Archana Sardana is India's first female BASE jumper.[1][2] She is a certified skydiver and was the first person to skydive with the Indian flag in the United States of America. [3] [4] Sardana has done 335 skydives and 45 BASE jumps across the globe. She is also the first Indian to BASE Jump offof the KL Tower, Malaysia with the Indian Flag.[4]
Sardana was born in Jammu and did her schooling in Srinagar.[5] She graduated with a diploma in interior design. Her interest in adventure sport came when she married Commander Rajiv Sardana (an electrical officer of the Indian Navy).[5] After discovering her love for adventure sports, Sardana completed 'Adventure and Advanced Mountaineering' courses from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling and Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.[4] She has a ‘C’ licence in skydiving from the United States Parachute Association having completed 335 skydives.[4] She is founder of the ‘Archana Sardana Scuba Diving Academy’.[4][3]
Padma Shri awardees Rachel Thomas, Shital Mahajan, the country's first female base jumper Archana Sardana,[6] Gujarat's First woman skydiver Shweta Parmar[7] are the only four licensed woman skydivers in the country.
References
edit- ^ "WOA India Archana Sardana". UN Women: The Beijing Platform for Action Turns 20. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ^ "Meet India's First Woman Civilian BASE Jumper as well as First Woman Master Scuba Diver Trainer". The Better India. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ^ a b "PADI Pro Chek". PADI.com. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Watch "Pushing the Limits | Archana Sardana | TEDxIIMKozhikode" Video at TEDxTalks". TEDxTalks. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ^ a b "Archana Sardana, the adrenaline junkie". The Times of India. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ^ "Archana Sardana is a sky diver and BASE jumper". Red Bull. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ "28-year-old Shweta Parmar is now India's fourth licensed civilian woman skydiver". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.