The Day when i almost Died - July 17th 2009

Lalith Krishna Prasad Chintamaneni 1982- 2009 (almost).

There is a history for July 17th 2009 to be my most unforgettable day. I was about 8 yrs old when I first stepped into a swimming pool with an inflated "ceat" tube around my waist. I seemed to have taken to waters pretty easily; i loved the idea of floating in water and moving from point A to point B. All was well until the day I started doing back strokes and my guide was impressed and he said "Back strokes eh??? you seem to have learnt how to swim pretty fast. Surely then you are ready to swim without your tube from tomorrow". Not realising how difficult it could get i reached the pool next day all set to dive in. Well it was on that day I was introduced to panic in water. I gulped and gasped but never swam. I could not get myself back to my swimming classes after that day. I Chickened out!!!

I believe me chickening out on my biggest challenge till that day did have a significant impact in my life. Since then I always had this desire to prove that I am not scared of water and that I am brave enough to tackle water. At every opportunity available I was keen to get into water and fight my fear. I wanted to be one up. I wanted to Win!

There were instances where every visit to chennai always had a ceremonial visit to marina beach with my frens (shakti, vini, tuhin, arjun, priyanka). I used to stand on the beach far enough to allow sea water to reach my ankles. The sight of waves coming in touching your feet and the distant horizon always made me feel that the sea is inviting me to its home on the horizon. Even today i am at peace when on a beach staring at the horizon. All I wanted is to be able to swim in ocean as far as i can. It was just a thought and I used to feel guilty of it at times as it sounds bloody suicidal. It’s since then my random adventures with sea have begun to prove a point that i am no chicken!

Random Adventure 1 (Bay of Bengal): Me, shakti, tuhin, vini, priyanka, arjun have gone to a resort to Mahabs. True to our adventure spirit when we heard that we can go into deep waters in fishing boat we jumped into one. 4 kms away from the mainland they asked if we would like to get into water. We were strapped in life jackets and they have long rope to which we were supposed to hold on to. My rational brain said nothing could go wrong so I jumped into the sea. There was a heavy current on that day and we were drifting away at a mad pace. Besides being pushed by the current, the abyss below and the uncertainty was unnerving. Thanks to education on TV I was always at a lookout for a "large fin" sticking out of the water. Nothing indeed went wrong on the day but the experience itself was quite frightening.

Random Adventure 2 (Indian Ocean): Well my laziness had eclipsed my desire to learn swimming but thanks to Adarsh who used to drag me to Jumeirah beach in Dubai for swimming on every weekend I learnt a bit, which can get me 10mts at best from any point. My swimming guide was boney who himself can only manage 20 mts at best. I used to try real hard to learn how to swim and it was extremely exhausting. One such weekend I was trying out my new lesson “to float in water.” All i had to do was to hold my breath and ease my body pressure so that the water pushes you up. I managed to float eventually but failed to notice i was drifting away from shallow waters. I couldn stand with my head above water, i had a minor panic attack but managed to swim to safety. Since then I was not as keen to hit the beach again as I was before.

Random Adventure 3 (My Swimming Pool): I have used our common swimming pool in our apt only twice before July 17th in last 4 mths. Since i am underutlising the facilities i decided to hit the pool every day. It was a lazy summer afternoon at 5 pm i was alone on the terrace in the pool. I was practicing my usual half baked swimming lessons for about 20 min and then thought of trying something new, something i have seen lil kids do. They float upright in water by constantly moving their hands and legs. Since I can’t achieve that at shallow end of the pool i inched to the deeper end. The moment i didnt feel the bottom of pool i started panicking and instead of trying to swim to safety i was struggling in water franctically moving my hands and legs. The first thought which came to my mind "Fuck i am drowning!!!"; Panic panic and more panic! In next 3 seconds i struggled enough to resurface for a brief moment above water and then "glug glug glug" water forced its way into my throat and the next second i was under water again. I could feel the pressure building around my nostrils and on my chest almost coercing me to open my mouth. I struggled even harder but was not able to resurface. Luckily i had my swimming gogs on and i opened my eyes to see the nearest border. It was to my left, i tried swimming under water towards it. I kept saying to myself "You are not going to die. You can reach it. You can reach it!". I thought i almost reached and with one last stroke i will be safe but it was not the case. Crazy it might sound at that time "refraction Theory" came to my mind. Immediately followed another thought "Oh Fuck this is not as close as it seems, i am going to die!!!" I almost gave up but I tried one last time. Three more panic strokes and I lunged putting all my weight in my fourth one when i reached the border and pulled myself out that very instant. Coughing, panting and shaking i put my head down lying on the floor and cursed myself "Foolish bastard!!!”

I have realised that the thin line of bravery and foolishness was crossed. I was surprised by the number of thoughts which came to my mind in those 20 secs. I was intimidated by my pool exposing my weakness to an extent i hardly wish to encounter again. I came very close to accept that i am going to die that instant. I came very close to give up HOPE! But i didnt. So i have also realised that i can fight my way through difficult situations and i will not sit and die with out one final battle.

Well I am a sore loser and i swore to myself that i will hit the pool everyday (Shallow end) and learn to swim better. Since yesterday i buried myself in my bath tub 3 times to able to hold my breath longer.

July 17th 2009 - A day when my random foolishness nearly killed me.