Jest Life: Diving deep for pearls of wisdom

Looking at the quirky side of our world. A snapshot that reveals many a picture


I recently went on a pearl diving trip with a group of professional divers. They dived along the coastline of Dubai in search of that Queen of the sea - pearls.

The pearl bank wasn't too far out into the sea, a good distance that needed about half a day. It was meant to be a fun excursion, a brief glimpse for the expatriates on the team of the way of life that was in the region before oil. Man and sea supported each other.

We didn't expect to find very many pearls. But, I guess, the thought of finding that one perfect pearl which might transform fortunes overnight was there, swirling around in the eddies of people's minds. Nobody voiced them, but it did manifest itself when the divers arrived with mesh bags full of oysters.

The apparently sedate quickly got to the task of wrenching open the mouths of the molluscs with flat-hooked knives specially designed for the purpose.

I did find it slightly macabre, the process of slitting open someone's throat so you can get to a perceived treasure in your stomach. Perhaps I was being overly dramatic.

Men, women and children, all concentrated on the task at hand. The sweltering heat pouring down their furrowed brows was forgotten. A few with cigarettes hanging at the corner of their lips plundered on. It was quite a sight watching the group, soaked in seawater and juices flowing from the little hills of oysters around them.

Braving perils

For a brief minute I understood why men in the past had braved the perils of the sea, with no safety equipment – like the divers of today - to find pearls.

The joy of finding that perfectly formed creamy sphere is quite fantastic - we felt that same surge of ecstasy when one of the shell openers found a pink pearl around quarter of an inch in diameter. It sat there nestling in the soft folds of the oyster glistening with shades of the sea. A wonderful sight - perhaps greed wasn't such a bad thing.

It is easy to have a very clear idea of black and white when it comes to behaviour seen from a distance, but when you are up, close and personal - that's the crunch time. The shades of grey appear. Do you still have the clarity of vision to recognise the fact you are not at the end of the spectrum but somewhere in the middle?

A tough call to make. Many a noble creature has faltered at this altar of truth, for the mirror tends to distort when you are very near. It is at this point that breeding starts to play a predominant role. For there will be certain lines you will never cross, not because you are a lofty creature unaffected by the shenanigans of earthlings, but the teachings drummed in by your parents. They build an unseen boundary within your self, which will not be crossed-a built-in defence system.