The SKY-DIVE !!!

[Its been over a year since that fateful day back in April, 2007, when Ganesh, Anand, Santosh and I jumped off a moving airplane at 13500 feet up in the sky.... and landed using parachutes !!! I've been wanting to pen this post ever since ....but somehow not been able to. Could think of a million excuses, but not one of them substantial ]

After our initial attempts to sky-dive at the ‘North London Parachute Centre’ in Cambridgeshire had been foiled 2 weeks ago by strong wind conditions [ read my previous post - ‘The dive that didn’t take off!’ ], the pressure on us to give it yet another shot had mounted to inescapable levels !

Quite a lot was at stake here ! More than our honour [we had ranted to the whole world last time, that we were going to sky-dive ], what mattered to us was that if we weren’t able to complete the dive within 6 months, then the £150 that each of us had shelled out would be forfeited ! Moreover, Anand and I were due to return to India for good in the coming month….and since, good weather conditions are something that’s just a bit too much to ask for in Britain, we knew that it had to be now or never !

Thus, on the 14^th of April, 2007 [‘Vishu’ day back home in the God’s-own-country], we geared up to try our luck once again !This time around there were a couple of major changes – for one thing, Bharat couldn’t make it, as he was in India on holiday ! We couldn’t really wait for him to return as both Anand and I had time against us. [ The thinking was that Borat would return from India and do the sky-dive before the 6-month deadline runs out ...but time would reveal that he didn't ...and ended up losing every single penny ]

Secondly, instead of traveling to Cambridge by bus and staying there overnight, this time we hired a Ford Focus and drove up early in the morning…..thus saving time and effort…. plus with the added advantage of having a car at our disposal, in case the weather plays spoil-sport again and we have to resort to some plan B !

Early morning on the 14^th of April, at around 5 am…under the cover of darkness; Anand, Santosh and I set out from Bristol heading towards Cambridge. Anand was at the wheels [.... ‘cos as usual, he wouldn’t let anyone else drive ]. Unfortunately for us, things started going haywire as soon as we kicked off . Within minutes of having hit the motorway, we accidentally took a wrong exit and were forced to drive for another 15 miles before we could get a road back ! We lost our way a couple of more times en route to Cambridge, and each time, were forced to take costly detours.

However, the real issue in hand – we realized in due course, was something that was least anticipated – thick smoky Fog !!! [Santosh, who had earlier checked the weather reports for the day, had advised that there were no rains or gusts predicted…however, what he hadn’t said a word about was the extreme fog conditions that were warned …..thinking it was something innocuous :O !]. Within hours, as the sun slowly emerged out, we were able to comprehend the magnitude of the problem we were literally ‘engulfed’ in. The fog was so thick that at certain sections, the visibility was almost nil and it was virtually impossible to drive. We were scared on whether the sky-dives for the day would get cancelled ‘cos of this….Santosh called up the airfield and they confirmed our fears – all flights were GROUNDED at the moment !

It couldn’t have been worse ! Everytime we tried to sky-dive, we were being hit by a different force of nature ! Each trip to Cambridge was costing us a lot of money Getting a chance to dive was proving to be a tougher task than the actual dive in itself !

We contemplated turning back, but then Ganesh would arrive in Cambridge from London and we had agreed to pick him up there……and so we drove on.

We arrived at Cambridge a couple of hours late, thanks to the fog and all those detours we had taken. On picking Ganesh, we headed straight towards the airfield. It was slightly brighter by now, but the fog cover hadn’t really cleared. We still were confused on what to do – whether to go ahead, or rather drop the plan, turn around and resort to Plan B !!! The trouble was… though we had all been talking about Plan B as a backup option, no one had really planned what Plan B would be !!! [yea, just how stupid could we be ].

Somewhere along the way, we pulled over by the side of the road, and pondered…weighing our options. It was Ganesh who finally convinced us to push on and still give it a shot. We had come this far, so might as well go there and try our luck. After all, we had nothing more to lose.

