‘Mala-dweep’ - A garland of blue waters and white sands

Open the world map and you cannot spot this country. It has the most dispersed islands and the smallest land area in Asia. Sub-marine mountains under the Indian ocean peep out here, to form dots in an oval. Each tip of white sand like a flower on the blue canvas. The canvas does not have a binding frame and the flowers are not symmetrical. They are just there, as beautiful as nature can be. It is what humans call Maldives.

Legends have it that humans came here just 2500 years back! Very recent compared to the vegetation and marine life here. ‘Duryodhan’ probably had full knowledge of Maldivian beauty when he vehemently protested giving up even a tip of land away to Pandavas :-).

One can see in a gaze that the land is under invasion by sea here. Highest point on Maldivian land is just 5 meters high. The limitless ocean suddenly makes one realize that water is the actual ‘mainland’. While we humans fight for pieces of land, it is water that has a much bigger kingdom and will probably prevail.

I could see that this kingdom is so benevolent. Species of all colors, size and shape cross paths without conflict under the sea. They never seem to need a traffic signal. While swimming and snorkelling in the waters, I felt like a minority and was worried if I am behaving correctly in their society. They treated me well. They came near me, looked at me. Some even nibbled at my fingers and went back disappointed. One of them even had an expression of ‘...uh, humans again’. As usual the big fish were bullying around (or so it seemed to a human eye). It was fun to see hordes of small fish jumping away instantly, together like a flap of a fin!

The ocean shows variety of colors. Shades of turquoise and blue that get darker with depth. I recollected why the darkest and deepest blue is called ‘Navy' Blue. A constant, invisible companion of the sea is the sea breeze. Thousands of miles away from the sub-continent the breeze had the fresh quality of  blowing away stress and tiredness. Despite the physical activity the body felt supple and the mind more alert. Sun, sand and breeze make you feel one with nature and bring a certain ease to your behaviour. The crimson gleam of sunset and the white beam of full moon on water created a sublime experience. Add to this, the mildly heady fragrance of the white delicate 'fan flower'. 

There, in the middle of the ocean, around 2 kilo-meters away from our island, which is 100km away from Male (the capital of Maldives), on the speeding jet-ski boat that I was riding, it suddenly struck me how much we humans too, trust each other. I personally did not know the maker of the jet-ski, its engine, its fuel provider, or the instructor whom I met just 10 mins back, yet we trusted all and ventured out in the deep ocean. It is amazing how much we depend on technology and have faith on some other man’s product and some other man’s trade to make things available to us at the right time. We totally underestimate this benevolence of humans.

The staff at the resort was all Indian and Srilankan. Living on this island may not be always equal to living a dream. Sonal who worked at the restaurant felt it’s a boring place and Anita at the same time was amazed by the Maldivian geography and was amused by how God made natural rock formations at a distance to protect the islands! Two perspectives of similar people at similar place and time. If one has to work under strict and rigid timelines of 7am, 1pm, 9pm every day and serve customers, it is natural to feel ‘stranded on an island’.

99% of the population is Muslim but the resorts are free from any deliberate communal coloring. Investors are Maldivians and resorts and very professionally managed. They cater to international customers, have options for gluten free and dairy free food. We also learnt one thing: a luxury seaside resort need not have the best seafood and need not match the taste of butter garlic fish of a Goan shack.

It was the morning of our departure. We sat at the beach taking in the cool sea breeze and waiting for the sun to rise and closed our eyes. Imagined our living room in Bangalore, the shops, and the concrete urban locality, and then slowly opened our eyes to see what lay in front of us at that moment. Hopefully, the white sands and blue waters we saw will make us serene and clear.

23-Dec-2021

Amrut and Preeti, Maldives