It is a common pattern to start a notation; where you plot a simple thread later you add more and weave in a creation which befits your own thought patterns and imagination. But, those are the set rules of great writers, here i'm just a blogger (blabber) :)
This time its about a place which has been the embodiment of suffering and melancholy which every countrymen remember as 'kalapani" (black waters). Yes, i'm in Port blair. The last three times i landed here was as on a transit point, and now it had a purpose as it lead me to the inner secrets of these islands in the Andamans, India. Everyone in the mainland of the peninsular India can hardly imagine what is it like here. I dont deny it, that even i had trouble in imagining what life is out there when in the mainland. But Portblair is as equal as any other little city in India, except the trouble in the time zone, as it is Indian Standard time (-5 hrs 30 mins) followed here but in reality it is around 1 hour before mainland time. To be simple, when you are having sunrise in your city as 6 o'clock the sun shines the same way it is around 7 o clock.
So after that little jet lag (which your hypothalamus adjusts itself) i took time in moving around Port Blair, not much but made it a point to keep a check on the infamous "cellular jail". Every evening they have a light n sound show which says the story of the jail leaving a bit of depression in your innerself. with great silence and goosebumps through out me along with my folks sat and watched the entire show and all we had was a lengthy silence. It left an impression that still the soul of a prisoner lurks deep within ourselves.
The very next day I set sail for Middle Strait where i had some serious job of reconnaissance. As a part of the recce i had a wonderful opportunity to fly around the islands and assess the scope of work. The view was breathtaking; it made those malaysian and Indonesian tourism advertisements look strangled! I make no mistake, it is an absolutely enchanting view of the islands. Later when my work started we learned that the area is somewhat unexplorable as there existed a serious threat of crocodiles in the area, and yes i had the privilege to spot a couple of them 'sun bathing' in between the mangroves. They were massive and had all the elegance of a monster.
The surprise package in my trip came around 5 days later in the form of Havelock Island. Someone told me that a particular beach in that island has been voted as the best natural beach!! Well.....and then i was flown to the island of Havelock along with one of my crew. Early morning landed there and the next pickup would be in the evening. Our recce for a particular point in the island started immediately and got over in next hour and half.
Havelock: I honestly dont know how those explorers found this island and who named it, but whoever did it, i'd say, they must have had an unimaginable pleasure in doing so! Roamed around the island and for the first time i saw a jungle ending with a beach! Tall trees of 200 ft high right next to the beach....now thats a brand new scene in my life. Let me put it up in this way; imagine you are walking through a pathway through a forest, with thick tall trees on sides and the only voice you can hear is the clatter of the leaves in the wind and then you reach the end of the road , right in front of a beach!
Spent hours there till evening, just watching and dreaming and thinking about the things that passed by. Wished to be there with ......(ok leave it, that would be too much of a sentimental stuff). "Dream a place and place a dream" as said by someone close to me really applies here.....and before bidding farewell to Havelock and its unfathomable silence, and clear-clear-clear skies and starry night i placed a dream ...a wish,,,that i will be back here sometime later. I made a powerpoint of those selected photos and streaming here:
many days later it was time to wind up my recce job and head back to mainland and while on my voyage that everything around us is not as you have dreamed. Our own perceptions and reality can be different in a biblical way, what you know about a person or a place can be entirely different from what you had actually thought. The moment you curb your imagination you are creating a prisoner in you, so was the fate of Port Blair. The world knew her as doomed but still life is there, fresh oxygen, unseen forests, unexplored locations, unknown moods, unheard happiness, unreachable loneliness.....but thats what life is all about, right?
So I tell myself, that she is not as you have known or she is different from my perception and my dreams. And every moment I think of her i slam open those iron doors and set the prisoner in me free!! See you again Port blair!!
This time its about a place which has been the embodiment of suffering and melancholy which every countrymen remember as 'kalapani" (black waters). Yes, i'm in Port blair. The last three times i landed here was as on a transit point, and now it had a purpose as it lead me to the inner secrets of these islands in the Andamans, India. Everyone in the mainland of the peninsular India can hardly imagine what is it like here. I dont deny it, that even i had trouble in imagining what life is out there when in the mainland. But Portblair is as equal as any other little city in India, except the trouble in the time zone, as it is Indian Standard time (-5 hrs 30 mins) followed here but in reality it is around 1 hour before mainland time. To be simple, when you are having sunrise in your city as 6 o'clock the sun shines the same way it is around 7 o clock.
So after that little jet lag (which your hypothalamus adjusts itself) i took time in moving around Port Blair, not much but made it a point to keep a check on the infamous "cellular jail". Every evening they have a light n sound show which says the story of the jail leaving a bit of depression in your innerself. with great silence and goosebumps through out me along with my folks sat and watched the entire show and all we had was a lengthy silence. It left an impression that still the soul of a prisoner lurks deep within ourselves.
The very next day I set sail for Middle Strait where i had some serious job of reconnaissance. As a part of the recce i had a wonderful opportunity to fly around the islands and assess the scope of work. The view was breathtaking; it made those malaysian and Indonesian tourism advertisements look strangled! I make no mistake, it is an absolutely enchanting view of the islands. Later when my work started we learned that the area is somewhat unexplorable as there existed a serious threat of crocodiles in the area, and yes i had the privilege to spot a couple of them 'sun bathing' in between the mangroves. They were massive and had all the elegance of a monster.
The surprise package in my trip came around 5 days later in the form of Havelock Island. Someone told me that a particular beach in that island has been voted as the best natural beach!! Well.....and then i was flown to the island of Havelock along with one of my crew. Early morning landed there and the next pickup would be in the evening. Our recce for a particular point in the island started immediately and got over in next hour and half.
Havelock: I honestly dont know how those explorers found this island and who named it, but whoever did it, i'd say, they must have had an unimaginable pleasure in doing so! Roamed around the island and for the first time i saw a jungle ending with a beach! Tall trees of 200 ft high right next to the beach....now thats a brand new scene in my life. Let me put it up in this way; imagine you are walking through a pathway through a forest, with thick tall trees on sides and the only voice you can hear is the clatter of the leaves in the wind and then you reach the end of the road , right in front of a beach!
many days later it was time to wind up my recce job and head back to mainland and while on my voyage that everything around us is not as you have dreamed. Our own perceptions and reality can be different in a biblical way, what you know about a person or a place can be entirely different from what you had actually thought. The moment you curb your imagination you are creating a prisoner in you, so was the fate of Port Blair. The world knew her as doomed but still life is there, fresh oxygen, unseen forests, unexplored locations, unknown moods, unheard happiness, unreachable loneliness.....but thats what life is all about, right?
So I tell myself, that she is not as you have known or she is different from my perception and my dreams. And every moment I think of her i slam open those iron doors and set the prisoner in me free!! See you again Port blair!!
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