When we reached the airfield, the scene was quite similar to how it was 2 weeks ago when we were there. All the flights were grounded and hoards of frustrated sky-diving enthusiasts wiled away their time in the lounge. We went into the office and registered. Our slot numbers were in the range of 50’s, which meant that, should the weather improve and they actually start diving, then we’d have to wait for over 50 people to complete their dives before we get our turns !

Having completed our training 2 weeks ago, we didn’t have to go through the torture again. Hence, we went into the lounge and sat around waiting.

At around noon, the first signs of hope began to surface. The fog was fast clearing up and the bright blue sky emerged through the gaps !

Soon, there was a flurry of activity as they finally announced that the dives were about to begin Our joy knew no bounds….yet we weren’t really sure if we’d get a chance, as 50 people would have to complete their dives first…..and all this would have to be over before sunset …..else we’d be screwed !!!

The first flight took off carrying about 5-6 divers, their trainers and camera-men. It was about 10 minutes later, that we noticed the spectators on the ground screaming out loud and pointing towards the heavens. We looked up in the direction that they were pointing to …and up there in the sky, was a tiny speck ….which happened to be the airplane …and out of it a few minute dots emerged !!!

The first batch of divers had taken-off !!! [Gosh, 13,500 feet was really really high !!!]

It took another 10 minutes or so before the divers finally touched down using their parachutes ! About 10 minutes later the plane landed, and was ready to take on the next batch of people. So in effect, one batch took about half an hour in all. Santosh and I quickly ran through the mathematics and figured out that we wouldn’t get our turns until late in the evening…if at all we do ! Any further delays would prove quite costly, as we’d have to be done with it before the sun goes down

From the next batch on, the jumps progressed in full swing …We came across quite a lot of first-timers, men, women , professionals etc…. diving and landing in quick succession. The ambience at the airfield was totally upbeat !

Finally, at around 4 or 5 in the evening, Santosh and I were summoned for our dives ! Yea, it was much sooner than what we had expected …..seemed as though few folks didn’t have the nerves and had pulled out in the last minute Ganesh and Anand were still awaiting their turns and would have to be in the next batch.

Santosh and I marched into the hangar, got into a bunch of blue body-suits, helmets, goggles and the like…and were introduced to our respective trainers and cameramen. My trainer was a huge, bulky guy, and we practiced the basic dive positions that we were supposed to assume during the jump.

When the plane touched down following the previous batch, we were escorted into it. There were about 4-5 first timers in the flight, 2-3 pro’s, a few cameramen……and all of us sat on the floor ! Before I could realize it, the doors were slammed shut and the plane took-off ! There were no seat-belts, no safety announcements, no pretty air-hostesses and definitely no welcome drinks !!!

By now, my heart was beating faster than ever before, and as the plane went on gaining altitude, the excitement levels inside kept building ! Just before reaching the 13500 feet mark, all the first-timers, including me, were strapped on to our respective trainers. I double-checked the cable to ensure that it was secure – after all, my entire life depended on it !

At 13,500 feet, the green bulbs finally glowed and the doors were swung open !!! Instantly; powerful, cold winds started gushing into the cabin…..

Initially, the professional divers jumped off. Next one of the other first-timers leapt off with her trainer …then it was Santosh’s turn ! I hardly noticed him diving, ‘cos by now, my trainer was leading us closer and closer towards the door. My camera man was close by too. Another first-timer jumped off …and NOW …the MOMENT had finally arrived !!!

First, the camera-man moved towards the door and holding on to the railing at the top, he carefully led his body outside, whilst still clinging on to the moving plane !!!

My jaws dropped !!! I just couldn’t believe my eyes – this guy was standing on a small railing outside the moving plane in mid-air…… hanging on to the top of the door with one hand and shooting us with the camera fitted onto his helmet !

As the trainer slowly pushed me forward to the edge of the door [with him strapped on behind me], I got my first glimpse of the earth below …….and that was when I came to realize how high 13500 feet actually is !

