Harumi Mima

Author: harumi_mima

  • The Boy & the Horse

    At the age of five, Hiroshi wanted a big brother. “If I had a big brother I would tell him all my problems and I’m sure he would be able to fix them,” he told his parents. His parents instead gave him a horse on his 6th birthday. Not to worry though, it was one that didn’t need a stable. “Mommy and daddy have made it for you,” his mom told him with a smile. Hiroshi made his eyes sparkle as he held the polished wooden horse that was slightly too big to fit into the six-year-old’s tiny hands. “You’re my big brother from today!” he told the horse.
    The horse was named Taro and was twenty years old. Hiroshi knew this because he asked the horse.
    “Since you’re my big brother I must know your name,” Hiroshi told Taro. Now he spoke for Taro, “my name is Taro, I’m delighted to be your brother!” He made the wooden horse bob on its spot as he spoke for it.
    “Taro-kun!” Hiroshi beamed, now speaking for himself, “that’s a wonderful name, it means the eldest son. Now I must know your age too Taro-kun.”
    “My age is twenty,” the horse bobbed up and down. Hiroshi didn’t even know his own age then nor did he know what it meant to be twenty. Twenty was simply a number he had learnt to count up to in school and he thought it was cool.
    Hiroshi started taking Taro-kun to kindergarten. He knew it wasn’t allowed. He took the horse with him regardless and talked to it during playtime.
    “Come play cars with us,” the other boys told him. Hiroshi pretended not to hear and continued playing with Taro-kun.
    “What a weirdo,” they told him and left. The other boys made their cars fly and do somersaults. Hiroshi made Taro-kun fly and do somersaults.
    Although there was more space to play in school, there was no better playground for them than Hiroshi’s own room.
    “Let’s go to the mountains and pluck some mushrooms,” Hiroshi told Taro-kun and made the horse take a huge leap and land on his bed, “ta-da! We have arrived!” He exclaimed.
    “Watch for the colourful mushrooms, they are the nasty ones,” Taro-kun warned.
    “What will happen if you eat one?”
    “You will start giggling endlessly; so much so that eventually you will die by choking on your own laughter,” the horse nodded assuredly.
    “That sounds fun but scary,” Hiroshi said and began picking up the crazy balls that he had scattered on his bed. After they were done collecting mushrooms they shifted back to the carpet which they had decided was the ‘Freedom Island’, the island in which Hiroshi ruled. They had to come to the island by boat as the flooring between the carpet and the bed was the sea. Once on the island they made their way back to Hiroshi’s desk which was supposedly home. It was where their adventures always began.
    On that particular day, when his mother called for dinner, Hiroshi told her that he was already done.

    When he began going to elementary school, Hiroshi still wanted to take Taro-kun along, but Taro-kun couldn’t go to school like him because he was a wooden horse.
    “You can’t bring toys to school,” Mrs.Yanagi told him when he took Taro-kun with him. He didn’t like her. One day she asked the whole class to draw their hero. The other boys drew Ultraman, One Punch Man and all the other ‘mans’ that existed. Hiroshi drew Taro-kun.
    “Hey what is that?” the other boys asked him.
    “Taro-kun,” Hiroshi mumbled.
    “What? Who?”
    “It’s my horse.”
    “A horse?! What can a horse do?” One of them said, “hey, that thing is wooden,” another one of them guessed from the drawing. “What can a wooden horse even do?” “Hiroshi’s such a sissy,” they said and left. They flapped around their papers before them as if the papers were their heroes.
    Hiroshi gave his drawing a last touch of pastel and went to show it to Mrs.Yanagi. She looked at the drawing and then at him from above her reading glasses, then back at the drawing.
    “What is this?” She asked.
    “Taro-kun.” He replied.
    “Who?”
    “It’s my horse.”
    “Horse?” She asked as if to confirm whether she heard him right, “oh, uh-huh, okay,” she adjusted her glasses as if she missed something major on the paper and returned the drawing to him. That day he walked home dispirited, kicking each pebble on the way.
    “At school everybody thinks you’re useless,” Hiroshi complained to Taro-kun, “I wanted to punch them all so hard, but I didn’t.”
    “That’s Hiroshi for you!” Taro-kun exclaimed bounding, “you should shove your fists in your pocket whenever you feel like punching someone.” It was what Hiroshi’s mother had told him once. He liked it. He thought it was cool.

