Satara: In an unprecedented event in Maharashtra’s Satara district, a first-year B.Com student took an extraordinary step to reach his exam centre on time. Faced with delays in receiving the exam papers and a traffic jam on the 5 km mountain pass, the student, Samarth Mahangde, decided to paraglide down from a hill to bypass the traffic. Accompanied by his paragliding instructor, Samarth jumped off the hill, landed in a field, changed into his college attire and then rode his friend’s motorcycle to the exam centre.
The filmy incident took place in Panchgani, a renowned tourist spot in Satara, which attracts visitors from all over the world. The area’s heavy traffic, especially on weekends, often causes major delays and Samarth was concerned he would not make it to his exam on time. The mountain pass was jammed on both sides, which further added to the delay.
‘Nervous as never such adventure before’
“When my friend called, I got scared because it was Sunday, and due to tourists on the ghats, the traffic was very heavy. My college sir had told me to take a printout of the reset from the cyber cafe, which I had forgotten to do. Now, I was worried about how to reach the exam,” Samarath said.
He added, “At that time, Govind Sir, who was in charge of paragliding, told me, ‘I can drop you down via paragliding; will that work?’ I had never done such an adventure before, so I got nervous. But due to the fear of missing the exam, I agreed.”
Innovative solution
Samarth, who has grown up watching paragliders while helping his family sell sugarcane juice at the popular Harrison Folly Point in Panchgani, used his knowledge of the sport to find an innovative solution. He had learned paragliding at this very spot, which is famous for the activity.