FREAKING HELL ……!!! It was as if we were on the edge of the STRATOSPHERE !!! A little higher and I could be sitting on the moon [Ok, thats an exaggeration ] …..The curvature of the earth was clearly visible and we were so DAMN high that I could hardly make out any of the structures on the ground!

The trainer tapped me once on my shoulder, which meant I had to take on the initial dive position …that is, with my hands folded and grabbing on the straps on my shoulders and my body arched forward. [It wasn’t possible to speak anything audible with the wind slamming on our faces, and so we had, during the initial training, agreed upon these ingenious ‘shoulder-tapping’ communication mechanisms]!

Before I could realize it or mentally prepare myself, the trainer PLUNGED OUT of the airplane …carrying me along with him…. and I was AIR-BORNE !!!

Time FROZE !!! The silence was deafening !!!

Out of the blue, I got jolted into reality……and the next thing I realize, we were tumbling and twisting and somersaulting through the air [I guess it was the massive weight difference between us that caused this] ! Within seconds of being air-borne, the trainer opened a smaller chute, which I guess was meant for balance. …and almost instantly we stopped tumbling ….. But was still freely falling down towards the earth ……at UNBELIEVABLE VELOCITIES !!!

The trainer tapped again on my shoulder …which meant that I had to assume the free-fall position – by stretching my arms out wide ! But I hardly felt it as I was still pretty shaken-up by the ‘turn’ of events ! Soon he was tapping harder and then almost beating on my shoulders, while at the same time screaming out loud into my ears ! That ultimately helped, and I got the message

As I tried to compose myself and get a ‘hang’ of the situation, the instructor started screaming into my ears yet again ! This time he said something like, “Look at the camera ….look at the camera !!!”

“Where the %*&* is the camera?”, I shouted back.

He pointed out straight ahead….and right in front of us was the camera man…..cutting through the air and moving closer and closer towards us, all the while shooting us with the camera fixed on his head ! It was unbelievable……I mean, where on earth [..or rather the 'sky'] did he come from now ??? He had jumped off a couple of seconds before we took off from the plane, and now he was hovering […..or rather ‘falling’] right next to us !

I tried to smile at the camera ….but the muscles on my face just wouldn’t move !!! The tremendous force of the cold air hitting on my face had almost paralysed my senses !

Looking back at the experience, I simply cannot describe what was running through my head at that instant …the feeling of free-fall was absolutely INCREDIBLE……totally OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD !!!

In about 30 seconds or so that the free-fall lasted, we had dropped from 13,500 feet to about 5000 feet !!! [ Now ….you don’t have to be an Isaac Newton to figure out how fast we were falling]

Speaking about Newton, too bad sky-diving wasn’t around in Cambridge way back in the 17^th century when he walked around the Universities here….else, he needn’t have gone through the trauma of an apple falling on his head to discover Gravity

At 5000 feet, the parachute was opened by the trainer. Instantly, our acceleration towards the earth was arrested with a jolt and a tremendous force pulled us back up…The impact to the chest at this stage was really heavy, nevertheless, bearable !

Now that the chutes were open, everything suddenly calmed down ! We were falling at a very gentle pace, and there was nothing more to fear ……but not for long !

The trainer showed me the controls of the parachute. There were two straps that he held on to, in order to manoeuvre the flight. He even offered me the controls and showed me how pulling the left strap would tilt us towards the left, and the right would accordingly do the reverse.

Next, he said we could do some spirals……. Sounded interesting ! But the moment he pulled on that left strap, we swung on towards the left in a huge semi-circle ! I wasn’t prepared for this and it freaked the hell out of me ! ! ! Next, he said he was going to swing on to the right, and asked me to look up towards the parachute while we were at it !

Before I could realize it, we were being hurled violently towards the right and just as he had requested, I looked up – and up there, I could see the chute and beyond that, was the EARTH !!! [We were in a nearly 45-degree angle with the chutes below and ourselves on top !]

