BANGALORE: She was 13 when she found out what she wanted to do in life — adventure sports. Priyanka Subbarao, now 24, has since then touched the sky, been under water and celebrated the beauty of the mountains. Paragliding, mountaineering and scuba-diving is what she has been doing ever since.She started off with rock-climbing and mountaineering after her mother inspired her into being different from the rest of the kids her age. “A girl needs her exercise. And what better way to be healthy than by being adventurous? It has also helped me build my personality. You know, I was an introvert earlier,” she laughs.Priyanka now works as a trainer at the Indus International School. In 2006, her coach and guide, Babu T Raghu, who is also the Secretary of Adventure Sports Association of India (ASAI) introduced her to all three of these adventure sports. Priyanka has climbed more than ten high altitude peaks over the last decade and has glided for over eight times, all under the guidance of the ASAI.She claims that scuba-diving is what she loves doing the most, followed by mountaineering. Her first dive was when she was 18. And in three years, she became a licensed ‘dive-master’. “I remember my first dive distinctly. I was scared since it was pitch dark under water. The first 20 minutes of the dive, changed my life completely. It is because of that I have now become a diving instructor,” she says. Since then, Priyanka has made over 100 dives in the Havelok islands of Andaman and the Lakshadweep islands.She learnt the sport in the Lakshadweep islands and worked as an instructor in the Andaman. Babu T Raghu and M R Seetharam, the Chairman of MSRIT and the President of ASAI, were her sponsors. “All of these are high budget activities and the equipment are all imported. And hence, it was financially difficult. My college encouraged me and partly financed my vocation. But, thanks to Seetharam Sir and my coach, I was able to freely pursue it.”This dive-master has completed 18 specifications required for scuba-diving, including marine biology, underwater photography, rescue diving, night diving and deep diving. “By giving lessons alone, I can make easy money of up to one lakh per month during peak seasons,” she explains.Being an adventurous woman, it is not easy to be accepted. “As a girl, I was expected to be like a traditional Indian girl. In any case, it is difficult to swim against the society. But I had to do what I loved doing the most no matter what,” she asserts. She further adds, “There is a wrong notion that people who are into adventure sports are hippies. I am a family girl who is simply passionate about what I do.”Ask her to recollect what the most alarming experience she has had and she says, “When I was still a trainee, we went on a dive. It was a cold amavasya night and I soon ran out of oxygen. We were instructed not to finish the oxygen in the cylinder we carry. I was choking when I came up to the surface. I was in the middle of the sea with nobody in sight. The other divers were under-water and I had to swim back two km to reach the shore for more oxygen. I can never forget the near death episode I encountered that night. But whatever said and done, it is the best sport.”She feels that it is a sad fact that only foreign tourists are interested in adventure sports. “Indians do not appreciate the beauty around us. People have to be passionate and the mentality of the society has to change,” she expresses.
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