It was a Guinness book moment when para-jumper Sheetal Mahajan, dressed in a red saree, tied the knot with Vaibhav Rane, 600 feet above the ground in a hot air balloon.

“Marriage is a memorable moment, and I always wanted to make mine special. I am passionate about heights, and that is how the idea of getting married in a balloon struck me,” said Mahajan, who has many other firsts to her credit.

On April 18, 2004, Mahajan made her maiden para-jump from a height of 2,400 feet above the North Pole. She become the first person to jump over the North Pole without any earlier jumps to her credit. On December 15, 2006, she became the first woman to do a free-fall para-jump over the South Pole. This, in comparison, was a staid affair, but it created ripples of excitement.

The muhurat for the wedding was scheduled for 5 in the evening. But it was preponed to 7.30 am due to bad weather. “There were five people in the balloon — my husband-to-be, my father, panditji, pilot and myself. Right from phere to kanyadaan, all the rituals took place in the air,” said Mahajan.

Rane is a software engineer working with an MNC and is based in Finland. Getting married in a balloon was not even in his wildest dreams as he has tried para-jumping only once. “I had never thought that I would get married this way. But then it was a wonderful experience,” he added.

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