Navigating India: Jigish Gohil (Bonus Ep)

Jigish Gohil: The link which I mentioned has safety information. There's a link with the presentation called Fly Safely. That is the must-read thing before anybody comes to Bir. They should know how to keep themselves safe and how to enjoy flying over here safely. A couple of seasons back, somebody landed way out. They had to be fetched via helicopter. And there was another incident where somebody landed out there or basically just parked themselves in a tree and then they had to walk out. and sleep overnight somewhere in the jungle there. On Saturdays or Fridays, there is always some parties happening somewhere. We have Deer Park Institute, where there are a lot of courses happening regarding music

or meditation or Buddhism. A lot of philosophy. We have pottery studio here. We have a lot of yoga.

Aninder: What is up, pilots around the world? Welcome to a very special bonus episode of paragliding atlas. I had to bring in this one unscheduled and squeeze it in front of our usual planned list of episodes as it was quite simply way too good to be held back for a later release. Initially this content was meant exclusively for our premium subscribers in the sonic boom section, which is a project I'm stoked to announce will be going live very soon. Sonic Boom is an exciting way for you to support this show and help me in bringing out the knowledge sharing in our community, offering the best facts, figures, and stories from top flying destinations across the globe. Anyways, coming back to this one, it was

very clear soon after recording that the wealth of knowledge and information shared in this talk is an absolute goldmine for everyone wanting to touch the sky with glory indeed. To put it simply, it was just a bit too good to be put behind a paywall. And what makes it even more special is that it comes to you unfiltered and uncensored straight from the landing fields of Bir Bering in the words of a man who is truly a gem in the amazing local flying community there. And he has called Bir his home for a little more than a decade now. I mean, he got so moved and inspired by

our sport that he not only moved his whole life and decided to base himself in beer, but he also ended up writing an amazing book which perfectly sums up the fascination we all have for the art of flight as pilots and how it adds value to our fulfilling life that we all yearn for. In fact, as it is in his words, the book is a must-read not just for the pilots, but also for the friends and family as it helps them understand the unexplained obsession some of us have with our aerial endeavours. Have heard some great reviews about it, so do check out the links in the

show notes mentioned below under the heading Soaring High Resources, where you'll also find all the other useful links which we talk about in the show. Also, a quick thanks for all the love and support you have shown since this show launched a couple of weeks ago. It's incredible to read the messages, keep the love coming, and as I've mentioned earlier, this is just a beginning. I'm truly super excited to go on this journey with you, and share the joy of this art of flight that we all share the common love for. So a massive thanks to all those who have hit the subscribe button. It means the world to me. And for those who are curious to keep track of new uploads, the simplest quick fix is to hit the bell icon on the

show homepage, which turns on your notifications every time I upload a new episode. Now, without further ado, I would say, let's dive right into our short, crisp, but a hugely resourceful talk with Jagish to get into details of navigating beer in a 10-hour tale that includes much more than just what to do than being in the air. Jagish, welcome to Paragliding Atlas. Thank you so much for giving us your time. How are you? How is life? Life is always great and happy to be here. That's so nice to hear. I believe you have called Bir your home since quite a while. So just for the perspective of our listeners, a little bit of an introduction. Who are you and how did Bir come into your life and what is

it as of now and how are things over there? yeah i've been in beer uh since almost a decade now or maybe over i don't know stop counting and if you

Jigish Gohil: want to know the details you'll have to read my book a lot dinner bomb there's all the stories how i came here what i've been up to all these years and how is here and how is flying indeed everything all covered in there Wow. So basically, you moved here a decade ago, and it was

Aninder: fascinating enough that you ended up writing a book which has everything included, if I understand correctly. Yeah, a lot about beer

Jigish Gohil: and other sites of India, but mostly being here in Bir, quite a lot of it is in there. I see, I see. I wanted to get to your book later on in our chat, but

