Rahul goes scuba diving

Year 1993

My uncle is coming. Though by relation the person I was going to meet for the first time is my uncle, he was more like a brother to me. An age difference of about 6 years tops and I am supposed to call him arun ettan. At least at that age only people with moustache are considered for the place of uncle. Anyways, I am meeting this particular person for the first time in my life. How weird aint it, am meeting my uncle/brother for the first time at the age of around 8-9. Maybe it is the innocence of the kids at that age or maybe it is something else, but there was an instant bond between him and me. He is visiting my native for the first time I believe for he’s completely consumed by the beauty and pristine nature of the small town village. Having stayed in this small town village for most of my short life, I voluntarily took the job of guide with much pride. I had shown them around the first thottam, filled with coconut trees, palm trees, banana plants, mango trees and so on. There is the large kullam (pond), which I am forbidden to go to. So I leave it there and take them around to show the fields full of paddy cultivation, which is another tough task for the paddy area was quite large at that time. We have to cross the paddy field to reach the next thottam, with another set of trees and plants that give us fruits and also money. But before entering this particular place, there is another kullam(pond), that acts as the reservoir for the crops and also the trees. On seeing this pond, my uncle/bro gets a whacky thought, he wants to know how deep the pond is. We did not have the latest technology with which we could measure the depth, but we did have one equipment of use. ME…..o yeah….i knew how tall I was. And so, if I am submerged till my neck and my feet touch the ground, then we would know how much the depth is to the near approximation. My uncle could not go down as he did not know swimming and I could not hold him. So it was up to me to take up the challenge, after all my guests should have a great time here don’t they. And please do not think I knew swimming at that time. So m uncle lowers me down to the inner depths of the pond. Slip!!! Nothing serious, my uncles unfortunately lets go of me, not that I blame him. There is a limit for him to hold with his hand, and I was quite heavy at that time. I do not know what took over me at that time, may be it is the struggle of life and death that I kept hitting the water so hard that I kept bouncing around. At last my uncle gets hold of those tiny hands of mine, and call it a miracle for he was able to pull me out this time around. Alas, am I lucky or what? I cant tell m homies about this can i? so what do I do? Sneak up to my room, change my cloths and present myself to m parents. Until this very day, I believe nobody has got the slightest clue about the whole incident.