Groom skydives into wedding

2008-07-13 16:09

Bhubaneswar - It is supposed to be the happiest day of any woman's life but an Indian air force official on Sunday decided he could upstage his future wife - by dropping in from 2 100 metres.

Shisir Mishra, an accomplished sky diver, jumped from a helicopter and landed in a sports ground close to the bride's home in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa state.

Mishra, along with three friends jumped free fall before opening his parachute a few hundred feet from the ground and landing to cheers from hundreds of well-wishers at the wedding ceremony.

"The idea of doing something on the occasion of my marriage struck me after I read about a couple in Maharashtra (state) getting married in a hot air balloon recently," said Mishra, whose bride gave him a bouquet on his arrival.

"Not for a moment was I scared. I was sure he would make it," his bride Sweta Prusty said.

Mishra previously won a place in the Limca Book of Records - the Indian equivalent of the Guinness World Records - for jumping free fall from 4 752 metres with the Indian national flag in hand.

- AFP