Cottonian ‘Mom’ Archana Sardana has 2 of her sons at BCS and she jumped out of a plane in excitement when BCS turned 150!
SEE THE ENTIRE SERIES OF PHOTOS
And then yet again, for Curzon at 100!
SEE THE ENTIRE SERIES OF PICTURES
Archana is a co-founder of Indian Sky Jumpers and Sky Diver Girl.
The vision statement of this organization is: “The lady skydivers in conjunction with their male counterparts (civilian and military) will ‘fall from the skies!’ as ‘Demonstration Skydivers’ at public / private events and propagate the cause of ‘Eye Donation’ and create mass awareness and motivation among the Indian populace to gift ‘Sight’ to its 1.5 crore (15 million) blind which sadly include 20 lakh (2 million) children and try to make their country ‘Blind Free’.”
A message from Archana Sardana:
My boys are Pranav and Ayush Sardana in class 3 and 4 respectively and both are in Curzon House. They joined the school this year only. I was to jump in the school ground but the chopper charges were too high . The Navy skydivers came and inspected the place etc. Thereafter I was to jump in Indore on 19th Sept but on reaching there on 18th night the sky diving camp got called off. I had to fly back to Mumbai and take the next flight to USA. I had to do another 70 jumps to get a “C licence” before anybody would let me jump with the flags! I did that finally, and am back in Mumbai. In the bargain I missed the celebrations at BCS, but as the motto of Curzon House goes – “Action Not Words” – we have kept ours. Infact this story which started on 4th March 2009 has to be told. I will write a small piece and you may kindly put it up on the OCA/BCS web.
Click the thumbnails for a large view
I am looking for support to attempt the Everest Skydive with the Indian Flag in May 2010 to propgate the cause of eye donation among Indians. Of my 2 jumps one will be with the Indian Flag and the other with the BCS Flag.I recently returned from the Drop zone from Nepal but only saw others attempting as I could not afford the cost of the jump. Pawning off a lot, could probably only just get me till there. But then anything for altitude ! I have 240 jumps to my credit, a “C license” from United States Paratroopers Association and also an Advance course in Mountaineering from the NIM, Uttarkashi. My boys are in the best school in the world and that is the reason I can concenterate all my energies for the cause of “India Blind Free”. If you know anybody in the government or corporates who might be willing to assist kindly email me at archana@skydivergirl.org.in
With regards,
Archana Sardana
Pranav Sardana, 10 and his brother Ayush, 8, both students of Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, [their mother is a Sky Diver and jumped for BCS for the 150th] have created history by qualifying for the junior open water diver course and bubblemaker course respectively. Pranav is the youngest boy from Himachal to obtain the license from Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), USA, a premier diver training organization. He has the license to perform diving in sea anywhere in the world, whereas Ayush has learnt the art of bubblemaker in diving.
