[Music]
hi friends for me
as Rachel Thomas my life has always been
a daring adventure and I’m going to take
you through my journey today for a
minute can you all close your eyes just
for a second yes come on close your eyes
you imagine you are at minus 45 you are
on top of the world and you are standing
on point zero let’s go one step further
you have skydive over the North Pole and
you’ve landed there yes you and your
parachute have just landed there and
you’ve got the Indian flag in your hand
what a proud moment it would have been
for you that’s what I did in April 2002
throughout my life I’ve always believed
dream it wish it and achieve it everyone
has dreams everyone has aspiration but
it can only come true with hard work
it’s sacrifice and a lot of training
people have the Everest of their dreams
for me the North Pole was my dream but
that journey started thirty-eight years
ago yes 38 years ago it was way back in
1979 when I was just 24 years old and I
was just I was a mother of two kids and
I was at this army party when I got to
know the first guy diving coast was
being opened up for civilians I feel so
excited I always wanted to be like a
bird in that sky fly and here my
opportunity was coming up for me so I
decided to join the course next day
morning really the night before I just
could not even sleep I was so I was just
waiting man would daybreak and I be
there for training I got there and I was
so
amazed to see there were 45 people for
the first course officers men and three
women the ground training was done the
theory classes were even tougher and
after 15 days of training a small little
orange aircraft called the beaver
arrived if you can see that’s the beaver
there in the picture I will I was on the
second jump of the day and I was already
wearing my parachute and but at the same
time these hands were sweating when I
think of that moment I still can feel
what I went through on my first jump
I was mumbling of a prayers in my heart
and in the plane too I just held on for
dear life
Mico jumpers hand as if he’s going to
save me here I wanted to skydive I
reached this 5,000 feet but it was it
took a lot of me to get to that dome and
now I had to jump out of that plane you
may be saying I’m crazy
but I wasn’t I always wanted to fly like
a bird so it took all of me to take that
firstly but I flew faster than the plane
I really flew fast of the plane and
tried to get hold of that strut kit that
you could see at the side but because my
hands were wet I slipped and fell I felt
like a baby
I quickly reached for my handle and pull
my parachute open it was such a relief
to see that parachute over my head I
quickly reached for the toggles that
they are the brake lines with which we
fly a parachute pulled him down took a
check where I was and I headed off to
the drop zone did a perfect perra roll
and I was so happy that was my first
jump I couldn’t get over it
it didn’t dawn on me that I had created
history at that moment for me the jump
was more exciting but really I had
created history for the country I was
the first Indian woman to skydive
much more than that
I broke barriers that day I was a mother
of two kids I was a civilian and who
said girls can skydive so it changed the
whole scene in India that now girls can
do adventure sports my second jump was
quite similar but on my third jump
I just wouldn’t get I just was so
focused how to get hold of that strut
and I hung from it I hung from it for
dear life and I was flying like
superwoman from that plane yes he was
and my instructor had to lean out and
push me down when I got to the ground I
didn’t realize that I could have killed
everyone in the plane including me
because I was not leaving that plane my
parachute would have opened I was told
please do not come for any more chumps
here my mouth went dry my heart stopped
Preeti what do i do I just sat quiet in
a corner and some of my course mates
came and said go and ask for one more
chance
so with lot of strength and I was I just
went to my instructor said can you give
me one more chance please so they agreed
to give me one more chance and I did my
fortune he said they told me you’re not
going to go out looking at the propeller
you’re going to look at the tail and go
because there’s nothing for you to hold
there yes so but at the same time I was
told that when you do that jump you will
go into a dive because of the wind that
is the air that’s coming from the
propeller will push you down and you’ll
go into a dive but if you make a
spread-eagle position which is a basic
position you will stable out so I
decided okay I am willing to take a
chance I decided to go and jump that was
my fortune I overcame fear after that
there was no turning back for me I could
jump from
any plane from any height we need to
break up here everyone in life goes
through it whether it’s the guys or the
girls we all go through fear but it’s
how we overcome it I managed to do my
ten finish my ten freefall jumps I got
my a license I fulfilled my dream
wanting to fly like a bird
what next here this whole thing of my I
want to keep jumping how do I continue
with my jumps
how is it going to happen in my life was
the only thought that kept coming into
me
luckily the following year the skydiving
Federation opened up for the that year I
managed to put in another 15 jump so now
my score was 25 jumps since I had 25
jumps they decided to allow me to be