That’s it ! “No more spirals”, I told the trainer. Thankfully, the remainder of the fall was slow and mellow, as we carefully navigated the chute towards the centre of the field. It was a very unique feeling – being suspended in the air, having absolutely nothing underneath my feet !

In about 10 minutes or so, the ground started to appear within reach ….and a while later, we landed on the ground …..right in front of our camera-man ! The trainer had manoeuvred us precisely onto the marked spot in the middle of the field !

As I savoured the sweet feeling of accomplishment….and the earth beneath my feet, the instructor released me from the straps. I knelt on the ground for a second ….and then, got up, thanked the instructor and the camera-man and walked triumphantly back to the building. Santosh, who had landed a few minutes before, welcomed me there ! He was pretty much on a high as well. Together, we went into the projector room, where we were shown the videos of our jumps. The videos had come out superb !!! The lady said that the DVDs would be mailed to us in about 2 weeks time…and we could hardly wait !

Ganesh and Anand went in the next batch. Ganesh had some electrifying adventures even before he got onto the plane [.... which he didn't reveal to us until much later]. Our man had somehowfound himself stuck inside the toilet just 15 minutes before his scheduled take-off time ! But then, thanks to a little presence of mind and his trademark audacity, he had extricated himself from the mess, just in time to make it onto the flight !

Ganesh was the first to land ….and the guy was exuberant as ever ! Santosh and I joined him for the screening of his video…and I must admit, this inarguably had to be the coolest sky-dive video we’d ever seen !!! This guy’s seriously got some real nerves ! While the rest of the divers were biting their nails, our man was bantering with them and making faces at the camera

The last person to land was Anand and we all crowded around him as he walked down the tarmac……He seemed exhausted and quite visibly dazed ! Sluggishly he dragged himself onto on a bench and we looked up at his dazzled face hoping to catch his initial words about the dive experience. But he just blindly looked back at us …completely dumbstruck !!! That was when we realized those words weren’t going to come …..atleast not in the near future !

That silence lasted well over an hour – during which he just sat there with his head hanging low, staring at the ground below his feet !! [Seemed to us that he just couldn't appreciate enough, the comfort of having the earth below his feet ! ]

Finally just before the sun went down, he spoke ! That was when we got to know about his experience ….about how all the spirals they performed had totally freaked the spirits out of him !

Now that Anand was back to normal, it was time for us to leave. Anand took the wheels, as he still wouldn’t allow any of us to drive ….and we headed back gallantly into Cambridge town. There, once again we visited ‘Pipasha’ the supposedly ‘Indian’ [..but actually Bangladeshi] restaurant [….where we had dined in our previous adventure to Cambridge] and celebrated our GREAT achievement !

Ganesh split up to catch his bus to London, while the rest of us drove back into Bristol, reaching home at about 1 AM ! It wasn’t until much later that I revealed the whole sky-dive adventure to my folks ….and trust me, to this day, whenever I go out on a trip, my mom severely reprimands me against it …. that I can’t even think of doing something like this ever again !!!

By the way, check out the full video of my dive at –>

It cost me a 100 pounds for this video, hence, please do watch it and don’t forget to comment on it

[Disclaimer: What happens at precisely 2.00 minutes into the video was completely unintentional, and I hadn't even realized it until I saw the video ]

The ‘Dive’ that didn’t take off !

[Its been a year since I first wanted to write this post ! Call it the 'Heights of procrastination'...but hey, as they say - its better late than never ]

1^st April, 2007 – otherwise known as April Fool’s Day ! A day – the less ordinary would most likely doodle away playing pointless pranks on each other ………But to Bharat, Anand, Santosh, Ganesh and I, this was the day we chose to rewrite our personal histories and attempt the unthinkable […and almost nearly succeeded] !!!

It was Santosh and Bharat who had first come out with idea a few months ago. But at that time, the proposition had sounded absolutely insane ! I mean, who in the right state of mind would think of flying up in an airplane to 13,500 feet in the sky …open the doors and then JUMP off into thin air …….allowing your body to be thrust towards the earth at enormous velocities…..and then finally, open up a parachute and land safely onto the ground !!!

PHEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW !!!

Welcome to SKY-DIVING – the ultra-extreme, adrenaline-packed, thrilling yet spine-chilling sport, that only the bravest of the brave may dare attempt !

When I first heard about it, I had laughed it off……but then, one sleepy afternoon, when Bharat and Santosh showed me sample videos on the website, I got instantly hooked ! There were many agencies around Britain offering the facility…but the nearest one for us was just outside of Cambridge. We looked at all the details on the website. For beginners like us, they wouldn’t allow us to jump alone, but would be strapped on to a trainer – who would operate the chutes. Though it looked a bit scary, we were assured that safety was well taken care of.

However, at around £150 for a jump and another £100 for a DVD video, the damage to the pockets would be unavoidable … Nevertheless, for something that we’d do just once in a life-time [……unless of course, for pure emergency reasons J ], it seemed worth every penny !

The website said that we’d get a small discount if we go in a group of 5. So the next task in hand was to find 2 more accomplices. Understandably, this wasn’t really the easiest of tasks – there were people who’d rather enlist for the Iraq war, than sky-dive with us ! Finally, we found our 4^th comrade in Anand Ramakrishna! Following that, one phone call to my good friend and partner-in-crime – Ganesh (based in London), and we had our team of 5 J

On 31^st March, Saturday afternoon, Bharat, Anand, Santosh and I boarded a National Express bus from Bristol to London, reaching there late in the evening. At London Victoria bus station, we were joined by Ganesh and boarded another bus to take us to Cambridge, arriving there in the night.

Having had major plans to party the night away in Cambridge, we were quite disappointed to see that much of the town had already shut down…and city was almost entirely deserted. Cambridge was a very small town, and hardly had any night-life at all [.....outside of all those University hostels , that is ] . Santosh had booked us rooms in a tradional Inn, and following the sign-boards on the streets, and with a little help from the odd persons we ran into, we walked all the way to the place on Newmarket Road.

En route, we approached a stretch of road that was curved in a convex manner. Around the corner, was a sign-board (hanging outside a restaurant), that we could only see a part of, due to the curvature of the road. Initially, it looked as if the board read ‘Asha’. [Not bad..…an Indian restaurant was just what we wanted!] As we got closer, another alphabet appeared round the corner and the board now read ‘Pasha’ !!! [Ok, must be an Afghani eat-out] However, when we finally negotiated the curve, we could see the whole board….and it read ‘Pipasha’ ! Turned out to be a Bangladeshi restaurant, but of course, marketed as ‘Indian’, just like all Bangla or Pakistani restaurants in the UK.

Less than 50 metres ahead was our Inn. We checked into our rooms and after dumping our luggage, walked back to Pipasha and treated ourselves to a couple of Kingfishers and an amazing tandoori meal ! We later heard that Pipasha was the best ‘Indian’ restaurant in Cambridge, and must admit – it truly lived up to its name ! I’d totally recommend this place to anyone visiting Cambridge. Check out their website -> http://www.pipasha-restaurant.co.uk/?id=contact [….No, I don’t get paid for this ]

The next morning, we rose early. The taxi van we had booked to take us to the airfield arrived at the appointed time. The day was sunny and bright, and there were no signs of clouds or rain. We had come to know earlier that the jumps would be permitted only in perfect weather conditions [ ..something that’s a little too much to ask for in Britain]. But that morning, looking up at the clear blue sky, we couldn’t help ourselves from smirking with the confidence that nothing could possibly come in between us and our sky-diving dreams for the day !

After about ¾ of an hour driving through lush green fields, we finally reached the airfield. The place was almost in the middle of nowhere – endless green stretches of land extended as far as the eyes could see. Far ahead on one side, the open landscape was broken by a series of huge wind-mills, that kept spinning furiously, as ifthere was no tomorrow !

Upbeat and confident, we walked into the office room of the airfield. But what they told us then hit our spirits like a ton of bricks ! Apparently, we had overlooked one crucial weather element – the WIND !

