Maldives

  The Maldives.

Maldives, the name brings out a sigh of longing or a look of jealousy from others. Why? Because it is paradise or the closest something is to it. For years I have heard about my friends traveling to this dreamy place and boasting of their exploits. For years I waited patiently for my turn to go and visit this place that others dream about.

Well, guess what, I finally went there. And boy did I see something. The Maldives is a place that cannot be put into words, but I have to do it so, I will try my best. It is straight out of a children's story. The hotel was on this beautiful key with glittering golden sandy beaches, calm and mellow seas, lush green, and picturesque forest. The icing on the cake was that there were tall and broad coconut trees scattered around the island.

We reached our destination on the 29th of October. It was our dad's birthday on the same day, so the trip was a little celebration for him. We moved from Male to our hotel in the speedboat that the hotel had sent for our arrival. On our way to the hotel, I tried to catch up on my lost sleep. Our speedboat cruised through the waters, forming phoenix-like shapes of the waters we had passed as the hot sun beamed down on our faces. Midway through the journey, one of the people in our boat shrieked in terror after spotting a black fin-like shape in the water. I woke up to the shriek, upset at the disruption, but that upset quickly turned to wonder as we saw the black fin-like shapes again. In actuality, those were dolphins and surprisingly, we had somehow driven into the hotspot area as we encountered various dolphins around our boat. I felt overwhelmed by the number of dolphins we saw and ticked that box off my mental checklist. 

As we arrived at our hotel, the first thing that struck me was the Hawaiian-like feel of the area. They greeted us at the docks, and in true Hawaiian style, gave us a flower garland to don. The hotel itself was an artistic piece of work. Whoever designed it did a pretty good job on the hotel. Entirely on the sand, the hotel was a big beach with beautifully crafted rooms overlooking the seas, rooms literally on top of the sea, and rooms away from the sea. Built upon two islands, Sun Siyam was a beautiful and thrilling experience for me in particular. 

The hotel was surrounded by water on all sides, and I take great pride in saying that we made the most of the offer, spending up to 4 hours a day in the water. It was early evening when we entered our room, eager to rest (my parents) or get into the water (my sister). I just wanted to lie on my bed and scroll through my feed. As we entered the room, there was a surprise for my dad. On the bed was a well-designed and carefully decorated Happy Birthday written with fallen plant leaves and stalks. Our room was a cozy one, with 3 beds for the four of us to sleep in, and a small minibar. The room had a massive bathroom with a bathtub, an outside shower, and the usual essentials. The sea was a hop, skip and jump from it, and my sister proceeded to do exactly that the moment we entered the room.

We spent most of the evening in the water, embracing the salty seawater after two painful years. It was like I was 10 again, splashing and swishing water everywhere. My sister was right beside me, and it felt so good to be back where I loved. The sea was calm, calmer than I had ever seen it, and this allowed me to throw Sia into the water and vice-versa. Of course,  being the drama queen she is, my sister began to throw a fit when I threw a little bit of wet sand at her. This resulted in an all-out water war that ended with both of us drenched in seawater and covered in sand. Laughing at the plight of each other, we made our way back. Dinner that night was a quiet affair, except for Papa's cake cutting in the middle of the restaurant. 

The next day was one I will not forget for years to come. It was the day that I finally learned about the wonders of the sea. After a healthy and delicious breakfast, we went towards the dock we had arrived on, eager to get into the water. However, we were in for a surprise when we learned that there was indeed a Scuba Diving slot open in the evening. This being the main objective of our trip, I eagerly told my parents to book it as fast as they could. We spent the rest of the day snorkeling, and I was surprised at the variety of fish right underneath our feet. Admiring the fishes and hurriedly pointing towards anything out of the blue, I could not help but feel that this was just the preview. Eagerly anticipating the dive, we reached the dock around 15 minutes earlier and, I was bursting with excitement about the dive and what we would get to see. 

