The 132nd edition of the Durand Cup Flag-in event on 25 July had Lt. Col. Satyendra Verma (Retd), a resident of Omaxe Twin Towers (OTT), Sector-50F, jump from the roof of The 42 in Chowringhee, the tallest building of Kolkata. The stunt was performed as part of Durand Cup’s promotional campaign. The iconic tournament returned afresh this year as 24 teams participated in the Asia’s oldest tournament.
Lt. Col. Verma is an Army veteran, presently heading an important Govt initiative on Information and Mobile Security. He is also a sky-diving instructor, a BASE jumper (BASE stands for the 4 categories of fixed objects from which one can jump – buildings, antennae, spans and earth), a Wingsuit pilot, and a motivational speaker.
Commissioned in the Indian Army in 1991, he pursued his passion for adventure and sports here. Lt. Col. Verma (Retd) began with skydiving in 1993 and then transitioned to BASE jumping in 2009 with his first jump from KL Tower in Malaysia. Since then he has BASE jumped from all four platforms the notable one being from top of the Pitampura TV Tower in New Delhi in 2010, which was the First BASE jump in India. Upping the adventure quotient to Wingsuit diving, he became the Asian Record holder in that sport in 2015 and continues to represent India in the World Wingsuit Championships.
Lt. Col. Verma (Retd) has had an enviable adventure career spanning 2500+ Freefall jumps, 350+ Wingsuit Flights and 56 BASE jumps. He also has four mentions in the Limca Book of Records and his achievements are also accessible over the internet.
For his humongous achievements in extreme adventure sports and for pioneering Wingsuit flying, Lt. Col Satyendra Verma was conferred with the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award (equivalent to Arjuna award) by the President of India in 2015.
In 2017, he jumped 56 floors from Supertech Supernova, in Sector-94.
With his wife, Monica, and grown-up children Lt. Col. Verma is residing in OTT for almost a decade now. The greenery of the society, the friendly atmosphere here and proximity to Meghdutam Park were the strong factors that made him make this choice. A visit to Meghdutam Park early morning is a must, which energises him for the day.
OTT families are proud of the ‘daring’ achievements of their co-resident.
