FlyNirvana BLOG

On Saturday I went flying after an entire month and a half. I could not wait to get up in the air and was hoping for good conditions. We got there early and after some ground handling walked up to takeoff. Due to the cross wind  pilots had to take off, make their way  in tail wind to the venturi and the little  SW. facing ridge  left of takeoff to gain height. The wind being quite strong people were able to gain enough height in this area and fly over the cliff and once at the upper cliff level the sky was all lift.

 There were many pilots at takeoff and things were going slow as we had to give each one a chance to gain height. I dallied a while at takeoff and when I did get connected the wind had started to play up- on and off it went and I thought ‘oh oh! It is going to be a top to bottom for me today‘

I looked up to see all the other gliders soaring high over the cliff behind takeoff.  As soon as  the opportunity presented itself  - I inflated , ran hard, and flew straight to the venturii With a few tight figure of eights I was soaring high –  Once I got up it did not take much to stay up -  it was easy lift and super smooth  conditions and we all sailed along effortlessly.

After an amazing dreamy flight I landed a happy woman ready to head back to the city on Sunday morning.  Sinchan, Soren, Kunal and Ashwin who shared the air with me that day were all hoping the weather would do a repeat performance on Sunday. They reported to me that conditions changed and what was ‘maska i.e super smooth on Saturday turned boom boom on Sunday.  Well J – that’s what the weather has a reputation for doesn’t it?

Peace Bliss & Happy Landings

Astrid Rao

Nirvana Adventures

 We are happy and honored to be training the forces once more. Nirvana Adventures has bagged a prestigious Air force contract to train over a hundred airmen and officers from across the country in the art of paragliding.

Peace Bliss & Happy Landings

Astrid Rao

Nirvana Adventures

Last weekend we gathered at Kamshet to fly  and hang with  Rinul a Nirvana club pilot and frequent visitor at native place. She leaves to go abroad to study and will be away for two years.  We  have already had a round of farewell parties and now it is Rinul’s turn – and a bunch of us ( Dwane, Dylan, Daniel,  Astrid, Sanjay, Hiren, Nidhi, Sinchan, Harsh, Pankaj, Sudhir and Soren ) gathered to fly with her for the last time this year.  She  is off to Australia to study. Rinul completed her CP course  this season and has packed in as much weakened flying as possible since then. She has already got her flying in Melbourne sorted out –  her glider has been ordered and shipped and Sanjay put her in touch with Marc Mitsos who will introduce her to the sites and give her any assistance she will need –

Fly high & safe Rinul  - we are going to miss your bubbly exuberance.

Astrid & Sanjay Rao

Ps. Apoorva we missed you

Nirvana Adventures

As winter comes to a close and the heat rises the time comes for our winter pilot visitors to move on and head out for cooler climes . This year Dag, Chico and Sammy spent a few months with the Nirvana Team doing tandems, flying with friends and enjoying the camaraderie at Native Place.

Last week Dag packed his bags and headed  for  Pokhra. Chico and Consuelo left to see Kerala before heading home to Italy and this weekend we say good bye to Sammy.   After 3 months at Native Place he leaves for a little bit of Kerala and then back to France.

Au Revoir Sammy, Ciao Chico & Consuelo and Namaste Dag

See you next year same time same place

Sanjay, Astrid & the rest of the Nirvana Team

Nirvana Adventures

Sammy Dag Ravi Bandya Vinya Sandeep Ganesh and Pushkar drove out to Panchgani on Monday morning where they enjoyed 4 great days of fun flying. On the weekend they came back to Native Place with strawberries, Sanjay took the wine up from Mumbai and Dag served up his famous strawberries and red wine desert at Native Place … Divine!

Guys you missed it

… so did I L

Astrid

Nirvana Adventures

 Waiting for the wind - Kate, Anna, Consuelo, Steve, Chico and Asa and Anita I spent the entire month and more traveling all over the county – Coimbatore, Mysore, Bangalore, Gwalior and Delhi and missed out on all the fun and action happening back at Kamshet .  Everybody parked at Native Place was making merry with the great conditions at Tower Hill and flying back home to Native Place consistently through the week.Pushkar told me It was a common sight to see Dag in the garden in the middle of the afternoon packing his glider and chilling with a bottle of beer or to spot Sammy coming in with loads of height doing helicos and SAT’s over the lake, or to spot Steve making it home in tandem and  Vinya, Sandeep  Bandya and Ravi bringing up the rear.Happy Days Astrid Rao Nirvana Adventures

 To drive up to the top of the mountain in the crisp cool hours of a winter morning, check the wind direction as you alight from the van at the parking, breathe in clean air, listen to the birds chirp and enjoy the sun on your skin – This is a classic early morning ‘Tower Hill’ moment for me but with the sport becoming popular our remote and pristine sites are getting marred by garbage.Yes litter at the flying site is a sad depressing sight. It often spurs us into getting our hands dirty with spontaneous collection drives that give immense satisfaction. But Sammy one of our guest tandem pilots from France decided to take it one step further and do something more permanent.He said something about a joint effort to me. I heard him discuss with Ravi and Bandya who were telling him that a bin would not last a day. Yes nothing remains at the site except for garbage and a bin would surely be carried away by shepherds. They finally came up with the idea of puncturing the bin from the bottom (so as to render it useless for any other use) and then fixing it into the groundIt sure was a joint venture – You see Chico, Consuelo and Stan helping to dig out a foundation and fix the bin into the ground in the picture above - I was asked to bring big garbage bags from Mumbai and the Nirvana Crew agreed to periodically  empty the bin and dispose the garbage.People we need your involvement to protect the natural beauty of our flying sites Do your bit and bin it!Peace Bliss & Happy Landings Astrid Rao Nirvana Adventures