Journey by Ship to Havelock

The Second Day;

As per original itinerary, second day we were to visit ROSS Island and North Bay. But as these two Islands remain closed on Wednesday, our tour operator changed the original plan and decide to send us to HAVLOC.  This change was informed to us on previous night and we were told to be ready by 5:30 in the morning as the scheduled departure of Ship was at 6:20. Car arrived in time and after a cup of tea, we left for the dock. While in car, we were reminded to carry our ID proof that was a must for entry to the dock. We took the tickets and went to the Gate. There was queue and people were allowed to enter one by one through the small gate. CISF personnel deployed there checked our tickets as well as ID and allowed us through the gate.

Our Ship named BOOMBIKA was placed on the other side of another ship and the entry to our ship was through that ship only. These two ships, which were parked side by side, were connected with a wooden plank. As we entered, we were guided to an air-conditioned cabin. We took our allotted seats, which were in the middle. The cabin had round windows sealed with the glass pane. I thought if only we were allotted window seats, we could enjoy the journey more. I took some photographs of people in the cabin. The ship started in-time.

Soon, I found that windows seats were empty now. I wondered where the passengers sitting in those seats had gone! To find them, I came on the lower deck. To my pleasant surprise, they were there in the open. I amused at my foolish thought of allotting window seats. When you were allowed on the deck, who would care for window seats! I immediately came back to the cabin that had a few people by now and asked my wife to come on the deck. She came out with me and was thrilled to be there. We found a place to stand at the back side of the deck. The Ship was cruising at a fast speed, faster than I imagined.  But it was stable. The shore was hardly visible now. There was water and water all around. As the ship was heading forward, it was leaving a trail of foam behind it. Watching it for a long time standing at the back, made us feel dizzy. We shifted to right side of the deck. My wife wanted to touch the water. But I restrained her. The Ship was displacing large amount of water by its sheer weight and speed. This displaced water was adding strength to the waves of the sea which were coming with a greater force and hitting the ship. At times, the force was so strong that water would come on the deck. We were enjoying the journey. We saw that some passengers were standing at the upper deck also. But I decided to remain at the lower deck as we were more close to the sea and its splashing water.  Suddenly, a big wave came and hit the ship with a roar. I found myself drenched cap-a-pie. Lot of water filled the floor of the deck but soon returned to the sea through big round openings that were made near the floor, perhaps for this purpose only. With a strong salty taste in mouth, I returned to the cabin and was feeling cold. My wife suggested that I should go to the upper deck and dry my-self in the sun. I needed the warmth desperately. I went to the upper deck. The chances of getting wet again were remote on the upper deck.  My wife followed and we both stood there. Soon the sun and the air dried my cloths.  I observed that big round plastics drums were fixed there on the specially designed stands. I inquired from the staff and was told that these were fold-able rafts to be used in case of emergency to save the life of passengers on-board. Once unfolded, one raft could accommodate as many as 15 passengers.  I counted and concluded that these were suffices for all the passengers on-board. I also read the instructions to use those rafts but found that to unfold and to launch those, required trained staff. The date of last service imprinted on the rafts showed that those were recently serviced and were fit for use. For the rest of the journey, we remained on the upper deck and enjoyed changing colors of sea water, which was now changed from blue to black. The sea water is seen in many colors. I do not intend to go into the science of changing colors of sea water here. Suffice would be to say that during this trip, we saw it in many colors - grey, azure, viridescent, light blue, black. This 57 KM long sea journey, we completed in more than 2 hours.  As the ship came to a halt, HAVELOCK was in front of us. Here we were made to alight from the upper deck itself. As we alighted, a little nausea and dizziness was there. This day was to be spent at HAVELOCK and the next day we were to go to NEIL Island before returning to Port Blair. The car was waiting for us. The second day of our journey was about to start at HAVELOCK.

Andaman Visit - About Cellular Jail

The old tree:

As we entered Cellular jail, one big peepal tree drew our attention. Over the years, this tree stands as mute testimony of the torture inflicted on the prisoners, nay inmate of this jail. They were mostly freedom fighters and calling them prisoners will be an insult to those great men. It has witnessed people being brought here. It has seen them made to work against their will. It has heard them shouting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” as they were flogged. It has silently watched them taking to gallows for hanging till death. If only, it could speak, it would tell us in detail what all, the inmates of this jail suffered.

