How My Honeymoon at the Andaman Islands Served as an Opportunity to Overcome Hydrophobia!

We all like stories, right? In fact, when they are about winning over something, exploring something unknown or just doing what you deemed impossible, they become much much more interesting. I adore those the most, and they become all the more exciting when you get to be a part of them.

Most of us have grown up with some ingrained fears, and for me, hydrophobia tops them all. So much that I always refused to visit water parks with my pals. Yes, I know that’s ludicrous but couldn’t help it.

I had always been hydrophobic since a childhood incident happened when my cousins took me to a nearby complex for swimming and they dragged me to the bigger pool whilst I was merely old enough to get access to it. They plunged me into the pool out of the blue! Man, that was such a terrible memory to live with for years that I couldn't get over my hydrophobia until I managed to have myself come out of it in the most beautiful way.

So I decided to go to Andaman for our honeymoon, and my sweetheart was all ecstatic about scuba diving because as they say, ‘Andaman aaye aur scuba nhi kiya to kya khaak Andaman aaye!’ But she’s no lesser than my cousins. No, she didn’t throw me into the sea but preferred to go scuba diving with me, even after knowing the extent of my fear. A chill ran down my spine. I was in a fix. Fear and love, what to choose? But she wouldn’t relent. After a couple of minutes of her lecturing me on how I could take it as an opportunity to defeat my terror, I somehow agreed. By the way, that day I became a fan of her convincing skills.

We went to the training session and I bombarded the trainer with my questions: Does one need to know how to ably swim? Would we go very deep? Has any mishap occurred ever? And the stupidest of them all- Would we encounter any dangerous sea creature? The trainer calmed me down and reinforced my confidence by showing a video of his first dive. Now it was the time to enter the battleground (or I should say battle sea).

After I was taught certain dos and don'ts, we took the giant leap. And I felt like a conqueror. It was everything- magical, tranquil, utopian, seamless and effortless. Was it the scenic water? Was it the view of spectacular coral reefs? Was it just being in a world so unusual and pretty? I don’t know. But it was extraordinary and breathtaking. Imagine being silent, listening to nothing but sounds of water, watching colourful species swirling around you and living wonderful moments beyond your imagination.

Special thanks to my trainer Viswajit who was so encouraging throughout. No wonder since then I have been asking everyone to attempt this. Yes, it’s possible to win over your apprehensions and believe me, this victory yields boundless joy.