Old & bold: When 70+ go skydiving & bungee jumping

From Vadodara and Ahmedabad, a small band of 70-plus Indians is rewriting the script of retirement - skydiving, scuba diving, bungee jumping, even trekking across Antarctica's frozen expanse.

Gautam Kothari, 74, has lost vision in one eye. His wife Beena, 72, cannot walk long distances. Together, they have leapt from aircraft, plunged into oceans, and dangled over canyons. The Kotharis stood at the edge of the world in polar cold. They cruised icy waters, met a lone lighthouse family in one of the planet's remotest outposts. In four years, they have travelled to 14 countries. Experiences many half their age postpone for "someday". "In 2022, we leapt out of the skies in Russia," Gautam said. "Icy wind hit us. Earth below looked fascinating. Neither of us was nervous even for a moment."

Heart ailments to knee replacements, nothing stops these senior citizens
New Zealand followed. A bungee jump in 2024. Then Egypt. The Red Sea. Scuba diving. "My family warned me about pressure on my heart," Gautam said. "But I was adamant about seeing the underwater world."

They have chased auroras in Iceland. Drifted above Egypt in a hot-air balloon. Stayed in Indonesia's rainforests. Watched gorillas in Uganda. Glided over a frozen Siberian lake. Every detail planned by hand. Destinations. Flights. Rooms. Routes. "We do everything ourselves," Beena said.

Another Amdavadi couple follows that rhythm. Deval Thakor, 77, and his wife Daksha, 76, took on Antarctica after earning the label of "senior citizens". They skydived in California too. "Age is just a number," Thakor said. "Journeys matter more than possible hardships."

Then there are Nautam Vakil, 78, and his wife Neeta, 82. Neeta's knee replacement did not stop them from taking the Alpine Tour in Japan this year. "We believe in living with high spirits," Vakil said.

Back in Vadodara, Gautam still runs an industrial electrical products business. For the couple, travel feeds curiosity. "We want to live every moment," Gautam said, adding, "Meet new people. Explore different cuisines."

The bucket list remains unfinished. Namibia's desert is next for the Kotharis. Egypt and Jordan await the Thakors, after they "travelled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh in our car". Time keeps moving. The Kotharis, Vakils and Thakors move faster.

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