3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue 1 & 2 Jan - Apr 2 3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue | Page 31

India’s First
BASE Jumper
Lt Col Satyendra Verma, an officer in the Corps
of Signals of the Indian Army, jumped off the
450-feet high deck of Pitampura TV Tower in
Delhi at dawn of October 29, 2010 and created
history performing the first ever BASE jump in
India.
A BASE jump involves an advanced form of free
fall from fixed objects - buildings, antennae,
spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs) - with an
unopened parachute. It is far tougher than
skydiving as the height is less. So are the
airspeeds, which give jumpers less aerodynamic
control over their bodies.
Since he would have hit the ground in four
seconds if he remained in free fall, Verma had
just 1.5 seconds to do all that he had to - give
a free fall, give a delay and open the parachute.
And all this, while hurling down at the speed
of over 40 metres a second. Even if he was a
second early or late in opening the parachute, it
could have opened in the wrong direction and
struck him against the building. Didn’t he get
scared?
“Naturally, I did. But as I stood there, I put fear
aside and just focused on doing it right. You
cannot think of anything else.” says 41-year-
old Verma, who is the captain of Indian Army’s
skydiving team which represents the country
in global competitions and performs demo
sky jumps and formations in air during special
national events.
While hundreds of spectators, including his
colleagues and friends watched the spine-
chilling performance, his family decided to stay
put at home and pray. “I was so nervous and
worried! But now I am happy for him,” says
Monika, his wife.
children. Popular legend has it that a mother who
had lost her seven sons was able to get them all
back safely after observing this fast.
They need not have worried so much.
Verma had been practising meditation to keep
his mind still during the crucial 90 seconds
before he stepped off the edge. He had also
been preparing for the event meticulously. He
chose a location ideal for the jump - the DD TV
Tower, for its height, observation deck over-
hang, bowl shaped top that would keep the body
away from the building and the adjacent cricket
ground which can be used for landing. He also
obtained the required permissions, tested the
parachute many times, packed it perfectly and
studied how winds behaved between 5 am and 8
am atop the TV Tower for three days prior to the
jump.
He is a seasoned skydiver, who has performed
over 1200 skydives across the world - the US,
Switzerland, Russia and Malaysia, apart from
India - and never had any mishap. He has also
trained with expert BASE jumpers - Tom Aiello of
the US and Capt Aziz Ahmed, an ex-Malaysian
Air Force officer - and has 21 jumps from Perrine
Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho, US and nine from the
Telecom Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to his
credit.
The communications expert is also passionate
about computers and has a patent in his name
for developing a software system to build
flexible sand models using GIS (Geographic
Information System) data. “With his expertise,
he can make a lot of money if he gets into the
corporate world. But he’s always been more
interested in adventure and even when in
college used to perform activities like helicopter
slithering
during
NCC
camps,”
says
Maj . Padamsingh Verma (retd.), his father.
His mother Rajbala was at the time observing
the Hoi Mata Vrat, a fast done for the welfare of
Vol 4 | Issue 1 |Jan - Feb 2019
31