This time it was a water place..Andaman, Lakshadweep, Mauritius,  Thailand, Maldives or Bali ??? We were looking for crystal clear water, white sand , and a placid location where the horizons could been seen effortlessly, unhindered by buildings and commercials.  Thanks to our beavering job which shoves us off by itself, and provokes us to appreciate and celebrate life and nature like never before…  The feeling of being in such place can only be cherished the most in midst of an agitated routine.

We set out on 21st Nov 2011. Our departure was at 11a.m..  We started from home @ 7a.m. , took vayu vajra and reached airport by 9. We had ample time to finish up with the check in formalities and immigration.  It was the first time that we were heading to the international terminal of Bangalore’s new airport which opened up somewhere in 2008. Had an authentic masala dosa @ the kingfisher café. There were sparrows screeching around, which had always been a rare sight in the city. BIL always had plenty of them. Spent some time strolling in the shops and finally we boarded sharp at 11. We saw many women with their hands adorned in mehendi and chuda, there seemed to be many newly weds…but we knew that the place offered much more, than to what it had, for just  being known as the “honeymoon destination”.

Maldives is 667 kms from Bangalore ..and to be precise,..just 2 hours from bangalore by flight. Most of our journey was a glide on top of the Indian ocean.

 At times, when the flight glided sideways, we could catch a glimpse of the dark blue ocean.. it looked pretty enormous from this height…shimmering at the movement of several small sinusoidal patterns of water brought by the wind continuously. These patterns looked so tiny. But I knew how big they would appear when seen in real. One could gauge the size of the ocean only by doing a relative comparison. How gigantic the surface of the ocean looked from thousands of meters above in the sky, can be best felt when experienced, than said. Passed some time flipping through the pages ofa magazine. After an hour and a half, I peeped out of the window to see what amazed me even more. Small tiny circular patterns which withheld lagoons, separated from the dark blue ocean by a thin line of turquoise blue water. Wow.. I knew islands would appear green in color and even knew that there were as many as 2000 habitated and inhabited islands in Maldives…but what were these?? Later I learnt that, these were Atolls.

Ariel V

Atolls are formed due to the sinking of large volcanic mountains resulting in the formation of coral reef around it which encircled a lagoon. The turquoise color came from the reef that surrounded the lagoon. This even brought me to learn about the barrier reef and the fringe reef that constitute the major types of reefs. Barrier reef are the ones close to the shore, but are separated by deep water lagoons like what we have in Australia, while fringe reefs are separated by shallow waters. Interesting!! There were many such fascinating and thought provoking facts that were to be learnt in this journey. The oceanic life is quite vast and mysterious. The sight of the atolls and the ocean brought us a thought of how thrilling an exploration this one would be !!

We landed.. The MALE airport was situated on a small island which ran a few kilometers, looked to me as if it was just sufficient for the runway to start and get over! We quickly cleared our immigration and waited for our baggage. Maldives is an Islamic republic which got its sovereignty from the British in 1965 before which, it was in the shackles of the Dutch, French and the Portuguese colonial powers, mainly to trade in the Indian Ocean. In 1968 they abolished sultanate and became republic.

We were welcomed by the hotel representatives and we waited for a while for the speed boat that was to drive us to “our” island.. The boat arrived and we got into it with some other passengers. The speed boat ripped through the water. . It was unbelievable that we were actually on the ‘INDIAN OCEAN’…I stretched out my hand and made sinusoidal movements with my palm, up and down.. imitating the tiny little waves. And hummed……hawa mein beh rahi hai zindagi…………

The island could be now seen. The boat got us to the resort in just 10 mins. The Bandos island resort.. We were welcomed by the staff there, who gave us a brief note on the island dimensions, and the activities that we could do during our stay in the resort. We were lucky to get a garden villa.. which was actually an upgrade that they did in order to extend the stay of some other guests. Wohoo!! we were taken to our rooms in the solar carts. And then on, the island was all ours. Our room was on the pool side.

