As a family, we love to travel. When Ashish (my brother- in-law) got posted in the Andamans, we began to dream of a visit to this island territory in the Bay of Bengal.Ashish is now Finance Officer for the Tsunami Rehabilitation Project of Emmanuel Hospital Association.
It was December 2008. On the 22nd, we started our move. Overnight train travel to Chennai, to be with my friend Jothi and family. No need to say, we were at home.
Had a chance to visit "KG" (Mr. Karthik Govindan), my 'virtual colleague' in TutorVista, where I do online tutoring. Another colleague Veena, with her husband Sajith and daughter Shivani gave company. A great experience: to meet face to face with people you know only over netchat!At KG's: Sitting: KG with his parents. Standing, L - R: Veena with Shivani, Me, Kezia, Anne & Steve (clicked by Sajith)
Early morning flight from Chennai by Kingfisher; touch down at Veer Savarkar International Airport, Port Blair by 7 am. Meeting Ashish at his turf was an experience!
Exploring the Andamans 24th was a day of rest. Just a visit to Ashish's office for prayer in the morning. The evening, witnessed the inaugural of Island Tourism Festival. A government program, it was well organized and on the dot - - something we never expected to happen! Cultural displays were simply marvelous.
Merry Christmas, Andamans! Christmas day in the island. Had to miss church... or did we? Wait and see!! Passed by the famous Cellular Jail, which was closed for the day. And, moved over to the...Ross Island, the British administrative headquarters of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which remained so till it was rocked by an earthquake in 1941. The area is now under the control of the Indian Navy.
The island still throbs with the remnants of a British culture. Though huge roots of banyan trees have grown into the ruins of the once magnificent structures, we still get a feel of the style and vigor of the British settlements.
From the Phoenix Bay jetty, which has a Tsunami Memorial, a short boat ride took us to the Ross Island.
Refreshed by the milk of tender coconuts, we were amused to see tame deer approaching us to share the drink!
Roaming in, we came to a solemn spot: the ruins of a once magnificent Presbyterian Church. While in the chancel (part of the church where the priests stand at the altar, for divine services), we tried to imagine: the peals of bells from the bell tower on the left, strains of "Hark the herald, Angels sing..." chiming out on those Christmas morning services... yes, we had our Christmas day amidst them!
To the Inter Islands On the 26th, we moved with Ashish to Baratang. It was a 4 hour drive by car.
The Andamans being a group of islands, traveling from one to the other is in itself an experience. From Port Blair, you travel for about 2 hours to join a traffic convoy, starting at stipulated hours. Gun wielding policemen travel with you in the first and last vehicles of the convoy. Moving for about 2 hours through the Jarawa Reserve Forest (wherein dwell the Jarawa tribes), you are not permitted to stop, step down or snap any shots, till you reach Baratang.
Baratang Here you cross the creek: not just you, but your vehicle as well, and reach the island jetty of Baratang, in the Middle Andamans. From here, fascination awaits you!
Mud Volcano Believe me, it is a volcano! But what comes out of the eruption is mud. This is the only known example of mud volcanoes in India.
For more, visit:
http://www.gsi.gov.in/mudvolmv.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baratang
Through the Creek Sitting in a speedboat for four, cutting across the waters of the creek, whose width itself is more than 1/2 km, you marvel at everything around. The clean waters still unpolluted by tourism (thankfully, no house boats here!) and the glory of the unexploited forests whisper to your soul.
The boat takes a sudden turn to the left: you enter a ... tunnel?! It is a side canal, canopied by the extended branches from the mangrove forests on both sides. A landing, and a walk through humble dwellings. It is an island, still remote to many things, including electricity.
Here you have the...Limestone Caves A poetry of nature, etched painstakingly over
centuries! The tour within takes just a few minutes. But the impression is deep. Look at the stalactites through eyes of imagination; you can see a water lilly, an octopus and many more, carved for you by the unseen chisel.Croc-tale! Riding back over the creek, our boat guys (yo
ung and friendly chaps, without the money-minded approach, usually seen in tourist guides) drew our attention to something natural yet spectacular. Basking on the muddy outskirts of a patch of island in the creek was a crocodile. A rare and marvelous treat!
Parrot Island waits for you in the evenings. You travel in the opposite direction through the creek, and dusk falls around you. There are just a few other speedboats around, and you laze on the waters, gazing at the few odd and tiny islands that are around. Nothing special about them. It is now around 5. 45 pm. Suddenly, from nowhere, and from everywhere, you see swarms of parrots flying in, chirping stories to one another of the exploits of the day. And, they all fly into this one island! Why only this? Why not the others? Just another mischievous mystery of the miracle working Almighty...We returned to Port Blair, riding on the A & N Transport Service bus, again crossing the creek, commuting as a convoy.
Port Blair is quite moved into the centre, and there is little of the island feel. To visit a beach, you have to travel a few kilometers. And we did that, as Steve wanted to dip himself in the waters of the Bay of Bengal.
Cellular Jail The Bastille of India - How can one miss it? The Andamans had earned its name as a penal colony even from 1857. But, as the Freedom Movement of India gained momentum in the 19th century, there arose the need for a high security prison. Thus was built the 'Kaalapani' (meaning 'black waters', borrowed from the synonym of the Islands), a name indicative of the deep sea and exile.
Set as 7 wings as spokes of a wheel, with a watch tower at the hub, the three-storeyed structure has 696 individual cells. The name "cellular" indicates the feature of construction that prevented any prisoner from communicating with another.
courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_Jail
The Cellular Jail Museum has a model of the seven spoked building, with portraits of the incarcerated freedom fighters in the background.
Move
through the cells. Let the silence of history speak to you, from within the confines of the narrow cells, the workshop where the prisoners toiled to the bones, the gallows which snuffed off the lives but not the spirit of the many warriors of our freedom... These unsung heroes of our struggle towards liberation: do we subject them to post mortem torture as we think more of ourselves, placing ourselves as the centre of our existence, when India is tossed about by sectarianism, criminalisation of politics, corruption and violence?
As we bid good bye to the Andamans on 29th morning, we had a sense of satisfaction: the days spend here were among the best we had till now, and the memories are to linger long, reminding ourselves of the wealth of experiences, and the strength of impressions!
