Backtrack to a few hours on that day (March 9, 2019), Ashim, one of my closest friends and I were in a car, on our way to Skydive Spaceland, Whitewright, Texas. This place happens to be one and a half hours drive away from the apartment of my other two friends, Bijay and Roshan, in Dallas. The initial plan was all four of us would skydive on that day. Group plans are never meant to be successful, and our plan was no exception. Roshan and Bijay were occupied at their work. Nevertheless, Ashim flew from Kirksville, Missouri, but he could not muster the courage to book for a skydive. So, there were him and I on our way to Whitewright, but only I intending for the dive.

Let me confess something; I have not ridden Ferris Wheel so far in my life. It is not the height, but the circular motion that scares the crap out of me. When I checked in at 11:30, I was given a waiver form to sign in. I made a mistake and started reading clauses on the form. All those clauses boil down to one conclusion: The company is not responsible if you are injured or dead. To brush off the feeling of death and fear, I signed everywhere I was supposed to without reading them.

Once I submitted the form, I, along with some other people, was taken to a room. An instructor provided us with many details and the Dos and Don'ts related to skydiving. To pump us up, he cracked a few jokes. At the end of the session, we were shown a video clip of someone else diving. He, however, then brought us a piece of bad news: The wind velocity was extreme, and the first dive of the day would be no sooner than 4 PM. 

I was slightly nervous until then, but the news changed my mood completely. Despite the obvious fear, I really wanted to skydive. The thought of going back to Dallas and coming back some other day was too hard for me to digest.

The wait was not as boring as I thought it would be though. Ashim and I were meeting after three years. So, we had a lot to talk about: life, family, school days, friends back in Nepal, American life, college, and the obvious: girls. We were so engaged in our conversation that the fours hours passed in a flash.

Upon the announcement of the first dive of the day and my name on the screen, I breathed a sigh of relief and was hyped. Within a couple of minutes, I met my instructor, Alex, with who I was diving, and Taylor, my videographer. Alex kitted me up and made sure the harness and other necessary equipment were tied up properly. He told me that he has done skydiving over 400 times, and he no longer does the counting. Hearing that, I was more relaxed. Until that moment, the nervousness had not kicked in yet (Perhaps, it had because it is evident on the video LOL!). 

Taylor took my quick interview. Then, we were loaded into the plane, and it took off. The instructors were shouting to boost us up. Initially, the flight felt like any other flight. However, everything changed when the door was swung wide open.

As the person before me disappeared down the sky, all the thoughts vanished from my mind, and I went blank. That brief moment when Alex walked me to the edge, and I leaned forward, putting my toes on the edge, was terrorizing. This has to be the scariest moment of the skydive. I can recall the loud rush of wind blowing past my face and brushing my hair fiercely as I prepared for the imminent descent. The view of the earth is something that you can barely pay heed to at that moment. What I know for sure is that if I was made to stand at the edge for more than three seconds, I would have backed off. 

Within a matter of seconds, Alex pushed us down and all I could do was scream at the top of my voice. The freefall is said to be a minute long. However, falling at the speed of 120 miles per hour i.e. 193 kilometers per hour, I could not notice anything moving past myself. All I could feel was the intense rush of wind pushing me. I remember Taylor holding my hand and giving us a spin (3:02 on the video). I was filled with an adrenaline rush like never before that I forgot to check the altimeter.  Honestly, that minute of freefall felt somewhere around five seconds. Alex signaled me to pull down the parachute at 6,000 ft, and I was able to compose myself to do it (3:08 on the video). 

The peace you feel after pulling the parachute is like the calmness after the storm. That tranquility and stillness were incredibly soothing. It is my favorite part of the skydive. I could behold and notice things I had never witnessed earlier; I could smell the clean and fresh air that I never inhaled before. When the cool breeze caressed my face I felt as though I was under a canopy of a tree on a scorching day. I am happy about the fact that I savored every moment of the descent as I did not close my eyes even for a second.