Aninder: now since you've mentioned, let's just talk about it a little bit. I see a lot of paragliding books are mostly about how you get better in flying and how to read the weather correctly, but Your book, I mean, I haven't had the pleasure of reading it yet. I hope one day I'm able to get my hands on it. But your book promises something different. It promises something that a very, you can say, a romantic side of storytelling and paragliding or something other than what's available on the market. Can you give our listeners a little bit of a perspective what this is all about and how did you come to materialize it? And what can they expect if they get their hands on a copy? When paragliding pilots, they speak

Jigish Gohil: about paragliding to their friends and family, everybody just gets put off and they say, stop talking about it because they don't get it, what we are up to. So I wanted to write something which includes your friends and family who are not into paragliding in a language. which they can relate to. So stuff apart from flying is what paragliding life is all about. Flying is just one part of it. So I cover all the rest of it basically. And there are instructional books about flying, how to fly better. But this book probably could be kind of a guidebook about how to be an ambassador of paragliding sport, you know. So how to be like overall pilot basically, just not flying wise, but as a human being, you know, how you

interact with other people representing our sport. Wow. I think it's the meat of the hour because obviously this sport is so fascinating and

Aninder: being in the air, it's just magical that you inadvertently end up, I don't know, bragging about it or just talking about it to whosoever you meet. And as you rightly said, people do get tired of it pretty quickly. But I believe this book will unlock all the secrets that they need to know about our fascinating world, I guess. Yeah, just go and read it. Beautiful. Can't wait, can't wait. But I think it ships worldwide and anybody can get their hands on it pretty easily. What's with the logistics? Yeah, go on Amazon, look for a Loftin and Bounce. Aloft and unbound. Yeah, great. I think we can add a link in our show notes as well for the listeners too, for the ones who are keen enough to share the joy

with their friends and family. But yeah, coming back to Bir, so a decade of existence. Let's say, you know, the first curiosity, the first curious question that comes to my mind is, How did B develop and how did B come to be as it is today compared to what it was? I mean, I understand decade isn't that long, but flying started here much, much earlier. There were some instances of hang gliders coming in and discovering this place. And then paragliders came in and then the big tandem scene blew up. So if you can just give our listeners a little bit of perspective that how did this tiny, tiny hamlet which was a Timothy refugee colony, like, you know, initially. How did it blow up to becoming one of the most

amazing playgrounds that our planet has to offer in the sport of paragliding? I don't know. In Bir, long, long after it was already

Jigish Gohil: established as paragliding capital of India. Long, long time back, like I said, hang gliding championship happened. Then paragliding championships happened. And people from all over the world has been coming here. But when I arrived here first during autumn, there used to be about 200 pilots from all over the world. Now there are 800 pilots. This autumn, we had 800 pilots. And in the spring, we have usually about 25 to 30 pilots from all over the world. Now there are about 100 pilots from all over the world. Indian pilots, there used to be very few Indian pilots. Now we have a huge amount of Indian pilots now, a lot of solo pilots. A lot of them now beer locals. They've moved here. They're

working from home in beer and flying every day. So yeah, the community is growing. Beer is growing. That's so good to hear. And I happen to be one of

Aninder: those Indian pilots who was just awed, amazed by the magic that this place offers. But, you know, one thing that comes to my mind, you said 800 in autumn and 100 in spring.

Aninder: Why is such a massive difference? Why do the strength increase by eight times than what it is in spring? Spring is usually October and November,

Jigish Gohil: there are hardly any places in the world anywhere else where there is a consistent flying happening. So this is the only area where everybody gathers and get to fly every single day almost. Spring usually season is good in Europe. So I think people just stay back there and fly there. So yeah, I think that's the reason. And also spring is quite more challenging. So people try to stay away during spring, strong conditions here. All right. So let's say if we just, you know, put ourselves in shoes of a foreign pilot who was, you know, have to get on at

