His Experiences with Higher Power - Part 2

His soul keeps him running, his body quit a few miles back……….

“Its sometimes not important how deep you dive, but how long you can stay there….in spite of the cold, in spite of the anxiety, in spite of the fears…. Sometimes magic happens when you don’t give up, even though you want to…..Since the universe always falls in Love with a stubborn heart”

Prelude

He lay on the hospital bed and called up his fiance. She heard his voice choke, when he said “ I will not quit, no matter what”. They got court married in Nov 2006 and the traditional Bengali-Oriya cocktail marriage was planned in early 2007. But he wanted to accomplish what he started preparing for a few years back. The coveted underwater diving course……supposed to be one of the most prestigious and physically strenuous courses in the Armed Forces. He asked his would be father-in-law to postpone the marriage date so that he could complete this exhausting course before he got married.

It was quite a while since , he was preparing for this course. He remembered his school days when he was so afraid of water , that once he desperately cried for help , when his school friends unwittingly pushed him in a pool of water which was just knee deep. He was dead scared of water. He tried hard to learn swimming at the age of 19, just before he got a joining letter from the Armed Forces. His conscientious practice in a small pool in Pune, where he was undergoing his graduation prior to joining the forces, made him remove his deep fears for water. Destiny got him to a service which involved water and water all around. He spent his first midterm break in the training academy as a result of failing in the swimming test, when most of his course mates were enjoying holiday trips. He wished to become like few of his course mates who were already trained swimmers when they had joined the training academy in 1999. Finally after more than an year of training, he cleared his swimming test. He fondly remembers one of his seniors teaching him how to swim by breathing in and out in a bucket filled with water. Next stage – he had to learn to jump in the water from 10 ft high stand and also float with his hands up. With constant encouragement from his division mates (they bond themselves as Delta Devils…!!)) he managed to take part in a swimming competition in 2003. He was so nervous before he started, especially when his division mates teased him that if he would drown in the pool they would distribute all his belongings equally😊 Since then there was no looking back and he went on to take part in lake swimming and sea swimming and triathlons. Though he was not amongst the best, he was happy that he could swim……Now he wanted to dive deep!!

Although he volunteered and joined a service which essentially was meant to venture deep underwater, he always dreamt of becoming a deep sea diver where he alone could dive deep in the water wearing the fins and breathing mask. But clearing the course was no mean feat. He practiced and practiced and ran with weights tied on his ankles, swam with fins and tried to float in water wearing bags filled with sand . Such was his obsession that whenever he used to come to meet his fiance in Pune, he never forgot his fins so that he could continue his practice along with his romance!!!!

Diving Course

He got selected for the course and went for his training in Jul 2007. He underwent all the taxing tasks happily since this is what he had dreamt of. Sweating, pushing his body beyond the limits…..He used to call his fiance twice or thrice in a day and excitedly update her. How he mixed the raw egg yolks into milk and the banana shakes and dal full of desi ghee , every day to keep him going. Everything was fine until one day he felt excruciating pain in his right ear whilst diving. It was 15 Aug 2007 and he reported to his unit hospital , as the pain was getting unbearable. The specialist was called and he was admitted urgently. Prima facie it seemed an eardrum rupture but investigations revealed that an infection was caused due to excessive sinusitis which was spreading and could lead to threatening complications. This is what the ENT specialist told him. The doc also advised that any delay in treatment could lead to an impending hearing loss or brain infection – like cerebral abscess. He was told to relinquish his course, get operated asap and go back to his unit. Tears filled his eyes. He was assured that he would be recalled for the next course but he knew it was rather impossible. If he went back, apart from the feeling of a quitter (which would have been a pragmatic and intelligent decision for any sane person) it would have been difficult to come back for the course for two main reasons – He perhaps could not be spared from his unit again due to service exigencies and he could not delay his marriage any further.

He lay on the hospital bed and called up his fiance. She heard his voice choke when he said “ I will not quit, no matter what”. He didn’t want to go back. He fought with himself. Although a responsible son always, he didn’t even listen to his parents when they asked him to come back. When his father in law (a serving Army doctor then) asked him whether this course was more important or his daughter soon to be this fellow’s wife, he replied “I can keep your daughter happy with one operational ear too”……He confessed to his fiance who as usual, motivated and supported him to give a last try as he wished but not to go that extra mile which would cause any permanent damage. But deep within her heart she knew that he would go any length to achieve his goal. She prayed. She had no other choice.

He literally begged the doctor to discharge him from the hospital since he could not be absent from the course beyond certain duration (4/5 days). He gave in writing that the doctors were not responsible if anything unwarranted happened. Though the doctors discharged him, they didn’t give him a “Fit to Dive” certificate which was mandatory to continue with the course , since he was actually not fit to dive in that condition. He left the hospital and went to a civil doctor to take second opinion. This one too said the same. But this doc gave a second option looking at his desperation – PRAYERS…..which didn’t seem quite convincing to this boy. Nevertheless, he had no choice and he decided to try PRAYING. So he chanted , for the first time in his life - Hanuman Chalisa, as his family said that the monkey God is “Sankat Mochan – the one who eradicates pain, suffering and sorrow. His mother had come down to convince him to leave the course and go back. But he wouldn’t. His buddy, his room partner (an year junior to him) who held his hand throughout the course told him “ Sir ek baar try karte hain, dekhte hain kya bolenge diving school vale. Kal chalte hain. I am always with you”. That was what he needed at that moment. He owes a big time to him (Buddies in a diving course are one who do all crazy things there in pairs – like carrying each other on back and running, finning together in the sea, buddy diving for rescue in emergency.

Next day morning he reached at usual time for morning run much to everyone’s surprise (except his buddy of course). He literally begged the instructors to disregard his medical condition and give him one more chance. The deal was that if he does not clear any test or task – he would pack off his bags and report to his parent unit. They agreed. He came first in all events that day. The instructors had observed him during the first few weeks of the course before this sudden medical condition . So they knew he wouldn’t give up.

The last few weeks of the course revealed a new dimension in his life. His body didn’t support much. His ears pained and many a times he felt like quitting. But he remembered reciting Hanuman Chalisa every single time before every single task and every morning and every night he slept. He was subjected to long hours of diving just to test his tenacity. His mother lived with him those few weeks to support him. His fiance and rest of his family kept motivating him and secretly prayed to keep him safe.

He reached the day when he had to do the final sea dive. He dived 35 meters, touched bottom of the sea bed and rose up thanking God every single moment. He was an atheist hitherto. He realized that some things when go beyond human power, a Higher power can make it possible. He developed faith not only in himself but also in the higher power. This was his first interaction with God.

He went to a temple straight after successful culmination of the course. Its been almost 11 years now that he shares a special relation with Lord Hanuman who kept him going…..though his body had quit.