BHUBANESWAR: As people across Western Odisha revelled in Nuakhai festivities, the State’s youngest scuba diver sent her wishes in a novel gesture.
Based out of Dubai, 11-year-old Tisya Panigrahi and father Priyadarshee (also a trained scuba diver) dived into the Arabian Sea in the Gulf Of Oman at Fujairah, UAE and sent out ‘Nuakhai’ wishes on the eve of the festival.
The duo dived into the sea at the ‘Dibba Rock’ site and after descending to a depth of around 40 feet amidst colorful coral reefs and beautiful marine life, they took out some celebratory placards to convey their wishes to people of Odisha.
One of the placards read ‘Nuakhai Juhar’ while the other one read ‘Happy Nuakhai’.
While the agrarian festival is celebrated with much fervour, this underwater feat to mark the occasion was unique and captured hearts of many.
What made it special was the fact that it was done by a 11 year old girl along with her father.
Lebanon-based diving instructor Hani El Hajjar helped them by taking photographs and videos using a special underwater camera.
Sambalpur-born Tisya became Odisha’s youngest Scuba diver on August 22 last year when she obtained her PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Junior Open Water Scuba Diver License in UAE at the age of 10.
“We chose September 10 for our dives and then realized that Nuakhai was the next day. Hailing from Sambalpur in Odisha, the festival holds a very special place in our hearts. So we decided to do something unique on this occasion and this idea came up,” said a delighted Priyadarshee, adding that this was also an attempt to popularise Nuakhai.