    Now that Hiroshi couldn’t take Taro-kun to school, he found a new way around it. The wooden horse wasn’t there by his side but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hold any conversations with him. Whenever he closed his eyes and would call for him, Taro-kun would always be there.
    “How do you think the letter ‘wo’ is written?” Hiroshi whispered to Taro-kun during class. Mrs.Yanagi had given them a Japanese alphabet test. Hiroshi remembered that the letter ‘wo’ (を) was very complicated.
    “It’s the one that looked like a worm popping out of an apple,” Taro-kun whispered back.
    “Ah yes, that one!” Hiroshi slowly wrote ‘を’ but he wrote it the other way around. He stopped and frowned at it. “Which way was the worm coming out of the apple?”
    “I think you got it right. But I suggest you try flipping it to see if that clicks better,” Taro-kun said.
    “Hiroshi!” Mrs.Yanagi shouted, she was glaring at him from above her reading glasses, “you’re disturbing the others.” Hiroshi eyed her sulkily and looked down at his paper. Indeed the worm coming out of the other side clicked better, so he left it as that. He thought he should go back home and report it to Taro-kun.
    Once home, he complained to the horse, “Mrs.Yanagi still had a problem although I didn’t take you to school!”
    “Well, technically you were at an advantage during the test,” Taro-kun replied.
    “No, I think she’s jealous that we’re having so much fun!” Now he was fired-up to find new ways around this problem.
    Hiroshi quickly picked up his alphabet so that he could try his new strategy. In grammar class he hid a paper under his desk. He caught a moment when Mrs.Yanagi was looking away.
    “Hey, you there?” He wrote on the paper.
    “Ne—igh!” Taro-kun answered. Hiroshi was overjoyed. He eyed Mrs.Yanagi.
    “She hasn’t a clue!!” He wrote.
    “Yippie!!!” Taro-kun replied. Hiroshi’s strategy was a success. He enjoyed it so much that he even wrote when he was home with Taro-kun.

    When Hiroshi was 12, he still wrote dialogues but he had begun interacting with different characters; rather he observed them interact with each other. He was the mastermind who could control them as he wanted. He could make them laugh, cry, dance and even kiss and marry! He enjoyed the power he had.
    The first ever character that occupied his mind and wasn’t Taro-kun was Goro. He was an elephant. He was wooden too. Then came Emi. She was a rabbit with silky black fur. He realized that they didn’t all have to be wooden. And then came a kangaroo and then a parrot. Then there was Akane. She was a space-explorer. He realized they didn’t all have to be animals either. And then there came Hibito, Chiyo, Eiji, Hiro… Finally there were so many that he abandoned them whenever he grew bored of them. He filled notebook after notebook with their stories.
    At the age of 14, Hiroshi’s family decided to shift houses. The notebooks that he had filled when he was 12 were discarded, he didn’t mind it too much. He filled new ones with better stories. When Hiroshi was clearing his room, he found the box in which he had stored all his old toys. It was full of legos, colourful blocks, foam puzzles and balls of all sorts. Among them, he found the wooden horse. He paused for a moment, then picked up the box by its handles.
    “Mo-m, you can throw these out too,” he called out and dumped the box on the pile of notebooks that he had kept out in the corridor.
    By the time Hiroshi was 17, he had written a few novellas. He had posted some of them on several online platforms. He had readers now! He would wake up at five in the morning and would rush to his computer to check whether any comments came in overnight about his stories and characters. He would reply to each and every one of them, even when he didn’t have much to say.
    “Why don’t you try participating in a contest?” His mother asked him one day while he was having dinner. He looked up to her, unblinking. The corners of his lips slowly lifted up to form a wide grin. He gulped his food down and locked himself up in his room.
    A month later, when he checked his inbox an email had arrived. The mail read ‘congratulations!’ in huge letters. He had won five hundred thousand yen. That day he was the one to treat his parents.
    “You should try publishing Hiro!” his father grabbed his shoulder tight and said.
    “You’re thinking too far ahead, dad!” Hiroshi complained and they all laughed.
    That day, while Hiroshi was at the cash register he dropped his phone. The device’s screen cracked. At that point, Hiroshi had no idea that things had started going wrong.

    Hiroshi struggled to put the full stop at the end of the sentence that he wrote by expending every ounce of energy. He had trouble remembering the events as he penned them. The tears were helplessly flowing down his cheeks but he was unable to wipe them away. When he had received his medical report six months ago, he had desperately wished that it was a mistake. He had read it over and over to make sure he was reading it right:

    Patient name: Kitamura Hiroshi
    Sex: male
    Age: 18
    Ward no: 37

    Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease patient (CJD)

    Although his memory had started failing him, only this he remembered as if he had read yesterday.

