Maharashtra student paraglides to exam in Satara district to beat traffic

A 20-year-old student, Samarth Mahangde, paraglided over a ghat in Satara to reach his exam on time, a video of which went viral, showcasing his quick thinking and resourcefulness

Pune: A 20-year-old student’s ingenuity to reach his college in time for an exam by paragliding over a ‘ghat’ in Maharashtra’s Satara district came to the fore after a video of his feat went viral on social media on Monday.

First Year B.Com student Samarth Mahangde said the incident took place on December 15 and was necessitated after he realised late that he had his first-semester exam on Natural Disaster Management in a few minutes time.

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It helped that he knew paragliding operators in the area, said Mahangde, a resident of Pasarani village.

A video showed Mahangde taking a pilot-operated paragliding ride from Harrison’s Folly, a flat plateau located about 5 kilometres before Panchgani on Wai-Panchgani road in Satara, to KisanVeer College.

“I work at a sugarcane juice centre near Harrison’s Folly. That day, at 2pm I realised I had a paper at 2:15pm. I forgot about it since the exam timings and date had been rescheduled a few times earlier. I knew road was not an option due to Sunday traffic and ongoing work in the ghat section and my college is 12 kilometres away,” he said.

“I knew paragliding operators in the area. One of them, Govind Yevale, asked a pilot to fly me to the college,” the collegian said.

“After wearing all the mandatory safety equipment, he and our pilot managed to land at an open ground near the college in exactly five minutes,” Yevale said.

Mahangde said he could answer his exam in time also because his friends had got his hall ticket, identity card and uniform.

Kisan Veer College authorities confirmed about the exam and that Mahangde did appear for it.

“But, we cannot confirm if he paraglided here,” a college official said.