Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph
over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers
that fear. –Nelson Mandela
Courage and fear are strange bedfellows.
We are an adrenaline junkie, a nature-enthusiast and
a devotee of peace. We love getting away from the demanding city life
and taking on experiences filled with goodness of nature. To experience
the height and depth of the earth, we have decided to go Scuba-diving and
Sky-diving. And boys are really excited!
I was scared and excited – total mixed bag of
emotions, I tell you!
The KINK => I cannot swim, not really. I am
scared of water. I can kind of swim but if water splashes onto my face (with
goggles ON) – I freak! So yes, there’s a slight problem. Reason for fear of
water.
Some days I really don’t know where I find the
courage to do the crazy, adventurous things that I do! Especially when I’m
afraid of water & Heights. But I guess my crazy friends always give me push
to overcome my fear.
After a successful sky-dive experience, the very next day we
were ready to explore the underwater world. With sore muscles and a
body deprived of sleep, we left our hotel at 8am and reached the Pattaya Dive Center. Even though bhayya was not keeping well, last minute he is ready to
join us…..
Since this was our first time
scuba-diving, a professional trainer, Andy & Anne, took
us under their wing. They prepared the scuba gear bag with all the
basic equipment, I was actually the odd one out being the scary cat, while the
rest were with full confidence, we were divided into two group, myself, zaheer
& Andy our instruction, Bhayya, Vikky & Ann.
It took us about 10 minutes by road and a almost an hour boat
ride to reach our first island. As soon as we arrived, we wore our scuba gear,
all the equipment and necessary weights on our waist. Although, it was
difficult for me to walk in those weights, I had helping hands on-board.
It took me a while to take my first jump. Meanwhile,
instructors, kept guiding us to make sure my anxiety did not show in the
camera. then they took us into the shallow water for our skill practice
session, we have done this earlier as part of our open water dive certification
course we acted as if we are the first timers J
We dove off the boat and slowly
sank into the sea. There is nothing like breathing underwater. You
feel your throat dry up and try blowing air from your nose but you can’t. In
the struggle of breathing from your mouth, you can’t help but swallow the salty
sea water. And then you make a conscious effort to try and convince yourself to
breath from the mouth. Instructors taught us all the basic gear handling
techniques and the emergency tips to stay alive in emergency situations. What
fascinated me thoroughly was the sound of my own breath underwater – it was
hypnotising.
The equalizing was the most difficult. I am not used
to breathing through my mouth and try to make my ears pop. Try it yourself.
Take a breath through your mouth, try to swallow to get your ears to pop.
Remember your nose is doing nothing – no inhale, no exhale. Feels weird,
right?!
After approximately 20 minutes of practice and swimming around
for a while taking photos, we moved back to the ship and waited for the other
divers to come back, we had simple nice Thai lunch on board then ready for the
2nd dive,
We jumped with our gear on this time, first dive bhayya had
shoulder issue so he was allowed to wear the equipment on the surface, it was a
little scary at first as we were descending into the ocean. One thing
that I kept having to tell myself is to control my breathing and trust my
equipment. I had to keep reminding myself of this the entire time because
breathing underwater doesn't feel natural, and it’s a little freaky! As
we descended further and further, another world opened up. It was
stunning & I couldn't keep from smiling to myself in amazement of what I
was experiencing... We kept swimming, deeper and deeper and my trainer kept on
communicating through hand singles to make sure we are alright with the water
pressure. For someone like me, who is impulsive, hyper and over-excited, I had
to get used to the slow motions of the water. Everything moved at a snail’s
pace. Once we got to the bottom, we took pictures, moved around plants and
rocks, tried to swim after schools of fish, and explored the deep
waters as much as we could
When I was fully immersed in the ocean, surrounded by sea life,
I felt like I was in a completely different realm. Everything was peaceful,
mesmerizing. I could stay there for hours, days even. I became a child in a
candy store. Fishes swim really fast, a lot of my photos ended up just
different angles of coral reefs with maybe a shimmer of a tail or fin. But did
I ever enjoy the experience!
The experience left me feeling serene and mellow. Being
submerged under water, with heavy weights pulling you down, I was surprised to
note that there was absolutely no gravitational pull, despite the heavy weights
and gear I was wearing. You can keep yourself in total control, regardless of
what level of water you choose to stay at. All I had to keep in mind was that I
had to continuously blow air to neutralise the water pressure but I hadn't had
enough. I wanted to explore the greater depths of the ocean.
Exploring nature is a meditation in itself. The
feeling of power that you experience rejuvenates your inner self again. It’s
like a dream you do not want to wake up from; swimming with a shoal of bream,
plants tickling your body with the smallest touch and the limitless vision of
water all around you.
If it was up to me, I would want to live this dream again and
again and again.
Video Link
