I have always wondered what it would be like to fly. As a kid, I used to pretend that I was an airplane, a bird, anything that flew through the air. I ran through the yard with my arms spread out like an airplane, simulating weird engine noises whenever I would make a turn or go into a steep dive. Well, last weekend I got to fly for the first time, and it wasn't by riding in an airplane. It was by jumping out of one. Yes! I did Skydiving. Yes! I did my first jump. Skydiving has always been of interest to me as a natural consequence of my desire to fly. I have always wanted to do it, but never thought that I would be doing on my birthday month of this year. My friend took an initiative and booked our weekend slot Absolutely petrified. That’s one way of describing my anxiety before jumping out a plane at 15,000 feet. But I had never done anything like this before so that made it desirable. What makes traveling different is the unknown, the ability to experience new things without over thinking it. So that’s what I did; at 15,000 feet of course. And I can honestly say that it was the best experience of my life. Complete silence as I free fell into nothingness. It was exhilarating. As soon as I heard the announcement of our group, I was waiting for my instructor - Ilya who came in few minutes and introduced himself. He gave me the jump suit to dress myself over my clothes. The jump suit was little loose but then he fixed the harness and it was looking fine. He also fixed diving goggles on the side of my arms and told me that he'll give me inside the airplane. My photographer Paul took my interview video and asked several questions whether I was nervous or was it my first jump etc. He instructed me to look up while diving and smile in front of camera, look for his sign when he'll give me to hold his hand and I have to let him go as per his sign. Later my instructor Ilya gave me 5 minutes Skydiving training - cross arms, head back, knees bent, jump. One tap on the shoulder to open your arms. Second to brings arms to chest as the parachute opens. Knees bent for landing. Questions? I asked him only one question - "How many jumps he did before?" He smiled and replied, "I have done more than 4000 jumps that now I have lost its count." Then I had full faith in my instructor as if nothing will happen to me. And I was in safe hands. Within 15 minutes, Ilya took me to the airplane boarding area and I was about to climb. By that time, I knew that it was the time of no turning back and not freaking out as now universe also conspires me to jump! We're in. The door closes. We're off. Squashed into two benches that face one another. In my group, there were 9 solo divers and 3 of us were jumping Tandem with an instructor along with three cameraman. We all were crammed on the benches cross legged facing each other's back. At 6500 Ft, my cameraman Paul asked me how was I feeling? I thought it was such a stupid question as everyone knows what would be the condition of any first timer! My heart was beating fast and I was little nervous, trying to overcome my fear by smiling and looking out of the window. The first few seconds seemed to be a blur due to the sensory overload. But once we achieved terminal velocity, it was incredible. There was no falling sensation, the kind that one experiences in a rollercoaster. Rather it was almost as if we were floating on a cushion of air. Paul hangs in the doorway like an animated Spider-Man and I know that this is the moment we've been waiting for - the 60 second freefall. Within few seconds of our leap, Paul also jumped to capture us. I had to hold his hand but the air was very powerful and I wasn't able to hold his hands. Then Ilya held mine and Paul's hands together so that he could capture our close-up shots. Then as the Paul gave us signal, we left his hand. 60 seconds later, Ilya launched the parachute and I found myself peacefully floating towards the drop zone. I hear Ilya voice in my ear as he loosens my goggles, unfastens the harness and asks if I'm alright. Suffice to say, that it was exhilarating. Ilya asked me if I wanted some spins on Parachute, I said Hell yeah! Then he spinned our parachute 3-4 times to left and right and it was fun! The parachute ride down took around 7 minutes and the landing was incredibly soft. Wow, this experience was nothing like I had imagined. It was the best moment of my life which I couldn't express in words! I believe that the awesome power of my first skydive has thrust me a little closer to my existence and changed my perspective about the world. It is an experience that I hope to undertake many, many more times and shall never forget my first jump experience. May be, I will be doing my second jump soon but first jump is always special.