A VOYAGE TO KAVARATTI

Note: lengthy post

I was standing on the deck as our ship was sailing out of Eranakulam wharf pushing water backwards.     Old buildings offort Kochi, the row of Chinese nets, the Vallarpadom container terminal, and the LNG terminal were slowly passed by. I was able to see the sky and the sea meeting each other at the horizon. After some time I saw the mainland as a thin layer. This ship, sailing in the sea with 700 passengers on board was named m. v. Kavaratti had set its course towards Kavaratti island in Lakshadweep. I was on a trip to Kavaratti with my family. Ever since my father was transferred to Kavaratti, I was requesting him to take me along with him. Therefore I was very happy when he told me that he will take me to Kavaratti during my winter vacation.  My father told me that the journey takes around fifteen hours.

       

        I went around the ship. It was indeed a big ship. It has a helipad and a swimming pool. I saw a number of tourists, both Indian and foreign who were going to Kavaratti and Agathi islands.  As the dusk was setting in, I started feeling that the ship was in the middle of nowhere. And when the darkness spread around the ship, nothing to see and the only thing was the sound of waves splashing against the ship. Very much bored, I went to my cabin to sleep.

                                  

         Once inside the cabin, it was very comfortable and I was not at all feeling that I was traveling!  At the next morning I rushed out of my cabin to see the sunrise. It was as if the sun was coming out of the sea. After the break fast in the ship my father called me to the upper deck and from there I got the firstglimpse of Kavaratti island. Slowly and slowly the land became clearer and clearer. The first thing I could recognize was the light house. I remembered the science class where I was taught that our earth is round.  It took a full one hour before the ship was anchored. Still, we were far away from the shore and we had to get into boats to reach the port. The police man at the door lifted me and landed in the boat. Even though the ship was still, the boat was swaying very badly in the big waves.

       

        While in the boat, I noticed a very interesting thing. The colour of the sea has been changed. It has been changed to a bright bluish-green hue from dark blue.   Here the sea was totally different from the deep sea. The water was very clear and we were able to see the bottom of the sea. It was a thrilling view.

       

        The sky was clear and sunny.  In that new atmosphere I was feeling joyous. Every where around there were only coconut trees – small and big.  On reaching the island, the first thing I noticed was the roads – all concrete, but narrow.  I could not see any electric posts or overhead wires. Then I wondered how the buildings are getting electricity. My father told me that in all those islands, power supply is through underground cables. All along the roads, street lights are provided, which run on solar power. I thought how nice it would have been if such systems were carried out in our cities also.

    

        There are 27 islands in Lakshadweep of which people live only in ten. Kavaratti is the capital. As Lakshadweep is a union territory, it is governed by an administrator, appointed by the union government of India. The administrator is assisted by collectors and sub collectors in other islands.

       

        Kavaratti has an area of 4.2 sq km and a population of nearly 11,000. All people travel either on bicycles or motor cycles. There are auto rickshaws and taxis but a few in numbers. Here as the traffic was very less, one could walk through the roads very freely.

       

        On the first day my father took me to the sea. This island is stretched from north to south. The vast lagoon is situated on the western side. I asked my father what a lagoon is. He explained it to me. A lagoon is a shallow part of the sea separated from the deeper sea by a reef. Reef is kind of barrier. He told me that theLakshadweep islands are formed on coral reefs. We went to the lagoon. Three colleagues of my father also joined us. They were planning to go up to the reef in a rowing boat to see the corals. One of them, Sh. Tajuddin owned the boat. I felt afraid. But as time passed, my fear gave way to excitement. Near the reef, about one kilometer from the shore, we got out of the boat into the sea. Water level was only up to my waist. My father showed me how to use a mask and snorkel to see underwater. The view was marvelous. An entirely new world revealed in front of my eyes. The sea floor was filled with different kinds of corals in different shapes.  If some were looking like simple rocks, some others looked just like animal brains. But the most interesting ones were those looked like trees. They were in thick groups. I couldn’t believe when my father told me that the corals are living beings. What we were looking at was the colonies of millions of small living organisms. The tips of the corals were glowing in blue colour. My father showed me oysters hiding in the corals. Their mouths are brightly coloured. I watched with wonder how fast this colour disappears when any body tried to disturb the oyster. After a few seconds, the colour re-appeared. Different coloured fishes in groups, were swimming all around. I tried swimming only to get sea water in to my eyes and nose. Tajuddin uncle indicated the starting of high tide. So it was time to return. While rowing back, we spotted a sea turtle near the boat. It was a big one.  On the following days also, we went to the beaches and had bath. The white sand beaches were unforgettable.

