“This is Kingfisher flight 2453 descending to Agatti. Please keep your seats upright and your seatbelts on...”, and so the ATR 72-500 tilted its wings gently and landed with a flourish on the partially recarpeted Agatti runway. The flight was pretty much uneventful with no turbulence and as usual horrible food. In my seat, I was clicking away madly the picture sequence of the landing. Again, as usual, the breathtaking bright green lagoon and the deep blue ocean around it took my breath away. It was like coming to a second home which it was.
Agatti is one of the largest islands in the Union territory of Lakshwadweep. And, it has the only airport in the entire territory, with only Kingfisher flights on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. But unlike the connectivity with the mainland, it has superb connectivity with the rest of the islands courtesy Pawan Hans Helicopters (Two choppers permanently dedicated for inter-island air taxi), and various types of speed boats. Agatti is shaped like an enlarged exclamation mark with a dot like sub-islet at the southern tip of the island known as Kalpitti, which is inhabited by a lot of coconut trees and large crabs. The entire runway makes up the southern part of the island. Over to the north, around five minutes of chopper flying time, lies the picturesque island of Bangaram, reputedly among the top ten getaways in the world. The entire group of island known as Lakshwadweep are coral islands. Hence these are picturesquely fragile because of the fragility of corals. It is said that corals are best indicators of climate change because they die because of even slight change in the climate. In the islands, it is a crime to break even a part of coral for it takes decades to regenerate. The sand here is milky white because it is just fine porous remains of dead corals which had turned to fine calcium like rocks. The temperature varies from a cool 28 degree to a max of 35 degree Celsius. In short, the perfect paradise for me.
Now then, after clearing all formalities, my dad, took us to his quarters which we immediately set out to make it even more suitable for our habitation. That is, we (me and my brother) spread out all the electronic gear (Laptops, iPods, cameras and so on...) and just picked the place apart. In the evening, with the sun at a low point in the horizon, I finally came out of the cool house to bask in the setting sun’s rays. There are two beaches accessible from the quarters-Eastern side and the Western side. They are probably separated by about 200 metres-300 metres of land between them. The lagoon on the western side is huge while on the eastern side is just a sliver running along the length of the island. I just walked for around 30 seconds to reach the western side beach and saw a huge Olive Ridley turtle. And then another, and another and so it continued. The skies are very clear because of no pollution (I guess the entire island must have around 10-15 four wheelers). The horizon is just a distance which appears deceptively within reach. The visibility during best of times is around 20 miles. The evening usually starts around 1900 hrs. Later, that night we (Dad, Mom, me and my brother) went to an open air party with delectable local dishes (including an unusual sweet dish) and a very soothing ambience. Though my day (or night depending on the interpretation!) ended on a sweet note, the following days (undetermined as of now) promises to be more adventurous for me.
Agatti is one of the largest islands in the Union territory of Lakshwadweep. And, it has the only airport in the entire territory, with only Kingfisher flights on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. But unlike the connectivity with the mainland, it has superb connectivity with the rest of the islands courtesy Pawan Hans Helicopters (Two choppers permanently dedicated for inter-island air taxi), and various types of speed boats. Agatti is shaped like an enlarged exclamation mark with a dot like sub-islet at the southern tip of the island known as Kalpitti, which is inhabited by a lot of coconut trees and large crabs. The entire runway makes up the southern part of the island. Over to the north, around five minutes of chopper flying time, lies the picturesque island of Bangaram, reputedly among the top ten getaways in the world. The entire group of island known as Lakshwadweep are coral islands. Hence these are picturesquely fragile because of the fragility of corals. It is said that corals are best indicators of climate change because they die because of even slight change in the climate. In the islands, it is a crime to break even a part of coral for it takes decades to regenerate. The sand here is milky white because it is just fine porous remains of dead corals which had turned to fine calcium like rocks. The temperature varies from a cool 28 degree to a max of 35 degree Celsius. In short, the perfect paradise for me.
Now then, after clearing all formalities, my dad, took us to his quarters which we immediately set out to make it even more suitable for our habitation. That is, we (me and my brother) spread out all the electronic gear (Laptops, iPods, cameras and so on...) and just picked the place apart. In the evening, with the sun at a low point in the horizon, I finally came out of the cool house to bask in the setting sun’s rays. There are two beaches accessible from the quarters-Eastern side and the Western side. They are probably separated by about 200 metres-300 metres of land between them. The lagoon on the western side is huge while on the eastern side is just a sliver running along the length of the island. I just walked for around 30 seconds to reach the western side beach and saw a huge Olive Ridley turtle. And then another, and another and so it continued. The skies are very clear because of no pollution (I guess the entire island must have around 10-15 four wheelers). The horizon is just a distance which appears deceptively within reach. The visibility during best of times is around 20 miles. The evening usually starts around 1900 hrs. Later, that night we (Dad, Mom, me and my brother) went to an open air party with delectable local dishes (including an unusual sweet dish) and a very soothing ambience. Though my day (or night depending on the interpretation!) ended on a sweet note, the following days (undetermined as of now) promises to be more adventurous for me.
continue yur adventure & write a bit more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWas nice going through ur blog and it gave me an audacious feelings .. keep it up .. and go a head dude
ReplyDelete