Lately, I’ve become a staunch believer in the timing of all things. Whether it is trusting in the timing of letting go of things/people not meant for me anymore, or accepting that a certain path has run its course and moving on to different paths. I believe I crossed paths with scuba diving (and one amazing person who introduced me to it) just when the timing was right.
About 4 months ago, I met Sarah for the first time. I’ve known her sister and her sister’s husband for a few years now, and they had invited me over to dinner and catch up with their mum. Sarah and her sister’s mum had bonded with my mother and continued to remain friends despite living in different cities in India. Aunty was the only person who had ever convinced my mum to sit on the back of a scooter, so I was eager to meet her and ask her how she did it.
As I walked into their house, Sarah’s were the first words I heard.
“Just walk in straight and sit down on the couch; ignore the dogs for now and let them warm up to you later.”
There was something oddly reassuring in her voice, and I found myself following her instructions to the T without ever speaking to her before. Before I knew it, I’d plonked myself on the sofa next to her, and just as she’d mentioned, the lovely doggos had settled down and were more comfortable around me.
We exchanged pleasantries and chatted away for a bit, and then over some fabulous mutton and pork (thank you, Aunty Mary and Kavya!), I learned more about Sarah. She had given up a full-time job in a corporate newsroom to follow her passion. She was a scuba diving instructor. And when she wasn’t diving into the ocean’s depths, she was expertly mixing tracks, keeping the crowd on their feet all night (in more common parlance: She was a Disc Jockey). I was immediately impressed by the courage she had displayed in following her dreams.
We spoke for a little longer, and then Sarah called it a night because she’d had a long day. I’m usually someone who takes her time to get to know people. But with Sarah, I formed an instant connection, and I knew I liked this person almost immediately.
I was super thrilled when a few weeks later I woke up to a message from Sarah asking if I wanted to try diving with her. A million thoughts flooded my mind in those few moments. I’d always felt a connect with water. Growing up, the sea was where I’d go to quieten my mind. I was a sailor’s daughter, and many of my early life memories were of sitting on the bridge of a ship as my father navigated the wheel. I cannot count the number of mornings we spent at the beach as a family.
In my 20s, the only time I would defy my mum openly was when it came to how deep I could venture into the sea. “No more than knee-deep,” I’d hear her yell. I’d look back at her like a snooty, little, rebel child as I waded into hip-deep water.
The thoughts finally stopped, and I realized I was still standing in my bathroom with the phone in my hand (toothbrush still in mouth). “Yes! I’d like that very much,” I wrote back to her.
And thus I embarked on my journey of becoming a PADI-certified Open Water Diver.
The next time I met Sarah was at the training center. She introduced me to Ihab, who would be co-instructing me with Sarah and he gave me a full brief of what I could expect along with basic hand signals we’d use to communicate while we were underwater. Sarah gave me a walk-through tutorial on how to setup my scuba gear. I tried to catch hold of the keywords: Tank, BCD, Regulator, Octopus, SPG, Weight Belt. The first few sessions would be in a swimming pool. I geared up and happily walked along to the edge of the pool. The pool depth didn’t seem like more than 5 feet. “Should be a piece of cake for me,” I remember thinking.
The minute I got in the pool, I realized how wrong I was. I was hit by an instant wave of panic, fueled by the fact that it just felt extremely different to be in the pool with all the equipment. I flapped around like a headless chicken in just 5 feet of water. Embarrassment swiftly replaced my panic. I remember thinking, ‘Maybe I’m not cut out for this!’
Ihab had more faith in me than I did at that time, and he proceeded to teach me to try to breathe underwater, through the regulator in my mouth. We went underwater and less than 5 seconds later, I came up in another fit of frenzy. The act of breathing through my mouth underwater still felt very unnatural to me and I’d managed to breathe in through my nose somehow.
Sarah waited till I’d recovered.
“What’s wrong?” she asked in the calmest possible voice.
“I don’t know,” I said, blubbering. “I think the fins are throwing me off and it feels strange to wear them”
She reached down and got my fins off in less than a second.
“I want you to breathe, and I want you to relax. You’ve got this!” She said.
In that moment, it was just the faith that both Ihab and Sarah had in me that motivated me to try harder.
The next time Ihab and I went underwater, Sarah’s voice continued to play in my head and I was able to stay calm. Just staying calm did wonders for me and I was able to focus more on what Ihab was trying to tell me. He taught me vital skills like breathing through my regulator, sharing air with a buddy and clearing up a mask filled with water. I noticed how the more time I spent underwater, the more comfortable I got. We ended our session with a brief swim around the pool with our equipment. It was during that 3-4 minute swim that I realized scuba diving would hold a special place in my heart. It was as though the ‘thought button’ in my head had turned off. And for the first time, in as long as I could remember, everything went quiet. I was able to tune into the singular sound of my regulator hissing as I inhaled and exhaled. It was just me, in the most present form I could possibly be in, surrounded by blue on all sides. I felt weightless, again a unique feeling for someone who is overweight.
We resurfaced and I felt like something within me had shifted. (No, not in the dramatic way you see Hritik Roshan being moved in ZNMD after his first dive, but something comparable to that). I knew then that I wanted more of this.
“Why do you want to do this, explain to me again?” Though mum’s voice over the phone originated miles away, I could hear her concern and displeasure as though she were in the same room.
“Because, Ma, it’s something I’ve also wanted to do. I just feel like it is something I need to do for myself.”
She cut me off with, “I’m not very comfortable with this, it seems a bit risky.”