That 1^st of April in the spring of 2007, unfortunately it was a very windy day in Cambridge. The permissible wind speed for sky diving was around 20 knots, but then it was more than double that figure that day. The guys pointed out towards that wind-sock that stood in the middle of the field. It was nearly horizontal

We were told that we could either wait around, hoping that the conditions would improve by noon [which they advised was unlikely] or go back and come again another day ! It sounded quite simple to them …but to us who had come all the way here from Bristol, taking 2 buses and a van; and staying overnight at an Inn …it was too hard to digest

Shattered and dejected, we moved into the adjacent lounge area and settled down on a couch…trying to come to terms with reality. We weren’t alone …there were lots of other people in the lounge including children, moms, grannies – all of them equally dejected ! We ordered some hot chocolate and a light breakfast and sat down pondering – a lot of “why, what if and when’s” ran through our heads ! But we knew there was nothing much we could do than sit and hope that the weather would improve. We were told that we could atleast complete our initial training today…..so that whenever we actually jump, we wouldn’t have to go through the sessions again. That sounded reasonable and we followed the instructor into the adjacent hangars and underwent the training. This completed, we were formally licensed to dive…if only the weather Gods permitted.

We went back to the lounge and set out on the awfully boring task of waiting, hoping the winds would ease down. There were 2 internet PC’s in the hall, but were almost continuously occupied. In the adjacent hall, we played a few games of pool and once we got bored of it, picked up a giant jigsaw puzzle having a picture of a busy street in London on it…and religiously started working on it.

A couple of hours passed by and the windsock stood as horizontal as ever ! [Bloody hell … they build the airfield right next to a wind-farm with all those wind-mills, and how on earth can they expect it not to be windy ? ]

Every half an hour or so, we could see that an official took off in a small Cessna plane, hovered around the airfield [possibly collected weather related data] and came down again.

Soon we were getting bugged of the jigsaw as well Anand decided to go out and shoot some pictures with the Cessna plane. He asked us to join him, but none of us obliged, except for Bharat … we were still quite involved in the jigsaw and was reluctant to leave the comfort and warmth of the building !

A few minutes later, through the glass windows we saw Anand and Bharat accompanied by the pilot of the Cessna walking towards the plane. We wondered why Anand had dragged along the pilot as well when all he wanted was to take a snap with the Cessna ! We continued to focus on the jigsaw…… but from the corner of our eyes noticed that Anand and the pilot were now boarding the Cessna, while Bharat stood there outside the fence. [OK …maybe they’re going to take a picture of him sitting inside the cockpit !]

The next thing we realize – the propellers started spinning and the engines roared into life ! “WHAT THE HELL” – all 3 of us exclaimed in unison ! Instantly, we were on our feet, and having left the jigsaw behind, ran outside towards the fence, just as the Cessna taxied onto the makeshift runway.

We stared at each other in disbelief as the Cessna charged ahead on the runway, and took off …taking Anand and the pilot up into the sky !

“What the *&*”%* is going on ?” , we asked Bharat ! He smiled and explained how they had both gone into the office asking for permission to shoot with the Cessna, and this generous pilot had offered to give them both a ride in the plane !

This was unbelievable !

We watched as the Cessna soared up into the sky, took a large circle and slowly started to descend back onto the runway. But just as it was about to touch-down, the plane shot up again. Anand was clearly having the time of a lifetime.

After another large circle, the Cessna did finally land, and off came a triumphant Anand – with an expression as if he had single-handedly won the 2^nd World War ! Bharat rushed towards the plane and got in, as Santosh, Ganesh and I just stood there scratching our heads !

Bharat got just one large circle and as soon as he was back on the ground, Santosh and I ran towards the plane. I eagerly asked the pilot if we could fancy a ride as well ? “Sure thing”, he said and was willing to give each of us a round.

