Has anyone heard from Vandit Kalia?

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chilly - 09 Jan 2005 08:57 GMT

Last I knew, Vandit was involved with a dive op in the Andaman's.

It would be good to hear that he is OK.

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vtb666@yahoo.com - 30 Jan 2005 13:46 GMT

Hi there, Ms L -

Was just checking in and lurk-browsing through the old posts in the NG
and came across this one.

We are all fine - our brand spanking new dive boat got wrecked, a
couple of tanks got carried away but all of us - staff and customers -
are fine, and that's the main thing. Business, of course, has been
non-existent since. Between this and a personal X-mas morning death in
the family, it has been a bit of a traumatic Xmas New Years, but things
are starting to look up. Slowly, customers are starting to return and
for sure, I plan to stick it out and get the dive shop in full swing
again. No going back to the corporate world yet!

Am touched by and really appreciate the concern!!

So, when are you and the rest of the rec.scuba crew coming diving with
us? Y'all will get to see PADI OW courses being taught in full DIR
regalia.... :)

Best regards,
Vandit
www.diveindia.com

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JOF - 30 Jan 2005 15:10 GMT

>So, when are you and the rest of the rec.scuba crew coming diving with
>us? Y'all will get to see PADI OW courses being taught in full DIR
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>Vandit
>www.diveindia.com

Well, well, well. The Man of Many Names surfaces again, and about
damned time. Good to know yer okay.

I feared yer absence was the result of intimidation brought on by the
cries of "evil spammer" whenever some poor soul dared to mention
diving and a commercial venture in the same written breath. Frankly, I
much prefer spam-filled discussions about diving to the vapid
exchanges of nastiness that seem to hold RS hostage these days. As
entertainingly erudite as some of the characters here can be, their
schtick gets old. Some of them need new script-writers, or at least an
infusion of new material.

Perhaps some fresh spam from the Indian Ocean may serve to fuel the
fires of e-nastiness and give us a few days respite from this stale
regurgitation. So spam on, oh Schizophrenic One! Please. And don't
hesitate to invite all yer many personae to join the fray. The more
the merrier. 8)

JF

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vtb666@yahoo.com - 31 Jan 2005 04:59 GMT

> Well, well, well. The Man of Many Names surfaces again, and about
> damned time. Good to know yer okay.

Thank you, thank you, O Man Who Bears The Same Name as Another Man But
Who Is Not A Magazine Writer! :)

> I feared yer absence was the result of intimidation brought on by the
> cries of "evil spammer" whenever some poor soul dared to mention
> diving and a commercial venture in the same written breath.

Actually, that was part of it. I figured my tendency towards free
expression and use of R-rated language would not jibe well with being
associated with a dive shop. And then, I dont have Internet on our
island - checking email involves an overnight trip to the main island,
where the bandwidth consists of a piece of string between 2 Coke cans.
Which is also a bit of a bummer.

> Frankly, I
> much prefer spam-filled discussions about diving to the vapid
> exchanges of nastiness that seem to hold RS hostage these days. As
> entertainingly erudite as some of the characters here can be, their
> schtick gets old. Some of them need new script-writers, or at least an
> infusion of new material.

That also had something to do with. Over the last 2-3 years, it seems
to me that virtually every Usenet group I read seems to have been
innundated with off-topic posts and an increasingly-vicious exchange
covering the same old, same old.

> Perhaps some fresh spam from the Indian Ocean may serve to fuel the
> fires of e-nastiness and give us a few days respite from this stale
> regurgitation. So spam on, oh Schizophrenic One! Please. And don't
> hesitate to invite all yer many personae to join the fray. The more
> the merrier. 8)

Heh, the personaes are all on ice. I have finally given up my old Unix
newsreader and gone with Google, so changing handles is not going to be
so easy. It hoits, I tell ya.

It's been great running a dive shop - beats the hell out of being a
consultant, that's fer sure. Thankfully, I still havent lost my desire
to dive, and do so every chance I get when I travel... so that's an
added plus.

On a more scuba-pertinent note: I have to admit that I am getting a bit
more impressed with the PADI approach, now that I'm doing it on a
professional basis. It is safe -- if done properly, there is minimal
chances of people getting hurt. It is scalable - you can accommodate
all diver levels and interests. I sound like a PADI shill now, dont
I? Y'all can set fire to the stake now :)

Cheers,
Vandit

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chilly - 30 Jan 2005 17:07 GMT

> Hi there, Ms L -
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> us? Y'all will get to see PADI OW courses being taught in full DIR
> regalia.... :)

I am delighted to hear from you Vandit!! Sorry about your boat, but as you
so rightfully pointed out, it is the people being safe that is the main
thing.