       

        Another attraction was the light house. The official at the light house told me that the light reach up to 20 nautical miles or, 37 kilometres in to the sea. He explained me the light beacon is characteristic to each light house. Ships and other marine vessels recognize the places by identifying these beacons. From the top the light house, I was able to see the full island and the sea around. Island was looking like a club – wider at north and narrowing towards south.

MYSELF POSING NEAR A HELICOPTER AT THE ISLAND

        Even though situated far away in the sea,  this small island has got a botanical garden, planetarium, children’s park, lighthouse , helipad, three schools including a  Kendriya Vidyalaya, one fisheries museum and aquarium, out door and indoor stadiam, a number of shops and hotels, one Doordarshan transmission centre and an all India radio station where my father works.

                                         

SKELETON OF A SHARK KEPT AT FISHERIES MUSEUM

                     Our trip around the island was on bicycles. Thus on the third day cycling, we reached fisheries’ museum. After taking tickets we entered the aquarium and saw a numerous kinds of fishes. A skeleton of a whale is kept there. Models of different kinds of fishing boats used by the islanders during olden times, pearls of different sizes, mother of pearls and preserved specimens of marine creatures also were display.

  

                                 It was the penultimate day at the dweep. We once again decided to go to the reef, but this time in a glass – bottomed boat. This kind of boat is a superb thing. We can see the under water life just by looking down through the glass platform of the boat. On my journey in the glass boat I noticed a large blue creature which resembled starfish and filled with thorns all over its body. The guide told that it is called ‘crown of thorns’ which eats the corals and thus destroying them.

      In the dweep, power is generated using big diesel generators and from solar energy. There is a water de-salination plant here. Sea water is purified and filtered in this plant and distributed through out the island for drinking. In Lakshadweep, for inter-island transport there are high speed vessels and helicopters. At Kavaratti, the helipad was at the southern end.

       

        No crops other than coconut grow in Lakshadweep. I was told that all types of goods including vegetables, rice and provisions are brought from the main land in barges, and that also becomes impossible during monsoon season as the sea would be very rough.

       

        After the big enjoyment in this small island, I was very sad to leave there as the return ship was on the next day, but suddenly I heard a news that our return ship was delayed for one day as the sea was rough. I was very happy that I would be able to stay for one more day. I was told that the nature of the sea is always unpredictable. Even a small wind can make it rough.

                               

         At last the day came, the day when we have to return. After the breakfast we were busy packing every thing as the ship was in the afternoon. However, my father was staying back to attend to his duties. We were at jetty in time. There was a big crowd of passengers at the jetty. As the announcement for embarkation came, my father took us to the boat. The boat left for the ship, m. v. Arabian Sea. I jumped in to the ship from the boat and went to my cabin. After keeping my luggage there, I came out to see other boats coming and passengers entering the ship. The ship started soon without much waiting. After an hour I lost the sight of the island Kavaratti. In the night I recounted the ever lasting experiences I had at Kavaratti. Even though this ship was smaller but was faster than m. v. Kavaratti and by the next morning it berthed at the Ernakulam port. With a bag on my shoulder and beautiful memories in my mind I headed for home praying the almighty to grand another chance to visit Lakshadweep as early as possible.

                           

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