Summer Flying at the Shelar Paragliding is now ‘On’
Hi All,
After a few weeks of indecision the winds have finally veered west. and Summer flying at Shelar is now on. For those of you who may not know – the Shelar Paragliding site was the first site we discovered at Kamshet. This year it will be our 20th year of flying at this picturesque, rugged rustic site. Shelar has proved to be a consistent site to fly at, hospitable to pilots of all abilities and partial to new pilots looking to increase their experience and airtime.
I visited the site this weekend and took to the air after a very long gap. On the way in i met an old farmer who was camped out in a little makeshift shelter where he and his cattle were retreating from the heat – He reminded me of Shelar Mama – the old man of the site who greeted us when we first arrived here two decades ago and this in turn brought back a flood of memories.
After some ground handling and taking many pictures i headed up to the takeoff aiming at flying the restitution and enjoying the hospitality of the air above Shelar. Once airborne and high above it i began to reminisced about the years gone by as i gazed out at the horizon remembering the many joyful times we have spent here and the amazing experiences we had here – juggling babysitting my son and first flights, leaving the hill and landing out, vulture and peregrine falcon spotting, interacting with the local kids, fighting summer fires, celebrating end of pg season parties, paying our respects Gonshu Bai the local deity of the hills. Ah!
Life has been good – and today i share the air with my 20 year old son. Instead of looking down from the sky scanning the fields for my little boy, I now have to look up as he is always the highest glider in the sky – time flies when you are having fun.
Peace Bliss and Happy landings
Astrid Rao