First-year bachelor of commerce student Samarth Mahangde was busy serving freshly crushed cane juice to tourists in Panchgani, a hill station in Maharashtra, when friends called him about his exam, wondering why he had not shown up.
Mahangde’s first thought was how he could reach the centre, about 15km away in Pasarni village at the foothills, as quickly as possible. The road down the winding Pasarni Ghat would take at least half an hour – time he didn’t have to spare.
Mahangde approached Mr Govind Yewale, a man who organises paragliding sessions in the area, and pleaded with him to lend a paraglider.
The 19-year-old was strapped on to a paraglider and he made it to the grounds of the exam centre in five minutes and rushed to complete his exam, reported The Times of India.
A video of the incident, which circulated on social media, shows the man soaring through the sky with his knapsack, ready to make a dramatic entrance at his exam centre.
Mahangde runs a juice centre at Harrison’s Folly point, a scenic spot along Pasarni Ghat connecting Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. Harrison’s Folly is also a paragliding centre that sees hundreds of tourists during the weekends.
“My first semester paper was earlier cancelled and I was not aware of the changed date as I could not get my hall ticket updated. While I was at work, I got to know about it from my friends,” Mahangde told the Times of India.
He added that if he had taken the conventional route to his exam centre he would have surely missed the exam because of the traffic.
Mr Yewale, who is also from Pasarni village, said he knew the youngster well and scolded him over the exam matter before lending him the paragliding equipment.
“Then I asked one of the paragliders to help him. He landed on the grounds of the centre just 10 minutes before the exam,” Mr Yewale said.
“I asked another person to rush to get Samarth’s hall ticket, writing pad and pens from his house. The traffic, one-way towards Panchgani, was moving very slow owing to road works.”
Samarth said: “I study in a college affiliated to Shivaji University, Kolhapur. I work to support my family. My education is equally important.”
Satara Superintendent of Police Samir Shaikh denied there was any traffic congestion during that time, and implied that it was all a social media stunt.
But on Instagram, the video is nearing one million views and has received numerous comments, reported NDTV.
“His name should be added to the world record,” said one Instagram user.
