from the hydrophobic s mouth

OK the day is may 14th i had just finished my project viva the previous day and was looking forward to a long lazy n blissful vacations. after two days of doing total lukkhagiri boredom started creeping in . just then an absurd thought came to my mind why not join a swimming class. despite knowledge of my high levels of water phobia i decided to take the plunge and after all it was the summer and in the scorching heat of aamchi Mumbai what could be better than to soak oneself in the cool pool water. so there i was on the 15th of may all set to start this new activity. excited enough i bought my self a new costume and some other accessories. finally there i am on the 17th the day when the classes begin . all we were asked to do in the beginning was kick the water holding the water holding a bar.at first it seems fun kicking the water .it actually felt like kicking the annoying fellow passenger in the train who refuses to allow you to stand, sit or sometimes even breathe or that monstrous boss. a very good way to vent out your frustration . at this point the author is enjoying the kicking unaware of the challenges ahead . so we kick and kick .then ............. the instructor announces that we need to go to the far end of the pool which is around 8 feet deep and need to jump from the diving board( for those of you at complete ease with this skill and are born fishes and who believe i cud write on something better than how i learnt to swim here is some information: this article is from a Hydrophobic s MOUTH) . Anyways we are taken to the other side of the pool . despite pleading with the instructor to grant me clemency, despite explaining to her calmly and rationally that i had yet to learn to swim even in the smaller pool i was pushed in to the water . then as i was in the water i believe i drank my quota of water for the next four days .
however suddenly my survival instincts took force . my legs and hands started kicking and pushing and i could reach a bar . my heartbeat went up to 120 and i took an oath never to go to that swimming class again.
however after some serious deliberations i decided i would go at least another three days before ........
so the next day i go to the same place(the dreaded other end of the pool) coz there's no choice. (now i know what those poor slaves felt like at those suicide points) . i am pushed again. i go down. drink lots of water . but unlike the previous time no survival instincts this time. my head comes up and i can feel the water pulling me back . i shout at the top of my voice "help" "bachao"(exaggerated at will) . then the instructor out of mercy throws a float at me.
i felt like a complete failure. as my peers completed the above said task with ease i watched them with envy and dismay. darn!! may be i was destined to a be a terrestrial all my life and could never graduate to be an amphibian.
already into the tenth day of the 15 day camp any possibility of learning something from this venture seemed dim.
but the fact is whether it was the 7th day or 15th day being pushed in to the water was done with alarming regularity.
so a certain Ms Swathy Swaminathan needed to do something...
the nightmare enveloped her ......
one became desperate...........
OK now don't laugh............
i actually pull up a chair in front of the bedroom mirror and start kicking my legs and hands franctically reliving the entire experience....
then the impossible happens..
the next day mademoiselle can swim and within the next five days is actually enjoying the exercise......
i get excited and enroll myself for yearly membership....
but then can life be so straight ........???
thanx to it being a drought year and the water cuts the pool has been closed for the last 7 weeks .chances of it being open in 2009 also seem remote . my body has become stiff and i remember vaguely what i did to stay afloat .........
so now i wonder when the pool starts again(which i hope it does)...... will i have to...........???
OH NO!!!!
P S: Excuse the grammar
P S: the views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors' and are not the general views of any person,religion,organisation or community and any resemblance to views expressed by any of the above persons or groups is purely coincidental