JEDDAH, 17 August — When it comes to diving as a sport or for a cause, one person who has remained in the forefront is Sabir Baksh, an expat hailing from the eastern Indian state of Orissa. “But what is dear to me is protecting the underwater environment,” said Baksh an accomplished diver.
Baksh, a sales executive in a private company, says he has actively taken part with many groups in their efforts to protect the under sea environment. “The Red Sea is my second home. Every Friday, I make it a point to join the PADI Project Awareness program for protecting under water environment,” he said in an interview.
“I’ve been an open water diver for several years. I hold both an international diving license and a rescue diver card from UK’s Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI),” he boasts.
With a track record of several years, including diving in the Red Sea, Baksh cherishes a dream. “I want to train children in diving. In fact, I’ve given a proposal to the International Indian School-Jeddah to train its students above 12 years of age in swimming and diving.”
Swimming and diving are not his only sport activities. He excels in horse riding and is eager to train boys in this sport as well.
Baksh, who turned 35 while diving 40 feet deep at Al Nakhil, north Obhur, recently, also celebrated it with cake cutting. “It was a job cutting the cake amid a live rock and coral reefs with fishes swarming all around,” he recalls. Snapping him in action was Filipino diver Alexander.
Asked how difficult or expensive was the diving equipment, he remarked: “At private beaches, the snorkeling and skin diving gears are available on rent. The snorkeling gear comprising a mask, snorkel and shoes can be hired from SR25 to SR35 for 24 hours. Rent for scuba diving ranges between SR 110 to SR150 for 24 hours, he added
“Swimming is easy to learn in seawater than in a swimming pool. Salinity in the seawater prevents a learner from sinking,” said Baksh who is also a singer and cut an album recently, and has lent his voice to commercial ads.
As a young boy, Baksh nursed an ambition to be a fight composer for feature films in his home state.
It was only after he took up a job in Jeddah that he came to know about scuba diving. “Scuba is derived from the scuba tank with which divers go into deep sea. Weighing 12 kg, the scuba contains compressed air,” he said.
What made him interested in diving was the beauty of the world under seawaters — their silent zones, chilled environment, colorful corals and unusual sea animals of different hues and shapes.