I'm also sorry to hear you suffered a personal loss and especially at such a
time. Have you been home?

Am also admiring your perseverance and look forward to updated reports as
times and things improve.

Maybe next time I'm in SE Asia, I will pop over for a week, that is if you
will permit me to dive with my stroke gear. ;^) What is involved with
getting to you from Singapore?

How have your reefs fared? Was there reef damage and is it further
complicated by a sand/silt problem?

BTW, I was wondering about your friend that we dined with in Koh Tao (IIRC,
his name was Charlie?). This past month, I was diving with a DM that had
recently worked at Koh Phi Phi. However, she did not think she knew him and
so was unable to tell me whether or not he had moved on prior.

Keep us updated please. It is always good to see your (now so) rare posts.

All the best to you and yours,

S

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vtb666@yahoo.com - 31 Jan 2005 05:05 GMT

> I am delighted to hear from you Vandit!! Sorry about your boat, but as you
> so rightfully pointed out, it is the people being safe that is the main
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> All the best to you and yours,

Hi Chilly -

To be honest, I lost contact with Charlie pretty much after leaving Koh
Tao. I 'll email a couple of people from my instructor class and see
if they know his whereabouts, but even I havent been able to get any
update on him and Achim, the two Phi Phi fellows.

Parts of our sites have been damaged, but nothing critically so. Vis
is starting to improve - b/c there is a lot of mangrove run-off where
we are (heavy particulates), the silting is not as bad as I had feared.

So yeah, come on down with stroke gear and we'll do stroke diving,
backplate or no :)

DIRLy man,
Vandit

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chilly - 31 Jan 2005 07:33 GMT

(snip)

> So yeah, come on down with stroke gear and we'll do stroke diving,
> backplate or no :)
>
> DIRLy man,
> Vandit

DIRLy man, LOL, your humor intact as ever.

Though from what I read in your post to JF, you may be the PADIRLy man. :^)

Best of luck tracking down Charlie and Achim. I feel confident that the
news will be good when you hear back.

Now then, how do I get to you from Singapore?

Until you have two tin cans strung together again,

chilly

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vtb666@yahoo.com - 31 Jan 2005 08:44 GMT

> Though from what I read in your post to JF, you may be the PADIRLy man. :^)

Brrrr... Vandit Kalia, PADI Course Director ---> sounds absolutely
terrible.

> Now then, how do I get to you from Singapore?

Fly to Calcutta or Chennai, and then fly onwards from there to Port
Blair. You'll need an Indian visa before you fly, and the permit for
the Andamans you can get on arrival.
www.diveindia.com --> click on Planning Your Trip for all the gory
details. Click on DIVE Havelock for details on the island, places to
stay and so on.

Also, email me at vkalia00 at yahoo dot com, if you have any questions
as well

Dont email this address - the only people emailing it are the penis
enlarging/breast enlarging crowd, and a trusting soul from Nigeria who
wants to send me $5 mm. Well-endowed and rich, that's what I'll be
after I'm done with them.

> Until you have two tin cans strung together again,

Cans around for a few weeks - I am not in the islands, as I had to take
care of some other pressing work. Someone else is running things till
early March (which is quite easy, as we've had 0 customers in January

:)).

Cheers,
Vandit

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chilly - 31 Jan 2005 09:47 GMT

> > Though from what I read in your post to JF, you may be the PADIRLy
> man. :^)
>
> Brrrr... Vandit Kalia, PADI Course Director ---> sounds absolutely
> terrible.

You will get used to it. :^)

> > Now then, how do I get to you from Singapore?
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> details. Click on DIVE Havelock for details on the island, places to
> stay and so on.

Oh dear. Sounds a bit of trouble. But then there's a number of steps
involved in getting to Sipadan and I did that with no problem.

> Also, email me at vkalia00 at yahoo dot com, if you have any questions
> as well

Will do. :^)

> Dont email this address - the only people emailing it are the penis
> enlarging/breast enlarging crowd, and a trusting soul from Nigeria who
> wants to send me $5 mm. Well-endowed and rich, that's what I'll be
> after I'm done with them.

Let me know when you are set then. Sounds like that might be an auspicious
time for me to travel over there. (wg)

> > Until you have two tin cans strung together again,
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Cheers,
> Vandit

OK, take care. :^)

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