The instructors were very patient with us and slowly told us the basics of diving. Efficiently and quickly, Sia and I completed the exercises and techniques that were needed for the basics. We finally went underwater, fully dressed in the gear and, I was amazed at the world beneath. The beautifully designed corals surrounding us were home to fishes of various shapes and sizes, all living together in harmony. I was in awe of this and kept my eyes open for anything unusual that we might miss. However, as it often happens, the events weren't hunky-dory. A couple of meters below, Sia started complaining about extensive pain in her ear, frantically waving at our instructor and telling him to go to sea level. Instead of frustration, I let out a resigned sigh. Of course, something would happen to Sia. She had her doubts about going in but had disregarded them due to my parents, and here I was, suffering the consequences. We slowly went back to the surface and, the instructor then dropped Sia back at the docks. There were two of us that went down, but only one was going deeper.  As we passed the depth where Sia's resolve broke, I discovered that all my problems had disappeared. No more ear pains, No more stomach cramps, and such, just pure silence. As we went deeper and deeper, I felt happy at the fact that we had done this. The underworld was magical. The dive showed us various fishes, starfishes, sharks, and a turtle, and it increased my wildlife knowledge from only land. As we returned back to the shore, I was bursting with sheer happiness from what I had seen. The excitement just increased when we agreed to another dive the next day, this time in the open seas. 

The rest of the day was spent milling around in the lagoon near our room. We once again began a "water fight", as Sia so eloquently termed it. However, today was also the day I swam all the way to the 'deep area' board in the middle of the lagoon, with a life jacket, obviously. I felt a sense of accomplishment after completing the swim. This also led me to proudly boast about it to Sia throughout the trip. The nights were the quietest part of the trip. After having dinner, we often headed to the dock and sat down, hoping to find sea creatures that we couldn't see during the day. It was at this time of the day that we often found turtles wandering underneath the dock. They would just swim around, chilling as if they had no purpose in the world. 

The next day was very similar to the last. Breakfast, snorkeling, lunch, and then diving. There wasn't much to differentiate between the two days that we went scuba diving. However, it was where we went scuba diving that would change. The day before, we had gone diving in a reef very close to docs, and we were also able to spot a turtle sleeping between two corals. 

On this day, we would be going for an open sea dive. Upon hearing this, I am pretty sure there was a big smile adorning my face, and with all the basics done, we got ready to board the boat, once again an afternoon dive. 

The boat ride was a quiet one, as I tried to catch up on some sleep. There were no waves, so the boat did not jump on the water, leading to a peaceful ride. We changed into our gear and were ready to go by the time we reached the dive site. They had told us to walk into the water with a straight body facing upwards. My mom did not understand this, and it resulted in five people telling her how to do so, each in a slightly varied manner. Annoyed at the time she was wasting, I had half a mind to go there and push her into the water, but thankfully, she did it herself. 

As I entered the water, the first thing my brain registered was the icy cold sensation in my legs. I dove down with Manchu, and as we kept going, I just couldn't see the reefs. Manchu was frantically looking around for the corals, and after a couple of minutes, we rose back to the surface. After asking the boat captain about the distance of the reef, we dove back down. About four meters under, my ears started paining. Something similar happened to Sia yesterday. The techniques that we had to employ were not working, and the pain increased as we went down. A cold feeling of dread had settled on me. I vaguely remember asking myself, "Is this how it's going to end?". We went to the surface for me to clear my ear, and after a few frantic tries and some screaming from my end, it finally cleared. Relieved at this clearance, I gave Manchu the ok sign, and we headed down. As we headed lower, I was in awe of the wildlife that surrounded us. The fishes at the reef had various, but they paled in comparison to the ones in front of me. All around us, I could see schools of fish swimming by, all different from the other. Blue-black ones, small white fishes, clownfish, big yellow ones, you name it, and they were there. I was amazed to see that all these fishes were living in harmony with each other. The sharks we saw passing by did not trouble the fish and instead moved on without giving them a thought. The dive itself lasted around half an hour, but it felt like much more, with everything we saw and experienced. I will always be grateful to my parents for taking us on such expeditions. As we got back up on the boat, I boasted to Sia about what she missed out on and such. I had to do that, considering that she nearly spoiled my first dive. As the boat took us back to the hotel, we shared details about what each of us saw and did, and unsurprisingly, I was the only one to see the shark. 

The next couple of days passed by in a blur. Not much happened in them and, the pattern was almost the same. Eat, water, sleep, and repeat. Snorkeling was always interesting as we were sure to find something new and unique. However, with the amount of snorkeling we did, it got boring and repetitive. The only highlight of the next few days was that Sia went and did Scuba diving and finally understood why Mom and dad were pushing her to do it. 

The Maldives is a magnificent country, and our hotel just made it better. Sun Siyam was a brilliant place to stay, and I had a lot of fun in the hotel. The only drawback in such an area is the food. My family is vegetarian, and there are fewer options in a coastal place such as the Maldives. 

We left the Maldives on the third of November. I wish we didn't have to go but, duty calls. In less than a day, we would be flying again, this time to Ranchi. All in all, it was a wonderfully relaxing holiday.