VADODARA: At the age of 28, she became the first woman civilian licensed skydiver in Gujarat in 2021.
Shweta Parmar from Vadodara who had become India’s fourth woman skydiver joining the league of Padma Shri awardees Rachel Thomas, Shital Mahajan and the country’s first woman base jumper Archana Sardana, has now taken another bold leap.
In a daring feat, Shweta recently made a descent from 13,000 feet in Thailand proudly unfurling ‘Jai Shri Ram’ flag. This was to mark the grand Ram temple consecration ceremony on January 22 in Ayodhya.
“It was a solo skydiving event on January 9 for which I had started preparations a month back. I had reached Thailand to undergo further training,” said Shweta.
“To commemorate the upcoming consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya that has captured the nation’s attention, everybody was contributing in their way. As a skydiver, I decided to take the jump as a commitment to the cultural and spiritual heritage of our country,” said Shweta.
Shweta, who holds a USPA-C license, has performed 297 jumps from various platforms including fixed wings (AN 28, Twin Otter, Kodiak 100, Cessna, among others) and hot air balloon.
She also holds the distinction of being the first woman skydiver to jump in an Indian bridal costume. Since February last year, she has started helping other Indian skydiving enthusiasts through the Skydive India Campaign (SIC).
“As one of the early women in India pursuing skydiving, my goal with the campaign is to make this thrilling sport more accessible. I want to help as many individuals as possible to obtain their skydiving license for solo jumps abroad and eventually establish similar skydiving schools in India,” said Shweta.
Initially, seven-odd individuals had joined the SIC initiative. “Since, then, as many as 28 people have participated in this initiative, of which 21 are solo skydivers while ten of them have obtained USPA A skydiving license,” she said.
Interestingly, through the initiative, she has also raised Rs 2.40 lakh for Anand-based NGO Setu Trust, founded by Sudha Patel, who has the distinction of becoming India’s youngest elected blind woman sarpanch in 1995.
The NGO that has appointed Shweta as skydiving training coordinator works for the holistic development of the disabled, orphans, slum dwellers and the destitute.
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