Indian skydiver Shital Mahajan, who holds over two dozen national and international records, set a new record by diving while wearing a traditional Maharashtrian nauvari saree in Thailand.
Shital, who hails from Pune, jumped wearing a saree from a height of 13,000 feet, on Sunday, at Pattaya,Thailand, after taking off from the Thai Skydiving Centre.
The nauvari (nine yards) style of saree draping is special, not only because it provides a silhouette that is completely different from any style seen in other parts of India, but because the saree itself is about eight to nine metres long, as compared to the five and a half metre length in ordinary ones.
"I wanted to to do something different and I tried doing it wearing a nauvari saree. Its a tribute to women ahead of the International Women's Day. Wearing a Nauwavi saree itself was a challenge," said Shital.
Shital (37) is the founder of Phoenix Skydiving Academy and has undertaken jumps from all parts of the world, including the North Pole and South Pole, without any trials.
A Padma Shri recipient and a mother of twin boys, Shital wants to achieve more. Her husband, Vaibhav Rane, a software professional, is based in Finland.
Her total jumps till now are nearly 700; most of them from above 13500 ft, few of them from 18,000 ft with oxygen and from different types of aircraft.
