Chapter 29

“We woke up early morning got ready and went to the beach. Our coach was there and getting the equipment ready” Udhi continued with the story</

“This is the advantage of diving in Indonesia unlike in Europe or US. When I was studying in US I used to accompany my friends for diving. It was such a hard labour getting the dive gear ready. So I never took the trouble. Here we have assistants for everything” Salomi commented

“Guys get into your dive suites.  Test your regulator and the cylinder.” The coach directed. “Each of you please be responsible for your equipment”

“All of us climbed up onto the boat. It was a small motorized fishing boat. The sea was quite rough. We were being tossed around. The weather was not bad. There was a strong breeze. The sound of the waves was music to the ears. The water appeared clean and clear. Salomi sat next to me on the board. Devi was on the board facing us. We were all filled with anticipation. Devi and I started discussing our project. Salomi was silent. She just leaned against me with her head on my shoulder and she closed her eyes for nap. Devi looked at me with a quizzical smile. I just shrugged.” Udhi continued

“Guys, we are reaching the jump point in two minutes. Tie up your tanks” The coach shouted as the boat slowed down not far away from an island.

“Salomi woke up from her sleep. I helped her with the tank. Salomi looked at me affectionately and gave a sweet smile”

“Oh. Oh There appears to be new twist” Devi commented “The strong and independent Salami now appears a little vulnerable”

“When we meet someone special, enjoy the moment” Salomi said with a laugh.

“Guys time for your dip” Coach interrupted

“Each of us sat on the side of the boat with our leg in the boat and back facing the sea. The tank and the flippers were on. We tied the weight around us. I had to have 5 kilos around me to take me down. We inflated the BCD a bit and wore our goggles and tipped backward one by one with the regulator in the mouth. ‘Plonk’ we sank a bit and with the BCD inflated, we floated back up.”

“With the waves we were being tossed like coconuts floating in the water”

“Both of you stick with me. Gradually release the air in the BCD and start sinking” Coach gave direction shouting above the noise of the sea”

“All of us were a bit nervous.”

“Coach, what happens if we get lost” I took out regulator out and asked

“No need to worry. For three of you we have three experts hovering around you” Coach re-assured”

“Then put the regulator back into our mouth and we let gradually released the air in the BCD. We started sinking. Salomi held on to my hand. Devi was clinging onto the coach. Suddenly the sea around was calm. All the waves and turbulence were only at the surface. We looked around and down. The water was quite clear. The sun rays were penetrating quite deep. We were around ten feet down and we could see the sea bottom few feet down. The bottom was slanting downwards at a sharp angle and was getting deeper and deeper away from the island. ”

“Oh man the sight around was mesmerizing. There were variety of colourful fishes dancing around. The marine life was awesome. Vibrant soft corals were dancing with the mild flow of water and Colourful clown fishes were playing hide and seek among the corals. The diversity and brilliance of colours around was breath taking. The coach started move forward and downward slowly. There was still a bit of nervousness in my heart. But now I was getting confident. I could feel the same change in Devi and Salomi. Salomi released my hand. Each of us were exploring around. When I saw something exciting I wanted to call out. Then I remembered; we are in the water. So we had to reach across to the other person and nudge. “

“With some trial and error, I got my neutral buoyancy right and drifted forward. The feeling of weightlessness with perfect buoyancy gave a heady feeling. I stopped being hassled and started feeling snug and secure in this new surroundings. I started experimenting with this new freedom of multi-directional mobility; up, down, right, left, vertical, horizontal; a near approximation to zero G. Wow! Now that I was sure that I could survive and not too conscious about the apparatus that was strapped around me, I looked around to cherish the dazzling colours and varied shapes dancing, prancing and serenading around me, offering one of the best private performances; a one of a kind choreography of life that bring more variations than any maestro can dream of.”

“We swam away from the shore and now the sea bottom was a like vertical wall downwards. It looked like the bottom just dropped down to infinity. I felt scared to move beyond the shelf. The shelf few feet below us down had given some false sense of security. I could see Devi and Salomi also hesitating. The coach swam ahead and turned back towards us. He signaled us to come ahead. He knew how we felt. Then he pointed his fingers towards the beautiful coral formation on the wall. That caught our attention. We moved ahead and started dropping down along the wall.  My God, the site was unbelievable."

 “I kept looking at the pressure gauge every now and then. I was worried how long the air wuld last although the coach had told us that it would last for more than an hour.”

“We went down to about 60 ft and hung around.  The fishes appeared not at all bothered with us around, except when we tried to reach across and touch them.”

“We moved along and the sight around was really beautiful. The rock structure around the island which at times formed meandering passages with rocky sidewalls was quite impressive; and offered a feeling of adventure. The fishes did not appear to be scared but were happy to move out of the way. Then came an angel fish to the centre stage like a prima donna; absolutely unconcerned about the human company (or was she performing for the humans?). She did an awesome dance, flipping and flopping against the granite background that I was convinced that she had witnessed the shooting for “Splash” down under and watched the models in action!”

We saw a variety of fishes including Moray Eel, Parrot Fish, Snappers, Trigger Fish, Angel Fish, Butterfly Fish, Trevally and Puffer Fish. All these names and species were Greek and Latin for me before; but the coach had given me a crash course on nature appreciation the previous day.”

“One hour went by so fast. It was time for us to be back in the boat.”

“All of us had an excited and dazed look when we were back in the boat. We could not help narrating how each of us felt under water. The coach had arranged for some cold drinks and biscuits that we had before the next dive in the afternoon.”

“After an hour of rest we were ready for the next dive. This time we were much more confident.”

“Guys now that you are comfortable I want you to do some exercises in the water before we go exploring.” The coach reminded us that as a part of certification we are required to demonstrate our comfort handling some emergencies.

“All of us agreed. We were willing and confident to take any challenge. We wore new tanks put on the flippers and jumped into the water one by one. The coach signalled to do the exercises. First we had to take off the oxygen tube, let it drift and then put it back. Then we had to take off the goggle and put it back. While we put it back we had to blow into the goggle to remove the water in such a way that it sealed around out face without water getting into it. If water get in the goggles then the vision will not be clear. Then was the more difficult exercise we had to take the complete gear including  the tank out and put it back. I struggled a bit. Both Salomi and Devi also managed.”

“After we finished the exercises we swam in the other direction. The sights were equally exciting and enchanting. Then we returned back to our boat.”

“We were tired and exhausted. We sat silently staring at the setting son. Salomi was huddling next to me. We held each other’s hands. Devi had her head in head in her hands and she slept.”

“We reached the resort. WE decided to go and crash immediately.”

“Oh I am sure you guys were tired with exhaustion and excitement.” Arjun remarked

“One more evening wasted” Neel said with a smirk

“Next day we completed two more dives. We were much more relaxed; both with the excitement under water and our Paddy certification. We were back at the resort by about 6 pm. We ordered for a bottle of vine and some fried shrimps. We had lots of stories to tell. One bottle was over. We ordered one more. We asked for some fried fish too. Then Devi got up and went back to her room. Salomi and I decided to go for a walk along the beach. We walked hands in hands. Then both of us stopped. We turned to each other and then we kissed. There really was a connect. Then we walked back. This time to my room”

“I knew Udhi was irresistible” Arjun said laughingly.

“Common then what happened?” Neel wanted details.

“The rest is left to your imagination son” Udhi replied.

“Let us go back. Enough of stories.” Udhi got up

“I am coming too.” Arjun got up too.

“Don’t strain your hands too much. Neel ” Udhi shouted as he walked back.

“Bastard.” Neel muttered under his breath.