Aninder: least a couple of hours, a couple of flights and 10 hours layover to get to India, wherever they're from. you know, they have decided, they have made up their mind, and they want to explore the amazing Bir Valley. They touched down at the International Airport in Delhi. What's the easiest way to navigate to Bir? And of course, the safest way, because I understand, you know, of course, Europe has a very safety oriented system where things are right. I mean, you can get scammed in Europe as well, I'm not denying that. Any place you have to keep your guard up. But let's say you touch down at the airport and you have to make your way to the landing field. Just talk our listeners through that. How do they make it

happen? And what's the most convenient and efficient way? First time when I came, there used to be only the state transport, ordinary buses

Jigish Gohil: with almost like a blank for seats. I came to Bajnath, which is about half an hour drive from Bir. I see. How to take those buses. But these days we have... Really really nice Volvo buses which is like semi sleeper it's called. So you can recline your seat and you can sleep or very comfortably lie down and they are overnight buses from Delhi. So that's the cheapest and easiest way to get to Bir. They come all the way to Bir now. Most, a lot of people, they prefer also to fly to Dharamshala. So from Delhi, they can take a flight to Dharamshala and then about two hour

taxi ride from Dharamshala airport to here. Or you can fly to Chandigarh or you can fly to Amritsar and international flights comes to Amritsar also, I think. So you can take a taxi from there. So yeah, mostly Volvo buses and taxi straight from Delhi airport also, if you prefer that. So most convenient and cheapest is Volvo buses. I see. So basically multiple options, but the easiest ones is directly from the airport to

Aninder: the landing field. I mean, to close to the landing field, I believe. It's just a few meters away. That is an option. And other than that, if you want a bit of a luxury, fly down to Dharamsala, which also happens to be the home place of Dalai Lama, I guess, for the ones who are fascinated by it. And then just get down there and from there, grab one of those Plank seated buses, as you said, because I have taken quite a few rides on them or take a taxi to get down to the landing field. Awesome. Great. So basically you have made your way and you are in this amazing paradise of

Aninder: beer. And, you know, how do you find your tribe? Like where do people mingle? Where do people socialize? Where can you find like-minded pilots and where can you... Basically talk about flying, if you know what I mean. When you get down here on Google Maps, all the

Jigish Gohil: accommodations show up so you can pick any one of them. You can stay in any of your picks and there would be pilots in those places because most of the places are taken over by pilots here during autumn. We have a WhatsApp group and a test telegram group where people can join in. So there we can discuss paragliding, flying here in Bir or taxi ride sharing to take off. So usually we take four pilots in a car, small car. So every day morning people in their own group and every day you can meet new different people. Make friends like that. At lunch, there is a chai

shop. You hang out there, have your tea or something. If you have not had your breakfast, you can have a bread omelet there. Meet the locals and meet the other pilots there. And after your flight at the landing, we have blue umbrella cafe. And there are other nice cafes around landing where pilots hang out or just sit on the landing, nice grass on the side and Meet the rest of the pilots there. That's so nice to hear. There are so

Aninder: many words which bring a smile to my face and also a lot of nostalgia, especially the Chachu's Chaishan. I think Chachu is a guy, is a person. Basically, Chachu is a slang for relatives in the Indian language. That's why we refer to him as Chachu. But he is somebody who has seen beer since day number one. And I really wish I could get him on a podcast. I probably... When I get down there next time, he has to tell a story. But I think he has been there since the times of hang gliders and he's still going strong. And the shop is as humble as it was and as simple as it was.

And his life is pretty much still the same. That's his dad, who is the original Chachu. And now after him, he is the Chachu. He's like Phantom,

Jigish Gohil: you know. A lion of phantoms. So, he is the latest one. So, he is Chachu now. When he grows away, the next generation, his son might be Chachu. Babloo would be Chachu. Yeah, Chachu means uncle. Old people in India, we call uncle Chachu. Nah, I love that smile on his face and the warmth.

