Into the deep: Athulya from Palakkad breaks into the male-dominated world of commercial diving

By: V M Subair/TNN For 29-year-old Athulya, scuba diving is not a hobby or a thrilling escape, it is a profession that has taken her from a remote village in Palakkad to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.She has become the first Indian woman to obtain a commercial diving licence, and the first woman from Kerala to earn a professional scuba diving certificate, quietly breaking into a field traditionally dominated by men.Born and raised in Karuvanpadi in Paruthur village on the western edge of Palakkad district, Athulya's path here was anything but straight. Her father Manikandan drives a lorry. Her mother Leela works in a factory. Nobody around her had heard of commercial diving, let alone pursued it. There was no one from her village to call for advice or who had done anything remotely like this. The idea came from a classroom, unexpectedly.“I never imagined as a child that I would end up in such a profession,” she says. During her second year at St Mary’s College in Thrissur, a gender studies teacher mentioned diving almost in passing, an unusual career, good salaries, and one that even young men weren't taking seriously. Most students forgot about it by the next class. Athulya didn't.She had always been comfortable in water, swimming regularly in the Bharathapuzha river and at Biyyam Kayal near her mother's home in Ponnani. Those were familiar, shallow waters. “But none of those water bodies were very deep,” she says. “The sea is completely different.” She learnt that the hard way during her first open water dives, the silence, the pressure, the disorientation that no river swim can prepare you for.After her degree, she enrolled at a scuba academy in Kovalam, and found herself the only woman in a batch full of men. Her parents asked her to come home. She stayed. “I knew this was going to be my career,” she said, with the kind of calm that suggests the decision had never really been in doubt.After completing the three-month course, she worked as a scuba adviser in the Andaman Islands and later at AquaLeo Dive Centre in Kochi, where she also trained coastal police and fire and rescue personnel in diving. Each posting added a layer of experience that a classroom never could.The next break came when she met South African couple Trevor Bailey and Alta Trevor Bailey, founders of Jackass Dive Chest Commercial Dive Academy in Cape Town. They asked if she was interested in commercial diving. She was, but the licence cost around Rs 12 lakh. “That was a major obstacle,” she says. Then they offered her free training. She didn't think twice. She travelled to Cape Town and trained in the Atlantic Ocean, once again the only woman in her batch. In July 2025, she completed the course under the International Marine Contractors Association (UK), becoming the first Indian woman to hold the qualification. Commercial diving is a different world from recreational scuba. “At depths of nearly 50 metres, we may have to control breathing for several minutes. Pressure increases as we go deeper and the body needs more energy for every movement. We carry nearly 30kg of equipment, helmets, air cylinders, everything,” she says. The mental demands are just as significant as the physical ones. She adds that while the profession is open to those without serious health conditions, smoking and alcohol can cause dangerous breathing complications at such depths.Athulya is now looking at job opportunities with a company in Dubai. Her licence is valid in nearly 130 countries. Her parents, who once urged her to come home from Kovalam, now stand firmly behind her. “Thinking differently from conventional choices has benefited me,” she says. “Life should have some adventure and thrill. It is even more satisfying when that itself becomes your profession and your income.”