With all safety measures ensured, it will still take a lot of courage for a person to jump off a cliff. The idea of a free fall from an edge sounds scary and crazy at the same time. But there is a decent amount of young Indian population that is mad enough or courageous enough to try this extreme sport called Bungee jumping; and significant portion of it are girls.
"We have been doing this for five years now, and we recently completed our 50,000 jump. The number of girls participating is rising every year," said Niharika Nigam of Jumpin Height, an extreme adventure zone in Rishikesh.
Abdul Rakib, a 26-year-old business entrepreneur from Kolkata, shared his amusement at seeing the number of girls that flocked at Jumpin Height.
"It's a scary sport, so it was bit natural for me to judge that it's a male-dominated sport. But the presence of lot of girls here, who looked more excited and less scared, took me by surprise and it was mind-changing experience on that part," he said.
Indeed, as according to the statistics given by the Jumpin Height, there is a 40 per cent increase in Bungee jumping by girls this year compared to 2016.
The sport, which originated in New Zealand, seems to have become a way for the young Indian girls to express their freedom; to conquer their fear; to enjoy life.
"Since the day we planned this tour, I was looking forward for this day," said Chandrika Dey, a service manager from a telecommunication company, after her jump at Jumpin Height in Rishikesh. "I always had this fear of height and I thought this would be my best chance to overcome that fear once and for all. Once I went down, the adrenaline rush I felt made me feel so alive."
For some, the jump is also about knowing how important life is.
"For me this was about losing control and realising how important I am for myself," said Prapti Chowdhury, a 25-year-old marketing professional from Bengaluru. "Despite the safety assurance, you keep feeling that something might go terribly wrong. So the moment you see the nature, upside down, something which you adored few seconds back, you realise how much you love yourself and want to stay alive."
Despite the active participation in extreme sports, it is still difficult for many to convince their parents about taking a jump. Understandably, the idea of saying "Hey mom! I am planning to jump off a cliff", wouldn't sit well with many guardians.
"I did inform my parents about doing this in Rishikesh. At first, they didn't take me seriously and I went ahead. later when I showed them video of my jump, they freaked out and felt I should get serious in life," Prapti chuckled.
Kolkata-based Chandrika, who stays away from home in Bangalore, said, "All hell broke loose when I told my parents about it," before adding, "They freaked out, 'Is this why we allowed you to stay away from homeIJ' But I am grown up and I'm independent now and capable of taking my own decisions."
With the willingness to test themselves with an adventure sports such as Bungee jumping, these girls at Jumpin Height are the example of young Indian women, who are breaking all shackles to lead a life without obstructions.