Shital Mahajan

A statement that all of us have heard at some or the other point of our lives which was used as a motivation for us to achieve our goals or set our aim high so that we would reach somewhere close to it. But have you ever heard “the sky is just the beginning”? This is something that was taken as an inspiration by Shital Mahajan the founder of Phoenix Skydiving Academy.

“SKY IS THE LIMIT”

Shital Mahajan was born in Pune Maharashtra, India on the 19th of September 1982. Her education was at the Fergusson College, Pune from where she graduated (BSc) in geology. In the initial stages she took a fascination for para jumping and tried to take training for the Indian Navy but her entry was refused by the authorities. However, with the assistance of the then Indian president, APJ Abdul Kalam, she joined the National Defence Academy for training in skydiving and para jumping

Her first jump was on 14 April 2004 after which no one could stop her and now is reported to have achieved 652 jumps

Awards and Achievements


• ● Shital Mahajan was awarded the Tensing Norgay Award in 2004 after her successful jump over the North Pole making her the first civilian to receive the award


• ● She was awarded Godavary Gaurav Puraskar in 2005.The same year, she received the Shiv Chatrapati Maharashtra State Sports Special Award which was followed by the Venutai Chavan Yuva Puraskar
  
  


• ● Shital Mahajan is the first woman to perform a free fall jump over the South Pole, which was completed on 15 December 2006. The attempt also made her the youngest woman to achieve the feat at the age of 24


• ● Her jump from 13000 feet performed on 19 April 2009 is also a record for the height in women's category


• ● The Government of India honored Mahajan in 2011, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri

From being rejected from entering the Indian Navy for her training to be known as the first woman to perform an accelerated free fall jump over the Antarctica from 10,000 feet, the youngest woman to jump over both the North and South Poles and the first woman jumper to perform it without trials. The Government of India honored Mahajan in 2011, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri




• This is Shital Mahajan making a statement that “Be a first-rate version of you, not a second-rate version of someone else.” Being a living inspiration for the women in today’s world to go out there and become someone that amazing that you leave a mark on the face of this earth or rather the sky, Shital Mahajan is also known as the Queen of Skydiving and has made the sky not her limit but her KINGDOM

At the end I would like to conclude that “One day she discovered that she was fierce, and strong, and full of fire, and that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears.”