Port Blair

(Andaman trip – 1)

We went on a five day trip to Andaman islands starting from 16/1/19. The local travel agent who organised our trip was White Shell Travel whom we picked through Travel Triangle. This travel agency is based in Port Blair and is run by Mrs. Pinky Roy who hails from Tamilnadu and speaks good Tamil.   Let me start with a brief introduction to the islands before recounting my experiences there.  Andaman islands are a part of Andaman and Nicobar islands, a union territory in Bay of Bengal.  It is a group of islands with the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east.  The Chola king Rajendra chola used these islands as a naval base to launch an attack against Sri Vijaya empire (Indonesia). The name Nickobar is a corrupted version of the Tamil name Nakkavaram only.  These islands came under Japanese occupation during Second World War.  Dr. Subhsh Chandra Bose hoisted the Indian flag here on 30 December 1943 and named the islands Shaeed Swaraj. Prime Minister Modi, who was on a two-day visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Dec, 2018, renamed three of the Andaman Islands as a tribute to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The Ross Island was renamed as Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Dweep; the Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep; and the Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep.

We landed in Port Blair, the capital of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar islands, on the morning of 16/1 by Indigo flight.  Mr. Anil from White Shell Travels received us and took us to the hotel My Island Residency, where we stayed for two nights.  In the hotel our room was in the first floor and dining room in third floor and there was no lift.  But Anil was helpful and took us later to a vegetarian restaurant Annapurna, where the food was good.  After lunch we visited the famous Anthropological Museum.  It is a well-maintained museum that sheds light on the island’s local community of tribes, considered as one of the oldest in the world. It showcases the highlights of the lifestyle of Jarawas, the Onges, the Sentinelese, the Shompens and the Nicobarese.  It is said that even today, these tribes maintain very little contact with the rest of the world and visitors are not allowed inside tribal areas without special permission, making this Museum the rare opportunity to understand tribal life on the island.  The museum has on display various articles like handicrafts, tools, arts and crafts, implements, photographs and clothing dating back to the era of prominence of these native tribes. It also displays models of clay and hay as a visual description of the houses, utensils, ornaments and equipment used by them. Only photography is not allowed inside the museum.

We were scheduled to visit the fisheries museum next. But as it is closed on Wednesdays we made our way to the notorious Cellular Jail next.  It is called ‘Cellular' because it is entirely made up of individual cells for solitary confinement of freedom fighters, who were incarcerated in this jail, specially designed and built by the then British rulers.  This jail is now a place of pilgrimage for all the people taking them down the memory lane to the years of freedom struggle and to the brutal and barbaric atrocities suffered by the freedom fighters.  During the Japanese occupation of the island in Second World War when Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose visited the islands as ‘Head of the Provisional Government of India’ he visited the Cellular Jail and many inmates joined the Indian National Army started by him.  Now this is a National memorial and a Martyrs column has been raised here in memory of all Freedom Fighters and martyrs and also an eternal flame is kept burning.   There is also a Photograph Gallery and Museum here, which displays articles of everyday use by the prisoners and also the ones by the authorities to maintain strict discipline in the jail.  An added attraction in the National Memorial is the programme of sound and light (son-et-Lumiere).   The shows are in Hindi on all weekdays with English shows on certain weekdays.  Luckily there was an English show on that day and we attended it after a visit to Corbyn’s Cove Beach.

After visiting Cellular jail we went to Carbyn’s Cove Beach, which is 8 kilometres from the city centre.  This is a coconut-palm fringed beach ideal for swimming and sun-basking.  Some of the water activities that one can undertake and enjoy over a visit to Carbyn's Cove Beach include scuba diving, surfing, and boating. We spent there about two hours lazing away the time watching the pleasant blue sea waters and the people engaged in the several water sports, sitting in the shade of lush green coconut palms.  We left the beach when it was time to go to the Cellular Jail to watch the English version of Sound & Light show.  The Sound and Light show in the Cellular Jail narrates the saga of the Indian freedom struggle, brought alive through sound and light effect, of the hardships and punishments suffered by the freedom fighters deported to these islands and incarcerated in the small cells of this jail.  After the show, we went to another vegetarian restaurant, Kattabomman, where we had our night snacks and then retired to the hotel for the night.

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