“Says the woman who went mountain rock climbing without any training and a rope,” I responded.
There was silence on the other end.
“I’m your daughter, Ma; of course you understand when I say this is something I need to do.”
The ‘I’m your offspring’ card seemed to have worked its charm.
“Hmm, fine, if you feel like it is something you need to do, I guess that’s okay,” she said.
I’d spent the next 10 days doing my PADI e-Learning course, a self-learn course to help you learn everything you need to know about scuba diving. It broadly covers lessons on understanding your gear, different techniques, safety protocol, making emergency ascents, and a lot more. You require a minimum of 75% percent to clear this exam. I scored 94% because I messed up a couple of math-related questions. My 10th standard horror had come back to haunt me, and how! With the theory exam out of the way, it was time to venture into the sea.
My first lesson in the sea is something that will stay with me for a very long time. Sarah had two more students this time. Dmitri and Antonio would be ‘buddies’ on the dive and Sarah would be my ‘dive buddy.’
Another, larger wave of panic accompanied the first ocean wave that hit me. The peculiarity of being in full scuba gear in the ocean had gotten to me again, just like how it had gotten to me in the pool. The heat was also beginning to take its toll on me. It was close to 12 p.m. on a scorching August day in Dubai. Even before the dive, as we bobbed on the surface of the ocean, I’d started to feel my face burn and the tingle of the salt.
But the minute we went underwater, it was the same blissful feeling of not having a thought in the world. For a few minutes, Sarah and I worked on figuring out my buoyancy. Dmitri and Antonio swam around us with absolute ease. We did a few scuba drills underwater. Sara pointed out a few crabs to me and time and again reminded me to equalize, keep breathing through the regulator, and relax. Each time we came up to the surface, that wave of panic would come back. But when we dove back in, it was like another world. We spotted one solitary fish that dive since we didn’t venture into deep water. But the enthusiasm with which Sarah pointed it out to me had me smiling. Though my mask was filling up with water, I could clearly see how Sarah was madly in love with being in the open water and everything it consisted of. It felt like this was what she was born to do. Like a true diver, she had taken a plunge, knowing that the deeper she went, the clearer her path would be. I was pleased to share the same space with her and grateful for this opportunity to learn with her.
My final dive to obtain my PADI Open Water Diver certification was primarily with Ihab, with Sarah and another student accompanying us. This is probably the one that felt closest to a proper road trip. We set up our gear in the comfort of our scuba shack before hopping on our buggy, which roughly covered the 1 kilometer distance to the sea. Just before wadding into the water, we put our gear on. We then did buddy checks and entered chest-deep water. Ihab gave us our final briefing before we descended. That first descent, I struggled with Buoyancy yet again. Ihab signaled that we should ascend. “Shalom, this is not going to work,” he said as soon as we broke surface. “YOU control the equipment; don’t let the equipment control you. You need to breathe out, don’t hold your breath, else it’s not gonna work.”
“Okay,” I said nodding and clearing some water out of my mask. With the waves lapping up against my face, I tried to retain as much as what Ihab was saying. Ehab gave me further instructions on how to use my body weight better. He also added a few more weights to my BCD pocket to assist with buoyancy. That seemed to do the trick, because the next time we went underwater, I didn’t struggle with buoyancy.
I managed to stay somewhere close to the ocean floor, and we followed a yellow marker that was intended to point out the course we had to follow. With low visibility, the yellow marker stood out and helped ensure that we didn’t stray off course. I didn’t have to worry much about that because Ihab had years of experience in navigating those waters. This one time I looked up, I vividly recall freezing in my tracks. Instinctively, I held my regulator in place with my hands so it wouldn’t fall out while I nearly gasped. Swimming less than 2 feet away from our faces was the most beautiful, translucent baby jellyfish I’ve ever seen in action. While the threat of a jellyfish sting became very apparent to me and had me glued to my spot, Ihab gently nudged the jellyfish away by blowing a gentle stream of bubbles. I stayed close to Ihab after that, and he signaled that we go a little deeper. He guided me near several small rock formations, indicating that I should stay away to prevent any cuts. Beyond a certain point, both the ocean floor and visibility significantly declined. The lack of visibility and uncertainty of it all came rushing back, and I began signaling to Ihab that I wanted to head back. I could also see a few more baby jellyfish bobbing around and they had me on edge. He gestured for me to keep taking deep breaths. I found that just doing what he said helped me relax a great deal.
We regrouped on the ocean floor with Sarah and her student. Ihab had a brief training session underwater with Sarah’s student, and I clung on to Sarah’s hand and just tried to focus on my breathing. She gestured for me to use my other hand to hold the yellow marker, so I wouldn’t expend too much energy. I looked at her to see her signaling to ask if I was okay. I smiled, nodded and gave her the okay signal.
We broke up into our buddy pairs again, and after swimming a while Ihab had me check my SPG, which indicated that I had close to 100 bar of air left in my cylinder. It was time to make our ascent. This time when we reached the surface, I got the regulator out of my mouth and asked Ihab, “Better?”
“Much better,” he said. I smiled to myself like a child who had earned her teacher’s approval.
We got to shallower waters and pulled out our fins. Then we walked to our buggy and got out of the rest of our gear. We made the ride back to the scuba shack. Wet bums on searing buggy seats, but with full hearts and wide grins.
Dear Sarah, I’m grateful to have met you when I did, because otherwise none of this would have been possible. Thank you for exuding so much love and kindness in your teaching. I can’t wait to dig into some Dal Kichdi with you soon:)
