Jump of a lifetime

Date: 26^th February, 2012

Exhilarating. That’s the word. There’s nothing that could compare to that feeling, that moment when you are about to jump off a bridge! When it comes, you are all up for it. That’s what you’ve been waiting for so long. All those seconds right before the jump seem like an eternity. You can’t wait to get down, get it over with, it seems. You keep smiling and keep calm, but deep down inside you’re screaming, “Am I crazy? Are all these people crazy?”

Then the guy calls you out. You step forward. He straps you up with the harness on your chest and legs, all the while chatting you up to steady your nerves. You sit next to the edge, not entirely. Another guy comes and shoves his camera in your face, asking you to express yourself. You mumble something that might make you sound cooler than you are at the moment later on. You turn to see the guy before you has jumped! (Oh boy he ain’t dead, is he?). Your legs don’t seem to be a part of your body anymore. Yet they keep shaking. And now it’s your turn. You stand up and move. You stoop a little under the bar of the bridge and move out to the edge, slowly. You take a tiny step forward. It isn’t enough. The “guide” asks you to move, a few more steps he says. You do as he says. He says not enough, move. You do. “That’s it, okay”, he says. “Nothing’s okay here buddy”, you think. “Ready?”. “Not at all.” “Three..”. You keep staring at the horizon ahead. “Two..”. “Mom, Dad, Sis’s, Friends..I love you all”. “One….JUMP!!”

Your heart skips a beat the moment you are in the air. You are earth bound. There’s nowhere to go but down. Blood starts rushing up to your head in the next moment. This is it; this is how it all ends, your life, and everything. You are going straight for the rocks or the water, or just waiting to feel something, some sort of impact. You are still in free fall. Then after the longest three seconds of your life, you feel the rope. Oh the almighty rope, the gift of God. Upside down now, you look up. The rope stretches, and then recoils. All of a sudden you start moving upwards. You get your voice back. You scream, not a loud one it seems. Closer to the bridge, not close enough. The gorge on the sides seems to be getting closer than you want it to be. Wait, you are going down again. Again a rush of blood to the head, but somehow it feels good, so good. You wave your arms in joy, a little fear too perhaps. You are sprung back up and back down a few more times, and the seemingly new life in you makes you smile all the while.

The bouncing ceases after a while and the rope is lowered slowly but steadily. The river and the rocks become distinct. You haven’t still come to terms with life on the ground yet. You hear someone calling out. Then a long bamboo stick comes into view. You recall the instructions; grab it with all your might, letting go could be a problem. After turning the stick in an acute angle, you are brought down by two good fellows and laid on the mattress. The rope is untied and you are unharnessed. The bridge seems like a mile up in the sky. Did I just do what I did? It seems incredible. You watch the rope that brought you down being pulled upwards, and the water drum that held your weight mid air coming down. As you get up and wave at your friend who jumped earlier, you can’t wipe that big smile across your face, and the desire to get up there and do it all over again just won’t go away!