At the 'Turtle Resort' at Kalipur I was put in a suite named ‘Dove.’ I seemed to be the only guest in that beautiful place surrounded by tall trees through which the wind whined all through the night. I could see the sea from the open balcony outside. It was the only time I felt lonely, and far, far away from my loved ones. The roar of the wind rustling through the trees outside added an eerie dimension in that isolated place.
I got up early in the morning and walked to the beach across the road. It took me ten minutes to reach the sea. Once again, I had the entire beach to myself, the whole beach that stretched for miles on either side. I spent a couple of hours watching the waves and listening to the wind. It was cloudy or else it could have been even more beautiful. I walked back for breakfast and noticed that a young couple were also having breakfast. They appeared newly married and though I was dying to talk with someone I left them alone.
After breakfast the Malayali manager of 'Turtle Bay' took me on his bike to Arial Bay, a few kilometers away. We had a chat over tea and he told me about Saddle Peak nearby, the highest point in the Andamans that one could see from the beach. It seemed to touch the sky as clouds hung low over it. Later after he left me I went to the jetty. Somehow I am fascinated by the jetties in the Andamans which are desolate places when the ships are not docked. I went to the local market and bought a couple of locally available pineapple. The guest house manager had told me it took a eight hour trek to go up and down 'Saddle Peak.' I had no time and besides it was drizzling, hardly the time to go up and down a slippery mountain.
Later I met Sanat Kumar, one of Naandi’s field workers who took me around his fields. It was late evening and the sky was overcast. It was my last day at Diglipur. He told me there’s a place called Straight Island that is four hours by donghie, and he told me there was a light house. I wasn't in the mood to venture out anywhere that far. I had seen all these places on maps while doing the reports for the NGO. Now I have actually visited some of them and the places look so different. I was glad I made the trip and met so many wonderful people.
I spent another lonely night in the guest house with the wind howling outside. A door opened into a small balcony where I stood watching the tall trees and the 'Saddle Peak' in the distance. I had Syd Field’s book on screenwriting for company. I had not packed in any other book except a couple of notebooks which I tried to fill with details of my trip.
The next morning I went to the beach again and I saw a fisherman far away with his net. I walked on the rocky beach for sometime trying to make meaning of all that had happened in my life. It was time to take major decisions in my life. I was on the verge of quitting my job but could not summon the nerve to take the decision to quit. It was far too risky. I needed a financial cushion before taking such a major decision that would affect my small family. I postponed the decision for another time and walked back to the guesthouse to get ready after breakfast.
I got a bus to Mayabunder back at Diglipur which I reached after about an hour’s ride from Kalipur. I had reached the tip of Andamans and was now on my way back to the last leg of this ten day trip. I wondered briefly if I should cut short my trip by skipping Mayabunder because I was feeling exhausted. I hadn’t had good food for a long time and was dying to taste the stuff at Port Blair which was no better but at least I had friends for company. But I decided to stick to my original plan and so I got into the bus to Mayabunder which was a four hour drive. From Diglipur, Port Blair was 320 kilometers away! It took almost a day to make that journey on a rough tar road that wound its way through dense jungle.
I reached Mayabunder at one thirty in the afternoon, feeling damn hungry. I would stay at Mayabunder for three days and return to Port Blair.
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