FlyNirvana BLOG

I like walking in the rain in the countryside. Getting drenched to the bone and moving along to stay warm. But to get wet at ‘the end of season party’ at Shelar means wet jeans, squishy boots, damp gliders sitting out on wet ground with rain dripping in your hot curry and cold beer and finally you make your way back slipping & sliding all the way through the fields as the muck cakes your boots making you taller by the layer and more unwieldy.Yes we have had some wild parties at Shelar but this time we decided to stay dry and party in style. Sitting by Shelar Mama’s house by a divine smelling haystack with a little bonfire for light, a sumptuous cookout arranged by Bandya and Ravi, food & drinks flowing, excited children running around and the old cronies telling their tales, all against the background of one more grand evening sky display - all and all simply awesome!Gokul and Shirish made it to the end of season party for the first time and loved every minute of it, Sunil Babu raved non stop about the arrangements and Sunith and Dylan gave the gauran chicken (free range poultry) the thumb’s up.We got back to Native Place and were treated to a magnificent display of fireflies all around and inside the house. Swarms of them lighting up in synchronized patterns in the bushes and the trees. Yes i forgot to mention to all promised that the fireflies are here. They have been gathering up in numbers over the past week or so but tonight they are simply magical.Flying will continue until the monsoon arrives and the fireflies will continue to do their thing for a while as well Nirvana Adventures

Landing out at the parking is always exciting. Heading out to your favorite field you may find that it has just been tilled or worse still burnt out. Then the wind could switch and you may experience too much drift or the wind could pick up and then you may land short and have to choose another field. Of course there is no dearth of landing areas but yet i still think it is exciting. Sunil Babu likes it because you do not have to walk cross country through the fields in the dark.

I somehow have two minds about it. Yes i like the excitement of heading out but i also like to land easy in the usual landing area by the hill and hang out with the gang, watch the sunset and the metamorphosis of the scenery. I like the smells of the grasses and herbs that are always more evident in the cooling evening air and i enjoy the camaraderie of walking together with the pilots and children as well as the solitude of walking ahead alone. And so I can never be too sure about which option to choose. But today i was following Sanjay and he was making for the parking. Sanjay, me and Steve made goal and missed out on the vada pao and chai ( evening snack and tea) that Shelar mama brings to the site.

What a bummer!

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This batch of young students came in from Pune and Mumbaito do the 5 day course. They were treated to cold refreshments at the site thanks to 9 year old Vijay‘s enterprising spirit.

Now its not just chai but chilled thum pas (read thumb’s Up) , Pepsi and Miranda are other options available on a sweltering afternoon at the Shelar site.

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Marco Doveri came in from Italy for 3 days of flying. He comes on work to Pune about twice or thrice a year and combines work with flying at Kamshet. If you are thinking - How convenient, the lucky so and so … read on.

He has been coming over for a few years now and each time he turns up he is blessed with great flying conditions. During the week leading up to his arrival we had low cloud cover and strong winds. Yet on his arrival he experienced clear skies, benevolent lifting conditions perfect for playing around and a bunch of very happy pilots for company.

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On our way back from Kamshet to Mumbai Sanjay, Sunith, Parmar and me all had a blast cloud spotting. It was plain to see a dramatic difference in the cloud cover from the day before. Large ever changing puffy shapes dominated the skies often blocking out the sun and creating dramatic patterns of shade and light.

We kept wondering how Yogi Ravi Steve and the rest of the boys were doing at the flying site. Either very low level flights or would it be some good old ground handling. Shirish called to say that it had rained in Mumbai the night before and he gave us an update on the rescued Black winged kite. He had taken it to the BPSCA hospital at Parel where it was identified as a fledgling. They were taking care of it for a while and Shirish hopes it will be ready to be released and fly free in a week. Nirvana Adventures

The internal road between Kamshet, Native Place and Karanjgaon (Shelar site) has been getting a face lift .for the past couple of months. The main Kamshet – Uksan ( Native Place ) road is half complete and thanks to a visit by Ajit Dada Patil the potholes in the stretch upto Govitri were hurriedly filled in this morning. But today at the fag end of the season the road leading to Shelar has finally been tarred. Let’s hope it hold out during the monsoon defying Murphy’s Law and we are able to enjoy it once the Shelar Flying Season begins next year. Nirvana Adventures

Consistent fluffy, cumulus, are drifting in from the west on strong gusting winds. These ‘meghdhoot’ or cloud messengers are alerting us to the upcoming monsoon season. For the past week or so they have been sneaking across the night sky leaving us blue skies in the morning but as of yesterday we see more and more of them lingering in the morning dreamily heading overhead and beyond. This phenomenon will continue and the cloud cover will get progressively thicker until the first precipitation.

The fire flies another harbinger of the monsoons in this region have not yet appeared in significant numbers and this is not helping the crazy hypothesis and bets about the start date of the monsoon ( read as - last date of the flying season)  at this moment. Anyways the magnificent displays in the skies will only get more and more dramatic as the days go by.

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A few years ago Vidya married Gokul a paraglider pilot and the trips to Kamshet, lots of parawaiting and managing an infant in the back of beyond all came as part of the package deal. A while ago she signed up for a course and watching her manage on the field with her daughter running wild at the site along with barefooted village kids brought back memories of my own early learning experience.To be on the field in body and have your mind darting between toddler and the the glider can be a very tough way to learn to fly. No matter how much you prepare it is never enough. Hunger thirst tiredness too much sun etc. are all going around in a mother’s head not to mention the horror of scanning the fields and not seeing the the child you are looking for. And then of you bring sandwiches the kid wants biscuits and if you bring bring biscuits he want wafers … it is a familiar tale.I will never forget my first flight at Shelar. I inflated the glider for the first time quivering and shaking looking bravely at the horizon only to find a red shirt - my 4 year old son Sunith in my vision. He had made the journey up the hill barefoot and all on his own. it was the last thing i needed before my first top to bottom and enough of an excuse to abort the flight and walk down but it was not to be. One of the kids was asked to take charge of my little fellow and i was now free to launch once more. It sure was a memorable first flight with my son running down the hillside yelling ‘ mummy’s flyiiiiiiing. Nirvana Adventures

We have often seen the black winged kite hovering alongside the takeoff at Shelar displaying enviable kiting skills and then suddenly swooping down soundlessly to catch a lizard or a mouse in its talons. Spotting one is always causes excitement and just watching it hover is awesome.

Taking a picture of one however, has always been a futile task as the birds are always far off and when perfectly placed just above takeoff I find myself far below trudging up the slope only to find that it has risen high up to a dot in the sky by the time I am ready to click.

 But today Shirish and Jenny walked into Native Place gently holding what seemed to be a young adult specimen. They had rescued it on the highway a few miles away from the traffic on the highway and a man poking it with a stick. This beautiful gentle creature will stay a while until it gets over its shock and is able to fly high once more.

Under the hawk watch of Yogi, the 3 Shelar kids Bandiya, Vinya and Sandeep have taken to the skies and have already notched a few hours. We see them here on takeoff gearing up to touch the skies. Ravi is the designated instructor for the day and guides them in the air with a gentle voice. Their ground handling skills are improving by the week and it is clear to see the commitment and effort they have put in.

Only a few years ago the 4 of them (Ravi included) were part of the bunch of Shelar kids carrying and packing our gliders. Today they are members of Nirvana Adventure’s crew undergoing an intensive paragliding training program.

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