    Hiroshi still made an effort to write, although his hand went all over the place, so that his muscles didn’t forget how to move. With effort, Hiroshi turned his head and looked out of the window. The sky was clear and as blue as it could be. The warm summer light was showering through the window, tingling Hiroshi’s cheeks. The cicadas were crying loudly outside. He wished to be anywhere else under the sun but in this hospital bed. He knew a way around this problem. He closed his eyes and he was in a field. Yellow fields as far as his eyes could reach.
    Hiroshi expanded his lungs and took in the sweet earthy smell around him. He felt someone approaching from behind. He turned.
    “Long time,” Taro-kun told him.
    Hiroshi widened his eyes, “You look lovely,” he said with a smile. Taro-kun who stood in front of him wasn’t wooden anymore. He realized that he didn’t have to be. He was tall with a vibrant chestnut coat. When Hiroshi looked at his horse more closely, his smile faded, “why do you have so many scars?”
    “This is what they have done to me after I left your side,” Taro-kun told him, “I was taken in by another family.” Taro-kun lowered his head. “I feel abandoned,” he whimpered. Hiroshi noticed that his hooves had grown so much that it curled in, grazing the skin on his shin and his ribs were jutting out from malnutrition.
    “I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault. That must have been painful.” Hiroshi sympathized, “but it’s okay, we have our strategy,” he said with a smile returning to his face. He blinked and Taro-kun’s scars were gone, making his coat shimmer and his hooves were primly trimmed in shape, “see?”
    The horse neighed delightedly, “we always have our way around things, don’t we?” he brushed his muzzle against Hiroshi’s cheek making the boy giggle. “Now we should find a way to take you out of that filthy bed so that Mrs.Yanagi doesn’t find you there.”
    “Yup,” Hiroshi replied.
    “Let’s make a dash to the end of the wheat fields! I bet she won’t follow us till there.” The horse kicked in preparation. Hiroshi tried to run but something jerked him backward. He spun around to see. The hospital’s IV tubings and the electrocardiogram’s cords were all entangled around his arms. He looked at Taro-kun helplessly.
    “Can’t they be taken out?” Taro-kun asked.
    Hiroshi yanked one of the cords out, then he did it for another. It was easy. He tore them all out.
    “I’m free now,” he grinned at his horse and broke into a sprint. The horse galloped beside him.They ran beyond the fields, Hiroshi gritted his teeth and beat his legs as fast as he could, his head tilted back and the wind gushed against his face. He saw a door far ahead. It looked familiar. He strode towards it then tore it open. On the other side was his old room.
    Hiroshi walked in slowly. A familiar smell filled his lungs. He put his hand on the bed. The crazy balls were still scattered on the mountain-side. He looked at his Freedom Island then his eyes slowly drifted up to his desk. Taro-kun was home. He walked over to it and gently picked up the wooden horse. He brushed the dust off it.
    “Let’s go harvest some mushrooms from the mountains!” He said.
    “Watch for the colourful ones,” Taro-kun replied.
    Hiroshi walked back out into the fields and closed the door behind him.

    On the hospital bed Hiroshi’s body lay limp. His mother cried by his bed, hugging him tight and the ECG monitor displayed three flat lines, motionless.

  • It Was a Dark & Stormy Night

    It was a dark and stormy night. The scrabble tiles lay scattered on the floor, half lit by the candlelight and Shomir’s hands were on Kittu’s neck. “I swear I won’t speak a word about it,” Kittu choked under the pressure of his roommate’s hands that gripped even tighter. “Let go,” he croaked, “I thought we were friends.”
    Bipin and Bashu who were the only other two in the dark room pounced on Shomir and ripped his hands off Kittu’s neck, throwing him on the ground and leaving the other boy coughing and gasping for air. “Dude, you’ll kill him too,” Bipin hissed. The candlelight flickered. The room fell silent and for a few seconds it was just the drumming of the loud rain ringing in their ears.
    Shomir buried his face in his hands, “it’s over, it’s all over,” he whimpered and made himself as small as he could. Bashu was inching towards the door. “Stop it Bashu,” Kittu told his roommate and then looked at Shomir, “it’s not over yet.”
    Kittu slowly stood up. He walked over to Shomir, extended his hand to rest it on Shomir’s shoulder, hesitated for a moment and picked up the scrabble tiles beside him instead. Bipin who was still standing on guard knelt beside Kittu and began collecting the tiles with him. Kittu eyed Bashu who then joined them hesitantly. Shomir had diminished himself into no more than a trembling lump in the room. His shadow on the wall towered over him as if it would gobble him up. It wavered violently as the candle’s flame quivered.