Each room had a water filled mud pot with a ladle made of a coconut shell, kept outside. People walked bare foot to enjoy the sand at their feet and this water was meant to cleanse sand drenched legs before entering the rooms. There were plenty of showers here and there. The 1st thing we wanted to do is go to the water.. so we quickly got ready and rushed to the water sports center to check on what we could do that day. On the way, we realized that we were few steps away to the island shore.. OMG.. what a breath taking scene it was. Were we going to spend 4 days in this island ? The very thought made me jump around and run on the shore bed. The shore bed was as soft as a carpet.. The texture of the sand varied as and when the water kept drenching it. The moment a wave passed by, it made me sense, that even the softest propulsion of the feet made it penetrate almost an inch deeper. The more they dried, the more we could feel the tiny grains that it was composed of. The porosity in them, held moisture for a long time, which brought me a thought that this could probably help, make sand castles to be built effortlessly. I bent down and grabbed a handful of the wet sand.

As I felt its fine granular texture in my hand, I wondered why they appeared white in color? Why aren’t beaches in India having white sand?  I knew it was something to do with the composition, but it was very interesting to learn about the association of white sand and the parrot fish. The limestone and the coral fragments are the major constituents of white sands. While many Indian beaches, constitute of heavy minerals such as quartz that contribute to the brownish color. A variation in the mineral composition give colors like yellow, black , and even green to these sands. But what has it got to do with the parrot fish? Parrot fishes bite through the algae deposited on the coral and grind the coral with their teeth. This when digested, get excreted as white sand. Each parrot fish can produce 90 kg of white sand a year... That made me wonder what was it that I was holding in my hand !! J..There were these invisible white crabs which shied at our presence, and hurried to hide in the holes they dug in the sand. I sat down and made some sand castles which took shape very gracefully.

It was time we went to the water sports centre to check on what we could do that day. We walked a few meters to find a small wooden shack with some colorful triangular sails leaning on it. There were a few pieces of huge skeletons which when assembled would supposedly turn out to be that of a whale shark. They had a picture of manta and green turtle which were one of the biggest water creatures and also extremely rare to spot. We met a guy named Uneys who explained about the various activities that we would do in the sports center. The 1st thing that we picked up to do was snorkeling. It would give us some experience in using the eye mask and breathing with a mouth piece, which were some essentials to prepare ourselves to do the scuba dive. 



Uneys- Snorkel Instructor



Uneys was a tall, long haired Maldivian who wore colorful shorts J. I noticed that many instructors had similar facial structure and dressing mannerisms. He said that, we could do an hour of snorkel lessons near the shore and then, we would drive to a distance in the speed boat, plunge into the water and do some snorkeling in the deep ocean. It brought an exhilarating feeling to me, since snorkel was the only thing which I thought I could do, and the only one, which did not require you to know to swim. We took snorkel equipments from Dive Bandos on rent, which consisted of a snorkel mask, fin and a vest. Dive Bandos was the scuba dive centre of the resort. As we entered, we saw huge tanks of water, nitrox cylinders, snorkel sets, and wet suits lined up in a row.  Wow this was yet another intrepid venture that we would be exploring in a day or two. I wondered if I would ever do it. At the rental counter, we were assisted with the snorkel gear and fins of appropriate sizes.

We were all set. We walked with Uneys, to get to a point where he would give us some practice on snorkel. We put on our snorkel mask and tightened it around the eye. This would help us easily look through in the water. Majority of the snorkel equipments are made of silicon. Due to its supple property, it takes shape and helps to seal the face area completely. It should be ensured that the mask is primed and an anti-fog solution is applied before it is used. Then there was a mouth piece which had some soft tabs in its interior. We had to bite through it and yes ! thatz how you had to breathe ..It was quite uncomfortable in the beginning; it was like holding an eel by the tail. J Firstly, wearing the fins in the water, (You cannot walk straight once you have put fins on, instead walk backwards) then, breathing air though the mouth piece, it felt as though the throat was going dry each time we took breath, and water spouting into the mask when it wasn’t tightened the right way.

Well, when everything was all right, we took our first dip into the water. We were in shallow water at that moment, but even though, what we saw beneath, was inexplicable!! Due to my physiological inhibitions (for which I get yelled at frequently) I held myself back from immersing my ear and head completely in water. I had never practiced swimming before and hence got terribly restless each time water got into my mouth or ear. I saw Karthik doing it without a hitch and already feasting his eyes on the underwater landscape. I knew I had to get over my abstinence sooner. I would have to tune my mind in accordance to the stillness and poise which predominated in the underwater world.

