LIFE ON THE EAST COAST

Odisha’s beaches are a treat to the senses. SUSHMITA SRIVASTAV discovers their diverse offerings on East India’s first-ever glamping festival, Marine Drive-Eco Retreat.

- Sushmita Srivastav

“When do I start running?” I ask, panicking. “You will know,” says the calm voice of the woman next to me, as she rechecks the harness around my waist one final time.

“How will I know?”

“Oh, any moment now! Keep your hands high up.

Look ahead. Run!”

Before I can comprehend the series of instructions, the rope tied to the harness is pulled, and with a sudden jolt, I am racing ahead. A few steps into the run, the parachute that had been weighing me down lifts up, and my bare feet are suspended in the air before I know it.

I am flying. The sun is melting behind me, and the sky is a shaken palette of blending colours. I look down to see an endless ocean with its roaring waves hitting the sandbar on my right, a row of Swiss tents snaking along the coastline on my left, and the jeep that’s towing my parachute speeding on the sand in the middle. I float in the air for a few joyful minutes, before it is all over—as abruptly as it had started, like a rushed dream.

Back on the land post my first territorial parasailing adventure, I stroll back to one of the 50 tents pitched on the idyllic Ramachandi Beach in Konark, Odisha. The first edition of Odisha Tourism’s Marine Drive-Eco Retreat—the biggest and first-ever glamping experience in East India—has me wondering why I didn’t visit this laid-back, sun-drenched land sooner.