Septuagenarian's grand dive at Har ki Pauri in Haridwar leaves all in awe

Mukesh Tandon

Sonepat, June 29

A 73-year-old woman from Sonepat has grabbed the attention of netizens after a video of her jumping from a 40-foot-high bridge at Har ki Pauri in Haridwar went viral on social media.

The video, circulated widely since Tuesday, shows the elderly woman jumping from the high bridge and swimming comfortably in the Ganges at Har ki Pauri.

Identified as Omwati of Bandepur village in the district, the woman was seen swimming safely towards the banks of the mighty river.

She had gone to Haridwar along with her family, including two sons — Ashok and Dharambir — on Friday evening.

The family hails from Disorkheri village of Jhajjar district and her husband Rajender Singh Deswal is a retired Army man. She has two sons and six grandchildren.

The old woman got to the side edge of an overbridge and jumped into the holy river. “I wanted to take a bath in the Ganga. I have been swimming in the village pond since childhood. I used to jump in ponds and wells to learn swimming,” said the sensational Dadi Omwati.

She had an accident some years ago and her knees were operated upon but she didn’t give up and felt no problem even after the operation, she added.

My son told me not to jump into the Ganges due to my knee operation, but I wanted to take a bath by jumping into the holy river and I jumped into the sacred river, she said. “I have no fear in my mind and I can again jump because I know swimming,” said the daring dadi.

Omwati said she knew swimming very well, that’s why she jumped into the Ganges, but appealed to elderly people not to follow her, as it might be dangerous for them.

Sahil, grandson of Omwati, said his dadi was fully active at this age and she was health-conscious. She wakes up at 4 in the morning and goes for morning walk, does exercise and worships God. She takes a healthy diet that includes juice, milk, ghee and fruits, he added.