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Leap to fame?
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Bungee jumping gives him a rush of adrenalin. Meet K. Sivakumaran who is out to set a Guinness record
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ADVENTURE ATTRACTS Sivakumaran hurtling down the Verzasca dam
K Sivakumaran is probably India's answer to James Bond. Two years ago, the boy fell down the Verzasca dam (Remember the bungee jumping scene in the Bond film Golden Eye?), tied to an elastic strap. This rapid, uncontrolled decline down 722 feet most certainly sent a rush of blood to Sivakumaran's head. He feels a sense of exhilaration whenever he recollects the feat.
But being what he is, the twenty-two-year-old has set his sights on greater achievements with the bungee. He has done all the spadework for an attempt that could send him hurtling into the Guinness book. He says he has "received approval from the authorities of the Guinness Book of World Records to attempt records in various styles of bungee jumping".
He is likely to have a go at tandem bungee jumping, first. He has already given it a name — Project Steelwind. Sivakumaran says he will try it, somewhere in India, and it would be "the first world record bungee jumping event in Indian history". The record in this category is held by "AJ Hackett who performed a 300-metre tandem bungee jump from a helicopter in 2005."
Besides such aspirations, Sivakumaran (right now undergoing advanced pilot training at the American School of Aviation in San Jose) is working towards popularising hazardous sports. To begin with, he has created a website (extreme-adrenalin.com), which provides information on BMX freestyle, BASE jumping, climbing, drag racing, skateboarding, skydiving, stunt pogo, bouldering, cave diving, free-diving and, of course, bungee jumping. The site also offers space for discussion on extreme adventure sports.
PRINCE FREDERICK
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