part of the demo team what interesting
one such demo that I my doors opened the
whole thing changed in my life I got an
opportunity to jump for the fai and
jumping at the affair which is the epics
body of all aviation sport I was able to
meet the delegates and one delegate from
Australia realized that I was a civilian
it was very difficult for me to continue
in the country so he invited me to
Australia when I reached there I
realized we were still at infancy in our
country they were so advanced and he
said if you want to continue with your
jumps you have to go to America and you
have to buy your parachute there if you
want to continue with the sport I came
to wit’s end where is the money coming I
don’t have that kind of money to go to
America what do I do if we believe that
we are the authors of our own life and
we can carve our path we can go ahead
and it was this thought that came to my
mind that I wrote to Rajiv Gandhi I just
took plain piece of paper and wrote to
him and when I wrote to him it got to
him and I go
invited to meet him he looked at my
logbook and he said what is this
no pol forgot to pull for me he was not
the Prime Minister of the country for me
he was a person who loved aviation and I
knew he would understand my passion so I
spoke to him whatever you can think and
that’s the most beautiful picture I have
with him smiling it was just a letter
written by hand but it worked so he gave
me the money I got the PM scholarship my
next step like I said I headed to
America when I reached there my
instructor who had seen my first jump
wrote the most motivational thing on my
logbook by the way we have a log book
every jump we do we write and it’s
recorded and countersigned by our
instructor he wrote that my body
position was great my stability was nice
but I got competitive spirit I knew I
can be a very good competitor that
figured something inside me I focused I
will represent India so I trained I did
150 jumps in America and that was my
next goal I am going to represent India
in a competition I had the nerve but in
the meanwhile I want to tell you doing
these competitions are wonderful but you
need regular practice you need regular
training and if you don’t get the
regular training it’s very difficult for
you to continue in the sport so I tried
to break barriers again in the country I
got special permission to jump with the
Indian Air Force I’m a civilian and
still women were not in inducted into
the forces so I got that permission I
got permission to do 50 jumps with them
I jumped from the am 32 from 10,000 feet
with the instructors what do I do
so I reached out to a friend in Turkey
and us can I come and train with the
Turkish team so they said ok come along
so that I went I started training with
the Turkish team in in you know where
that main training basis but
unfortunately on my 35th jump I saw
death yes I did
both my parachute had opened out my main
parachute had caught was fully inflated
but my reserve got entangled a bit and I
had to parachute that were washing
flying me in this manner
I couldn’t solve my problem there was no
way that I could solve that problem I
said my prayers I closed my eyes thank
God for all he gave me and where he’s
brought me in life I put both my kids
into his hands and I was ready to accept
what was what was there for me as when
you do extreme sports you know what
you’re going to face you know what’s
going to happen you are ready for it so
that was a moment in my life I still get
goose berries because I saw it in a
dream the night previous if I had landed
where you’re sitting it’s hard ground I
do not know what would have happened to
me I could have gone in a body bath in a
body bag back home or I could have been
in a wheelchair my whole life I don’t
know but God was really kind with me I
landed where I’m standing some farmer
soaked his field that night it was soggy
I landed on my back and a beetroot went
up my vertebra my second water bra got
compressed but when I opened my eyes I
checked my legs if they were walking my
hands were working I said thank you God
everything is ok yes but I needed to
rest and after one year I started
getting restless my inner spirit said
come on come on we should get up get up
move so I I look for an opportunity to
go and jump again because in my country
I can’t jump I don’t find the place to
jump so I went to Russia to jump after
two years I did
my first jump in Russia when doctor one
doctor told me don’t even wear heels or
drive a kinetic but another doctor said
just do this exercise show me forget
that you ever had an accident just go
and do it and I did it my fighting
spirit always kept me going it’s there
when I realized that this dream of
winning a medal for India would never be
fulfilled because I didn’t have a proper
coach I didn’t have proper training so I
decided let’s move my path all the first
at life come to that point when we have
to be honest with ourselves
what are we fooling ourselves we need to
know what we need to do whether we need
to move on on what we you have to take a
decision and I realized I needed to move
on so I decided to be a judge for India
I trained in Austria in life we all go
through different phases in our lives it
could be our jobs it could be our
marriages it could be our financial
problems but if we let the situation
rule us or overtake us then the battle
is lost for me during that time my
marriage broke I had two kids one was
