The
spirit of adventure is certainly not dead in India.
One only has to look at the record and hunger for adventure of the
67 year old Industrialist and avid Aviator, Dr.
Vijaypat Singhania to understand this spirit.
Having won some World Records, has certainly not quelled
his thirst for more.
He
has now embarked on a mission to break the World
Altitude record in a Hot Air Balloon. The present
holder Per Lindstrand is believed to have said that
his record cannot be broken due to the technical difficulties
of operating in the rarified atmosphere, of 70000 ft. when one
would virtually be on the fringes of space. The atmospheric
pressure at sea level is 1013.2 mbs. while at 70000 ft it
is 40 mbs. It would naturally be impossible to breath
normally at these pressures and if one were to be exposed
to the elements even briefly the human blood would boil.
National pride and the spirit of true adventure have
prompted Dr. Singhania to attempt to break the record on
Indian soil and in his home city, Mumbai. It would certainly
have been much easier and even cheaper to attempt the
record elsewhere, but that is not an option he ever considered. |