As the aircraft prepared to land at the Veer Savarkar Airport at Port
Blair, the rainclouds suddenly gave way to reveal brilliant emerald islands
that seemed uninhabited and untouched. I remembered what my friend Priya had
said as I had bid her goodbye in Muscat – “Please tell us all about these
remote islands. I have never known anybody who has returned from there!”
On the Andamans, as we made our way to the hotel, we saw signs of
civilization - giggling schoolgirls, little bungalows, narrow paved streets,
and eco-friendly hotels. In the absence of major hotel chains, we were booked
into a local hotel and we were surprised by their housekeeping skills on more
than one occasion.
The Zonal Anthropological Museum houses displays of tribal houses,
primitive clothing, tools, and pictures of aborigines and early settlers. It
gives an overview of life on the islands before they were 'discovered'. We were
told that some tribes on Nicobar islands were still 'uncontacted' and continued
to live as their ancestors did. These islands were completely out of bounds for
tourists. Well, none of us wanted to take chances as there might still be cannibals
lurking around on those islands!
Our visit to the Cellular Jail will remain an indelible memory. The
star- shaped structure with six wings of cells (of which only two wings are
still standing) with the control tower in the centre, the gallows, the workshop,
and the cells themselves conjure up gruesome images of methods of torture meted
out to the inmates of the jail who were mostly political prisoners in pre-
independent India. The red bricks for the walls were shipped from Burma and the
prisoners themselves built the jail in which they were to be imprisoned. The
cells were laid out in such a way that the prisoners could not communicate with
each other. They were forbidden to talk while working on the oil press,
shelling coconuts, or while making ropes from coconut fibers. If caught, they
were given punishments depending on the nature of their crime. These included
flogging, wearing sackcloth which pricked the skin all day, chains, fetters on
hands and feet with straight iron rods which made it impossible for the
prisoner to sit. The prisoners poured out their anguish by writing on the walls
of their cells with nails. The jail corridors seemed to reverberate with
soulful cries of martyrs who gave up their lives to free their country.
Our next stop was the Jaljeevshala (aquarium)
which had an amazing collection of marine life and corals and pearl oysters.
Later, as dark clouds gathered in the sky we enjoyed a pedal-boat ride in the
Water Park. There were dramatic changes overhead as the moonlight lighted up
the enormous thunderclouds. Someone spread the rumour of an impending tsunami
and we had to abandon our plans to ride the speedboats. And then it rained. It
was the tropical thundershower variety of rain which creates a curtain of
swirly wetness around you so that you can only see hazy shapes in the distance.
The popular 'Light and Sound Show' at the Cellular Jail was cancelled because
of the rain too.
Next day, at the Chatham Saw Mill, the workers looked up and smiled as
we deeply inhaled the refreshing scent of raw wood. In the shed was an old
Caterpillar train which was used to carry logs after the elephants were put out
of work. The museum in the mill compound showcases the history of the mill and
wooden objects made by artists working in the mill. The objects included
chains, images of gods, flora and fauna of the islands, and furniture. What
interested us most was the smoothness of 'satin wood' and the beautiful core
patterns of cross-sections of trees.
The ferry to Bambooflat gave us a chance to chat with the locals. Most
of them are descendents of people from Bengal and Tamilnadu and still follow
their own customs. The scenic ride uphill to Mount Harriet had a misty
rainforest ambience. At one spot, our guides stopped to show us a leafy
window-view of the Ross Island as it appears on the Rupee
20 denomination (Indian currency) bill. The
top of the mountain offered a bird's eye-view of the surrounding islands. On
the way down we saw a magnificent white church with the words 'Ave Maria'
written in large letters on the little hill that also served as its façade.
Ross Island is a quaint island that was inhabited by the British when
they ruled India. It served as their headquarters among the islands. It now
lies in ruins. A wide-eyed inquisitive deer walked by as we had lunch in the
picnic spot. When we got excited by its appearance, our guide informed us that
there were more than four hundred of them on the island and as many peacocks.
Our pursuit to find them led us to a tiny beach near the ruins of the swimming
pool. It was the first of the many picturesque beaches we saw in the Andamans.
When it was feeding time, the deers and peacocks rushed to the walking path. As
they jostled for space, their backs made a multicolored furry and feathery
carpet on the path. Visitors then flocked to take pictures! The walking path
led us to more ruins- an old church and other structures. The caretaker of the
island, Anuradha Rao, gave us a brief info talk about the island's history as
we waited for the ferry back to Port Blair.
The Havelock Island is accessible by the catamaran Makruzz. On our first evening on this island, we went to the Radhanagar beach. It was like a tropical rainforest opening up to a wide expanse of white sand and aquamarine sea. The shopkeepers selling trinkets made of shells and corals on the beach said that most people on the islands earned well and that there were no beggars.
The Elephant Beach had many water sports but no elephants. The beach has
some wonderful views for landscape photography as the 2004 tsunami has left
behind a lot of driftwood and uprooted trees. Snorkeling was a disappointment
because there was not much to see underwater except
a few stray fish, some underwater vegetation and rocks. There was a tiny
beach frequented by divers opposite our hotel. The shoeflowers which led us
there were the reddest red imaginable. Here we spotted blue, orange, black and
purple crabs who had made their homes among the mangroves. A lone octopus
cleverly struggled to camouflage itself among the stones. The divers who
surprised us by suddenly popping out of the water excitedly shared their
experiences with each other.
Although at a distance from the Indian mainland, the Andaman Islands offer visitors everything that any Indian tourist destination does - from friendly locals to shopping bargains. It even had the traditional Kerala massage centers. Our close-knit extended family had joined us on this holiday and we had a memorable time together. The amazing colours of the sea as we saw it in different times in the day and walks along the quaint village paths will remain unforgettable.
(This post was first published in Outpost Muscat Newsletter March-April 2013)
