Adventure knows no heights and no limits; it is free-willed, independent and liberated. Only those who are capable of taking risks experience adventure. One such student of Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh is Vaibhav Chaudhary, who is pursuing BE C.S.E. and was selected for the para basic course -54 from the trails held at NCC Academy, Ropar, in August 2017.

Every year, 40 senior division cadets and 40 senior wing cadets are selected for the para basic course from all over India and we are proud to state that Senior Under Officer (SUO) Vaibhav clinched a spot in the course. The course is one of the most adventurous courses held at Para Training School, Agra. PTS is the only school in India, which makes paratroopers and this school is the oldest school in Asia since 1941. Vaibhav during his stint at the school stated that his training, which he got at Chitkara University’s NCC wing came handy and made him sail through.

He added that the school is under Indian Air Force and Para Jumping Instructors (PJI) gives training to Indian Army, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy to jump from different heights starting from 1250 ft. to 33000 ft.

Basic Course has five jumps, i.e. four-day jumps and one night jump from 1250 ft. Vaibhav underwent ground training for the first 15 days and then various tests were conducted on different apparatus and one day for air experience was also included. After passing all these tests Vaibhav was ready to jump from an aircraft.

In PTS, according to Vaibhav, he was trained for how to exit, how to make para position in the air, how to land, how to open reserve parachute. He was then trained in case of various emergencies in the air.

Vaibhav said, “It was a lifetime experience to jump from an aircraft and in the air only 15% of the brain works. ‘Awareness is everything’ and if we are not aware we might lose our life. Parachute takes 3-4 seconds to open. We have only 3 seconds to judge whether we need reserve parachute or not. Awareness in the air makes our jump more successful.”

He paid his gratitude to his alma mater Chitkara University for helping him reach this level and access a platform, which according to him was a lifetime experience. He thanked Col H. Phenging, Lt Col. J.B.S. Thapa, Dr. Varinder Kanwar, Lt Anil Rana and his parents for motivating him and for providing him with this golden chance to represent his University and directorate at a national level.