Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Ties The Knot In Hot Air Balloon

The marriage that was made in heaven

Pune Girl, Record Holder In Free Fall Para Jumping, Ties The Knot In Hot Air Balloon

Marriages are made in heaven, they say and this marriage proved the saying—literally.
In keeping with her love for adventure sport and doing something different, Puneite Sheetal Mahajan, who made history by becoming the first woman to do free fall para jumping from the North and South poles, tied the knot with Finlandbased software professional Vaibhav Rane in a hot air balloon some 600 ft above the ground on Saturday.

The wedding ceremony was conducted in the trolley of the balloon by Milind Bildikar—the family priest of the Mahajans.

The relatives who were on the ground sang the mangalashtak—part of Maharashtrian weddings—over a walkie-talkie.

Sheetal and Vaibhav’s parents also accompanied the couple in the balloon for a short while to complete some rituals. All mandatory rituals like kanyadaan, saptapadi (saat pheras) and lighting of the sacred fire were done in the air on the premises of a club near Bavdhan, some 18 km from Pune.

“After doing the free fall para jumping I always wanted to get married in a different way. Initially, I thought of getting married while parajumping but it was not possible as a lot of practice is needed and Vaibhav did not have the time to do it,’’ said Sheetal, speaking to TOI after the wedding.

She said the couple had been rehearsing for two days, all decked up in their wedding finery, with the priest doing a mock drill. “At first we wanted to do the wedding in the evening but we realised that wind conditions were not favourable. So the time was shifted to morning,’’ she said.
“I was thrilled and had no objections to doing the ceremony in the air. I have done some para jumping myself,’’ said Vaibhav.


The Mahajan family priest Milind Bildikar said that he has known Sheetal since her childhood and had anticipated that she would be doing something different at her wedding. “It was a thrilling experience for me, almost an adventure,’’ he said.
The daily rent of the balloon was reported to be about Rs 1 lakh.

LOVE IN THE AIR: Sheetal’s marriage with Finland-based techie Vaibhav was solemnized in the balloon as relatives sang ‘mangalashtak’ on a walkie-talkie

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