    Kittu thought about 2 years ago, when they were all still university freshmen. When he had come to live in the chummery, it was already Bipin and Bashu’s third month there. Their daily lunch and dinner used to be rice, dal and some fried vegetables easily cooked on a portable gas stove that Bashu had got from some second-hand dealer. Bashu was an expert at getting hold of deals and stuff. He made their university life a little bit easier and definitely more fun. Occasionally on weekends, they used to eat out and drink if they had saved up enough on their monthly spendings.
    On some weekends, it used to be the cinema. Bashu always used to get hold of the tickets from somewhere and came back beaming, waving the tickets above his head. Bipin and Kittu were always delighted to tag along.
    It was in Kittu’s second month with Bipin and Bashu that Shomir entered the chummery. They were all excited to welcome their new comrade in their chummery life. The more the merrier, they thought. He seemed to enjoy the food that was made but was never the one to cook on the portable stove. The three did not mind. They always saw Shomir seated at his desk, checking his wristwatch every ten minutes or so, he would either be doing the extra economics assignments or would be reading a really fat book with tiny fonts or there would be times he would just stare out of his window, in which case the three of them left some lunch aside for him without calling him to eat.
    Shomir never came along when they dined out. The first and last time they had asked him, his reply was simply “no, I’m good,” and then he would adjust his wristwatch. The same went for the cinemas although Bashu always got an extra ticket for him.
    For the holidays, they would save up and even ask their families whether they could go on trips. For the trip to Darjeeling, Shomir said he would stay back and he remained all alone in the chummery. As for the last semester’s break, in which they planned to go to the Sundarbans, Shomir had said he would return home to meet his family.
    Shomir lost his parents during the break in an accident. One fine Sunday, when his three roommates were idling about in the lounge of the chummery, he had come up to them. Kittu remembered the moment. All three of them had stared at him blankly, waiting for what was going to come. Shomir had never really walked up to them before. The statement came and they all exclaimed in dismay. Shomir stood still and heard what they had to say. When they were done, he turned and walked back to his desk, rubbing his watch that was always on his wrist.
    Their daily cooking had gradually started becoming more creative with occasional fish curry or at times they would try to make noodles on the small gas stove. Shomir had offered to cook one day. Kittu almost choked on his own spit, Bipin dropped the bowl he held and Bashu exclaimed, “it will snow today!”
    “I had learnt to cook from my mother,” Shomir had said, “she was a chef in the house.” The first day he had ever cooked for them, he made them burnt chapattis. “Shomir’s ma please come back! Your son needs more cooking lessons!” They had joked. Shomir laughed at that.
    From then on, he joined his roommates for the dinners outside and went with them to the cinemas. He said he went with his parents too. “I had even gone to the huge cinema halls in Bombay where my dad used to work,” he had said. When they had gone out to dine at the tiny canteen called Mama’s Kitchen, Shomir boasted about his trip to Agra. “I had eaten the most delicious dinners when we had stayed in the Taj hotel” he had said. When the four of them were cramped up in an autorickshaw and were going around town he told them about his dad’s BMW. “We used to go for great rides,” he had said regretfully. Shomir’s dad seemed to have been a rich man. It must have been a great loss for him, they had thought then.
    Kittu’s hand stopped picking up the tiles. It hit the floor instead, forming a fist. He wished the storm had never come and wished the powercut had never happened. He wished Bashu hadn’t brought out the scrabbles out of nowhere like he always used to do with things, maybe he should have summoned a few more candles or some torches instead. Then maybe he could have finished his pending assignments and Bashu and Bipin theirs. Shomir could have continued reading another of his big fat books like he always used to do. And he wished that Shomir hadn’t forgotten to wear his wristwatch that night, under which he had been hiding an ugly scar all along.
    “I-it’s a dog bite!” Shomir had stammered pulling his hand back immediately after he had placed his last tile on the grid. ‘Family,’ the tiles spelled. “Tch,” Kittu had clicked his tongue, placing his brow in his hand and shaking his head. Then he looked straight into his friend’s eyes. “Tell me the truth, that is no dog bite,” he had said calmly. Shomir clenched his jaw but had kept his expression unchanged. “How can you tell?” He asked. His face was half hidden in the dim candlelight. Bipin and Bashu watched the both of them intently with knitted brows. Shomir squeezed his wrist harder. The downpour of the rain had seemed louder in their ears.
    “It’s a cigarette mark,” Kittu had replied slowly, “isn’t it?” He had realized then that Shomir’s dad had never had any jobs in Bombay. There had never been any cinema halls, luxury hotels nor any BMWs. In reality, there had never been any accidents at all. “How did you kill your dad?” He asked quietly. “Or did you do them both?” Bipin and Bashu sat wide-eyed and Shomir had pounced across the scrabble board.

