I was just a few seconds away
from my first underwater walk, a walk which would differentiate me from my
not-so-adventurer type friends who are busy earning dollars by yawning in front
of their Mac. After a couple of meat-and-potatoes training, the assistant
helped me to fix the oxygen helmet on my head. I was in a group of four, with
consisted an American lady and Malaysian twin boys who were in their teens. I
walked towards the edge of the boat, put my foot on the ladder and started to
climb down slowly as every inch of my body felt the cold turquoise waters of
the Caribbean Island. Though I haven’t seen sharks in real life, I have to
admit I’m scared of them, and under the sea there is no place to run or hide
when I’m on a one on one combat with it. They even swim faster than me. I was
assured by Mike, the trainer that there are no baleful sharks or vindictive
piranhas and there have been no reports of any serious mishaps in the vicinity.
My smile was back with Mike’s assurance.
I was a couple of few meters
under the green sea, when all of a sudden my ears were paining because of the
lack of oxygen. It was excruciating. When the pain began to ease down, I felt
the heavenly white sand below my feet. I could see the scuba divers swimming all
around me. They were artistic as well as aesthetic; I considered swimming is
natural to them and not walking. To add to my nightmare, I pictured them as
hungry sharks that are ready to devour me any moment. After a few seconds, I
felt one of the Malaysian twins held my hand. We looked at each other and
exchanged smiles through the transparent mask. After a few minutes, the other twin
as well as the American lady was with us and we formed a circle in order to
balance our body against the strong Caribbean waves. None of us could describe
the feeling when we were in the midst of the coral reefs, the waving turquoise
water, and millions of beautiful and colorful types of fish.
Next, the scuba divers gave
each of us a piece of bread to feed the marine species. Just a mini second later,
I was surrounded by umpteen fish species. I felt like I was one of them. The
way they tickled and played with our body created a mesmerized feeling within
us that none of us could describe it. I could see one of the Malaysian twins
beside me being pushed away a meter behind by the military force of the fishes.
I was no longer handing anyone’s hand; what I was a holding was an angelfish on
my naked hands. I could scrutinize the fish from so close that I could count
its scales. This was definitely the best experience I have ever had in my life.
I was on my knees when suddenly
I felt a big weight on my left leg, and I was drifting forward I felt a queer
fear playing inside my head The weight shifted from my leg to the body and I
yelled a big cry “SHARKKKKKKK”. My eyes grew smaller, cheeks expanded and eyes
were getting watery. My tears were crawling down my cheeks and soon it would
dilute with the waters of the sea. Not only my tears, I assumed my blood would
dilute too while I’m being devoured by the voracious shark. All of all second,
I summoned all the wrongs I had done in my life and asked God for mercy and
wished my new home in heaven was as beautiful as the Caribbean Islands, except
the sharks. I wished I was a better person. Amen.
I wanted to die with dignity so that when I
enter the doors of heaven I want my fellow dwellers to salute me and not spit
on me. I was just a few seconds away from death. There was no way I could cheat
it. I turned around very slowly and tried to peep through the corner of my
eyes. I had a queer feeling that it was waiting for a perfect kill. My feet
were trembling as I was rolling sideways. It was right in front of me. I smiled
through my mask as it could see me. Next, my smile evolved into laughter. It
looked at me with a perplexed and naïve stance. It was no ‘it’, it was ‘him’. I
smiled at the Malaysian teen and showed him the thumbs up.
