Sometimes, When You Fall,You Fly!

Fear is the only factor when you stand at the edge to bungee jump over 80 metres. The mind will play games and ask you to back off. But after three counts, a moment of insane courage and the final leap, it will all be like a dream.

- Sushmita Srivastav

A pounding heart. A bewildered brain running a million thoughts one second and going completely numb the other. Trembling arms stretched out wide. Feet tied to a rope and seemingly glued to a bright-yellow cantilever jutting out of a rocky cliff 83 metres above the ground. The mind was in disarray and the eyes focused on an obscure signboard across the hill; the surrounding hills were green and dusty. Below flowed the Hiual river—a sea green tributary of the mighty Ganga. The sun shone bright on the rather chilly winter morning.

This was the setting for my very own version of ‘Girl vs. Wild’, as the heart, mind and the clock ticked frantically. I had to jump…or maybe not! And I had to make the choice real quick. As there I was, standing at the edge of the country’s highest platform for bungee jumping at Jumpin Heights, India’s first extreme adventure zone, at Mohan Chatti near Rishikesh, one jump away from taking the most adventurous leap of faith of my life.

With the set-up being run by ex-armymen and each jump performed under the supervision of jump masters from New Zealand (the place native to the extreme sport), the question wasn’t really about safety, but about overcoming fear. The fear of falling from that height with both legs tied together. The fear of the unknown. The fear of not being able to do it and backing off at the last moment. It was fight or flight, and I felt as though I was in the climax scene of a suspense thriller.