The Beautiful Islands Of ANDAMAN

Though India as a whole is very beautiful, I remember here a quote that Mark Twain once said that INDIA is the cradle of the human race the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legends and the great grand mother of tradition. But here I could just name a place I feel is one of the best.

 

I think it is by far the kings of island in India. The beautiful sea shore, Blue waters with Glittering Gold like sand looks splendid from the air. When we first landed their, we straight away reached to our family friend’s place. It is now almost 5 years now, but few images of the place are still clear in my eyes. I was highly impressed by that Part of India which is so far from the main India but still so beautiful and decorated. It might not be so developed like the other parts but its simplicity has no match. e heard that as far as Crime is concerned, Jails are completely vacant and the people there are extremely honest and sincere. The island has a Jail that was build for the Prisoners at the time India was a British Colony, called CELLULAR JAIL and the Punishment was termed as KALA PANI meant Black Water. Indeed, it was scary, no way to escape. Every evening there is a light and sound show at the Jail to depict the situation of Jail of that time and the way the prisoners were brutally tortured. The Jail is constructed so well that I think it is one of the best Constructions of those Times in India.

 

The Jail is not all the center of attraction only. We had to take a sea ride to a different Island where we can see one of the Best CORALS visible in India. From the ship a small boat can ferry us to the shore line which had a transparent floor through which we could see into the deep water. At the shore, we hired a professional to take us into the water for SCUBA DIVING. That was a splendid experience as I think those creations under water is so unnatural and out of the world. The show doesn’t stop here. We took another ship rather this time much bigger than the earlier one in which we even boarded our taxi. This time we were on the way to see one of the Most Active Volcano in India which had last blown in 2003. It as the time I was almost as the mouth of a volcano which was still making noises, there was some smoke too coming out occasionally and it was damn hot around. I thought I will return back in ashes. The way to the volcano was nothing less than an Adventure. We had to climb almost an hour to reach to the top.

 

We could also meet the Most Backward Tribal on the way back. They live in those jungles almost naked and eat almost every animal without even cooking it. Those are called JARAWAS there. They have black skin, almost demon like eyes and Red Teeth as they eat those animals raw. But they are also very intelligent as the same island faced the biggest catastrophe when The Giant Tsunami Waves hit its coast after couple of years of our visit there. I then read in newspapers that none of the JARAWA died and still Indian Scientists are turning stones up and down to know their sense of Danger. Some say that they followed Dogs and Rats, others say that they can read the rotation of Moon in some hidden known method, while some wrote that they have some black magic that help them to survive every possible threat to them. But they sure were amazing people. I still remember that they are less friendly but funny, they dance in front of the people coming there, make sound and show people how they actually catch fishes without even getting into water, just with there 200 year old way of BOW and ARROW. They really are amazing when they catch a fish or a bird by their accurate aim. They don’t really communicate but our Guide told us that their Prince was sitting there and he called him to shake hands. I remember his name was too strange “POPO” and he was looking almost same as others. It was indeed a great experience to meet such people who are the very part of our country though very different. The next day we were up to another island called ROSE ISLAND. The place is almost at a declination of more than 30* and almost 20% was already in water. It is a joint Base of NAVAL and AIR FORCE OF INDIA. Every year it sinks another 10 feet in water so they continue construct floor in order to raise it level every year.  We also got to know that the Black and White Light Tower depicted at the back of our currency note showing INDIRA POINT (end of Indian Water) was actually taken from that place. There was another sinking bunker which was also printed at the back of Rs. 20 Note which we also checked right there to verify. This Island was actually used as A Post Office to get the International Mails from South East Asian Countries by Britishers.

 

Nevertheless, we got ample of time for fun; we had swimming, Scuba Diving and Boating at numerous occasions. This almost 3-4 days tour to Andaman Islands (Port Blair) with my family was far better and interesting. This place really deserves a special place in my memory. Down the Lane when I retrieve that experience with the people I met and the History of that Place is almost brilliant. Many stories of our Freedom Fighters especially VIR SAWARKAR who ran from the Cellular Jail and almost crossed the complete deadly sea to reach other side of the Indian Shore was unbelievable. There is no crime, no greed and the people are so cooperative that one really forgets about this greedy world. I wish if I could visit it again in near future to explore more about the secrets hidden under the sand of that place and to experience some other Islands that could not be seen in that visit.

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Mukul Gupta