A world in our world

I believe at one point in your life, you have come across a situation whereby you need to overcome a certain non-negligeable apprehensiveness in order to discover something extraordinary. Have you ever lived an experience or a day where you just managed to live it fully? Or a day you did something extraordinary and you would cherish those moments till the very end? Think about it for a few seconds before continuing..

It happened to me, and it was only yesterday. I lived a day where I discovered another world in the world we know. I was simply numb with happiness, and could not take off my eyes from such a natural wonder! I came across a world where zillions of living organisms come across each other and yet they are living in an amazingly synchronized harmony. I did my first ever undersea walk in my life!!

So the whole thing happened as we set off on a 3-activities package on the eastern coast of the country! There was tube riding, parasailing and obviously undersea walk. The preparation for THE event included wearing a rubber shoes, a belt with weight in order to keep you down on the sea bed and without forgetting all the various instructions. The next 7 minutes will definitively be blissful!

So I wore a scuba diving mask supplying oxygen through flexible hose. It was weighing a freaking 30kg and rested on shoulder! Yes, its really heavy, but you do not actually feel that weight when being in water. The first sight underwater was like...woww!! As I am writing, I am actually feeling goosebumps all over my arms.

So many fishes, so many colourful coral reefs, the blue water, the white sand on the sea bed..yes it was indeed a world in our world. What was actually more stunning was the priceless sensation of peace prevailing under the water, the pure joy of being just there observing those marine animals enjoying the companion of aliens in their world. They were nevertheless enjoying our presence as well and not feeling intimated, which was a good thing eventually. Or else I would not have been blessed to enjoy observing them. At a certain point, I so wanted to just sit down and just keep gazing at this real paradise. I so wished I could do that. It was really distressing, a good cure to forget all your pains, worries and stresses of your life. 

I think the highpoint of those 7 minutes were when I was asked to feed the fishes. I was given a piece of bread and as soon as I opened up the palm of my hands, there was like thousands of fish dashing,swirling around and literally fighting to eat those breads. Feeling ticklish, mouth wide open in wonder, eyes flashing and wide open, standing numb despite the strong current, seconds seeming like hours until time appeared to have stopped, hearing the waves crashing at a seemingly far away point but in reality just above you, it was simply blessing. A beautiful world. As those 7 magical minutes were coming to an end, I could not stop thinking of when to be back. I will, indeed!

However, I could not stop noticing the effects of human activities. Pollution has already affected the coral reefs to a considerable extent. Yes, the current generation should make it a must to protect this priceless treasure we have in terms of marine beauty. Educate, do not ignore and do not take for granted our ecosystem can be an encouraging step ahead.

Later during the afternoon at Ile aux Cerf, already boosted up by those 7 minutes, I could not prevent myself of trying to stay in this marine world as far as I could. I did snorkeling for long lapse of time, just feeling so at peace, wonderfully calm and energetic to just keep observing how life is happening in the sea. Constantly swimming over corals, being so alert at any observation of fishes, it was like an after experience.

Thinking all about it now, I was indeed apprehensive of how the day would be and to what extend those commercial activities would be safe. The short time I spent during that undersea walk activity did make me ponder about many aspects of life, such as: "How more beautiful the lagoon was at its natural state before human activities started on our island? At the rate we are polluting our ecosystem, will my children tomorrow be able to experience such exciting times?"

Finally, I would like to conclude my article with this amazing quotation and which I am sure will make you wonder how many aspects of life you are missing on currently:

"Fear is the thief of dreams", by Brian Krans


P.S: Sparing a couple of thoughts to the amazing group of friends from Terragen who made this day truly memorable. They will recognise themselves on their own for sure :)