Missed date, blocked roads: Maharashtra student paraglides to exam centre

The boy was 15 km away from his exam centre located at the base of Pasarni Ghat

A 19-year-old student from Panchgani in Maharashtra took to the skies to reach his university exam on time after realising he had missed the date.

According to a Times of India report, Samarth Mahangade, a first-year BCom student, was working at his roadside sugarcane juice stall when he received a frantic call from his friends informing him that the postponed first-semester exam had already begun.

He was 15 km away from his exam centre, located at the base of Pasarni Ghat, and the winding, traffic-heavy road leading to the centre would take at least 30 minutes. But he didn’t have that much time.

Desperate to reach his exam centre, Samarth sprinted to nearby paragliding instructor Govind Yewale, who runs adventure flights from Harrison’s Folly, a cliffside viewpoint in the area. Showing urgency for the exam, Samarth requested a lift from him. Yewale reluctantly agreed to help.

“Bhau, I need your help. My exam starts in 10 minutes. Can you take me down there?” Samarth asked.

Yewale quickly strapped Samarth into a paraglider harness, and they launched off the cliff. Within minutes, Samarth was soaring over the serpentine road below, while a friend raced to his home to gather his hall ticket, writing pad, and pens.

In just five minutes, they were above the exam centre. The paraglider expertly descended, landing on the school grounds, where Samarth immediately unbuckled himself and sprinted toward the exam hall. He arrived just in time as the question papers were being handed out. Later, he was allowed to sit for the exam.

Samarth works to support his family. “My education is just as important. I had to make it work,” he said, showing an extraordinary display of determination.

Satara Superintendent of Police Samir Shaikh said that while traffic congestion on Pasarni Ghat is common, it wasn’t unusually severe that day.

As every second mattered to Samarth, his quick thinking and determination made things possible for him.