We spent an hour or so, and got accustomed to the snorkel mask and the mouth piece. The mask was getting foggy at times, but we got rid of that sooner, when we learnt to maintain complete vacuity between the eye and the mask. We returned to the shack and got ready for our DEEP BLUE EXPLORATION !!  We hopped into the speed boat and shuffled here and there to be seated in the corners, which gave the best possible view of the ocean and the islands. As we sped through the waters, the propulsion created was so high that the water splashed outrageously and produced a sound, as that of a revving engine. Vroooom…We felt as though we would be thrown out of the boat, as it imitated the movement of the shaky waves that rose and fell rigorously. It was a wahoww feel as we grabbed at the safety railing at each thud and gave each other “what was that !!” looks!! J

I don’t know how many kms we sped through, but all I could see is the deep blue ocean all around me. Our island resort was not visible from the place, but we saw some other distant islands secluded from each other. Well, on an ocean, things don’t appear to be as close as they seemed to. Before we wondered where we were, Uneys wore the fins and the mask and plunged into the water. We too wore fins, fastened the mask, bit through the tab of the mouth piece and jumped into the water giving each other a thumbs up. It was around 1 p.m. in the noon and it was scorching hot. The temperature of the water varied as we swam through.. sometimes warm and sometimes cold. Uneys lead us, and we followed him. This time, when we took a dip in the water, we saw lot many things that we had imagined of seeing only in a deep dive. I was so deliriously overjoyed, that I submerged my head completely. Surprisingly, it was not that bad at all!! It did not percolate excessively as I had imaginedJ.  In fact, I was more in unison with the underwater life, because as my ears submerged, it was all silence. Silence as absolute as death, as deep and boundless as it could be!! I felt the enormity of the ocean. I gently stroked the water backwards with my arms, and the water, beautifully surrendered.  Suddenly we came across a shoal of bright yellow color fishes which had black stripes on them. They passed by us, and looked so uninterrupted, as though even we were one among them. Some fishes were big in size, some were so tiny, some moved rigorously, while some moved with poise. Some were so very colorful, while some were just gray in color. We saw parrot fishes and they looked remarkably beautiful in its bright turquoise green color.

We saw that the entire shore line was packed with corals. Corals bleach, crumble and eventually die when the increased temperature in water causes the algae to wither away from them. The reefs that we saw from the surface were majorly just reefs and seaweeds, void of corals and hence looked discolored and brown. I wondered how deep we would need to go, to catch a glimpse of colorful coral. Coral reefs are known for its biological diversity, and are also known to be under huge threat to global warming and water pollution. Maldives had around 1190 coral islands clustered in a chain of 26 a tolls.

Black Tipped Reef Shark

There were plenty of black tipped reef sharks strolling by, which we had even seen around in the shore. They had a wide, circular snout and were relatively smaller in size when compared to other shark species. They generally prevailed in shallow tropical waters. We had so many of them near the shore. But we later  learnt that, they are not very dangerous, and that, there has not been any attacks on humans from them unless they were provoked. It seems there are 360 species of sharks of which I barely knew some. I knew only of the hammer heads, the sharp nosed mako’s that was shown in “deep blue sea” movie and the great white sharks that were shown in “The Jaws”!!!

After sometime, we got back into our speed boat and were taken to a sand bank. We stopped there and walked on the sand. There were plenty of crabs and migratory birds on the bank. Standing on a sand bank felt like standing on the tip of the earth. What a picturesque view!!

It was time that we returned back. On our way back, I stood at the at bow area of the boat, clasping hands at an upper railing. As we cruised through, strong breeze started hitting my face. I stood still throughout, facing and braving it fearlessly J I felt like a crusader.



A View from Sun Downer's Cafe



It was lunch time..we were so tired and hungry. We had plenty of options for lunch. Where to go? Hmm.. It was time to explore the resort. We had seen the sundowners café which was close to Dive Bandos and I had already fallen in love with it because of its location. We headed there and looked at the menu. There were very very less options for vegetarians. But we got some customization done and ordered for Veg burgers.. basically ham burgers without ham J

We spent the evening in the sand bar which had a DJ playing that night. We saw people of all ages, from all countries, but majorly Europeans and the Chinese. There were couples, couples with kids, group of friends, people on projects and even students all around. In the morning, I had noticed a lady trying to teach her little one to swim. The small girl had worn a tiny red shark fin, and was flapping her hands in water. In the evening at the sand bar, I saw the same small little girl, playfully capering about, all around the stage and her mother cheering up ardently and teaching her to dance. Everyone seemed to be so cheerful.

