In our popular series "In the Spotlight" , we bring you another inspiring interview with Medhavi Davda who is an adventure traveler, blogger and a passionate Scuba Diver.
1. About you: Tell us about the place, where you were born; your education, and profession.
I was born in Mithapur - a small township of Tata Chemicals Limited in Gujarat where I completed my schooling. I did my B.E. in Computer Engineering from Dharmsinh Deasi University, Nadiad, Gujarat following which I've worked as a techie with TCS, Infosys and IBM for almost 9.5 years.
Apart from my academic side, I've had another adventurous side of mine since childhood. I've been a state champion and national player for Badminton in my school days. I went for my first high altitude Himalayan trek when I was 16 years. I was so overwhelmed with the experience that I decided to do it more often in the future. After focusing on my career for few years, I felt the desperate need to go back to my adventurous life. I started trekking again, taking more challenges on every new expedition of mine. It is through trekking that I discovered my love for exploring new places, people, culture, food, landscapes, wildlife, and myself! Adventure has always been my primary reason to travel and explore places. Scuba Diving had fascinated me for a long time and this adventure became my reason to explore islands.
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2. Your Scuba Diving experience: Tell us since when you've been scuba diving. When did you start taking scuba diving seriously?
The first time I ever tried Scuba Diving was when I went on a trip to Lakshadweep in 2014. When I discovered that there's a whole new world underwater that remains hidden from the rest of the world, and it is probably the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen, I was sure about taking this adventure seriously. In 2015 I flew to Indonesia to get myself certified as an Open Water Diver. I then traveled to Andaman Islands to upgrade myself as an Advanced Open Water Diver. I've dived in different parts of the world since then. As my success story to make a living out of my passions after quitting my job as a software engineer, I now head the business for Scuba Diving with an adventure Travel company. I can proudly say that Scuba Diving is now my work!
3. Scuba Diving or Trekking - What do you prefer more?
This is a very tough choice for me. I love Scuba Diving and Trekking equally, because both of these adventures have affect me in a very different way. While trekking makes me more ambitious, scuba diving calms me down. I need a balance of both of these for my personal growth. I would love to balance my life in mountains and islands as both of them give me a chance to live close to nature and I personally love the simple and tough life in the mountains as well as fun and relaxed life on the islands. I want best of both the worlds :)
4. What is so special about your country and its marine life? Has scuba diving changed your outlook about your surroundings?
India is one of the most soughted-after places for Scuba Diving. The marine life around Andaman Islands is just incredible. The Andaman Sea boasts of huge schools of various fishes and great visibility and a lot of undiscovered dive sites. Lakshadweep, on the other side, has the best coral reefs of the world. I had my first ever diving and snorkelling experience in Lakshadweep and it has been the best experience for me till date. Scuba Diving showed me a world which I could never imagine. The huge mighty oceans make me feel so small that they bring in a lot of humility in me. The beautiful and innocent fishes of various sizes make me feel the purity of nature, and encourage me to spread purity around. The oceans calm me down and diving for me is meditation.
5. How do you inspire others for Scuba Diving?
Scuba Diving is not a very popular adventure sport in India, mainly for 2 reasons: Scuba Diving is perceived as a dangerous activity and Scuba Diving is an expensive hobby. I'm trying to do my bit to spread awareness about Scuba Diving through my blog. Scuba Diving is dangerous if not done in a right way with the right people. I always advise people to go for a basic certification course (Open Water Diver course) where they are taught everything about using the equipment and safety measures, and then enjoy diving. While most of the operators at tourist destinations offer try scuba options where they take you inside the water for a dip, is not a standard practice and doesn't even give you the best experience.
I also plan and lead budget-friendly scuba diving trips (as my work) to encourage more people to leave their inhibitions and experience something they'll cherish for their entire life.
6. What piece of advice do you wish to give to aspiring scuba divers, fans, and readers of the post?
1. If Scuba Diving sounds scary to you, remember - you need to take that plunge to get out of your comfort zone because magic happens once you are out of the comfort zone. Scuba Diving is indeed magical, and a life changing experience.
2. Keep the oceans clean - whether you dive of not, do your bit in keeping the oceans clean (by minimizing plastic usage, proper garbage disposal and adopting eco-friendly options).
3. Respect the marine Life - don't feed the marine life to attract them for your pictures, if possible don't use flash for your underwater pictures, don't touch any coral or fish, make sure your fins or any part of your equipment doesn't touch any part of the marine ecosystem. Let them live in peace. We have been cruel enough to our land, lets control our cruelty to the oceans.
Please do check out more about Medhavi and her adventures at http://www.ravenouslegs.com/
If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
- Manage your waste well and don’t litter
- Use dustbins. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
- Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
- Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
- Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite
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