ten and one was nine it was my my mother
and my sister who were my rock they
stood with me and yes skydiving gave me
a lot of comfort it’s if I wanted to
forget all my worries it’s when I went
and sky dived I got to know the people
jump on the north pole I said I’m going
to try that so that I decided it should
be my pinnacle of my sport and then for
Moscow I went to Siberia and reached the
89th latitude if you look at some
pictures
it was here itself it was minus 33 if
you look at the next slide you’ll see
how cold it got it went to minus 55 it
was impossible for us to even see that
distance we had to help an aircraft land
it was so difficult to even go to to the
restroom which we take
for granted over here so it was very
challenging because we had only one meal
and we had to be warm with that one meal
and keep ourself going but I treasured
it because I lived 60s on the North Pole
I have I know how much the iceberg move
jump leader told us that this can crack
and you can go through the Arctic Ocean
but I was happy there my jump of course
was great
I would like to simply say how do we put
a take up our challenges and push our
limits and what is for for the younger
generation what is there for them is
always remember you live this life only
once so grab every opportunity that you
get push your limits if you have to
raise your bar
don’t be comfortable where you’re
sitting or where you are and what
position of what what job you have think
what next like me I always thought what
next so everything for me happened the
other way around
like I told you I was married when I was
17 I had to write my board exam I seen a
Cambridge exam that was the last year
when I was 7 months pregnant but that
didn’t stop me I did it I completed my
BA beard later I had two kids my second
kid was born to me when I was 20 I did
skydiving when I did it one generation
before time but I did it so the same
thing applies to you you have a dream
and you should believe in your dream you
should always remember there are three
simple rules in life and that is if if
you if you do not move from where you
are you’ll be in the same place if you
do not ask the answer will always be no
so you have to remember that you have to
take that plunge like I took that plunge
in skydiving there are times when we
take wrong decision in the sport but you
have to find an answer very fast so
that’s part of life
we all
wrong decision but if you had know where
you are heading for and what’s your
dream and be focused and say I am an
achiever I will carve a niche for myself
you will do it everyone has a North Pole
everyone has Everest
I had my North Pole and I had my Everest
but I did it
[Applause]
[Music]
hi friends for me
as Rachel Thomas my life has always been
a daring adventure and I’m going to take
you through my journey today for a
minute can you all close your eyes just
for a second yes come on close your eyes
you imagine you are at minus 45 you are
on top of the world and you are standing
on point zero let’s go one step further
you have skydive over the North Pole and
you’ve landed there yes you and your
parachute have just landed there and
you’ve got the Indian flag in your hand
what a proud moment it would have been
for you that’s what I did in April 2002
throughout my life I’ve always believed
dream it wish it and achieve it everyone
has dreams everyone has aspiration but
it can only come true with hard work
it’s sacrifice and a lot of training
people have the Everest of their dreams
for me the North Pole was my dream but
that journey started thirty-eight years
ago yes 38 years ago it was way back in
1979 when I was just 24 years old and I
was just I was a mother of two kids and
I was at this army party when I got to
know the first guy diving coast was
being opened up for civilians I feel so
excited I always wanted to be like a
bird in that sky fly and here my
opportunity was coming up for me so I
decided to join the course next day
morning really the night before I just
could not even sleep I was so I was just
waiting man would daybreak and I be
there for training I got there and I was
so
amazed to see there were 45 people for
the first course officers men and three
women the ground training was done the
theory classes were even tougher and
after 15 days of training a small little
orange aircraft called the beaver
arrived if you can see that’s the beaver
there in the picture I will I was on the
second jump of the day and I was already
wearing my parachute and but at the same
time these hands were sweating when I
think of that moment I still can feel
what I went through on my first jump
I was mumbling of a prayers in my heart
and in the plane too I just held on for
dear life
Mico jumpers hand as if he’s going to
save me here I wanted to skydive I
reached this 5,000 feet but it was it
took a lot of me to get to that dome and
now I had to jump out of that plane you
may be saying I’m crazy
but I wasn’t I always wanted to fly like
a bird so it took all of me to take that
firstly but I flew faster than the plane
I really flew fast of the plane and
tried to get hold of that strut kit that
you could see at the side but because my
hands were wet I slipped and fell I felt
like a baby
I quickly reached for my handle and pull
my parachute open it was such a relief
to see that parachute over my head I
quickly reached for the toggles that
they are the brake lines with which we