We had dinner at “The Harbor”, which had Indian & Lankan cuisine. The place did actually look like a harbor; we stood at the edge of a wooden pedestal for nearly an hour, watching a variety of fishes which we had never ever seen before. There were plenty of squids, water snakes, and reef sharks making its way, and each one had a unique pattern of pushing itself in water. We had our food thereafter. We had aloo Gobi, Nan and biriyani. It was a decent enough meal. They had lit up candles on each table and we had preferred to have it outdoor. The sound of the waves rustling up beneath the harbor felt so soothing and relaxing... a sound so resonant, that I can reproduce it even now when I close my eyes.

Day2 – We woke up early in the morning to take a walk at the shore. We wanted to catch a glimpse of the landscape; each bit of the day, as it looked different each time. There were 5 different colors, turquoise blue because of white sand, dark blue color of the deep ocean, brown color of the coral reef, light blue color of the sky and white color of the sand. It was a mesmerizing merge of colors, which so natural and beautiful. The colors illuminated at the gleaming light in the noon and dimmed splendidly later in the evening. All shades of blue naturally appeared throughout the day and disappeared at night leaving just the foamy white water at the edge of each wave, in the deep blue ocean, which appeared black in color throughout the night.

Breakfast @ The Gallery

We then headed to “The gallery Restaurant” for our breakfast. It was near the reception area. It had an amazing assortment of Mexican, continental as well as Italian food under one roof i.e. a complete “international cuisine”. Red melons, French toast, cereals, croissants, sautéed mushrooms, lemon tea, strawberry and blueberry flavored yogurts were always on our table each day. 

We then headed to dive bandos to get our snorkel equipments on hire. This time we decided to go on our own. We knew that we were not to cross the ball placed at various places at some distance to the shore. They indicated, that the waters beyond would be very deep. It was real fun to do snorkeling ourselves. We again saw a variety of fishes crossing our way. We happened to hit our hands and feet against the coral, so many times. These coral reefs were very hard and appeared to be there right under our nose. But actually, they were at least an arms distance from the surface. While snorkeling, we tangled our self in an area which was clustered with many such reefs and it took a while for us to drift away from them. In that course of time, there were some small bruises on my legs and hands which I realized while taking a hot water bath thereafter. J

It was 1 a.m. and we were back to sun downers to have our favorite veg cheese burger and Fries

We took a small nap and then sat on those beach recliners for a long long time, relaxing and enjoying the feel of “doing nothing” J I tried to make a shark whaleout of the damp sand!!                                                                  In the evening there were some light showers. Again, the sight of the magnificent ocean getting drenched in rain was worth a watch. We played a snooker match in the club area and again had dinner in Sea breeze Café. We had a super hot pizza which was really very spicy and had a banana split for the dessert. Late in the night we strolled by the jetty area and made enquiries about the scuba dive that we were to do the next day.





Day 3 – We were asked to be present in Dive Bandos at 9:30 a.m. so we quickly had breakfast and were all set to dive deep. We met Naomi in Dive Bandos. She was our scuba instructor. She was short and had a petite figure. She had a very cheerful attitude and it helped us make this predicament an enjoyable experience. So, to start with, we had 10 to 15 mins of theory session, where she explained to us how our body reacts to the pressure of deep waters. We have 3 major air pockets in our body. Our lungs, sinuses and earplugs. The air filled in these organs undergoes high pressure as we descend deep in water. When we descend, it compresses, like a balloon taken into the water. Hence, it is very important to strike an equilibrium between the water pressure and the pressure in these air sockets. She taught us how to do so, with some simple exercises, for e.g. we could choose to blow air out of the nose, which would produce a popping sound at the ear, or press the upper part of the mask near the forehead and release air. During ascent, the air in the lungs expands and tries to reach normalcy, and at this moment it is very important not to hold breath. By doing so, the compression causes the air in the lungs to expand further which may cause the tissues surrounding such organs to damage, as high pressure is exerted on them.This is known as barotraumas. She taught some hand signals which would help us co-ordinate amongst each other. A thumbs up indicated “I wana go up” , a superb sign indicated “all is well”, shaking ur palm meant “something is wrong” e.g. you show your ear and do the sign it meant , something wrong with my ear. She even warned us that we may experience a little pain in the ear as an when we go deep and we have to determine the level of suspension accordingly. I.e. come up with a level;s beyond which your ear might experience severe pain and we would not go deeper beyond. She would adjust the air in the life jacket accordingly.

