Karnataka - Belgaum   

Daredevil with a parachute

Vijaykumar Patil

EXPERT SKYDIVER: Sqn. Ldr. Kamal Singh Oberh making his descent over Belgaum Military School on Friday.

Belgaum: Friday was a memorable day for the Belgaum, which witnessed spectacular aerobatics by the Suryakiran Formation Aerobatic Team of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Station, Bidar, and skydiving by the Akashganga team.

It was an equally memorable day for Squadron Leader Kamal Singh Oberh, a Georgian of Belgaum Military School, who led the skydiving team to put on a spectacular show for his alma mater, which is celebrating its diamond jubilee.

Sqn. Ldr. Oberh hails from a small village in Jammu district of Jammu and Kashmir. He joined the Belgaum Military School in August 1980 and was commissioned in the IAF in June 1993. After serving as Fighter Controller for about a year and a half, he opted for a more challenging and adventurous job and became a Parachute Jump Instructor at the Paratroopers Training School in Agra.

This young daredevil has a few national records to his credit and is the only Indian to have skydived over Antarctica. He did this on January 1 after jumping from an Il-76 aircraft flying at an altitude of 16,000 ft in temperatures below - 30 degrees Celsius.

But that it not all. On April 20, 2002, he jumped from an MI-8 helicopter flying at 5,500 ft over the geographical North Pole in temperatures below - 54 degrees Celsius, again becoming the only Indian to have done so. Not more than 50 skydivers have done the "double."

He was part of the team that created a world record in skydiving on January 24, 2004 when 672 skydivers jumped simultaneously from eight aircraft and landed in the designated drop zone, in Bangkok.

His latest achievement is a BASE jump from the fourth tallest telecommunication tower in the world, KL Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. BASE (building, antennae, span and earth) jumping is and extremely dangerous and challenging form of skydiving where people jump from buildings, antennae, bridges and cliffs using only one parachute. "If we dream big, we will achieve big," he says.

Presently posted as a Parachute Jump Instructor at Agra, he has more than 800 jumps to his credit, including more than 100 night jumps.

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