On the designated date -- April 12 -- she couldn't make the jump due to foul weather. The expedition members decided to call the jump off and broke the news to her: She would have to wait for a few more days. But, Sheetal's visa was only till April 18. "I did not know what to do. I called up the Norwegian embassy in New Delhi and spoke to the officials there. Dagen Halverson, the person who had authorised my visa, asked how I could ask for an extension to the same person who was hesitant to even allow me a visa!"

Sheetal told him what the situation was and convinced the official. The embassy in New Delhi granted the extension and directed her to an office in Longyearbyen. "When I got my extension, it was for a month!" Sheetal had to stay on for four days more than planned. She didn't have supplies. "Meat is the staple food in the island and I am a vegetarian," she says. The first day, she ordered for a veg pizza. The hotel charged her double the rate of a non-veg pizza. "I knew my money won't last at this rate. I had seen some fruits in the market and went out to buy them. One kilogram of apples cost Rs 1,000. Three tomatoes cost Rs 300 and one small lemon cost Rs 50. I grabbed these and went back to the hotel. I lived on these for the next two days."

Her jump was scheduled for April 18. The group reached the base camp at the North Pole to prepare for the jump. As they were landing, they saw a group of men playing football on the ice. "These were men from the US and Australian navies. They had come for an official expedition and were playing in their spare time. We passed them and went about preparing for the jump. Out of nowhere, the people at the base said we wouldn't be able to make the jump that day too." The men who were playing football were part of the crew of two submarines. As the subs had made their way towards the pole, it had left the ice broken at some places and fragile at a lot of other spots.

"I told my crew that I couldn't postpone it any further. There were a few elderly couples who had come along with us to the base to see me jump. One of the couples also agreed to shoot the jump on camera. They also requested the crew to somehow enable my jump." The expedition crew agreed and chose a relatively solid block of ice. They formed a ring using empty fuel barrels.

Sheetal who had never trained now had to make the almost perfect jump.

The plane took off. "I listened to all the precautionary briefing and was set for the jump. At 5,000 feet, the instructors said the temperature, -55 degree Celsius, was too low for a jump. We scaled down to 2400 feet at -37 degrees Celsius, and I was all set for the jump."

All set to exit an aircraft mid-flight for the first time ever in her life, Sheetal did not think much. "There were so many delays, all I was thinking was, `hooray, I am going to jump.' That's it." And then Sheetal exited the plane.

"Soon, the parachute opened and tugged me a bit higher. Adjusting myself to the gust, I looked up at the parachute and got the shock of my life." The parachute was torn and had a huge gash right down the middle. She was hurtling down, seconds away from the ice, and the chute was torn!

Sheetal panicked and immediately tried to release the spare chute. "I yanked at the grab handle and to my utter disbelief it broke and came away from the chute."

Just as the reserve chute was about to open, she looked up again. "It was not torn," she recalls, "It was the design on the parachute!"

Since she had drawn the handle, the reserve chute too opened. "I was instructed on what to do if both the chutes opened by accident, so I tucked the reserve chute between my legs and landed safely in the ring." After that it was all fireworks and celebration at the base.

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