“I was 17 when I took my first dive and the underwater world had stolen my heart. By 19 I got my certification as a diving instructor, which made me India’s youngest female diving instructor. Although it sounds fancy it came with a lot of discrimination and bullying. People are skeptical when they find out that I will be their instructor for the session, and sadly all this is only in India.

I have worked in India, Cambodia, and the Cook Islands in Australia, and every dive has a lot of memories. I remember spotting this Whale Shark in Pondy once and went on to swim with him. Similarly, while I was in the Cook Islands pursuing my Masters in Maritime Archeology, I used to go for a dive and see this huge turtle. He usually swims away from me, but on my last day on the island, he swam close to me and our eyes locked for a moment. It was like he was there to tell me goodbye.

I got back to India after my Masters and have been freelancing as an archeologist as there are not many opportunities for a Marine Archeologist, although we have a history of doing excavations. Besides that, I work full-time as a scuba diving instructor.

My family’s obvious reaction was panic and they were worried when I told them I wanted to be a diving instructor. My uncles had come down to talk me out of it. But I understood that their concern was because they didn’t know what this is all about. So, I educated myself and went on to explain to them all about it. I was not going to be someone who gives them an ultimatum and do things the way I wanted. My family has been very supportive since then as they understood how beautiful the underwater world is. I hope everyone understands that and does their bit to protect the oceans and the habitat there. End of the day, it’s everyone’s world right!

#scubadiving #marinaarcheology #passion #naturelove #pondicherydiaries #underwater #humansofmadras #pondydiaries #motivationaldiaries