KOLHAPUR: Samarth Mahangade was hard at work, his hands sticky with the juice of freshly pressed sugarcane as he served weekend travellers at his roadside stall on a crisp winter morning at Harrison’s Folly, a stunning cliffside viewpoint, 5km from Panchgani.
Then came the call. “Samarth, where are you? The exam’s already starting.” It was his friends, their voices frantic. The 19-year-old BCom first-year student froze. The natural dissolution management paper – his first-semester university exam that had been postponed – was today. And he had no clue because his hall ticket hadn’t been updated. Panic set in.
The exam centre was in Pasarni village, at the base of the steep and winding Pasarni Ghat – 15km away. The serpentine road, notorious for its slow-moving traffic, would take at least 30 minutes. Time he simply did not have.
His mind raced. He needed a miracle. And then it struck him – the sky.
Samarth burst through the doors just as question papers were being handed out
Across the clearing stood paragliding instructor Govind Yewale, who ran adventure flights from Harrison’s Folly. BCom first-year student Samarth sprinted toward him. “Bhau, I need your help. I have an exam in 10 minutes. Can you take me down there?” Yewale frowned, his eyes narrowing. “An exam? And you forgot the date?” He shook his head, exasperated. But the urgency in the boy’s eyes – it was impossible to ignore. After a moment’s hesitation, Yewale waved over one of his paragliders. “Strap in,” he ordered. “Hold on tight.”
Heart pounding, Samarth was buckled into the harness. And then, with a running start, they leaped off the cliff. The ground fell away in an instant, and he was flying. In 5 minutes, they were over the exam centre.
As he soared through the sky, another friend rushed to his home, retrieving his hall ticket, writing pad, and pens.
The pilot expertly steered the glider, bringing them down onto the school grounds. Samarth unbuckled himself mid-stride and ran. His lungs burned as he sprinted to the exam hall, bursting through the doors just as the question papers were being handed out.
A pause. Then, a nod. He was allowed in. He slid into his seat. Later, Samarth reflected on the whirlwind of the morning. “I work to support my family, but my education is just as important,” he said.
Satara SP Samir Shaikh said traffic congestion along Pasarni Ghat was common but not unusually severe that day. Still, it didn’t matter. For one determined student, every second had counted.