I feel so incredibly blessed and thankful to have Kizhanatham A Jagannathan as my uncle. Our lives are enriched by the people we spend our time with and how they influence us. He has been an incredible role model for me. He is strong-willed, intelligent, and very young at heart. I admire him tremendously!
My uncle is a globetrotter, and his stories have always transported me as if I was visiting those places myself. He is also a diver, snorkeler, and enjoys underwater photography. So far, he has done approximately 220 dives in places like Palau, French Polynesia, Raja Ampat (Indonesia). I want to take this opportunity to share some of his photographs and experiences on what he sees at the bottom of the ocean. I was quite thrilled to interview him and curate these pictures from his numerous albums – Flickr Album and YouTube Channel.
About myself:
I am a retired federal employee with diverse work experience: worked for private companies in India. In the U.S., I taught at a state university for four years after earning my Ph.D., worked for three years for a state government, and retired from federal service in the year 2006.
What made you a snorkeler?
To be able to snorkel or dive, one should be able to swim. When I grew up in India, it was very uncommon for people of my generation to learn to swim as there were no community pools. Rivers and oceans have drowned more persons in India than have taught people the swimming skill.
I was fortunate to learn to swim in the most unlikely, and probably most dangerous place, to learn to swim such as a sugar cane field well which had a uniform depth of 12 feet or more, (during heavy periods of rain). A hollow bitter gourd served as a life vest during the learning stage. At that time, I was barely 12 years old.
I was 55 years old when I had the opportunity to put my swimming skill to test when I visited Hawaii. I found out that swimming, like cycling, is a skill that stays with you for the rest of your life. However, it took me some time to feel comfortable in using the snorkel. Snorkeling opened a new window to underwater life and revealed the joy of seeing fish of various types and colors.
How did you become a diver?
For several years, I was contented to remain a snorkeler. I could not imagine myself wearing all the paraphernalia of a diver and disappearing under the water for a considerable length of time. A snorkeling trip that I made to Divi Resort in Bonaire whose water is noted for its visibility revealed the treasures of the ocean at a depth of 40 or 50 feet in stark detail. By this time, I was approaching 70 years. I felt encouraged by the experience of the snorkeling guide (Dee) who learned swimming only a few years earlier and honed her skills to an extent that she could work as a snorkeling/diving guide. I was impressed with the ease with which she could dive to a depth of 30 feet without fins and photograph sea life.
I was 74 years old when I was certified as an Open Water Diver, thanks to the support, patience, and encouragement of my diving instructor, Jim Ball (www.actionscuba.org).!
How would you describe the bottom of the ocean?
It is useful to remember that 70% of the planet is underwater. The ocean has everything that the landmass offers and in equal variety: vegetation, sea creatures small and big, caves, mountains. The colors are dazzling and mesmerizing.
In Fiji, Indonesia, and other places, corals come in all shapes and colors. This is where Nature is at its best: fan coral, brain coral, finger coral, cauliflower coral, etc.
Can you name some places that you have visited? And talk about your most favorite dive?
I have visited several Caribbean islands for diving: St. Martin, Bonaire, Curacao, Cayman, Antigua, Cozumel, Bahamas, and The Dominican Republic. In addition, I have done diving on the Big Island of Hawaii, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Fiji, Malta, Indonesia (Bunaken, Bali, Raja Ampat), Palau, Belize, and French Polynesia.
My favorite places are – French Polynesia, Indonesia (Bunaken, Bali, Raja Ampat), Seychelles, Belize, Palau, Fiji, Cozumel, Bonaire, and the Maldives, not necessarily in this order.
How would you describe when sharks or other sea animals come near you?
Experienced divers are aware of the dangers of some sea creatures. Contacts with lionfish and jellyfish produce very unpleasant consequences. Moray eel has sharp teeth and its bite is highly infectious. Scorpionfish are another dangerous creature.
Although sharks have a bad reputation, I have had no problems during my several encounters with them. I was certified as an Extreme Shark Diver (diving at a depth of 85 feet without a cage) in Fiji in the year 2012. The sharks that I photographed here as close as six feet were bull sharks, nurse sharks, and a tiger shark.
In 2015, I celebrated my 80th birthday shark diving in the Bahamas at a depth of 40 feet without any cage. There were over forty sharks in all sizes, and they were mostly Caribbean Reef sharks.
Any advice that I can give?
It is never too late to follow your passions!
For more pictures and videos go to –YouTube Channel and Flickr Album.
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Very beautiful
Its never to late to do what your heart desires.
It’s a pleasure to meet you in person Sir. Jaganathan onboard MSC MAGNIFICA.
Great job, and many more dives.
I really love this! Thanks for sharing your uncle’s story, this needs to be shared all over the world! This is far from retirement, this man continues
to live and enjoy this journey of life! I pray all blessings upon your family!!!
nice done
You are a verygood light
You are so strong.
Your story will definitely inspire millions of people, it’s not easy to do the job which we are afraid of and swimming is definitely a risky thing. have great health. keep doing the great work.