    Kittu let out a long, deep sigh. He stood, walked across to where Shomir still hunched himself over. “Shomir,” he called out. The candlelight flickered and the roar of the rain had never seemed louder. Shomir looked up at last to the ugly scar that wasn’t on his own wrist but on his friend’s bare stomach.

  • Temple Reef Dive with Maya & Amrita – 24/2/2025

    I descended slowly with Maya as she was underweighted due to which she had some trouble descending. Later Amrita came back up to help and we went down together.

    This time I saw 4 Aluterus scriptus at around 6m near the line! They were pecking at a single jellyfish from all 4 sides forming a cross. They were all around 30cm big.

    The vis at the surface was worse due to tiny particles in the water but the vis at the bottom was a lot better than the previous days (8-10m). As soon as we came down Amrita’s 1st stage started to bubble. She immediately went to the instructor who was nearby to see what’s wrong and if it could be fixed underwater although he didn’t understand and pointed to the boat. Amrita decided to go back up and change her tank as the pressure was already 60 bars. She asked us to stay close and ascended.

    Maya spotted a shrimpgoby with a shrimp taking sand out of its hole. They were one of the most adorable things I ever saw. As I approached to film it though, the shrimp backed off into its hole and the goby also tensed up. I remained prone on the sand patiently with the camera. Slowly the two relaxed and the shrimp continued with its work.

    Harumi Mima
    Amrita Pie

    From one of the openings among the debris I could see a portion of the big honeycomb moray and while I was trying to film the partially visible body, the massive head loomed out from the hole on the other end of its den. I looked at it and filmed it for a while taking circles around it and so did Amrita.

    Harumi Mima
    Amrita Pie

    We went to the beer garden and then to the parking lot. While I was taking rounds near the parking lot, Amrita signaled to come. Maya and Amrita had found a ghost net stuck into the metal structure. There were many Odonus niger and another brown species of triggerfish stuck in it. I took out my knife and began cutting the nets while Amrita tore with her hands. As for the triggerfish, Maya and Amrita held the fish for me while I carefully cut off the strings. We released 5 to 6 of them.

    Amrita Pie

    While releasing one of them alone as the other two were busy removing the nets but I was holding the camera in one hand so it was pretty difficult. I ended up cutting my finger slightly. I didn’t pay much attention to it but all of a sudden I was taken aback by a blackish green gash where I got the cut. Immediately I realised that it was just blood that appeared green due to the absorption of colour and I was relieved.

    We wanted to release one last fish but Maya was at 60 bars so we decided to ascend and release it at the stop.

    As planned we released the triggerfish at the stop and then ascended.

  • New Pier 24/10/2024

    Another message from Shilpin saying ‘very very clear’ arrived. I wanted to dive as soon as I got free but Ameya insisted that each of us should carry a dive knife and he bought two kitchen knives. To carry them, he made the both of us one knife strap.

    We hurried and got into the water at 3pm and found out the water was tremendously clear. As good or better than the first day since the green colour caused by the Pedinomonas noctiluca was completely gone and the water was blue.

    The barracuda were back but this time with the school of catfish. I wanted to linger there longer but we didn’t have time. The water was choppy and the horizon looked dark with storm clouds. We moved towards the ring. 

    The Gymnothorax meleagris was gone but the other juvenile eels were there. I quickly went over to check the honeycomb moray’s hangout, at the cement block near the internal pillars. It was gone too. Maybe it was still at the pier but it had just shifted spots.

    We went to the eastern ring and while we were diving, two 20cm trevally zoomed past the ring. Both Ameya and I exclaimed with joy. Their glittering silver bodies that cut through the water effortlessly looked elegant and awe-inspiring.

  • New Pier 23/10/2024

    It wasn’t as clear as the previous dive but the visibility was by no means poor. Although it was a day’s difference there was a huge change at the pier. There were no barracuda in sight in the center portion of the pier unfortunately but there was a huge school of catfish instead. Later Ameya found a barracuda but I couldn’t see it. When we checked the barge to see if the blue triggerfish were still there (Odonus niger), they had already abandoned the place… I doubt there are any fish that feed on them.

