Hi All,
I received the XC mag just before we drove up to Kamshet on Friday and the first thing that caught my eye was David Obura’s article titled ‘Rediscovering Nirvana” David had taken a long break from paragliding and last year he visited us at Kamshet to spend a week flying in hospitable conditions and get his groove back.
I myself was getting back to Kamshet and paragliding after a gap of 3 long months and that weekend I too rediscovered Nirvana. The afternoon flying at Shelar was incredibly smooth. It’s the kind of conditions that lull you into easy going mode.

I soared about close to the cliff peeping into the vulture and falcons nests in the rock, screeching out to a cheeky peregrine falcon who simply ignored me – guess my diction was not up to the mark, this is how it must feel to be a raptor I thought – soaring on top of the food chain a sky lord overlooking the entire scene with eyes that don’t blink and with nothing to concern you at all. Soon Sunith got airborne and in my heart I felt a little flutter as I saw him gain altitude and shrink into the large sky. Is this what the mama bird feel when her fledglings leave the nest. Nah! Not possible – they don’t have worries – that is reserved for us lesser humans who lack faith in our own wings. I shrugged off the feeling and smiled. There sure was a lot to smile about including watching an incredible sunset and moonrise almost simultaneously.

Time flies too you know! Not long ago our son Sunith was a toddler running barefoot across the fields and hills with the village boys for company. Today he has finished his grade 10 examination ( it’s what kept me away from Kamshet for 3 months) and is flying high with those very boys.

And things change too you know! Last year it was the road that came up all the way to the site, before that it was the vultures that left their roosting area in the cliffs in large numbers, and this year it is the windmills have sprouted on the tops of the ridges. But paragliding goes on as usual. And every one lands at sunset. And then it’s time for the FlyNirvana family to head back home to Native Place our lovely base built for pilots to come home to after a sunny day at the site.

Peace Bliss & Happy Landings

Astrid Rao