Well, I know I had promised a post on scuba diving and my experience but due to some unavoidable circumstances throughout the semester, I couldnt.
Lets go back a little in time to March 21, 2010….
A few days ago I heard from people in Red-x( a club in Manipal) that there is this place near Murudeshwar where Scuba Diving takes place. Initially tensed, and pretty scared, I decided against going for it. But then when I saw the videos of people who had already done it, my hydrophilic nature overtook the tensed bit and I knew I was doing this somehow.
The only negative point was the cost which was Rs 4000/- Pretty high?? Even I thought so. But then I also felt that this was the opportunity to try something new. And as many of my friends were going, I thought what better opportunity to try out something which otherwise I wouldnt have dared to try throughout my life. After talking to my parents, I confirmed that I’ll indeed be Scuba Diving on 21st.
Tensed throughout the week preceeding the week, I had this feeling of withdrawing my name as I would definitely chicken out at the last moment… But then I held myself strong!
Sunday, 21st March, morning , we were to start from Manipal at 5am to Murudeshwar. A cab had been booked. Me along with my 3 friends started our journey into a day which all of us would remember for a lifetime. It took us 2hrs to reach the temple at Murudeshwar. The PADI(Professional Association of Diving Instructors) have a dive shop located near the temple, where we were accompanied by Mr. Abraham.
Once into the dive shop, we were given our BCD ( Life jacket kindoff thing) , and the other gear for checking the fitting and stuff.
However it got scary when we had to fill up numerous declaration forms. But then, all of us gave each other the support and the ordeal was finished.
Then we were taken to the boat. We helped people loading the boat with oxygen cylinders, gears and food. Once this was done, as the boat was far from the shore, we had to push it into the sea. It was awesome fun!!!!
Now began the boat journey to the Pigeon Island ( Netrani). Once into the boat, it was fabulous!!! The journey to the island took approximately 1 hr 30 mins. As we went deeper into the sea, the scenic beauty multiplied every second. To say it was superb, awesome n spectacular would also not do justice to the scene around! The water was absolutely calm, the only sound being made by the motor of our boat.
As we were enjoying the scenic beauty, suddenly to our surprise, we saw two dolphins jumping up and down into the sea. Another lovely experience…. 
As we were nearing our destination, the instructor started giving instructions including precautions and safety measures. As he talked about how things could go wrong, I had kind of a panic attack.. But then after a while, everything was in control ( thankfully… pheww…)
We reached Netrani, a beautiful island, and the water near that island was crystal clear! No dirt, No filth, No pollution!! I was surprised to find such a place in the present times. And it definitely made me marvel the multifaceted nature! We were warned not to spoil our surroundings.
We were kitted up in our BCDs, oxygen cylinder, and other stuff. Then we were asked to sit on the edge of the boat and flip over, as that was the easiest way to get into the water. I was little bit panicky at that time… and I thought I would back out.. But then good sense prevailed and I did the flip. It was just a second.. and I was in water… all ready for my Dive!!!!
From here onwards, any number of words i write will fail to describe my experience! But i’ll still try..
Once I was inside the water, the diver thought me the safety procedures and gestures in case of anything goes wrong. This included various hand gestures, instructions on how to equalize the pressure inside the body and surroundings, and on how to clear water of the goggles. And then, I went down the water along with my instructor. As soon as I was in water, I could see an entire new world, alien to me until then. It was like living an underwater documentary shown on National geographic and Discovery. Various kinds of fishes, in various shades of blue, red and green, in various sizes, from small to huge, corals, eels, sea horses, and beautiful rocks were all around me! It was simply breathtaking.I was an amazing white cloud in the middle of the blue sea at various places(I was later told that it was the fish poop 
).
At this one place, I was 3 huge tentacles out of an opening in the rocks!! Then I encountered one of the professionals who was taking underwater photographs, and he obliged me by taking my video under water. Also I met all my friends in the sea!!! (it was fun). I also stood on the bed of the sea! So lost in this beautiful new world, I went 14 mts deep into the sea, and stayed in for 34 mins (which seemed much less to me). It was just all so awesome. I never could have imagined an entire different world inside the water, had I not seen it.
The experience as I said before was unparalleled. Nothing of which I had done before this could overpower this one! The initial high cost didnt seem high anymore for no money could to justice to the beautiful and breathtaking journey underwater!!I am glad I did Scuba Diving!!!! This will be one thing I will remember everytime I see the sea or hear anything related to scuba diving. At this very moment also, while writing this entry, I can again visualize myself in the midst of the blues of the sea and the lives it supports(and it was been almost a month now)..
And to everyone I would recommend scuba diving atleast once in your lifetime… It is totally worth whatever amount you spend. You’ll not regret it!!!
) into my IV Semester.
