Testing waters at kavaratti 

KOCHI: Mirzana Beegum, a 17-year-old who lives near the shores of Kavaratti, the capital of Lakshadweep islands, has always been a fan of adventure. She always found venturing into the depths of the sea liberating. Even while her friends are busy making plans during vacations, Mirzana had her eye on deep-sea diving. Her dream? To see a shark up close. The Class 12 student at Kendriya Vidyalaya Kavaratti is the youngest scuba diver in Lakshadweep to make a 40m dive in recent years.

The Kavaratti beach with crystal clear water is rich with coral reefs and colourful fishes. She started with snorkelling, but her thirst to dive deeper made her take up scuba diving when she was 13. “Almost 95 percent of the population - men or women - in the island know how to swim. But then, only less than 10 per cent of island natives have attempted to explore the deep waters. I aspire to inspire more people, especially women, to attempt this,” says Mirzana, who has a certification from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). 

The youngster, apart from making her mark in a male dominated sport, also aims to inspire the gadget-addicted youth to step back and marvel at nature. “I believe that humans are blessed. We are the only creatures on earth who can travel the sky, land and underwater. Like the sky is full of blue shade and clouds, the deep sea has its own bounty of beautiful things. It was a dream come true for me to see a shark. Believe me, they are not dangerous creatures unless we irritate them. I wonder why youngsters waste life on drugs and suicides rather than exploring activities that strengthen mind and body,” says Mirzana who wishes to become a women scuba instructor in Kavaratti.  

She started scuba diving with an open water dive of 18 meters and now has completed two diving courses including a night dive of 14 meters. Apart from underwater diving, the training has also made Mirzana aware of species underneath through the theory lessons in her diving courses. The youngster’s favourite act is cave diving as she says diving into the darkness makes one confident, especially a woman, to face the struggles. Her greatest challenge was not to dive into the depths but to overcome the sceptical comments she faced being a Muslim girl. 

“Over the years I have been learning the diving skills including deep diving, night dive, open water diving etc under my instructor of PADI wing of Lakshadweep, Najemuddin Poovammada. It was my father, Shahabudeen, who supported me to dive and when others asked him from our community he said, she is my child and it’s my duty to support her dreams and not restrict. It was the first confidence for my initial five-meter dive at the age of 13. Later, when making the 18-meter open water dive, I was surrounded with darkness. But I imagined it as a struggle which we witness in our life. It gives us courage and willpower not to fear the darkness in the roads at night nor the stress in life. Also, diving is also a meditation to ease the mind,” explains Mirzana whose ultimate dream is to make a record in scuba diving by covering the deepest depth in the sea that a human can cover.