Aninder: Well, anybody who's listening to this podcast, guys, if you get to the takeoff, you have to check out the vibe of this chai shop. It has its own authenticity and magic to it and the perfect pre-flight snack that you need to explore the skies of beer. But yeah, all right. So basically, I think the gem of the community, which I really like how you guys have done it there, is starting a WhatsApp group with all answers, like all questions answered. Let's talk about this a little bit. So if Foreign Pilots wants to go in and join one of these, what all groups exist like this and how to find them? And basically, what are they used for? all answers are answered on a bookmark page we have it's called j.mp

Jigish Gohil: paragliding india so it's a it's a web page with all the useful bookmarks of whatever useful stuff including all these groups which we have which people can join we have a lot of information there maps are there site information is there Restrictions and safety information are there. All the flights which are there on Xcontents and Leonardo and all about everyday people post flights. You can find links to those over there. All the epic flights and all the record flights and a lot of other useful information is on that page. We have WhatsApp and Telegram groups. Telegram is just one single group. We are testing that. So it has all these different topics like taxi sharing, discussion about

paragliding, buying, selling your gear. A lot of people come here and want to get rid of some of this stuff while going back. We are all these

Aninder: groups. I think absolute goldmine. And if there is a pilot listening who has the capacity to start something like this in your place, please do so. Because for any visiting pilot, this works like wonders. And I am a part of this group and I have seen it grow. And honestly, there's nothing more reliable and more open source information sharing available in anywhere else. But if you are aware, please do send us your links so that we can put it out to the community and we can share it for the greater good. But basically, that sounded like a Wikipedia of paragliding and beer, if I'm not wrong. Yeah, it's just a bookmark page. So it links to all the other websites where there is information about beer or flying here.

Jigish Gohil: There are some blog posts and videos. Yeah, I think we will add this in our show notes so that people can go ahead one single link for everything. So

Aninder: far basically we have managed to get a pilot from the airport to the place and get them a fair bit of an idea how to navigate and how to refuel before the flight. Now, let's say you're standing on the takeoff. What is the glory that awaits you and how do you make it happen? I mean, how do you do it right, basically? If you can throw some light on that. The link which I mentioned has safety information. There's a link with the

Jigish Gohil: presentation called Fly Safely. That is the must-read thing before anybody comes to Bir. They should know how to keep themselves safe and how to enjoy flying over here safely. So that's, I think, should be a mandatory reading. And maybe we should have a test that they're paying attention while reading that presentation or not. So, yeah, usually... That link has been shared so many times, but still you will find people in a gaggle. Everybody's going left or right, and then there will be one guy going opposite direction. So I don't know whether that guy didn't get that link or not. So yeah, that awareness has to be there. And yeah, that's one important thing. And basically, let's say, of

Aninder: course, the goldmine exists and there's always going to be that one guy who does their own thing. But I'm just wondering, you get on the takeoff. It's a fairly challenging takeoff, especially in autumn when you have the whole world crowding on it and absolutely no specific order. How do you stay safe? And I mean, what's not to do, if I have to put it simply? uh what not to do i can tell you what to do basically uh beer we have almost

Jigish Gohil: zero win at launch so you need to practice your zero win launch so that's one thing which is people must do before they come here so practice nil win launch and As soon as you are ready, you prepare your glider on the side. As soon as you open your wing, you have to clear the launch. You have to go. Otherwise, there's a lot of people waiting behind you. And the 800 pilot in autumn, it will be a long wait for other people behind you. So get off quickly. So don't block. Don't be rude. Be nice to other people. Don't step on other people's ring. Don't lay out in front of other

people's ring. You know, that basic etiquette. Basically, be nice. I see. And just to clarify, 800 is just a number of solo pilots, which is in

Aninder: addition to a massive tandem scene that is in operation, which basically drives the BEAT economy and made BEAT what it is now. So the amount of tandem wings in the air plus the amount of solo wings in the air can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you're not exposed to flying in crowded places. So do make sure that you have done your homework right and you know what you're getting yourself into. All right, so now you have managed to take off safely without pissing a lot of people off. I know you will definitely piss off a couple of them, but still, you are in the air and you're in the house thermal, which is the massive feature right in front, a little bit towards the left. Anything to be

particularly aware of, anything that can surprise you out of the blue, any collapse prone areas or times of the day which people usually get caught off guard by or anything like that before they eventually start reaching the cloud base and heading it on from there? For good pilots,

