Wings of Wind

Charu Rishi reports on charms of HP’s paragliding village — Bir Billing

Welcome to Billing, standing at a height of 8,500 feet, nestled in the breathtaking Dhauladhar mountain range, as the gale gushes in, it is nothing but modified rapture. Barely 45 km from Palampur, the tea town of Kangra, this little village attracts adventure sport lovers from all over the world as every year Himachal Pradesh tourism department organizes pre-world cup paragliding competition during October-November here.

Unlike these daredevils, you may not want to lose the ground beneath you feet, but still this place has enough charm to capture your soul. A glance from the 8,500-feet high cliffs of Billing is a breathtaking experience for anyone even if he is not so adventurous to take the air route to reach Bir. Far and high above the concrete jungle, these cliffs transport visitors to an altogether different place, where everyday problems look so trivial while standing amid the majestic mountains. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t be worried about the saas-bahu sagas, for you can even catch up with your favourite soap opera, with a hot cuppa at Hukum Chand’s comfortable shop, the only worldly connection here.

Taking off from Billing, the daring paragliders become airborne for half-an-hour before landing at Bir, a small village sheltered by the mountains and surrounded by tea gardens. The site offers opportunities for high-altitude and cross-country flying.

The village with a Tibetan colony earned its claim to fame in 1984, when a paragliding competition was held here for the first time. "Earlier, hang gliding was also a part of the aero-sports, but with new buildings coming up in Bir, landing became difficult and it had to be stopped," says Hukum Chand, who used to work with the forest department before deciding to serve tourists and sports lovers. "This is considered the best place for paragliding in the world after Spain," he adds with a hint of pride in his throaty voice.

It’s a different world altogether. Here, even the birds like crows and vultures glide on the wings of the wind, the same air that makes paragliders float and see the beauty of the valley from the clear blue skies.

“Almost 25% of youths from our village, Bir, know paragliding. Many of them even took part in the world cup last time. I have seen it all happen right in front of my eyes,” says the septuagenarian, going down memory lane.

“It was in 1985 that I decided to open a shop here for the convenience of all our guests,” says Hukum Chand and his wife, who love to make noodles or pakoras for the nature lovers and adventurers, who manage to reach the hill-top.

‘‘We are blessed to have been born and brought up in this village, which gave us a chance to taste adventure sports,’’ says Rakesh Sharma, who took part in the contest held in 2009.

‘‘Though we couldn’t make it to the world cup, it was a great experience,’’ he adds. Almost all youths of Bir know paragliding, but they don’t own paragliding kit. A few businessmen in the village own these and youths give tourists a chance to see the world from the skies by charging anything between Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000.

‘‘It’s an awesome place. I haven’t seen anything like this before in my life,’’ says Pankaj Mattoo, who had come to Billing all the way from Srinagar with his wife Meenu. "People call our state paradise on earth, but Billing is no less," he concludes.

Billing Board

Road: Around 45 km from Palampur and an hour’s journey by cab

Air: Kangra has its own domestic airport at Gaggal, which is 7 km away from the town and about 40 km from Palampur
Rail: Pathankot is the nearest railhead. From Pathankot, Palampur is connected by narrow gauge rail line