Wake Up And Smell The Cooum

I am alive.....and how!!!

Picture this....

You get on the small boat to get to the dive site for the day. It is a calm day. There is no breeze at all and the sea is calm. The water is so clear you can see turtles and rays swim under the boat. Flying fish jump in and out of the water in front of the boat.

When you get to the site, Johnny's Gorge, the visibility is so good you could snorkel at the surface and still see stuff 40 metres below. You start the dive. You see schools of Barracuda, trevalli, snappers, more than a few sharks and turtles swim past.

You would think it doesn't get better than this but it does. The boat boys decide to free dive down and keep you company.

As far as emotional experiences go this is overwhelming. You're left grinning once you come back to the surface.

I dive. Therefore I am.

Life is good here. I dive. Then I pretty much have the rest of the day off. Go to the village centre for tea in the evenings. Eat a banana doughnut. The local interpretation anyway. Maybe have a drink with people in the evenings.

I haven't seen a newspaper in two months or watched TV for that long. I don't miss it. This is my first internet session in two months. I'll be disconnecting as soon as I finish this and won't be back for a while.

For now my DiveMaster training continues. As a trainee you're like the fungus in the corner of the dive shop. Which is fine. I'm not being ill-treated, just labelled as the Lowest Form of Life.

I'm off for now. I'll try to update this space in a while. Hope everyone has fun till then....

It's been two and a half years since I started work at my new job and now the time to move has finally arrived.

Some months back, February to be precise, I went on a vacation to the Andaman and Nicobar islands with the express intent of learning how to scuba dive. I had fun. For the first time in a long time I felt connected with my surroundings, at ease with the place. Happy.

This was something that I could picture myself doing for a while. Scuba dive.

And so I asked.

'Do you guys, by any chance, require scuba dive instructors?', all the while trying to make it sound like a casual question. Put it out there and if rejected everyone forgets about it and moves on.

'YES'

And so for the next few hours the man who would potentially be my boss and I discussed all the options available to me, exchanged contact details with the promise to follow up once I'd made my mind.

In all honesty, from a selfish standpoint i.e. mine, I'd already decided.

There were however other things to consider.

How would my family take it? What happens if it didn't work out? Was this a big mistake?

I agonised for days over how I would justify taking up the job. The answer when it came was overwhelming. Emotionally. For the longest time I would always wish I could do something that was of my choice and now, here right in front of me was an opportunity of the likes I had always dreamed of. The choice was simple. I wouldn't be doing it because everyone near and dear approved. I would be doing it because I wanted to. Every selfish bone in my body wanted it.

It is in moments of realisation like this that the true meaning of being free becomes evident. A huge weight had been lifted of my shoulders. Doubt is a heavy burden to carry. I had finally found something I wanted to do and I was going to do it.

I cried. For two long hours that morning. On the way to breakfast. At breakfast. The man at the next table must have thought I was mad. I cried after breakfast and on the way home but they weren't tears of sadness or loss. They were tears of relief.

Everything else fell into place rather easily. I called and confirmed that I was interested. Terms of employment were sorted out over a few e-mails and then it was down to waiting till the time to join was near.

I leave for work on the 28th of October.

There have been the inevitable questions from those members of family I have informed. What career do you expect to make out of it? What salary will you take home? These were inevitable. To some it was like telling them I was off to work in the porn business. People knew what I would be doing, but failed to understand why I chose to do it. Money was never the issue. Satisfaction is. I want to wake up each day looking forward to work not dreading the very thought of it. I want work that makes me happy to be doing it.

There are no guarantees of success. Who knows if boredom will strike? This line of work is no picnic either. In an alien element you are subject to a very different set of laws. People can get hurt. Egos to be managed. Possibility of equipment failure. Stupidity. The elements.

Keeping all this in mind, I have no regrets over my choice. To not have taken this chance would have meant regretting it for a long time after that. The 'what-ifs' do not appeal to me. To have tried and known something is.

So this is my last post for a while till I get to the island of Havelock and set up base. Connectivity to the outside world is limited so I have no way of knowing when my next post will happen.

Till then....wish me luck!!!

One last thing. If, by some random act of chance, anyone who reads this blog lands up in Havelock, come over to DIVEIndia and ask for Sayeed. With luck, we shall meet up.

Look at that!!! I'm on orkut!!! For the second time. My first adventure lasted all of two weeks. I have 30 friends!!! I'm popular!!! I look forward to deleting myself again!!!

Anybody else want to make 'friendship' with me?

It's boring, being bored.

In some pretty sad news, Sevilla football player Antonio Puerta passed away after suffering two heart attacks while playing a football match. A tribute here.

It helps put stuff into perspective.

Girls!! We love 'em.....Problem is, they leave us tongue-tied or saying something stupid half the time...

Flashback to college.......

Situation 1 :

Guy likes girl. Girl likes guy.....in a very platonic way.

One fine day in the name of starting a conversation......

Girl : Hi Guy!!! Nice shirt....

Guy (Looking very cool) : Thank you, same to you....

History does not record whether the girl was next seen rolling on the floor laughing.

Situation 2 :

On the first day of college, guy sees a cute girl and decides to make a move.

Guy : HI!! My name Guy. Your name?

Girl : Excuse me?

Guy (Changing tack) : Er ok....So, what does your father do?

Seems he disappeared to a deep, dark place from which he never emerged.

Disclaimer : I was not involved in either of these scenarios. Although, truth be told every girl I went after ended up having long and meaningful relationships with other guys.

Nothing like spreading the love then......

Quiet times indeed. Apart from a run of misfortune, which has turned out to be more exciting than anything else. My ticket still needs to be reissued but even that process turned out to be so easy it's almost anti-climactic.

On Saturday a few friend's got together and we collaborated very effectively in finishing a bottle of tequila and two bottles of whiskey, not to mention other unmentionables. I would have liked to elaborate most details escape me.

Monday was off because I'd worked Sunday. Nothing major. There was no work on Sunday so I did nothing on Monday. Karma and all that. Well actually we went out for drinks because it was a friend's birthday. No harm in a bit of cheating.

My flat keeps getting better and better. After a discovering we could get free cable we've now discovered an open wireless connection as well. Seems like someone forgot to secure their router. Now all we need is a phone call from the owner saying we can forget about rent as well.

It is boring. Time to start preparing for my impending long vacation from the 7th of July to the 22nd of July. Can't wait for that to come around. Been planning a lot of irresponsibility!!!