Jigish Gohil: they should just avoid house thermal, just go to the next ridge or we have a small ridge, minus half, which starts working very early. So all the good pilots, they take off early and go to that small ridge, minus half, and get away from house thermal ridge pretty quickly. don't hang around there leave house thermal for absolute beginners yeah house thermal can be a little bit rowdy and if you don't have active piloting skill you might get some small collapses nothing to worry about but and traffic yes so you have to keep watching for all the people around you Try to be in a circle with other people living in a room there. And if it gets too tight for you, for your comfort, just go to the next ridge. And there are

thermals on every knob on almost all the ridges in this Tolada mountains. So there are plenty of thermals. So you don't have to hog one thermal and be with a lot of people there. People don't get confident. Because I don't know where they come from. They might not have this idea that there are thermals all over the place here in Bir and they are all textbook. So if house thermal is working, each and every knob on the next ridge and the next ridge after that, and all the ridges, they keep on going for 70 kilometers west and about 50 kilometers east. They all work very nicely.

Keep that in mind. There are plenty of thermals. Just leave. Don't hang around in a house thermal for longer than required. As soon as you have enough height to get to the next trigger point, just leave. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. And I think it's vital to mention that the amount of

Aninder: griffon vultures that will join you in your flight and show you the path is absolutely magical. So there will be plenty of pointers to look at besides the obvious things that nature tells us like clouds and various other formations. So birds are the biggest friends in this side of the world. And yeah, they're The playground is wide enough to not get crowded in one place and explore it to the fullest. Right, so basically, you know, this is, you've come in and you've kind of managed to find your way and you're enjoying the first smell of cloud base and then the moisture that comes with it. I see a lot of people get excited and me including, you know, I'm not going to single a section out. But the

moment you get high, the magnificence of the Himalayas from back invites you like open arms. Because A, you have never seen anything that amazing. And B, it's just a dream for anyone who's flying a paraglider to go and explore that. When do you know that you're ready to jump to the back safely? Because I think it's very important to mention that the flying in the front ridge is fairly simple. As you said, it's textbook. Plenty of griffon vultures, plenty of civilization. Only so many things can go wrong. But the moment you jump back, back means behind the takeoff because there's a spine. The moment you jump that, everything just escalates. So how do you make a decision that, okay, you know, today is

the day and now I'm ready, if you can just throw some light on that. If you are a pilot flying a couple of hundred hours of airtime, an SIV, and

Jigish Gohil: proper equipment for extreme weather, tent, sleeping bag, if you are prepared to land out and sleep out in extreme conditions or walk out, with your kit if you are physically fit enough it can take eight nine hours of walk or maybe a day's walk and night out somewhere in a wilderness if you are prepared to do that then yes you are ready to jump back so high in a group go with people who already have been there and don't stretch your limits Fly within your limits. Don't put yourself into a stressful situation where you don't know your way out. There have been incidents, a lot of incidents, even this season, very experienced pilots, they have landed out there and they had to sleep night out there.

A couple of seasons back, somebody landed way out. They had to be fetched by helicopter. And there was another incident where somebody landed out there or basically just parked themselves in a tree and then they had to walk out and sleep night overnight somewhere in the jungle there. And then a long walk out. So outside is still, it's a textbook flying, but there are places where you would get into trouble if you don't know what you are doing. yes and i think it's it's very important to mention that in firing your insurance and making sure it it works is a big challenge

Aninder: there are a lot of logistical hurdles but the admin side is an absolute nightmare regardless of how whatever coverage you have so make sure that before you come you check with your insurance provider that if you're planning to do something wild, will they cover you? And if they will, then how will they cover you? Because it has been quite a bit of work in the history. Anyways, you know, talking about incidents and talking about mishappenings, I think this is one topic that is very hush-hush in our community and it needs to be thrown some more light on. How many... How many people mess up every year on an average? I just want to put out that statistic just to let people know that this happens every year

