Dip, dip, dip, my blue ship....

I can swim!

Not kidding! I swear I can!
In fact, I can even say at the cost of sounding immodest that I was a really good swimmer when I was younger.
I had often been complimented for my graceful diving and powerful swimming.

And how I love water sports!
I was overflowing with this love for water and all kinds of water sports on my visit to Bali (Indonesia). I wanted to do everything that they had to offer.
But on popular demand (kids') I settled for jet skiing.
I had done that before on one of my trips to Goa and had enjoyed it. So I did not particularly mind, though I would have liked to do something a shade more adventurous.

So, Jet-skiing it was!
We divided ourselves into two teams to balance the weight.
You see, the sum of my weight and my son's weight at that time was almost equal to the sum of my husband's weight and my daughter's weight.
Let me put it in a mathematical form. Its easier to understand.

(Me + son) = (Husband+ daughter)

Getting it?
(It's very important to understand everything; though in this case I can't really explain how it matters.)

We put on our life jackets. Even me! In spite of being the good swimmer that I am!
They said it was necessary.
Bah!
What rubbish!
Swimmers like me don't need life jackets to save themselves. We swim with strong, powerful strokes and stay gracefully afloat.

But the owners of the jet ski would not listen and I had to comply. But I made my displeasure known in no uncertain terms.

There were going to be three of us on the jet ski.
 A gawky 18 year old, Paul, was going to take us for a spin in the ocean. Well, I was definitely grateful for that. For I had discovered ages ago that anything that runs on a motor does not obey my commands.

But I was in for a surprise when my twelve year old son declared that he wanted to drive that contraption. I was a bit apprehensive and asked Paul whether it was safe for children to drive. He said breezily, "No problem! It's easy." And then he went ahead to show my son which buttons to press in order to start, accelerate and stop. 
Looked simple enough. So I allowed my son to take charge.

We sat on the ski. My son in front, me at the back and that kid, Paul,  in between. He had the ignition key tied to his wrist with some kind of nylon wire that looked somewhat like a telephone wire but was much thinner. 
He started the ignition. And before I knew it the ski had started! 
I was not holding on to anything and I can still remember that electrifying moment of enlightenment when I got  true insight of Newton's first law of motion! 
I wanted to jump up shouting, "Eureka!"

But unfortunately I could not because I was still at rest while the ski was set into motion. And all I knew was that I had to save my skin from getting soaked. So in a split second I hugged the boy tight almost pulling him off the ski along with me.
Thankfully he had a good presence of mind and quick reflexes and he immediately grabbed the handle bars of the ski.

Meanwhile my son had picked up a good speed and we were happily bouncing off the crests of the waves.
For all I knew of this sport, jet skis were not supposed to behave in this particular fashion.
I panicked and started screaming. But the boys seemed to be enjoying every bit of it.

And then!.....My little man decided that he wanted to turn!
He did a sharp left turn. 
And all I can remember after that was that I was flying in the air one moment and gulping in salt water the next.
But in a few seconds I surfaced, and to my relief I saw my son swimming towards me with the other kid just behind him. But the ski was nowhere in sight!
I looked around and saw that it was more than a kilometre away! (Of course I am exaggerating.)

But yes, it was a good distance away from us and we were going to have to swim towards it. 
We set off....... and to my horror I realised that I was not able to move ahead! 
I called upon all my strength and skills but to no avail. The boys had almost reached while I was still at the same spot.

To hell with grace and technique, I thought and clumsily doggy-paddled towards the jet ski. Down went all my grace......sinking right to the bottom of the sea :(

Meanwhile the boys had managed to straighten the ski as I continued my slow progress in that direction. My son had already boarded it by the time I reached, and Paul was waiting in the water to help me get on board.

I got another shock when I could not pull myself out of water!
The young kid made an attempt to help by trying to push me on the ski!

Ridiculous!

"Get on that thing and pull me up, you idiot!" I snapped at him.
 And there ..........deep down......I could see my manners sinking and lying right next to my grace.

Eventually I too boarded the ski, soaked to the bone and shocked to the core of my existence.

You will not imagine how blessed I felt when we touched the shore.....
I wanted to kiss the sand!
Believe me, the beach had never looked more beautiful!