The Jail:

This remote Island had been used by the British mostly to exile political prisoners since 1857. As the Independence movement picked up in late 19^th Century, the number of prisoners being sent to this Island grew and the need to construct a high security prison was felt. Construction of this jail started in 1896 and it was completed in 1906 at a cost of Rs. 5.17 lacs.

Architecture:

The original building had seven wings. At the center, a tower served as watch tower used by guards to keep watch on the inmates. The wings originated from watch-tower in shape of radials. The wings were so designed that each wing saw the back of another wing. This was purposely kept so to avoid the inmates of one wing to communicate with the inmates of other wing. They were all in solitary confinement. A large bell was kept in the tower to raise an alarm. Whenever someone was hanged till death, this bell was sounded to instill fear in others.

Each wing had three stories (G+2) comprising a total of 693 cells. The size of each cell was 13.5 x 7.5 feet and a single ventilator was given in each cell at the height of 3 meter. The design of latches of cells was such that in no case it could be accessed from inside the cell.

The Jailer:

David Barry, the jailer was a cruel and ruthless jailer. He would hang the inmates’ upside-down who refused to follow his orders; would keep them without food for days together, and would flog them on not meeting the targets given to them. The life of the inmates was so arduous that some of them tried to end their life. Inmates resorted to hunger strike to protest against the inhuman treatment being meted out to them. But it hardly had any impact on Barry. Mahavir Singh, who was an associate of Bhagat Singh, died while during a hunger strike, he was force fed milk that went into his lungs. British tied his body to a stone and threw it in the Sea.

The Japanese control:

The Andaman Island was taken over by the Japanese in 1942. This was the time when Subhash Chandra Bose visited this Island. At the end of World War II, however, the British regained the control of this Island.

After Independence:

After independence, demolition of this jail started but it drew protests from former prisoners as well as leaders. In 1969, the remaining three wings with the Central Tower were converted into a National Memorial by the Government of India in memories of all those who suffered here at the hands of British. It draws large crowd every day and the visit to Andaman Island is not completed without visiting this Memorial.

Vir Sawarker Cell;

We visited Vir Sawarker Cell that is situated at far end on one of the wings at 2^nd floor. We also saw gallows where three nooses are still hanging in cruel testimony of the British era. I put myself in one of the cell and closed the door to feel how the inmates used to feel during confinement. The two minutes stay was more than enough for me though I knew that I was free to come out at will.

The Light and Sound Show:

I also observed that lights were put in veranda at each floor in front of each cell. Electric lanterns were also hanging there.  I could not figure out why so many lights were there. While watching Light and Sound Show in evening, I realized that these lights were part of the show to give colorful effect to these cells and to the veranda.

The Light and Sound Show was superb and what I have written above was gathered from the commentary during that show. Om Puri’s deep voice, surrounding sound effects and display of colorful lights made it an event to remember. All chairs were full and some extra plastic chairs had to be put to accommodate people. To enjoy the show, it is advisable to sit in the back rows. As we came out of the Building, equally large numbers of people were waiting in another queue for their entry for the second show.

End of first day:

For dinner, we were taken to Vegan Creek Vegetarian restaurant at M.G.Road in the city. We requested them to provide some food without onion and garlic and they served us yellow Dal and Gobhi-Masala. We somehow ate it and reached our Hotel. We were so tired that we did not realize when sleep took over us.

Andaman Visit - First Day

The first day:

As we checked-in, first thought that came to my mind was of food. We both, husband and wife are strictly vegetarian and do not take even onion and garlic. To find a restaurant in Andaman that can serve food to us was not an easy task. Fearing this, we had some homemade ladoos, namkeen and Bread butter with us that we carried along from Delhi. But how long it could last? The wife of my colleague brought along puri aaloo that she specially prepared without onion and garlic, keeping our requirement in mind. In lunch, we had this. Immediate problem of finding lunch had solved and we were ready to embark upon our journey to explore the Port Blair.

By 12:30 PM, the car arrived. I took my camera bag on my shoulder and we were all set to go. The driver told that the museums would be opened after 2:30 only and we had around 2 hours to spend somewhere else. He took us to the Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex. As we alighted, we had the first glimpse of Andaman Sea-roaring in its full glory. On the other end, grove of coconut trees could be seen. We later learnt that it was ROSS Island and we were seeing it from Aberdeen Jetty- a place from where boat is taken to go to the ROSS Island and to North Bay. We spent some time there admiring the Sea, took some photographs and left for the Museums.

