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It's a spur of the moment decision. I have some free time before getting back to work and what better way to spend it than to go diving. I decide on a place called Nethrani Island, a place I've heard a lot about from diveshop owner, Venkat of Barracuda Diving, Goa, who organises weekend tours to the island. Unfortunately, he's full up for the weekend, so I resign myself to a week of reading and watching TV. And then a day before they leave, Venkat calls to say he's had a cancellation and could I still make it?
My gear is packed in a jiffy and I'm all set for the early morning flight to Goa! Nethrani is off a small town in Karnataka called Murdeshwar, which is famous for its Shiva temple and giant-sized Shiva statue. It is located on a beach between Honnavar and Bhatkal, one kilometre off the national highway. The four-hour-drive from Goa is included in Venkat's tour package and I'm the sole passenger as the other divers will be coming directly from Bangalore. I climb into Venkat's Maruti van, which is already stocked with scuba gear, air tanks and air compressors. Now those of you who have sat in Maruti vans will know its not the best vehicle for long distances, so a backside-numbing four hours later we arrive at Murdeshwar.
As we pass through the big gate on the edge of the town, I suddenly sense something looming over us and in a minute it reveals itself. It's a huge 15 m. statue of Shiva, which towers over the town. It has an overwhelming presence and you feel like you are being watched. The statue, which is only a couple of years old, is in a complex which encompasses a 500-year-old Shiva temple. A certain Mr. Reddy, a native of Murdeshwar, made a fortune in Bangalore and decided to
give back to his ancestral town. The huge temple complex and hotel where we're staying are all part of his largesse. Construction had also started on a monstrous temple gate that to me looks like an architectural blunder!
At the hotel we meet up with Brian Luzi, who has just had to wrap up his diving operation in the Andamans. In the evening, Venkat takes us down to the beach for a great view of the sunset. With two beers well settled in my stomach, I hit the sack looking forward to the next day's diving.
In the morning, we're joined by two more divers; Liz, an American girl, and Aditya. Both software techies from Bangalore, they have driven through the night to get here. Our small wooden boat, modified to make it diving-friendly, putters off and we make it to Nethrani in about an hour. Our first dive spot is a place called Jenny's Aquarium. I'm actually diving after an
18 month hiatus so I start descending a little apprehensively. My buoyancy control is a little off and I spend some time bobbing up and down. The visibility is average, but the marine life is truly amazing. It's not called Jenny's Aquarium for nothing! A pair of remarkable fish called cobias come close to check us out. They resemble sharks and it's exciting to have them in our midst. But their 15 seconds of fame over, they dart off to greener pastures. We hardly miss them though, as we're surrounded by thousands of triggerfish, parrotfish, fusilliers, trevallies and squirrelfish.
Then we stumble upon what I consider one of the most beautiful sights in the ocean, a school of small barracuda. I click
away with my camera as the barracuda circle above us, twisting and turning into different shapes and sizes. Thoroughly satisfied, I ascend to the boat only to discover to my utter horror that the seal on my wide angle lens is broken and it is now useless for the rest of the trip. Most of the film roll I'd just shot is probably ruined as well!
Feeling totally disabled, I get ready for the second dive at a spot called the Nursery. The visibility here is great and the place is teeming with moray eels. I see a huge two-metre honeycomb moray eel and decide to try my luck and get close to him for a good shot. I float towards him very slowly so as not to startle him and get him into defence mode. Once near him, I stop and remain as motionless as possible, so that his curiosity brings him closer to me. Sure enough, my camera arouses his curiosity and he inches towards me and I manage to get some good shots. I decide not to push my luck and go off in search of other sights. The place is alive with parrotfish, triggerfish, scorpionfish, gobies and yellow shrimp. Towards the end of the dive I chance upon a young lionfish on his own. He immediately turns his poisonous spines towards me and denies me the picture I was looking for. I decide to heed the warning and end my dive.
That evening I stroll around on the beaches on both sides of the temple complex and discover that the tiny town of Murdeshwar, home to a huge Shiva temple, is also home to a sizeable Muslim and Christian population. On one side
of the beach there are numerous burkha-clad women with their husbands and children enjoying an evening stroll. Some of them get their pictures taken with the huge statue in the background. On the other side of the beach, I come upon a group of nuns taking a walk with a church in the background. I find out that all the homes in this area have Christian names on their doors. Murdeshwar seems to be the epitome of secularism and not too many people even know about it! Sun, sand, diving and a secular village! This must be Utopia! Back at the hotel, Venkat is about to take everyone on a tour of the temple and
I join in. The sea is an intrinsic part of the temple-scape, surrounding the small hill, Kandukagiri, on which the temple
stands, on three sides. Two life-sized elephants in concrete guard the steps leading to the shrine. The temple is covered with Chalukya and Kadamba sculptures in the Dravidian style and is believed to be located on the spot where Ravana flung the cloth covering the Atmatlinga at Gorakana while lifting it. After paying our respects, we retreat back to our rooms for the night.
I get up early in the morning to get some pictures of the statue. The whole complex is very beautiful and serene. I feel like lazing on the lawns all day, but the last day's dive beckons and I rush to catch the boat. As we set out with the shadow of Shiva looming over us, I realise that there are few diving destinations with such an ambience. The first dive of the day is nicknamed Grand Central Station and it's easy to see why… the fish here are in as large numbers as you could ever wish for. As soon as we descend, a hawksbill turtle turns up, sticks around for 10 to 15 seconds before losing interest and moving on. The seascape is littered with honeycomb morays and the odd snowflake eel. A single cobia comes to take a look at us. There's a huge batfish basking in the sun. We come across a school of big needlefish, swaying to the ocean's surges. They are well disguised as ocean debris to fool predators and trigger-happy divers alike!
Our second dive is at Dinny's Delight. Huge cowrie shells litter the seabed and I'm very tempted to pick one up but decide to maintain my impeccable record. Large multi-hued nudibranchs hang on to vegetation everywhere. There are morays everywhere again but I'm starting to get bored with them now. A school of snappers follow us around for a while before being overtaken by a school of juvenile butterfly fish. There's a medium sized porcupine pufferfish who puffs up on seeing us and floats away. Angelfish, sergeant majors, wrasse and parrotfish abound in every direction and I'm starting to get a sore neck twisting and turning in every direction. A huge green moray stares me in the face but I'm out of film and decide I've seen enough fish for one day.
We ascend and this signals the end of our dive trip to Nethrani Island. As the boat stutters back to shore, my mind tries to digest this amazing trip. Murdeshwar is the sort of place which makes you contemplate about life and what it means to you. That is exactly what I'm doing when the statue of Shiva looms up again before us, calling believers and non-believers alike. I decide to go and sit at his feet for some more time and pray for strength to endure the back-breaking return journey to Goa.