We listened attentively, with our dive suits on and also a 18kg nitrox cylinder mounted on our back. Of course, we were seated J We had 4-5 kgs of weights tied to our waists, which would help us sink deeper. Wow, this is what we had always imagined it to be, like what we saw in Nat Geo and discovery channels, always on TV. But now, it was all real ..What we were about to do, wasn’t sounding that easy, it involved umpteen risks, though we knew we were with the best scuba instructor and had highly reliable and top grade equipments with us. The diving cylinder had many things protruding out of it, there was a regulator, a primary mouth piece, a submersible pressure gauge, secondary mouth piece, and a hose that was to transport the gas from the cylinder and the regulator to the buoyancy control device. A BCD (buoyancy control device) was nothing but our life jacket which was to be inflated and deflated with the help of the hose. This was one of the main devices which would help attain suspension. For me , it looked like a life saver, which would bring me up to float on the surface , when my mouth piece would pop off and I would not be able to place it back , and  I would be gasping for air , with water gushing in my mouth and nose !!! Oh what a horrifying thought it was. Even now when I think of such a situation I go breathless!!  I was very scared. But Naomi made it look so simple, as though we were going to a roller coaster ride in an adventure park... “Yes you can… and it will be great fun” is what she said, cheerfully, when I had frantically asked her “Will I be able to do it?? “. It was frightening, yet we knew that there would be nothing like that. It would be an experience of a life time, which we would cherish for ever.

It was time to go, once we got up, we realized the weight of the cylinder that we had mounted on our backs. Naomi walked quite normally, while our backs were already slouched. We walked till the shore and then, our 1^st challenge, wearing those fins in the leg, balancing our self with an 18 kg cylinder. And then, we had practical lessons in shallow waters. Naomi wanted us to be comfortable with the mouth piece and not to panic even if it popped off in water. She showed us how, we could identify the cord which had the mouth piece attached to it, without looking at it , just by stretching the arm towards the thighs and gently sliding it back towards the mouth. There was purge button on the regulator, which could be pressed, to force the water out of the mouth before putting on the mouth piece. While we do this, we were to retain some air in lungs and not empty it at one go.. She showed us how we could do that with a “poo poo poo”…but Y poo poo? Coz, when your mouth is held that way, least of the air is let to escape … hmm smart ideas!!

This was the sole thing that I was scared about. We were just a meter from the shore, and we still had shallow water beneath us. She asked us to dip in the water completely and kneel down on the floor. And now, we were to practice what she had said. i.e. remove the mouth piece, let it go, and then bring it back to the mouth. Ok , the 1^st time I did it, I panicked , I breathed in so much water and came back to the surface gasping for air. The 2^nd time, I tried to regulate my breath, but when I pressed the purge button, it produced so many air bubbles, that I panicked again! Naomi showed me how the mouth piece is to be held underwater, before the button is pressed. It should be held in such a way that the mouth piece was to face downwards and should be tilted towards the mouth only when it is brought closer. Ok , finally the 3^rd time, I got it right. But it still made me wonder if I would be able to do it as gracefully as she did when I would be meters down deep in the water.

While I was looking aghast in all my clumsiness, gasping for air as if I would die any moment, Karthik was already practicing inflating and deflating the BCD, gracefully gliding around tapping his fins and gauging his own movement. Some people are born pioneers!!

I asked Naomi again “Will I be able to do it?? “And she again replied to me in the same cheerful tone “Why not!”. She grabbed my hand and off we were.. Before I could get any more thoughts about “Why I cannot do it”... I simply closed my eyes and thought “I have to do it and I will”. Only mantra was “Not to panic”.