Enthusiastically I got into the cockpit beside him and strapped on my seat-belts. This was a trainer flight, and so all the controls including the steering were duplicated in front of me as well …but the pilot ordered not to touch anything ! He then gave me a pair of headsets…..which proved to be quite useful, as the Cessna was very loud when airborne.

Now, we were ready to go…..the Cessna slowly taxied down to the end of the field and turned around. The next thing I realized, we were charging ahead and after a very short run-up, we took off …up into the sky ! The feeling was amazing …I had once traveled inside the engine of a passenger train, back in India, but flying in the cockpit of an airplane was really something ! We soon ascended to about 1000 feet, and by this time, we could really sense the power of the winds as the Cessna was wobbling quite badly. The pilot was friendly and chatted all throughout the flight, telling me of how he also comes from somewhere around Bristol, and that flying was just a part-time hobby for him. He radioed the weather conditions back to the office down below, and it was anything but positive news

We took a large circle up in the air, and I feasted my eyes on the wonderful English countryside below – the endless stretches of green fields, the lakes and the army of wind-mills incessantly spinning in the distance !

Soon, we began our descent and slowly the earth started getting closer and closer, until finally, we touched down ! I thanked the pilot and got off, Santosh and Ganesh had been waiting for their turns. Once, everyone had had a chance, we all lined up with the generous pilot, and shot some snaps. We went back into the lounge and played the jigsaw until about noon, when they finally announced that there would be no jumps at all that day !

But by now, we didn’t really complain. The free Cessna rides that we got had ensured that the day was not entirely wasted. We rang up a couple of cabs and went back into Cambridge town, stopping at the Grafton Centre mall. Enroute, we passed through some of the most beautiful English villages I had ever seen …and when the radio in the cab blared out U2’s “It’s a beautiful day”, I couldn’t help but wonder how inappropriate it was !

At the Grafton Centre, we had some junk lunch and set out to explore the town. We had until late evening, for our return bus to London […and subsequently Bristol] …and so we just wandered around …through the High Street, cutting across the parks …watching the students and families recreating under the Sun. Someone suggested that we try the Punt boat-rides at the river, so off we went. Even before we got to the river side, we were approached by students, canvassing us to ride on their boats …..we ignored them all, and excused ourselves ……but that was before we ran into Monica

This girl was different. She came up to us and introduced herself. Anand went ahead and presumptuously took the liberty of introducing us as well. She then explained about the punt boat rides [..which now we all had a sudden interest in taking] and that it was £10 per head for adults, £8 for students and £6 for children.

Whatever said and done, 10 quid was a little too much for a punt boat ride !!! Sensing our reluctance, she asked us, “Are you guys students ?”. When we said ‘No’, she smiled and said, “Maybe you can be students for today and I can give you tickets for £8”[....This girl could easily sell a helmet to a Kamikazi pilot]

“Can we be children for today, and pay £6?”, I asked.

But she didn’t really reply to that. She merely handed us 5 tickets costing £8 each. Next she led us along the quay towards the boats. Some of the students on the passing boats serenaded her…..quite evidently she was quite popular around here J She led us on to one of the docked boats, in which we occupied half the space. The other half was taken by a family. Our punter was a young student, who shoved the long oar right into the river bed and punted the boat ahead. For the next hour, we blissfully sailed by many of the beautiful historic college buildings and under a number of ancient bridges across the river, with the boatman narrating the history behind all that we saw….It was quite an experience to see Cambridge from the river. It looked as though all the college buildings were on the banks of the river Cam.

One of the most impressive buildings that we passed by was the King’s College Chapel, established in 1446 !

Later in the evening, we stopped by an Indian restaurant called ‘Gandhi’. Seeing the name, we thought it might be alcohol-free, but just like all other Indian restaurants here, they served Kingfishers

Finally, we took our bus to London and after bidding good-bye to Ganesh, proceeded towards Bristol in another bus.

We vowed to come back to the airfield when the weather’s good …and in precisely 2 weeks time, we found ourselves heading towards Cambridge again !!!

So did we end up being second-time lucky ? To know the answer and much more, read on !