The Chennai trip

The Chennai trips in my life have their own significance.  First time I visited was to meet a girl who later bacame my wife. Next few times again was to meet the girl really.

Then visited to get married. And later to meet in laws. One late night, I went to Chennai as Arjun was born. A few more times here and there for some reason or other.

There has never been a scenario when I went to Chennai just like that. There was never a reason to.

So last time when we decided to purely go on a trip to stay by the sea and relax, it was a very different experience. The city now was more of a tourist spot for me which was never the case before. And though I always liked Chennai, this time it was different. The sea, the sand and the surf were different. I could judge the place rather than accepting it at face value. Like I judge any other place I visit as a tourist. This helps me decide if I will come back or not.  If I will stay here or eat there. What else is there to do.

And I have to say.  I loved the place. And even the Bay of Bengal. I am more familier with the Arabian sea having spent 11 years in Mumbai. Thats my ocean if I can claim that. But this side of the ocean is as refreshing and great.

So I went exploring the ocean. Arjun and I decided to go for fishing in deep sea. But that didn't work out. Then someone suggested that they have catamaran rides where they take you into the ocean.

So we wore our life jackets and went to look for boat. This was hardly a boat. 4 logs connected with a rope. I am like WTF. But the boatmen were confident so I said fine.

We sat on the floor of the logs and it went to the sea. Water coming in and flowing through the logs. It was unique.  Then 2 km into the sea and he abruptly stopped. I waited to see what's happening. No petrol scenario?

He untied a rope,  gave one end to me and said "jump". I am like what.. where.  He said in the sea. Dont worry sir jump and swim a bit. I will hold the rope on other side.

I looked at the water.  It was green and had visibility of 6 inches. May be not that much also. What if shark comes and attacks.

The boatman said again. Sir dont worry. Jump. He looked at Arjun and said, you also jump. He looked confident. Once again I decided to go with his confidence rather than mine. I took the rope and jumped in the ocean. There was no bottom and I was floating. With rope in one hand. Arjun also jumped and he barely knew swimming then.

We spent around 15 mins in the water. It was great. Not many waves as we were nowhere near the shore but water in ocean is layered. You see something like a boat at a distance and then it's lost as another layer of water comes up and you go down comparatively.

Well. It was a great experience overall.  Next time - deep sea fishing ;).