    At the ring, we saw a new visitor. It was a huge eel right at the cavity on top of the ring so it was visible even from the surface. It was absolutely beautiful with millions of white spots adorning its dark olive green body. The closest looking species I have found is the white mouth moray (Gymnothorax meleagris) although it didn’t have a white mouth and the patterns looked slightly different from them. We found 4 other juvenile morays around the ring.

    The net that was stuck around the eastern ring and pillars was still there and more fish seemed to have been caught. As we hadn’t gotten a shot of the honeycomb moray in the previous dive, Ameya hurried to find it again before the camera died again. It was still there in the same spot near the blocks in the center portion towards the end of the pier.

    While I was wandering around the internal pillars chasing to observe the catfish, a lone Odonus niger came fluttering to say ‘hi’. I was so happy to see it again and notified Ameya as I wanted a closer shot of it. It was so interesting to see how its wing-like fins flapped desperately to keep its plump body moving.

    Suddenly Ameya called me while I was looking at the honeycomb moray. He took me to the spot where we had found the groupers yesterday, and showed me the horror. It was by the blocks at the southern side of the pier. The whole area was draped with a huge net which spread over 3-4 pillars on the southern side. The groupers were gone, thankfully, and the place looked desolate. Yet again, we swam across the whole sight helplessly.

  • New Pier 22/10/2024

    When Shilpin writes ‘very very clear,’ we know it’s going to be very very clear. I couldn’t suppress my excitement as I was wearing my fins and could see the sand so clearly! On the way up, my mind was still not able to grasp why it was being able to see the bottom. I had gotten too used to seeing a murky nothingness all through until you almost bumped into a pillar or a jellyfish.

    There was a bottle floating tied to a few branches. I searched into it and there were two brown fish camouflaging inside it. I went ahead as Ameya was waiting. I don’t know why he insisted on staying close when it was so clear, calm and there were no jellyfish in sight. 

    On the way up I was so surprised when the barge was in full view from the surface (at least what is remaining of it, which is the tip). There were a lot of Abudefduf bengalensis around it, that are not usually seen around the pier. Further up there was another piece of the barge and to my surprise there was a species of blue triggerfish! 6 to 7 of them were lingering there and they didn’t shy away when we got closer. I have never seen these ones before, they have probably migrated from somewhere. 

    When I went in between the pillars and saw my left (center portion of pier) I couldn’t believe my eyes. In the shadowy bottom I saw long shadows. Barracuda! I dived and swam along the pillars, parallel to them. I could see them so clearly and they didn’t seem to get away. On the contrary they seem to follow you but maintain just enough distance as though they’re keeping watch over their territory. Sometimes 2-3 of them even came and swam under me.The experience was spectacular, like none I’ve had before. I went to the center portion of the pier where they all lingered and from above, I counted 8 of them. 

    We went to the ring and inspected the area. There were a lot of juvenile moray eels popping their heads out of the holes. I counted 5 in total. At the blocks near the pillars there were groupers hiding. There was black and white one (of which the white was pretty prominent, not a brownish white). Later we found groupers at the blocks near the southern pillars too. Normally during the year, I haven’t seen any groupers. I’m not sure whether they’re actually not there or they’re hard to spot simply because it’s murky. The groupers were extremely shy and as soon as they noticed us coming they either backed away or scurried behind the blocks.

    When we went to the rings further east, we found a ghost net hanging from the tip of the metal rod, extending across to the internal pillars. Shocked, I followed it and found that it wrapped around several of the outer pillars. There was an Abudefduf vaigiensis stuck in it and some older fish that were rotting and losing colour. It saddened me a lot but I didn’t have a knife and Ameya had lost his. So we didn’t touch the nets.

    When we were diving near the eastern pillars, we noticed that the barracuda were swimming below here too. They had followed us! What a feeling it is to see these 0.8-1m big fish have kept an eye on you, were curious about you and have followed you for so long! It was a little chilly and exciting at the same time.

    I found a piece of cement, near the central pillars and when I went near it to see if anything was under it, I found a honeycomb moray eel! It was a big one. It probably was the one that we had seen last year. We hadn’t found that one again though maybe because the water hadn’t cleared up and the eel kept changing its spot. But here it was, popping out its head from underneath the block, accompanied by another adult eel.

    It was a pity that the battery of SJ Cam died in no time at all on such a good day. We got a few videos but we didn’t get to take the honeycomb moray that day.

