Skydivers set for new heights over Everest

Dozens of skydivers were to attempt the first parachute jumps over Mount Everest, organizers said on September 23.

At least 34 skydivers from 14 countries, including Britain, the United States, Canada, Denmark and New Zealand were planning to jump from an aircraft flying 465 feet above the Everest summit on October 2.

Hurtling past the 8,850-meter peak, the skydivers plan, weather permitting, to freefall for one minute before deploying their parachutes and cruising for 8-10 minutes to land in a flat drop zone at 12,350 feet.

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'Rafta Rafta…,' award-winning British play holds up merry mirror to U.S. Desis

Crossing the Atlantic to wide critical acclaim, Ayub Khan-Din's hit play, 'Rafta Rafta …', winner of the 2008 Olivier Award for the Best New Comedy, which officially opened Off Broadway on May 8 will do us Desis on this side of the waters a world of good.

Seeing it will make us laugh at ourselves, and let other Americans have a look-in without the least embarrassment. "Rafta Rafta…' is just as sparklingly a mirror for Indian Americans in Jackson Heights and Edison, - as it was for British Indians in Oldham or Salford, to have a merry look at themselves and allow other fellow Americans also to have a view of the inner tamasha of Desi family life.

No race issue or religious tension or economic crisis casts its shadow on this purely human comedy which had a most successful run at the National Theatre in Britain.

The New Group presented the U.S. premiere of Khan-Din's 'Rafta, Rafta…' in a limited Off- Broadway run at the Acorn from April 18 - June 21. Directed by Scott Elliott, the production had its Official Opening on May 8 at The New Group at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). 'Rafta, Rafta…' is a humorous tale of close-knit Indian family life in Britain.

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