Burntout Memories

The Joy of Flying

Incredible. Amazing. Exhilarating. Uplifting. Intoxicative. Electric. Soul stirring. Exalting. Inspiring... or quite simply Out of the world. Running out of adjectives to describe my first experience of paragliding.

It was such a wonderful experience that I’m hooked for life and I intend going back to do the beginners course. The joy of free flight really is hard to describe. It is something I always wanted to do and I finally did it.

From Personal Achives

As we started running on our tracks, I felt myself being lifted into the air and drifting further and further from land. In a matter of seconds, we were flying high above the valley. From my vantage point, I feasted on endless corn fields, green plains and clusters of dark green forests, all sprawled over undulating valleys and hills. I shouted in excitement as I looked down and saw tiny figures of people looking straight up towards me. I could hear people cheering me up. I looked straight ahead and could see the farthest parts of Deolo, all beautiful.

I was flying high above the slopes of Kalimpong on a paraglide with Rishi – my instructor. He told this would give the best view of Deolo, and indeed, they were right. We took off into the sky and glided over acres upon acres of pine forests and running streams. Once in the sky, I drank in views of nature which stands high on a cliff overlooking the lake. Fringed by beautiful stoned paths and emerald mountains, the magical setting resembled scenes from a fairy tale. I pinched myself, to see if I was dreaming.

From Personal Achives

As I floated there, in the sky, with the birds, and with everything hundreds of feet below me, the sense of peace and joy I felt was invigorating. I’ve always looked up towards the sky and seen birds flying and imagined what it would be like for them. I actually for the first time in my life, while I was paragliding, looked down and saw the birds flying, below me! That sight is etched in my memory forever.

The scenery was breath-taking with the hills and valleys surrounding the entire area and the pristine blue of the sky… I was speechless. I wasn’t scared anymore! I was completely enamoured with the moment and the once in a lifetime experience I was participating in. A smile did not leave my face!

As my feet landed safely on the ground, I felt full of gratitude and was on a total adrenaline HIGH. I was thrilled that I had set out to do something that truly scared me and it ended up being the single most exhilarating experience of my entire life. There was pure JOY in conquering that FEAR!

Pic: Random

There are many experiences in life that make you feel that you are truly alive. This is definitely one of them.

P.S.: The flying machines will take off from Deolo, 5km from Kalimpong, and descend into various spots nearby. The football ground of Dr Graham’s Homes, barely a kilometre away, and Relli, some 10km away, are some of the landing points. The gliders will touch down at Pudung, close to Relli, too.

The funny bone of Indian Politics

A few days back, I was reading an interesting book on political satire called Unreal Elections – which digs into the Indian political satire amidst the clamour of heated debates. Surprisingly, as I delved deeper into this new genre of writings, I figured out that the internet is full of such political sarcasms. Thanks to technology, a barrage of political spoofs on the internet and TV ensures that every Indian politician is cut down to size.

For a country where everyone takes politics very seriously and in the rural areas where many aspire to be a politician, it is surprising to find Indians laughing their way to the elections. Thanks to the new age satirists, a generous dose of political humour doing rounds in every nook and corner of the tech world using rhetorical campaigns.

Pic: Random

The genre is not something new in India – it was always there in diverse forms of cartoons in newspapers, it’s just the appetite has increased.

No doubt, humour should be integrated in politics. For example, there seems to be a lot more humour in the presidential elections of the USA than you’ll find in India. Indians have a tendency of taking things seriously. Sarcastic comments by Narendra Modi often receive a very blistering response from political opponents for using the term "Shahzada" for Rahul Gandhi frequently. I find it quite funny and of course, a brilliant tactic. But instead of taking it sportingly, opposition leaders have taken offence to it and responded in a different tone altogether.

The moment you open any social networking sites, you’ll be flooded with varied jokes and graphics based on Indian politicians and politics. The current trend of such satires are inevitably based on the top notch political parties and their supremoes like, Congress, AAP, BJP and who can deny the constant jokes on our home-grown party, TMC.

As I browsed the internet, came across a very interesting take on Indian politics by Irfan – the new breed of cartoonists who gained popularity for his catchy graphics based on similar theme. If you think that it needs acute finesse to capture the funny bone of politics, you’re wrong. Many amateur artists and writers have also taken such steps and later became internet sensation.

Pic: Random

Gone are the days when Jawaharlal Nehru who had a great sense of humour, once told cartoonist Shankar, "Don't spare me". It was also reported that once Laura Bush comically teased her husband George W Bush during the White House Correspondent’s Dinner of his inability to pronounce “nuclear”, his poor reading habits and even his bedtime activities. Can you imagine this in India?

“Ooh there you go again”, says future anonymous commenter “bootlicking the West.” I never get this logic. What is the problem in imbibing the good things of the West—their rationality, their work culture and their sense of humour?