Pics: When Narendra Modi enjoyed paragliding in Manali

MANALI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Manali to inaugurate the Atal tunnel in Rohtang this month, Roshan Thakur of Manali’s Burua village, who had taught Modi paragliding some two decades ago, has bought a brand new paraglider hoping the Prime Minister will be able to take time out of his schedule and ask him to fly again.
“Whenever Modi visited Solang valley, he asked me to arrange for a flight. He still remembers me and talks about his old days in Solang so often. He will pass through Solang valley to inaugurate the tunnel. There is a possibility that he might express his desire to fly again. I’m ready with all the equipment. I’ve even bought a new paraglider for him,” Roshan said.
Modi first tried his hand at paragliding with Roshan in 1997.
During political public meetings in Kullu on November 5, 2017 and in Mandi on May 10, 2019, the Prime Minister had talked about how he used to go paragliding at Solang with the help of Roshan.
Modi, who was BJP in-charge of Himachal at the time, first tried his hand at paragliding with Roshan in 1997. He returned the same year for another session and then in 2000. Modi visited Manali along with former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee many times and used to go paragliding in his leisure time. Roshan has preserved many photographs of Modi while flying at Solang.
Till he became the chief minister of Gujarat in 2001, Modi visited Solang thrice for paragliding. After his election, Modi had invited Roshan to Gujarat to search for possibilities of paragliding at Saputara. A test flight was carried out in Saputara in 2012 which was successful. Since then, paragliders from Himachal fly there during the annual paragliding festival.
Roshan is the first trained paraglider who obtained the first commercial paragliding licence in India.