  • Temple Reef – OW Dive with Amrita Pie – 21/2/2025

    I took my vomikind just before leaving home so that there is enough time until we get on the boat.

    The temple adventure guys were taking out the big boat today so we did a giant stride entry from the platform at the back of the boat. While I waited for Amrita to come near the drift-line (line that you can pull if you drift), I saw a 30cm funny-looking filefish from the surface at around 6m near 1 of the lines going down. There were jellyfish here and there and I spotted just one yellow sea nettle. As soon as Amrita came I did the compass exercise (swim in a straight line using compass) at the surface and CESA from 6m, 2 of the 3 skills that were remaining. Then, following one of the lines, we went down.

    While going down the line I got to look at the filefish from close. It was a ‘scribbled filefish’ (Aluterus scriptus – 30cm) and it indeed looked as if a toddler’s doodle came alive. There were still a lot of Odonus niger, they were mostly at 6-10m depth. Among the coconut leaves, pig-faced leatherjackets were camouflaging (Paramonacanthus choirocephalus), they are 4-6cm filefish with white and green stripes. They are hard to spot unless you look at the leaves or under them closely.

    From around 10m, I started seeing a lot of Taeniamia fucata, a magenta cardinalfish with blue lines over and under its eyes. They were there in 100s all the way to the bottom.

    Near the coconut leaves at the bottom, there were 3 70-80cm groupers lurking. Here and there, there were jellyfish bouncing on the bottom that were being pecked by fish.

    At the bottom, we finished the compass skill, I swam along the line while following only at the compass and Amrita checking whether I’m going straight.

    Whenever I saw structures on the ground with holes I looked into it to see if there were any octopus as Amrita had seen them for 2 consecutive days! But I eventually didn’t find any…

    The white hydroids that are there at the pier were also down here and a lot of them were open. On one of the branches there was a tiny lionfish (10cm) sitting and resting. 

    Near one oyster there a 20cm moorish idol was pecking at something with effort. I couldn’t tell what it was pecking at though. Either the algae or sponge that was growing on the oyster. There were several Gymnothorax thyrsoideus popping their heads out of holes and cracks near the bottom.

    Whenever we shifted from one reef to another we went close along the ground looking out for sea urchins as I wanted to bring back several for the sea urchin fertilisation experiment. I didn’t find any though, probably because it’s not the season.. 

    I saw the ‘beer garden’ reef for the first time where there were a lot of bottles stuck in the sand (with some sort of support). Although I looked into several bottles I didn’t find anything hiding in there. 

    There were a lot of Pinna standing on the sand so whenever I saw ones that were partially open I tried looking inside to see if there were any of the symbiont shrimps living inside. I again didn’t find any, in fact one of the pinna closed its doors (valves) at my face so I backed off leaving him alone.

    Near one of the lines leading to the next reef, Amrita pointed at something on the ground. I saw that the sand had been dug up and in the middle of it was a hole in which a sand-coloured shrimp rested (diameter = 2 cm). I first thought it was a mantis shrimp but it might have been a different type. There also were shrimp gobies on the sand although no shrimp were to be seen near it. Shrimp gobies often live in symbiosis with the shrimp a characteristic from which it got its name. In this relationship, the shrimp is the builder who will build a safe burrow for them and the goby is the house’s watchman on the lookout for danger!

    Amrita Pie
    Shrimp Goby – video by Harumi Mima

    We came up once Amrita was at 50 bars at which point I was at 70.

    Repetitive Dive: Interval 15mins

    We climbed out of the water from the ladder as we had to change tanks.

    We changed tanks, ate some tapioca chips while we warmed up for some time in the sun to prepare for the 2nd dive. The second dive was essentially a fun dive as we were done with all the skills. For the 2nd dive, Amrita wanted me to lead and take her to all the 3 reefs. 

    The rope going from the 1st reef (at the bottom) to the 2nd reef had formed a vertical curve and along that a school of yellow and white-striped snappers were in ‘rassemblement’. I also saw a Bodianus axillaris (10cm) among the debris. 

    After taking a round around the first reef I signaled Amrita and went along the rope leading to a 2nd reef which was the ‘beer garden’. Near one of the iron rods jutting from the bottom, a black Cephalopholis spp with white star-like spots was resting close to the bottom. It was turning towards me as I moved around filming it as if it was protecting its home from me.

    On hydroids, I noticed mostly Cinhitichthys oxycephalus (pixy hawkfish) or another species of a reddish brown hawkfish perched. Only once, I saw a juvenile (8-9cm) lionfish perched in the shadow among a bunch of hydroids.

