’Being able to breathe under water is an experience in itself’

He may not like heights, but Kunal Khemu has always been a complete water baby. And the pursuit of his passion has turned him into a certified deep-sea diver. The actor tells us about swimming with turtles on his recent trip to the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean

'Being able to breathe under water is an experience in itself'

Kunal Khemu swimming with turtles on his recent trip to the Maldives

When I was in Maldives a year-and-a-half ago, I inquired about scuba diving two days before my flight; but you can't dive 24 hours prior to a flight. Also, at the time, I was with Soha (Ali Khan), who is okay with snorkelling but wasn't up for diving. So I planned a special trip to the Maldives last month to do just that. Soha opted out and I finally went there alone; and became a certified diver.

For deep-sea diving, you need dedication. It takes around five days to complete the training, but I did a three-day crash course. I dedicated the whole day for it -- I studied the material and finished two dives a day. Now that I have my license, I can skip the training lessons while diving anywhere in the world.

I am a grade one diver right now. I have dived to a depth of 55-60 feet. The first time I dived 60 feet, I was nervous because in deep water, it's just blue all around you. It's an intimidating world at first. The trainer was with me and I settled down after 10 minutes. Thereafter, I didn't even know how time flew. I didn't want to come back up. Being able to breathe under water is an experience in itself.

We heard the dolphins underwater even when they were 10 kilometres away. We immediately followed in our boats. A school of about 15-20 dolphins came right up to us. I wanted to jump off the boat to swim with the dolphins, but was advised against it because Spinner Dolphins are shy and would probably swim away. I put my hand in the water and touched them. It was amazing. We also saw sharks that were four to five feet long.

I saw turtles in the deep and swam with them! It's like being in their world; fortunately the turtles didn't mind me being there. Human beings are very curious about nature -- we want to touch them and house them in aquariums so that we can own them; but the turtle just let me be in his space. Marine life doesn't attack you unless it feels threatened. I learnt to respect marine life.

It doesn't matter you who are, but underwater, you feel humble and small. The whole idea of being a human being, who is just a part of the eco-system on this planet strikes home. In deep-sea diving, you are totally in control, it's up to you whether to go up or down. It's a meditative experience.u00a0 As told to Krutika Behrawala from Bollywood News Service

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