The New Essential

Swimming hasn’t been one of my strongest points ever. But I could always move around well, so well that I would often hear motivating words from my family like “Good job, Priyam”, “Way to go girl, you can stop clinging on to the float. You have one tied to your waist already!” and “You are almost ready to get out of the kids’ pool”

I think the most important thing to do once you are in water is to float. And I can do that very well. For hours. If there’s no hole in my raft.

As I watch the news, especially during the monsoons, I realise that swimming is a vital skill. There’s a case of drowning every alternate day. Some fall out of the boats, some get caught in the floods, some fisherman sadly get trapped in the sea-storm and some get drunk and think their cars are submarines.

Every year, we have the monsoons and every year we are hit by massive floods. Swimming is the ‘in’ thing. You don’t need to join classes for practice. In some parts of Mumbai like Kalina or Juhu, you just need to step out of your house and wait for the rain. I don’t proclaim that this skill will always prevent you from drowning, but the risk sure is cut down.

Flooding is no longer a novelty in India and I speak for Mumbai. Come June, all the men in Juhu area start wrapping up their television sets and the women start assembling the chairs on the table while the children pack up their toys and video games for an emergency exit. But sometimes we are lucky. The water only reaches the shoulder level and it’s possible to walk to a higher ground carrying the TV set on our head. In other cases, the water is pretty high and we find ourselves perched on a tree top desperately looking out for the most popular guy around – the one with the boat.

Therefore, my tip for the day - practise swimming. Sharpen your skill. Or you are going down. Literally.