In Love with Bay of Bengal - A ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ Experience!!

My twelfth standard holidays started with a bang. What with two parties, a trek to the towering Nagala Ranges and a few days in Pondicherry. But , I still had thirst for more so when the forms for the mid sea diving were rolled out on Wednesday I was more than excited. I called up from Pondicherry and asked my mom to register. And since Vijay was organizing the trek we felt more than comfortable to join. J We asked a few of our friends also to join who wanted to have some fun on a weekend and wanted to do more other than just watch TV.

�� On Friday, I did a small research in Google to find out about the vast coastline of the Bay of Bengal especially about the tiny fishing village called Kovalam . Google these days has become something more than my teacher. At this point, I would like to share a small gyan which I saw in Wikipedia. For those who don�t know (including me), Kovalam means a grove of coconuts and the page also says that Kovalam is called the paradise of South. ��Saturday morning came early enough. I got up at 4AM even though I had kept the alarm for 6AM as I was excited to see this �paradise of south� for the first time. Since I had nothing else to do, I slept back.

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At 6AM, both my mom and I got up at the sound of the alarm ring.We were ready by 6.30 AM and after a glass of coffee we started at 6.40AM. Guru was punctual and he picked us up from our place. We didn�t come with the team as we had to pick up our Non-CTC friends as well. From our place we went and �picked up Sapnil uncle, Sarika aunty and Aarav. We waited for more than 15 minutes for Sasirekha at Ashok Pillar Signal. We started from there at 7.20AM exactly reaching ECR by 7.40 AM. With no traffic in the morning we could zip past and reached Kovalam at 8.15AM after picking up Indu aunty. By then the team had already reached.

The glow on everyone�s face was evident. All were excited. After their usual introductions, chit chats and the �whether I will be able to do it�s� , the ceremony to don the life jackets began very soon. By the time I as wearing the jacket the first group had gone. Some were smiling and the first timers were a little scared. But they all waved for the camera. After taking a few photographs another group went. We went third in a blue boat accompanied by boatmen Ravi and Selvam. The boat started and we too waved at the others. And then we were only looking ahead at what lay in store for us. Like the tail of the comet the boat was making a frothy trail. Now, everyone wanted to jump. We crossed the 4 kilometers fast enough and the boatman now started calling us.The first one to jump was 11 year old Aarav. The Yaaay�s and Wooooooow�s had begun. Then, two others jumped. And then, �I got up and 1 2 3 I jumped. No words can describe this wonderful feeling when you jump. It was probably the same feeling which Hrithik Roshan sensed in the movie ZNMD.Of, course the water goes into your nose and it burns for a while but after that it is nothing short of bliss. One by one, all the others jumped. The swimmers moving ahead confidently and the non-swimmers clinging �to the ropes. Lying on your back was so soothing. After playing for some time, I saw that it was the non- swimmers too had started moving confidently. It was so much fun. There was absolutely nothing in my mind for that one �hour in the water. I swam from my boat to another boat and after a small break there I tried to swim back but since the currents were high, I decided it was best to float near the next boat. I really enjoyed that.

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Looking at the ease with which the Swimmers moved on, the non-swimmers too got motivated. By the time I reached the third boat my automatic body clock said that the time was up. That was 10:50 AM. By that time almost everyone had gone back to the boats. The boatmen then rescued around four people who had gone very far. I suppose they thought easy migration to colombo :) I am sure everyone stomach had begun to rumble by then. We quickly reached the shore in 10 minutes. Non Vegetarians were delighted to see a fresh catch of fishes looking at us as if they were posing for the shutterbugs. Sapnil Uncle, Sarika Aunty, Aarav, Guru , Sasirekha , Indrani Aunty, Mom and me were all so hungry. We spoke to Vijay who said he will also be joining us soon and the we decided to have our breakfast @ Namma Hotchips. After gorging on Masala Dosas, Uthapams and Vadais, we had a cup of hot filter kaaapi which really refreshed us and then��.
Then we all headed home!

Thank you Mr. Organizer Vijay Raj and Gokul for organizing this �and fellow participants for the great time I had. A Sunday well spent.
And now I am going to sleep, tanned but happy at the result.

Arunima

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