friday morning. A 5 day EP course was in progress and as it works at this time of the year it is early morning call so consequently the students crash out early, exhausted from the exertion of the ground handling and the scepter of having to wake up early the [...]