Scuba Part 2:Maldives

They say Diving in the Maldives is one of the best dive experiences. Since this was my first dive, registering that fact took a long while!

It didn't hit me till I saw the tiny islands from my airplane window.

The water! Oh so brilliant blue! Indigo and Blue, Indigo and Blue! Less than a kilometer away that too!

Yes, I had browsed websites about it, yes I checked it out on youtube, but no, I couldn't believe the blue!

I had never set foot on a boat before, let alone an island. Fun trips in Goa and rafting on multiple occasions are a different thing altogether..What am I talking! Here I was on what is probably the world's most beautiful string of islands! I was in the Maldives!

Among the bunch of islands collectively called Maldives, my dive center at the Embudu Village was located a hop, skip and jump from the Taj Exotica Resort Island.

While waterborne, Motion sickness is a grinch. They say its all in the mind really, but after a meal, when the boat you're traveling in impersonates a pendulum, the mind has no say. However, the 45 minute boat trip from the airport to our island was tackled with, without any mind/body revolts; they didn't get the time to react, too struck by the beauty of the blue.

We were to dive the following day as there is always a twelve hour gap between your flight and the dive, so everyone jumped in with their snorkel and mask. It was two at noon, the sun was at its zenith and I was too overwhelmed with the scene. It almost felt like a soap bubble, broken if touched! However, Anees and my dive buddy Remu pushed me and then I finally jumped in.



Potent salt water! In my nose, mouth and eyes! It didn't help that I was an average swimmer and the fins I was wearing suddenly seemed to pull me down! Panic! It took me a while after that to adjust breathing with the snorkel and keep afloat while moving the fins. But as I gradually calmed down and opened my eyes, the scene I witnessed blew me away!



A huge shoal of Groupers inches away from my nose, a Parrot fish or two staring me in the face, a bored baby Shark with the look, 'there comes another sloppy human,' changing course, a Sword fish quickly darting by, a fleeting glimpse of a Sting Ray! A whole new World! But the corals; pink and lilac, they were the icing on the cake.

I was aware that over the next five days, we were to repeat the same tasks like in the pool back home, the thought of being in open waters made me very nervous though.But I need not have worried to begin with, everything was planned and organised so beautifully and each time we reached between 15-18 feet depth, you had just no space for worries. The extent of fascination was hypnotic!



Over the span of five days we saw a variety of stunning fish including Clown fish(of Finding Nemo fame), turtles, huge manta rays and a small but mesmerising ship wreck!



I panicked to begin with, was hesitant on the first dive, attempted to shriek underwater with glee while playing hide and seek with a clown fish, was reprimanded for chasing a turtle and finally was christened as a Diver while wearing a mask and snorkel with bear poured down through it!

Yay! Am officially a diver!


Post Maldives, I tried the dive center in Fathiye, Turkey; but the experience wasn't as exciting as Maldives mainly because of the lack of corals and very few fish. But there's lots more to see out there, many dive destinations like Egypt, Mauritius, The Bahamas and Thailand to name a few. But the first time I opened my eyes underwater and saw at least a hundred fish staring at me.. that sight, I shall never forget!

I started off with the best, looking forward to a lot more!

(Photo curtosy Anees Adenwala and Aniruddh Kasliwal)

Of Priceless Souvenirs and Cherished Memories

We spoke different languages, met by an element of chance; yet, his instant endearing act of hospitality will always be my most cherished memory. Where the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean share common ground, Turkey is the land I owe this priceless souvenir to.



It was just my second day on a backpacking trip to Turkey.

After a month of plans, research and bookings, we finally set off for a Western Loop of Turkey; picking up and hot air ballooning across western Cappadocia, scuba diving through southern Fathiye, lounging at Greek influenced Selçuk and dropping off at mesmerising Istanbul.

Our route was to take us from Mumbai to Istanbul, a change of flights onwards to Cappadocia. We touched down at Gülşehir at midnight and drove down to Göreme via Nevşehir.

Waking up at dawn at one of Cappadocia’s beautiful Cave Hotels, I stepped out onto the fresh cold stone floor. The sight that awaited me was pure magic – beyond the peaks of fairy chimneys, the soft rays of the early morning sun formed a silhouette around a magnificent hot air balloon rising up into the deep blue sky.

It was a novelty to actually step into one and get my first ride, though the experience of watching a multitude of them soar up above was exhilarating. To top it all, they give you a certificate to just stand in, enjoy a glass of champaign and enjoy cruising through the sky with a breath taking view below.

Cappadocia has an enchanting mystery to her, an eclectic blend of the old world Arabic charm and bohemian gypsy culture. It is a hub for backpackers and luxury travellers alike with places to explore and cuisines to sample that fit all budgets.
In the evening, it’s almost as if King Midas himself touched all the tops of the fairy chimneys giving Göreme a golden glow.