fly a parachute pulled him down took a
check where I was and I headed off to
the drop zone did a perfect perra roll
and I was so happy that was my first
jump I couldn’t get over it
it didn’t dawn on me that I had created
history at that moment for me the jump
was more exciting but really I had
created history for the country I was
the first Indian woman to skydive
much more than that
I broke barriers that day I was a mother
of two kids I was a civilian and who
said girls can skydive so it changed the
whole scene in India that now girls can
do adventure sports my second jump was
quite similar but on my third jump
I just wouldn’t get I just was so
focused how to get hold of that strut
and I hung from it I hung from it for
dear life and I was flying like
superwoman from that plane yes he was
and my instructor had to lean out and
push me down when I got to the ground I
didn’t realize that I could have killed
everyone in the plane including me
because I was not leaving that plane my
parachute would have opened I was told
please do not come for any more chumps
here my mouth went dry my heart stopped
Preeti what do i do I just sat quiet in
a corner and some of my course mates
came and said go and ask for one more
chance
so with lot of strength and I was I just
went to my instructor said can you give
me one more chance please so they agreed
to give me one more chance and I did my
fortune he said they told me you’re not
going to go out looking at the propeller
you’re going to look at the tail and go
because there’s nothing for you to hold
there yes so but at the same time I was
told that when you do that jump you will
go into a dive because of the wind that
is the air that’s coming from the
propeller will push you down and you’ll
go into a dive but if you make a
spread-eagle position which is a basic
position you will stable out so I
decided okay I am willing to take a
chance I decided to go and jump that was
my fortune I overcame fear after that
there was no turning back for me I could
jump from
any plane from any height we need to
break up here everyone in life goes
through it whether it’s the guys or the
girls we all go through fear but it’s
how we overcome it I managed to do my
ten finish my ten freefall jumps I got
my a license I fulfilled my dream
wanting to fly like a bird
what next here this whole thing of my I
want to keep jumping how do I continue
with my jumps
how is it going to happen in my life was
the only thought that kept coming into
me
luckily the following year the skydiving
Federation opened up for the that year I
managed to put in another 15 jump so now
my score was 25 jumps since I had 25
jumps they decided to allow me to be
part of the demo team what interesting
one such demo that I my doors opened the
whole thing changed in my life I got an
opportunity to jump for the fai and
jumping at the affair which is the epics
body of all aviation sport I was able to
meet the delegates and one delegate from
Australia realized that I was a civilian
it was very difficult for me to continue
in the country so he invited me to
Australia when I reached there I
realized we were still at infancy in our
country they were so advanced and he
said if you want to continue with your
jumps you have to go to America and you
have to buy your parachute there if you
want to continue with the sport I came
to wit’s end where is the money coming I
don’t have that kind of money to go to
America what do I do if we believe that
we are the authors of our own life and
we can carve our path we can go ahead
and it was this thought that came to my
mind that I wrote to Rajiv Gandhi I just
took plain piece of paper and wrote to
him and when I wrote to him it got to
him and I go
invited to meet him he looked at my
logbook and he said what is this
no pol forgot to pull for me he was not
the Prime Minister of the country for me
he was a person who loved aviation and I
knew he would understand my passion so I
spoke to him whatever you can think and
that’s the most beautiful picture I have
with him smiling it was just a letter
written by hand but it worked so he gave
me the money I got the PM scholarship my
next step like I said I headed to
America when I reached there my
instructor who had seen my first jump
wrote the most motivational thing on my
logbook by the way we have a log book
every jump we do we write and it’s
recorded and countersigned by our
instructor he wrote that my body
position was great my stability was nice
but I got competitive spirit I knew I
can be a very good competitor that
figured something inside me I focused I
will represent India so I trained I did
150 jumps in America and that was my
next goal I am going to represent India
in a competition I had the nerve but in
the meanwhile I want to tell you doing
these competitions are wonderful but you
need regular practice you need regular
training and if you don’t get the
regular training it’s very difficult for
you to continue in the sport so I tried
to break barriers again in the country I
got special permission to jump with the
Indian Air Force I’m a civilian and
still women were not in inducted into
the forces so I got that permission I
got permission to do 50 jumps with them
I jumped from the am 32 from 10,000 feet
with the instructors what do I do
so I reached out to a friend in Turkey
and us can I come and train with the
Turkish team so they said ok come along
so that I went I started training with