We had a scuba point, and we had a track made out of sand which helped us to navigate to the spot easily. We followed Naomi and gained movement with the “flutter kicks”. We reached the scuba point. Now we were engulfed with deep water all around. Naomi adjusted the BCD to deflate, so that we could sink a little deeper. She checked with each one of us, if we were ok, or if the ears were hurting, as and when we went deeper and deeper. At around 14ft down, ears were hurting very bad, but it went ok after a while. She determined a point of suspension and then we all started to dive ahead. She signaled to us and asked us if we were ok. We okayed back !

At this point, all I was just bothered about my mouthpiece. I bit it hard in my mouth so that it wouldn’t slip away. I panicked initially, but later I realized that all I was doing was bringing myself to anguish and blocking my mind with crazy thoughts. I looked and Naomi and Karthik, who were merrily looking around exploring the enchanting vast ocean. I too calmed my mind and started looking around with endurance. Hey I spotted an elongated fish and pointed it to Naomi. She signaled thumbs up! There was a huge vertical reef to our right and to our left was the boundless blue ocean. The water was as clear as a crystal. It was pin drop silence. The only sound that I heard was of myself breathing air through the mouthpiece. The inhale and exhale, as it sounds when done with mouth cupped in the palm. I could gauge my own degree of nervousness with it J

We spotted many corals. These were live. Some soft corals swayed with the motion of water underneath, while some opened and closed their tentacles. Polyps to be precise. Some were purple; some were dark green. Though there weren’t vivid colors, some colorful ones could be just spotted here and there. Corals are animals which feed on the food produced by algae which live in their tissues, apart from feeding on planktons. The algae produce food, just with sun light using photosynthesis. So, both of them benefit in each others existence. The warm tropical waters of Maldives was just an ideal one for corals.. an avg water temp of 25 to 29 Degree Celsius is absolutely perfect for corals. They are highly sensitive and cannot survive with temperatures lesser than that or even more than that. Majority of the corals looked hard surfaced, which was nothing but the calcium and carbonate of the sea water deposited on the tissues, which formed the external skeleton. Each new layer had new animals budding on them and rested on top of the dead coral deposits. We could see several such colonies made up of coral reefs.

We spotted many fishes which were much bigger in size; some were almost a foot in length. We also came across many group of fishes closely knit, yet equidistant from each other. We saw plenty of angel fishes. Some were blue in color with yellow colored head, while some were yellow bodied with black vertical stripes on them. All I knew that they were all types of angel fishes. I really dint know the names J

We spent nearly 45 mins and it was time we headed back. We did not come to the surface; we just headed backwards and followed the track. Naomi was all the while very very co-operative. Had she not been there with us, it would have probably been an intimidating experience for me!! We followed her and then after a while, the water started appearing muddy while we reached the shore. We came out to the surface and looked at each others faces. We felt victorious. It was an enchanting and exhilarating experience one cannot miss to do in life.. It was a moment of stillness..a moment to appreciate the bigness, of what, we are merely a part of..a moment of self realization ..a moment of silence..Believe me! This feeling has so much of intensity in it that it brings tears in the eyes.

“Pighle neelam sa behta ye sama,

Neeli neeli si khamoshiyan,

Na kahin hai zameen na kahin aasmaan,

Sarsaraati hui tehniyaan pattiyaan,
Keh raheen hai bas ek tum ho yahan,
bas main hoon, meri saansein hain aur meri dhadkanein,

Aisi gehraiyaan, aisi tanhaiyaan, aur main... sirf main.
Apne hone par mujhko yakeen aa gaya.” –Javed Akhtar



Naomi (Scuba Instructor)

 “Thanks Naomi!! I looked at Naomi as a hero in a true sense. I look up to her for being someone who could follow her passion and be what she wanted to be. She had showed us her world, the underwater world, which was so intense, so boundless, so enchantingly colorful, yet, strikingly mysterious. It’s quite surprising to know that our biological diversity is so rich and profound. The more questions you ask the more astonishing answers you get!

