Flying Without Wings: Shweta Parmar Is Gujarat's First Woman Civilian Skydiver

Who is Shweta Parmar? Joining an elite and small club of women skydivers from India, Gujarat's Shweta Parmar is the first female civilian from her state to freefall at the young age of 28.

A licensed skydiver trained internationally now, Parmar's tryst with the adventure activity began in 2016, with an instructor strapped to her back. Back from Spain after completing a certification course, Parmar dives into the open skies by herself.

"Flying with my own wings was the actual dream," she says, as quoted in The Times of India. See a photo of Parmar below:

Image: TOI

Know Who Is Shweta Parmar As She Sails The Skies

With her feat, Parmar stands among lofty personalities like Rachel Thomas, Padma Shri awardee and India's first woman skydiver ever. Like her predecessors in the field, Parmar's journey to the skies was not easy.

She reveals she lost her father at age 18, with finances left to be figured out by sisters. She completed her education till MBA with support from home and scholarships, establishing a business with her brother. But different winds were beckoning her. She dived, literally, into her aspirations for adventure sport and began training.

With a United States Parachute Association (USPA) license in hand, Parmar can now skydive anywhere in the world.

Like most other adventure arenas, skydiving is also a male-dominated space. As per the USPA's division of demographics for those licensed under it, only 13 percent of skydivers in the US are women and "underrepresented." In India, reportedly only three women until Parmar had been licensed skydivers - Thomas, Shital Mahajan and Archana Sardana.

Mahajan, also a Padma Shri awardee with Thomas, is a pioneering icon for women in skydiving, with eight world records to her name and recognition as the youngest-ever woman to dive in the North and South Poles. Sardana, meanwhile, is the country's first woman BASE jumper, as also the first woman master scuba diving trainer.

Image: Muzammil Soorma / Unsplash