A deep dive…!

I still remember it was a hot summer day in May, and I was in the school, a class 4th student who was least bothered about the studies and schedules. Everyone in the class was happy as it was their favourite day of the week, a day they all had been looking for….it was the day of swimming in our timetable. While everyone was happy and overwhelmed with joy, I, on the other hand, was nervous, frightened, and afraid because, from early childhood, I wasn’t good at swimming, and I hated it. I had this phobia of it. So. with everyone, I went along. We all changed, went for the showers, and jumped into the pool. In the pool, kids were boasting about how deep they could go by standing at the shallow end of the pool. Some silently enjoyed their time in the pool; some were taking lessons from sir. I was standing on the shallow edge of the pool holding the railing.

Seeing everyone enjoying and having fun boosted my confidence, and I thought I should give this a try and remove my hands from the railing and start swimming; at the start, I thought I was doing something, but in reality, I was in the same spot. After 1 failed attempt, my confidence level that day was so high that I thought of giving this another chance, but this time I thought of going to the deeper part of the pool. With this thought in mind, I grabbed the railing, went deeper with it, and found a good spot to swim. Now without giving it much thought, I started swimming. Well it wasn’t a swim. It was more of sinking in the pool. I started shouting help…! help…! Sir…! Bachaooooo…! Sir, after seeing me, came quickly and grabbed me and took me back to the shallow end. He started shouting at me and scolding me that I shouldn’t have gone there. 

I was embarrassed already, and his shouting made me cry. I ran towards the changing room; sir followed me back there. In person, he told me that I needed to be more patient and practice first if I needed to swim properly. He asked me to participate in summer camp and learn to swim. There I can learn better.

I thought about the same and thought maybe I should sign up for swimming. And after talking with my parents, I signed up for the same.

And in the holidays I practiced swimming, I learned from my sir. I never skipped any class. With all this and multiple failed attempts, I learned to swim. Now, I like to swim. Every Sunday I go to a pool and take a good swim. It wasn’t only swimming that I learned. It’s also that I have to be more patient with things. I should follow a procedure to do things and shouldn’t directly skip to the last part. I should follow the steps, and with the right time and with the right practice, targets can be achieved…!

-Divyang Garg