Aninder: regardless and it could happen to anyone. So please do take all the precautions that you can. On an average, I think one or two people die

Jigish Gohil: every year. But this season, this autumn of 23, we had three fatalities in a season by three people died. And there are about four, five, six, or maybe 10 reserve throws every season. So, reserve throws are still good because nobody gets hurt, just the ego gets hurt. Maybe the glider will tear a bit if they're hanging in the tree. But apart from that, they're all right. Incidents at takeoff, people break their ankle or something like that because they're not careful while launching. And at landing, a lot of people

The landing field is quite big, but still people, because it's very nifty, people tend to overshoot. They can't time their, you know, last leg properly. So they stall their wing from 10, 15 feet and they break their something. I've seen quite a few accidents at landing because of that. There are a few midair also this season. So it gets too crowded and somebody turning in a wrong way, people just bump into each other, not giving enough room to each other or not paying attention where they're going. Bird hits, some of them, yeah, mostly they are benign. When you're flying with a lot of birds, they might not be looking at you they might be looking at something more interesting and they might crash

into you so yeah even a minor like accident not even a minor but breaking a bark just about 15 kilometers from our launch A very good pilot, had big face, he crashed and he had insurance and everything. And they called for helicopter, still took almost, the helicopter went next day to pick him up. So all night in cold, he had to spend up in the mountain with the broken back. So yeah. Yeah. You have to be prepared when you're flying like this, you have to be prepared. You have to have your nice insurance coverage, but you also have to be prepared night out somewhere in the

mountains. Things don't go right. You have to be current. Now, I think we have covered up most of the topics that one is curious about when they

Aninder: come to fly. But there's usually one thing that absolutely no one talks about. And that is, how can you best spend your time when... And the sky looks dark and gray. So if going in the air is not an option, then what are the options to make the most out of this amazing, amazing place we call Bir? Bir landing field is at one end and there is just one kilometer of road and there are about 100 restaurants. So you can sample great

Jigish Gohil: delicacies from Tibet or India, whatever you want. And see, we have a lot of cases where they have live music going on. On Saturdays, Fridays, there is always some parties happening somewhere. We have Deer Park Institute, where there are a lot of courses happening regarding music or meditation or Buddha. A lot of philosophy and other courses they run. We have... pottery studio here we have a lot of yoga so yeah and treks walks there's so many trails around go around the village meet people walk into people's home have some chai a lot of things to do there is hot springs which you can go day trip or night out there. There is a nice little river where you can go fishing trout or read my book. All these

cafes have my book. So you can just not have to buy it. You can just sit there and read it. Yeah, a lot of things to do. Oh, absolute magic.

Aninder: Absolute magic. Seems like the place to be. Oh, I feel like booking my trip right away. I miss flying in beer so much. But anyways, to all our listeners, there you go. You heard it right from the man himself. In case you're wondering how to reach Jagish, easiest way is jump on his website, paraguide.in. Is that correct, Jagish? Yeah, paraguide.in. Amazing. I think we're going to put that link in the show notes and we can also put the link for Deer Park, which is very close to my heart because that is absolutely zen of a place. And yeah, the whole vibe is much, much more magical and rewarding. There are many, many monasteries you can

Jigish Gohil: just walk around, apart from Deer Park. Monasteries also have some chanting sessions or something going on there, you know. It's an amazing place to be. Sold. Sold, Jagish. I am literally going to get on the flight planner and make it happen. Don't tell people. Keep telling people there's a shitty place. 800

is too much to handle in a season. 20%. I know, I know. We need some population control on that takeoff, the tiny, tiny takeoff that caters

Aninder: to all our curiosities. Amazing. Jagish, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for giving your time to Paragliding Atlas. Invaluable resources and let's hope the community makes the most out of it and knowledge sharing becomes a norm. Thank you and yeah. Yes. See you here

Jigish Gohil: soon. And really great initiative. You're doing this. So nice way of nice format. I mean, atlas of parallel writing sites, that wonderful idea you have. Good luck with that. See you. Means the world, man. Means the world. Thank you.