We went back to dive bandos to return our scuba equipment. There we met a couple. Looking at us they knew we had done it for the 1^st time and asked us our experience. We asked if they too were doing it for the 1^st time, they just smiled and said it was their 44^th dive. My mouth was just wide open for a while J Bandos was the most sought after location for the scuba dive and attracted travelers from various countries.

 Day4 : We wanted to go to the dolphin trip, but the weather was not favorable from 2 days. Dolphins play around when it is sunny and warm. But there had been light showers in the night and it was a bit cloudy too. We kept checking on it each day. Finally in the 4^th day of our excursion, we were told that we could try to go in the evening around 4. We had time till then and decided to go to kuda bandos (Kuda meant small) , which was a picnic island very close by to Bandos. We decided to do some water sports there. We took a speed boat to the island.

It looked like an abandoned island with very less people. It was not as lavish as the Bandos Island. But Jet Ski was something that looked promising. It also seemed to be a training /examination centre for instructors. Since there were very less people , there were numerous crabs digging its way in the mud. Initially I felt so disgusted with the very sight of it, especially when I saw them walk sideways. But I got accustomed later. Especially to comprehend karthik’s undue love towards that creature J We studied their activity ( Karthik literally sat wid them, I watched from a distance) ; how they dug sand, mounted it on their backs and threw it in a distance. The holes they dug were filled with water, the moment there was a high wave. But they still continued to dig again with persistence. Were they dumb? What were they trying to do? It is known that Crabs generally dig for molt or to evade danger. But why were they dong it at the shore? Looks like they were just passing time J Just like us !!

 

Ali - Jet Ski Champ

We then went to the sports centre and enquired if we could do jet ski. We met a guy named Ali. He again bore the same appearance as that of others we had seen at the water sports centre; tall, dark, long haired, with colorful shorts J

We went with him one by one. As he sat behind, he instructed about the trigger for acceleration and also how to control the direction of the craft with the handle bar in the front. Ready to go!! Initially I pressed the trigger and released it the moment there was a high wave, the ocean was very turbulent and the craft literally jumped up in the water the moment it hit any wave. Then I realized that the more the acceleration, the lesser the water resistance and lesser the turbulence. I then accelerated to full throttle and saw the fun. Oh it was like riding the fastest motor bike, with water splashing all over. At that speed I felt I would be thrown out of the craft any time. I was literally in air!!!

Ali warned me not to pull in to the right, as there were some coral reefs that we could hit. But somehow, initially I had held the handle bar so tight that making a turn was getting difficult. Then Ali asked me to relax my arms, especially while making a turn. I had hit 40 knots and I barely knew what it meant J Its interesting to know how Jet Ski can cruise in water so fast. The  trigger on the handle bar that we press; controls the fuel fed to the engine. When the trigger is started, the engine accelerates an impeller (water pump), which ingests water from the front and forces it out from the rear with high velocity. The more fuel is supplied, the more powerfully the impeller expels water, providing faster speed.

Ali was a Jet Ski champion. He had won many championships. And said he had a record of reaching Male Atoll from our resort in 2 minutes. We had taken 10-15 mins to reach Bandos from Male Atoll , and that too in a speed boat. That was incredible!.. He later asked me to sit behind him on the craft and wroomed up in the water , showing all his stunts.  I guess a full circuit suspended roller coaster ride would have been less scary. We had great fun, We thanked him and set off to the resort.

Yet another burger at sundowners and a happy nap, we were all set to go to the dolphin trip. It was still quite cloudy and hence Uneys was uncertain if we could ferret out any dolphins in this weather. It was our last day in Male and we were anticipating eagerly on this trip. We were to spend 165 dollars on that, but we gave it a chance. Uneys know how keen we were to see the dolphins from day one. He looked at our faces and said “ok lets go”. Hurray!! We packed our stuff hurriedly and hopped into the speed boat.