I had the pleasure of diving with your uncle in Belize in April 2021. He is truly the embodiment of ‘its never too late to learn something new!’. At only 32 years old I still find myself nervous going down and looking over at KA gave me such inspiration to enjoy the dives, but remember what I learned to keep me safe. I hope to one day dive in as many places as him! Please send him my love from NYC!
Thank you for sharing this useful information. Keep sharing this kind of information
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nice
I was pleased to meet Nathan yesterday in Bora Bora, Tahiti, and I hope our paths cross again. He is a marvelous diving companion and tells a good story. Maruru!
I love this article! I know your uncle Nathan personally. He’s so experienced person in many fields! Say hi to him 🙂 from New York
My husband is a diver too and he would love to see those beautiful oceans in Fiji!! What a great place to go. I am not very strong at snorkeling and have tried it a few times on cruises, but I just don’t love it. I did love what I saw under the water though!
First off, I can’t believe that he is 80 years old! Sounds like he has accomplished many great things and lead a life that would allow him to greatly enjoy himself after retirement. I love the diving photos, I’d love to snorkel and dive, but deep waters kind of frighten me. A fear of the unknown, you can not convince me that they have discovered everything that lives in the ginormous ocean! Never know what could be down there, maybe when I’m older I wont be so afraid.
Truly inspiring and an advice which we can imbibe.
I have always wanted to try snorkeling it looks like so much fun. That’s pretty amazing that your uncle does all of that still at age 80.
It boggles one’s mind to know that age has nothing to do with mental and physical agility as long as one feels young at heart suffused with adventurous spirit diving into the depth of the blue sea to marvel at the wonderful underworld teeming with exotic marine species. Kudos to Jagnanthanji for his drive and passion to learn new techniques and pastimes to enliven the evening of life with gusto and grit. It is not normally given to mortals to abide by what the wonderful British politician Winston Churchil succinctly summed up the need to make efforts when he observed that “Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts” .Jagannanthanji demonstrated his astounding intrepidity to plumb the bottom of the earth in quest of knowledge, information and entertainment. Thanks to Vidya Sudarsan for interviewing his uncle and brought to the fore his quest for esoteric escapades unmindful of his age. The interviewer did a nice spadework in highlighting the sub-sea subliminal experience of his uncle and also interspersing the narrative with colourful pictures of the species he had encountered in his dive.i
Wow! All those sharks! That would have made me nervous. The undersea world really is beautiful, though. Much respect to your uncle for following his passion and getting certified!
I absolutely love this!! Kudos to your Uncle and his passion for fulfilling his passions no matter what stage in life…
What an awesome story about your uncle! I truly believe when you slow down, you lose your abilities to do physical and mental activities. High five to your uncle for being active and pursuing his passions!
These photos are absolutely incredible! And you’re right, it’s amazing what we can learn from others if we just take the time to listen. I love this post, thank you for sharing! 🙂
That’s amazing! I always loved having relatives who were travelers since they always have great stories to tell 😀 they inspired me to travel as well, and I’m happy that today I’ve made myself a full-time traveler too! I tried diving before as well and it’s amazing. It’s great that your uncle is a pro at it. Tell him to come to the Philippines! We are part of the world’s Coral Triangle after all 🙂
Such a wonderful testimony to your uncle with those beautiful pictures & videos. The interview really sounds great & inspiring as he proves that age has no limit to succeed.
My goodness – at 80 he is driving and he looks great! Must run in your family 🙂 Beautifully written and just love those images – I too enjoy snorkeling and had been around divers growing up – so maybe someday – this is an inspirational post!
I love to go snorkeling and diving especially in warmer tropic waters like this! These are beautiful pictures that you took. I love that he is not letting his age stop him from what he loves to do and living his life.
I loved reading this! The pictures are absolutely gorgeous, and I love reading about someone who really proves that age is just a number. Thanks for sharing this!
Your uncle is very inspiring! His accomplishments are amazing. I am a motivated to learn how to dive.
I love your uncle’s motto about how it’s never too late to follow your passions, he’s so right and I guess that’s what keeps him young at heart. I’m so impressed that he’s done 160 dives, it must be such an amazing experience for him each time. His underwater photography is beautiful, all the colour is just awe-inspiring.
What a great interview. Your uncle sounds like an amazing man. It’s true that it is never too late to follow your passions.
Incredible! Its very obvious why you look up to him. Good interview Vidya. It was very inspiring to read about his experiences; pushes me to not postpone my padi certification any longer! 🙂
Superb blog Vidya and none better than Jagannathan to inspire us with his travel prowess, love for details and just boundless energy! Absolutely loved it! Thank you immensely!
Which proves that one is never too old for anything – certainly true in this case..
Beautifully portrayed of Jagannathan, well said and love the amazing photographs. The title exactly suits his description. You need a big pat on your back. I am so proud of you and my loving brother. Kudos to both of You 🙂