While most birthday parties are filled with cakes and balloons, this 10-year-old celebrated her special day with a dive in the sea, in an attempt to set a world record. Visakhapatnam scuba diver Debopriya Saha dived to a depth of 35 feet in the Bay of Bengal off Rushikonda coast to become a certified junior scuba diver on her 10th birthday on June 10, making her one of the youngest to do so. The certification has been given by Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), the world’s largest ocean exploration and diver organisation operating in 186 countries and territories. To be eligible for PADI junior scuba diver course, one must be at least 10 years old with adequate swimming skills and be in good physical health. Debopriya received the certification on completing two open water dives (within an interval of 40 minutes) and one confined dive under the supervision of a professional diver. “I enjoy swimming and the ocean has always fascinated me. This was my first dive of such depth and I was absolutely thrilled to do it. I was looking forward to turning 10 so that I could experience the underwater world,” says Visakhapatnam-born Debopriya. She was accompanied by Balaram Naidu, a scuba diver-instructor and director of Live-in Adventures. “Debopriya was very comfortable in the water and communicated well. She had to brave a one-and-a-half metre wave and did it without any hassles. We have seen even adults getting unsettled by such waves. But Debopriya covered it with confidence,” he adds. She completed the certification after three days of training in shallow waters. For a diving certification, Balaram says, the prerequisites include the ability to swim 200 metres at a stretch and float for 10 minutes. “During the training, I saw her ease under water and was confident of her skills,” he adds. She had to learn sign language to communicate underwater. Debopriya is inspired by her father Deepankar Saha, who served the Indian Navy as a scuba diver for 12 years. “Every time she saw me head into the sea, she would tell me her desire to become a scuba diver and see the underwater world. So when she expressed her wish to celebrate her 10th birthday with a scuba diving course, we started preparing her six months ahead. She did rigorous swimming practice and I could see her confidence in water,” says Deepankar. The most difficult part of scuba diving is equalising pressure between the inside of the ears and the underwater environment. According to Balaram, Debopriya followed instructions with perfection and there were no uncontrolled movements. While Debopriya came back with the excitement of getting her first glimpse of the marine world, she was sad to see plastic waste clogging it. She hopes to become a marine biologist to create awareness on marine pollution. “There is a treasure trove of living life underwater and we must save it,” says the young scuba diver, who has a dictionary of aquatic animals in her personal collection.
