What Lies Beneath

India’s nascent diving industry has what it needs to make it world-class. Everything is also in place for it to destroy the environment.

01 October 2010
Marine life in the Andamans is less exposed to humans, and therefore less fearful.
ADAM JADHAV FOR THE CARAVAN
Marine life in the Andamans is less exposed to humans, and therefore less fearful.
ADAM JADHAV FOR THE CARAVAN

WE'RE SITTING IN A FLAT, brown fishing skiff, rocking in the mild Bay of Bengal swell with no other boats to be seen. And, for that matter, no land either.

Pondicherry, that whitewashed bastion of French colonialism in India, lies some 12 kilometres away, beyond the horizon. Today there are no clouds or birds. Not even a breeze. Were it not for the heat, this could even be peaceful.

Even in February, the south Indian sun dries lips and parches throats. Our drinking water is painfully, revoltingly hot.

Keywords: Tamil Nadu colonialism Thailand Mexico New Delhi French Adam Jadhav Pondicherry Bay of Bengal Old Man and the Sea Hemingway Lakshwadeep Andaman Temple Adventures JK Aiyappan Paharganj Andaman and Nicobar Islands Radhanagar Beach Backpackers Phuket Cozumel parrotfish Professiona
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