FISHERIES Museum:

It is situated adjacent to the Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex. It has some 350 different species of marine life collected from the Bay of Bengal and the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Flash was not permitted while taking photographs. We captured photos of some amazing fishes that were there in variety of colours.

SAMUDRIKA Museum:

It is run by Indian Navy. The museum has seven sections presenting Geographical information, Marine Life, Archaeology and people of Andaman. It has good collection of shells, corals and colourful fishes. We visited each of its seven sections and took photographs of different kind of corals. Use of flash was not allowed in the aquarium. The rooms were air-conditioned. Outside a big LCD was placed on which, a documentary in Hindi featuring Tom Alter was being shown on Andaman Tourism. We watched it for some time and then left for our next destination.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL Museum:

The next halt was at Anthropological Museum.  This museum was started in 1975. It illustrates the four Negrioto Tribes of the Andaman – the Jarawas, Sentinels, Great Andamanese, and the Onges. Besides, life styles of two Mongoloid Tribes of the Nicobar viz; the Nicobriese and the Shompens are also depicted. It beautifully defines the stage by stage development of these tribes till the present time with the help of tools, weapons, art and crafts.  It contains a good collection of photographs that help understand the life of these lesser known tribes of   Andaman and Nicobar.

CELLULAR JAIL:

By 4:15 we reached at Cellular Jail. There was a strong urge to take a cup of hot tea. The guide told us that entry would be closed by 4:30. We collected entry tickets and hurriedly gulped insipid tea made with milk-powder; I shall cover this later on, and entered the Cellular Jail. I shall not be doing justice if I do not cover the Cellular Jail in detail it deserves. That will be done in my next post.

Andaman Visit

I have returned from four days trip to Andman and Nicobar Island. Though I am not a keen traveler yet this trip was overdue. I do not remember when I and my wife last went on a holiday trip. This trip too would not have been possible but for one of my colleagues having agreed to accompany us with his family. We had an early morning Go Air flight from Delhi to Kolkatta that was to take us to Port Blair after a brief stopover at Kolkatta. 

We were at the Airport in time. The flight was on its schedule. I have flown many a times before but every time I fly, I feel as if I were flying for the first time. Travel by air is not my first choice. I always prefer train over aeroplane. The romance of journey by train has no comparison with that of by an aeroplane. One may accuse me of being biased being a railwayman but this is the truth. Journey by air, according to me, has only two advantages over journey by train - one is time and other is the breathtaking view of the sky that one can have while travelling by air. However, there are a few travelers who avail the second advantage. I had a window seat. As the plane gained height, the world below got disappeared. Early morning sky was spread all over, with its so many colors. The rising sun was adding many hues to its beauty. Bunches of clouds in different colors were hanging against the clear blue background. One pure white cloud came near my window over the plane’s wing, as if challenging me to catch it. It amused at my helplessness and passed by. As I looked down, a large number of cotton balls were spread below. The Sun had risen from the east and was distributing its bounty generously. I took pity on the person sitting behind my seat who was snoring loudly as he missed this beautiful view. Cabin crew were selling snacks, oblivious of the natural beauty spread outside. For them, it was a routine. We landed at Kolkatta Airport. 

The Pilot, Capt. Avinash Dogra, was an experienced one, as the take-off and landing both were silky smooth without any thud. The co-pilot was a woman. I thought of the male chauvinists who look down upon women as an object. To-day, women are excelling in all the fields and are no less than men. This very thought amused me. 

After a brief stay and with some new persons on board, the plane again took off towards Port Blair. As it went up in the air, I thought of the vast sea of Bay of Bengal over which we were to fly for the next two hours. The very thought of no earth down below sent chill down my spine. The weather was rough on the way and plane was shaking. But soon it settled. 

As we approached Port Blair, the plane descended. Down below was spread vast sea and lot of greenery that was now visible from the window. Soon it landed at Vir Sawarkar Air Port of Port Blair. The outside temperature was 28 degree Celsius as against 14 degree Celsius at Delhi. The car was waiting outside that took us to our Hotel. The rest of the day was to be hectic as local sightseeing was planned.