the Turkish team in in you know where
that main training basis but
unfortunately on my 35th jump I saw
death yes I did
both my parachute had opened out my main
parachute had caught was fully inflated
but my reserve got entangled a bit and I
had to parachute that were washing
flying me in this manner
I couldn’t solve my problem there was no
way that I could solve that problem I
said my prayers I closed my eyes thank
God for all he gave me and where he’s
brought me in life I put both my kids
into his hands and I was ready to accept
what was what was there for me as when
you do extreme sports you know what
you’re going to face you know what’s
going to happen you are ready for it so
that was a moment in my life I still get
goose berries because I saw it in a
dream the night previous if I had landed
where you’re sitting it’s hard ground I
do not know what would have happened to
me I could have gone in a body bath in a
body bag back home or I could have been
in a wheelchair my whole life I don’t
know but God was really kind with me I
landed where I’m standing some farmer
soaked his field that night it was soggy
I landed on my back and a beetroot went
up my vertebra my second water bra got
compressed but when I opened my eyes I
checked my legs if they were walking my
hands were working I said thank you God
everything is ok yes but I needed to
rest and after one year I started
getting restless my inner spirit said
come on come on we should get up get up
move so I I look for an opportunity to
go and jump again because in my country
I can’t jump I don’t find the place to
jump so I went to Russia to jump after
two years I did
my first jump in Russia when doctor one
doctor told me don’t even wear heels or
drive a kinetic but another doctor said
just do this exercise show me forget
that you ever had an accident just go
and do it and I did it my fighting
spirit always kept me going it’s there
when I realized that this dream of
winning a medal for India would never be
fulfilled because I didn’t have a proper
coach I didn’t have proper training so I
decided let’s move my path all the first
at life come to that point when we have
to be honest with ourselves
what are we fooling ourselves we need to
know what we need to do whether we need
to move on on what we you have to take a
decision and I realized I needed to move
on so I decided to be a judge for India
I trained in Austria in life we all go
through different phases in our lives it
could be our jobs it could be our
marriages it could be our financial
problems but if we let the situation
rule us or overtake us then the battle
is lost for me during that time my
marriage broke I had two kids one was
ten and one was nine it was my my mother
and my sister who were my rock they
stood with me and yes skydiving gave me
a lot of comfort it’s if I wanted to
forget all my worries it’s when I went
and sky dived I got to know the people
jump on the north pole I said I’m going
to try that so that I decided it should
be my pinnacle of my sport and then for
Moscow I went to Siberia and reached the
89th latitude if you look at some
pictures
it was here itself it was minus 33 if
you look at the next slide you’ll see
how cold it got it went to minus 55 it
was impossible for us to even see that
distance we had to help an aircraft land
it was so difficult to even go to to the
restroom which we take
for granted over here so it was very
challenging because we had only one meal
and we had to be warm with that one meal
and keep ourself going but I treasured
it because I lived 60s on the North Pole
I have I know how much the iceberg move
jump leader told us that this can crack
and you can go through the Arctic Ocean
but I was happy there my jump of course
was great
I would like to simply say how do we put
a take up our challenges and push our
limits and what is for for the younger
generation what is there for them is
always remember you live this life only
once so grab every opportunity that you
get push your limits if you have to
raise your bar
don’t be comfortable where you’re
sitting or where you are and what
position of what what job you have think
what next like me I always thought what
next so everything for me happened the
other way around
like I told you I was married when I was
17 I had to write my board exam I seen a
Cambridge exam that was the last year
when I was 7 months pregnant but that
didn’t stop me I did it I completed my
BA beard later I had two kids my second
kid was born to me when I was 20 I did
skydiving when I did it one generation
before time but I did it so the same
thing applies to you you have a dream
and you should believe in your dream you
should always remember there are three
simple rules in life and that is if if
you if you do not move from where you
are you’ll be in the same place if you
do not ask the answer will always be no
so you have to remember that you have to
take that plunge like I took that plunge
in skydiving there are times when we
take wrong decision in the sport but you
have to find an answer very fast so
that’s part of life
we all
wrong decision but if you had know where
you are heading for and what’s your
dream and be focused and say I am an
achiever I will carve a niche for myself
you will do it everyone has a North Pole
everyone has Everest
I had my North Pole and I had my Everest
but I did it
[Applause]
[Music]
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