A Beautiful Chapter Of My Life-Andamans-Part 1

A lot can change over a cup of coffee…

It all happened over a cup of coffee. After a tiresome day, a bunch of my friends and myself were sipping on a soothing cup of coffee at a local rooftop restaurant in Pune. We all were having these casual talks overlooking the views of the city below our feet. Everyone in the group had their own individual stories to share.

A friend of mine named Jocelyn (Jo) had just returned from her Scuba Diving holiday in the Andamans. She had a similar spark in her eyes as I would have today while describing those magical islands. We all were listening to her stories and were so engrossed that I personally felt like being teleported to those islands. She summed it up with her last line being, “Anuj, you would be the ideal person to go there.”

I was so convinced that I had already started packing my bags in my mind. By the time we wound up everything and asked for the bill, I had made my mind to apply for a scuba – Dive Master Internship program.

Jo mentioned that her Scuba Instructor, also the co-owner of a dive shop in the Andaman’s, was in Mumbai for some work. He had his return flight to the islands within a couple of days. This made me a little restless as I never wanted to miss such an opportunity. I shamelessly asked her to call him right away, not considering that it was late in the evening. We dialled in and he agreed to meet the very next day at 9 am, at his office in Mumbai.

The inception of the thought of going to the Andaman’s and the nervousness of meeting him didn’t allow me to sleep that entire night.

Just rolling over my endless thoughts, I left for Mumbai at 5 am by a local bus. I reached Khar bus station in Mumbai at about 8.30 am. I had some delicious chai at a local tea stall just outside his office. Every sip just woke me up to the reality of me being there.

After almost an hour-long discussion, I had bagged the internship. An e-mail confirmation regarding the internship programme was supposed to be sent to me within a week. I couldn’t believe that my thoughts had begun to gather momentum in reality and that too just in a day’s time. A lot of excitement had started to grow on me.

For an entire week, I was constantly daydreaming about how my life in the Andamans would be like. At the same time, somewhere deep down, I was also a little nervous as this would be my first time venturing beyond the security of my nest. I was going to leave my family, friends and my entire comfort zone behind, that too for a longer duration.

But all this excitement was very short-lived. After checking my inbox constantly for 2 weeks and with a few follow-up calls with the dive centre, I finally got a revert saying that unfortunately, the company has gone into a financial crunch and hence won’t be operating in the Andamans for that particular season.

All my plans and my dream of going to the islands came crashing down, very similar to those blocks within the game of – Jenga.

Despite being a little disheartened, I was not ready to give up and stayed committed to my Dream. Since my childhood, I have always been an outdoor kid who preferred a sky with a horizon rather than a screen with a video game. For someone who always preferred sports over academics, adventure was second nature to me. Outdoors, Nature and Sports have always been the true masters of my Life. I have always believed that – “the greater the hurdle, the greater the joy in overcoming it.” With the same belief, I kept applying to various dive shops in the Andamans.

To my luck, I bagged my Dive Master Internship at India’s first and the only PADI 5-STAR Instructor Development Dive Centre named – Barefoot Scuba, nestled in the lap of nature, at Havelock Island. I consider myself to be blessed and filled with gratitude to have worked in this beautiful little paradise as a certified PADI Open Water Diving Instructor for more than 3 long years/seasons.

Today, when I look back, I believe that Life always wants to offer the best to you. It’s just that it looks out for true efforts and tests you before rewarding you. If you put in every ounce of effort and energy, there is nothing that can ever hold you back.

For me, not getting the internship in the 1st Dive School turned out to be a true “Blessing in disguise.”

I thank the Universe for carving out this route for me.

Also read : “An Insightful Analogy: Travel And Our Life”