Our Passionate guide at Ross Island in the Andamans
On a hot sultry afternoon we were 4 boat loads of people waiting for each other at the Ross Island.
The Indian Navy welcome signboard, made me wonder at the importance and strategic location of this place, as the main base during the time of the British rulers.
It seemed to get late, and our group of 39 wondered whether to explore the island in their own. I insisted that our Bangalore group follow the solo guide Anuradha, along with another group from Pune.
Our guide seemed quite frail and demure, yet once she started talking, our who group listened to her in rapt attention.
A deer followed her to all her stops, which were an important part of British settlements, but now were just lying in ruins. It was an amazing sight to see the buildings being completely covered by the roots of trees with the passage of time.
Anuradha was not just an information guide, she actually seemed emotional about the history of Ross Island. As a rare 4th generation descendant of the place, she recounted first person episodes about growing up on Ross Island.
She made us imagine how the administrative offices would function, how the bakery would churn out fresh food, how the tennis courts were used for relaxation etc.
The English were terrified about being infected by mosquito bites or by contaminated water.
There were large scale deaths of the foreigners due to malaria or skin infection. We saw the ruins of the ancient distillery that was used to purify water as a precautionary measure.
She also had some stories about the time this island was under the control of the Japanese.
But what really took our breath away was when Anuradha made some weird calling out noises and from the nearby hills, we suddenly saw hordes of deers, does, peacocks and peahens coming towards her, ready to eat the special non yeast bread treat that she had in store to the animals and birds.
This kind of pristine connection between humans and nature was something that I rarely see in people. Along with her interesting personal anecdotes she ended the tour with a message of keeping our traditional values and our environment intact.
There was some confusion and more waiting for our return boats from Ross Island back to Port Blair. We had a risky ride back, when our Eagle Eye 1 boat collided with another Yakshit boat. I thanked God for saving us, as the brunt of the impact was taken by the rubber cushioning that I had just thrown on the outer side of our boat.
I left the island remembering how Anuradha’s plea for restoring our pride in our Indianess touched all our hearts. Seeing such passion in a work that can get quite repetitive really calls for a smiling salute to people like Anuradha who give even more greatness to our dear country India!
So in 2018 do notice these simple smiling moments. Have a smiling year!
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