    I was keeping an eye on my air and computer. When I was at 160 bars I noticed that we had 7 mins to the decompression limit (18m) so I signaled Amrita. Her computer said 5 mins so we decided to go up. We stayed a little longer at around 11m. I immediately saw the deco limit go up.

    There were a lot of Siganus javus among the M.argentus, O.nigers, fusiliers and another silver fish with yellow tail that I still have to ID.

    I met the Aluterus scriptus again so I filmed it. I noticed the Paramonacanthus choirocephalus again too so I filmed them too among the coconut leaves. If I had known that they eat Aiptasia earlier I would have tried to get them… There also was a juvenile Arothron Hispidus hiding near the leaves.

    After some time we ascended, did a safety stop at 3m and came up.

    Aluterus scriptus – video by Amrita Pie
    Paramonacanthus choirocephalus – video by Amrita Pie
    Arothron Hispidus – video by Amrita Pie

  • Rameswaram 2/12/2024 

    We came back to the same spot the next day. This time I waited until the sun was nicely up and shining bright. Until then I was picking up shells on the shore. When I was doing that, I walked along the shore and a few meters to the north of yesterday’s entry point, I found more corals and shells in the sand. I then thought this side was probably a better area to dive than yesterday’s.

    By then it was hot enough so I grabbed my mask, fins and the camera and went into the water. This spot started out even shallower than yesterday’s entry point and I couldn’t walk at all inside because the dead corals under the feet hurt. While swimming I had to support myself up with my hands to not let my body drag on the bottom. 

    This time I knew a little more of what to look for so I tried to observe more among the dead corals for gobies as they were the fish who were likely to hide in this area. I did find a brown and off-white goby. I again found an open anemone. While I was going ahead I suddenly saw a couple sargeant majors who seemed to hurry away as they saw me as though they came the wrong way. It sort of raised my hopes up. “A sign of corals nearby?..” I thought.

    I saw bits of acropora here and there and even though they were fragments each of them excited me more and more. Then I stumbled upon a big plate/branch of acropora fallen upside down and bleaching on one side. It pained me to see it. I knew it probably wouldn’t help but I thought of putting it back upright. I dived to pick up and found out it was extremely heavy although I did manage to upturn it. I went ahead and found a rock structure and there it was! Branches of orange acropora! It was like a garden underwater. It made me so happy. I quickly took my camera and recorded my findings. I dived to find out if there was anything underneath. There were almost no fish in sight like yesterday but I did see relatively more of them. On the rocks beneath the acropora I found a couple of neon yellow feather duster worms/tube worms. Among the acropora there were also brain corals, big porites boulder corals (maybe, while I was diving I thought they were sponges) and also few of Goniastrea that had a neon green colour at the center of each polyp. I had seen these only in pictures and it delighted me to see them live! There were yellow striped butterfly fish swimming over the acropora as though they were the gardeners of the underwater nursery (still have to ID the butterfly fish).

    I was shivering almost the whole while and after some point it became quite unbearable so I made my way back. Although it was a fairly relaxed dive (shallow and extremely calm) my body exerted so much energy in keeping itself warm that I was exhausted after the dive and for the rest of the day.

  • Rameswaram 1/12/2024

    One day, Shilpin asked me in class why don’t I go for a trip in Rameswaram. Ameya and I got excited and the class time was spent in planning my holiday trip. And here I was, diving in Rameswaram on the 1st of December.

    The spots Shilpin had given were on the eastern side (9.2977800, 79.3267252) of the island and near the lighthouse at the north-eastern tip (9.3172999, 79.3316478) of the island but when we wnet there we found out that the water on the eastern side was extremely dirty due to the temple waste. Daily, hundreds of people flocked in and out of the sea for some religious purposes and the cloth and waste that they left behind drifted and covered the eastern shore. As we walked northward it became slightly better but there were still a lot of boats that it would make diving in the area a little dangerous especially because I was alone. We looked a little more on the map and a found a diving centre on the western side of the map. So we had decided to go there the next day. Although we couldn’t find the dive centre the water was excellent on the other side (maybe not the best they got in Rameswaram as it wasn’t the time of the year when the water became crystal clear in that area, but excellent compared to the Pondy waters). And that was where I made the two dives of the trip. We had found a resort instead of the dive centre and the people in the resort told us that it wasn’t the season so no one was currently diving so after all I ended up diving alone as I had planned.