The sight of the blue ocean and being all surrounded by it, itself was so fascinating. We has to hurry up, as every evening, at the same time, it was noticed that the dolphins swam across a creek and returned to the ocean at night. We had to reach the creek while they crossed it, in order to catch a glimpse of it. We already saw some dolphins breaching around on the surface. It looked as though we entered their world… they were amusing themselves by jumping merrily and diving back precisely, like professional divers. We saw them only from a great distance. Uneys said that we were lucky and would definitely see them from close. After moving ahead to some distance, we spotted a dolphin in close proximity. Another one just crossing our boat. Oh! we were surrounded by them. They swam side by side, swam beneath and in front of our boat. Never imagined how it would be like to sight them from that close a distance! They swam so astoundingly fast, that they vanished the moment we spotted them. Uneys let us mount up in the bow area. I cannot explain how it felt to sit there.. It was the front most tip of the boat and there was just a low thin railing to support us. Uneys glided slowly so that we don’t tumble over with any kind of jerk. I had never been so exultantly happy! The ocean water was just an arms distance and so were the dolphins. They were all bottle neck dolphins. They were grey in color and their skin shone brightly to the suns light, as they steered up to the surface to breach. They appeared quite long and swam straightway. Unlike fishes, which made an effort to jerk ahead and gather momentum, these mammals swam as though they were propelled by some engine. Their swimming pattern looked absolutely effortless. They skied ahead like rockets, so tremendously fast, yet extremely graceful. It was like a dream come true, to watch these mammals from this close. Initially, we made some noise to attract their attention. But now, they were all around us, with us, here, there, everywhere! Oh! Our trip couldn’t have ended without this. I took videos while I sat in the bow area, of dolphins swimming with us.

It was time we headed back, our heart and minds were still with those dolphins and in the deep blue ocean. It was quite throbbing to leave them and return to the resort and for that matter to even leave Male the next day. I was already feeling so cheerless with the mere thought of leaving Male. All 4 days were over already and I still remember how anxiously I had waited to go for this trip and even to anticipate what each day in this trip would bring to me!

 We returned back, and while we sat on the benches, I was all excited to see the video of the dolphins. I had literally leaned beyond the railing at times, to capture the best of them. While browsing through the videos, I was even eliminating some junk photographs that were clicked accidently. The videos also appeared as photographs, and some looked junk, as the start of any video would look like. You must have guessed what I did... Yes, I deleted the most anticipated video that I was so thrilled to watch, with my own hands. I could not believe what I had done and only hoped that the recovery software would do some magic and get it back. This only added to my anguish and nothing else.

It was going to be the last snooker game, last dinner, last night at sundowners and the last night walk at the ocean. The memories of what we did each day at this incredible place would remain in our heart for ever. We woke up in the morning and went for a small walk. We still had some time.

I felt the sand, with my hand and feet, like I never did in those 4 days. I listened to the sound of the waves, and glanced at the deep blue water. I wished I could be there forever. I dint want to go back.I filled my heart with the smells and sounds of the place and returned to have breakfast. Soon after that we went to dive bandos, I wanted to take picture of Naomi, our super kool instructor. I thanked her a 100 times and bid her good bye. We headed back to our room. The bags that we had placed outside were already taken to the reception. We headed to the reception and waited in queue to make final dues of the hotel bills. I left karthik to stand in the queue and quicky hurried to the harbor area. There was a small bank where I had loved to stand. I ran to get there, closed my eyes and sat there alone for a while, facing the ocean.

Yeh kaisi hawaein…Yeh kaisi fizaayein,

Mujhi se mera, jo Milan karaayein..

Swarg hi jahan apne darpan ko sarhaayein...

Chal aaj is jahan ko hum apna banayein..

Ruk jati wohh fiza agar, jo pal pal yun mujhse guzarrti thi

Itni geherai thi unmein, ki choote hi aankein pighalthi thi – Meghana.

Our flight was at 2 p.m. We had planned that we would visit the Male City. But the people at the hotel had taken so much time to settle bills of all the off-boarders that we had hardly any time left with us. We reached Male airport. As we took the escalator, we saw the ocean for the last time, through a huge glass pane. I took some souvenirs in the airport. I picked small bottles of glass with Male sand in it, a dolphin shaped fridge magnet and a wooden spoon that had a small fish carved at the back. We then had a delectable sub in one of the hotel inside the airport, named ‘DOME’. I later learnt that, it was a famous Australian coffee outlet with around 72 branches all over the world.

We waited for our boarding to be announced and then set off to return to Bangalore. As the flight took off, we saw the same gigantic ocean in all its mightiness, gluing ourselves to the small window pane…. How small we appeared in front of it!! GOOD BYE MALE!! We will Miss you sorely L