The journey by road from here on to Fathiye is long but breathtaking as you are travelling across high hills and valleys that finally open up to the sea. Make sure to be awake in the last lap of the journey as you see a gradual change in landscape from tall conifers to shrubbery and then on to cruising along a deep turquoise sea.

I was looking forward to Fathiye for my first ever independent scuba diving experience. After having secured my Open Water Dive certificate in Maldives, this was my first attempt without the watchful eye of my dive instructor back home.
From there, we drove up to Selçuk to experience a deep Greek influence. Ephesus consumed us with history and took us back to the beauty of yore but it was the small cottages in the hills of Şirince that will always stay back in my imagination.

After drifting through the history of the land we were now cruising through modern Istanbul. It is a bridge between the ancient multi-dynasties and Atatürk’s contemporary Turkey.


My favourite things to do in Istanbul: Arabic Music, Mevlana Dervish dance, fish sandwich, the Grand Bazaar, short cruises along the Golden Horn, meandering around the Blue Mosque, Dolmabahce Palace and most important of all – dream about Cappadocia!


And the food you say? From a simple traditional Turkish breakfast of boiled brown eggs, freshly baked bread with raw tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh garden berry jams to famous İstanbullu fresh fish sandwiches from bobbing bright boats at the Eminönü docks, döner kebaps, tavuk doners, an assortment of meat and eggplant preparations to the honey soaked baklavas and snowy turkish delights; my taste buds were on a roll!

Just imagine passing by a crisp, modern eight lane expressway squeezed in between an old world solid city wall extending to infinity. Yup, that’s just it. My last memory in the city sums up the overall image of Turkey that will be set in my imagination for a long time.

To say that I covered the highlights of Turkey’s 780,000sq km in a mere nine day sojourn is to clearly state the impossible. But seeing as I have truly fallen head over heels with the land’s charms, this was merely the beginning of an enchanting saga.

But I must end by saying that this trip would be just a trip without the souvenirs and memories I received from the people I befriended. I thank Jamal for making our stay memorable at the wonderful Dervish Cave Hotel in Göreme and Mustafa Mizrak for the endearing fatherly affection; the coffee Table Book and poster he gifted me are priceless and John for making my apprehensive moments while diving at Fathiye a sweet reminiscence.

Scuba Part 1 : Mumbai

July, 2009. It's funny how you can exist in multiple spheres at one time.

Here I was, mid way through an MBA, in between assignments, Maggi and chai; a huge pile of books, fake balance sheets posing fake profits, the best drug for the worst sleep...My screen beeps with a new desktop theme and I wake up from my slumber. I see a 13" screen full of blue, a dolphin bubbling by, an Orca gushing out in glee and a diver, a scuba diver a silent witness to the scene ...

Well, most of that was my slumber driven imagination, inspired by a static desktop underwater picture, but my scene post MBA was set. I don't need too many signals to hear the Calling.

Cut to September 2009, The Orca Dive Club Office in Mumbai. Anees Adenwala, an underwater videographer and my soon to be Scuba Guru handed me a 'Scuba Diving Kit' and a set of forms to be filled, Et cetera, Et cetera. All I'am thinking is, Comeon! Just tell me when do we begin!!

In all, it takes 8 practice dives to be certified as an open water diver. The first four dives are pool dives, done in controlled environments, so as to learn all the basic communication signals under water, correct usage of gear, fining technique and getting acquainted with the environment. This is followed by four dives in the sea, the exercises remains the same, but the experience is something else entirely.

Practice session, Day 1: Okay, so there's the Buoyancy Control Device (BCD), a jacket that holds all your gear in place; the air cylinder, the mouth piece and octopus, your gills for the sojourn, a set of weight belts to help you sink and a pair of fins. To say the gear felt weird in the beginning is to state the obvious.

You have to learn to breathe in and out through your mouth. Your nose and eyes are covered in a mask . This is probably the only sport that encourages 'bad manners'. You have to spit into your mask for a natural de-fog fluid. The constant breathing in through your mouth piece and sending out bubbles as you breathe out is called 'bubble making' in kid lingo.

I was amazed with the things you can do in your club pool! Ever played power frisbee under water? Han! Han!

Practice session, Day 2: "All you want to do is goof around," says Anees, indicating towards the book and chart; yes I had to study. Way better than Balance Sheets I thought, and this was SCUBA, so what the hell! Terminologies, hand signals, a dive chart about interval diving, nitrogen levels and depth, session three and four went on thus.

Says he,"It's vital to know the exercises I'am teaching you today," as I slip into the heavy, heavy-duty (15kg) gear. As we descended into the deep dark end of the pool, he sits mid-water in padmasana while I struggle to float i.e. attain neutral buoyancy! "Oh not to worry," he says, "you'll be just fine in the ocean."

Right.

A few head-first (instead of foot-first) dives, gulping a lot of chlorinated water, rubber sharks and Frisbee games later, I was set to hit the ocean.

As the cliche goes: or so I thought..