Enter the Mangroves- The Sundarbans

When you travel more on the waters than on the roads; when you hear more chirping and cooing than chatting or gossiping; when you see more greens and blues than browns or grays; and when you haven’t had any human-made substances for addiction but still feel intoxicated all the time…you know you are at the Sundarbans. The mysticism and the deepness of the place is such, that it doesn’t let you think of anything else or feel anybody else- it does cast a spell!

It was the intention to escape from the hustle bustle of the city and rest on the nature’s lap for some time, which steered my journey towards Sundarbans. All my trips have been memorable and refreshing so far, but I knew this one was going to be very different from all of them on the very first day itself. My journey started with the travel from Delhi to the Sundarbans using all possible modes of transportation on a single day:

Flight from Delhi - Dumdum Airport (Kolkata)

Taxi to Shealdah Railway Station

Local train to Canning station

500mts walk till Gosaba auto stand

Auto (not to forget the tremendously bumpy ride) to Godkhali

Two hours Boat ride from Godkhali till Shajnekhali.

Sounds as a tiresome and exhausting venture, doesn’t it? Well it was till Godkhali especially the auto ride really drained all our energies out. But, just when we stepped into the boat and it sailed through the vivacious river constantly dancing in a soft and gentle rhythm, it seems we have entered into some different planet on a different time zone. Our boat sailed between the thick massive nimbus and the youthful stream, which kept flaunting her fresh monsoon attire. Our boatman Moinuddin, a very sweet and energetic chap kept us entertained with the folk tales as well as the real incidents of Sundarbans. Most of their stories (and factual events) were about their encounters with the man-eater Royal Bengal tigers. There is hardly anyone there who doesn’t have a story to tell.

Before dusk, we reached the Shajnekhali Tourist Lodge. It’s a Government lodge and the tariff is Rs. 1200/- per head per night which includes breakfast and dinner. Apart from the comfortable beds, room facilities, delicious food and pleasant service there was another factor of the resort, which justifies its tariff. It stood amidst deep black forest far from any human abode, noise or distractions. After the sun sets, all you can hear is the sound of wind, crickets and an unknown mysterious loud silence.

Mornings start with the dawn and you get ample food for your cameras. Kingfishers, sparrows, purple sunbirds, kites, sandpipers are among just the ones we knew names of. They all get busy after a fresh sunbath and start posing for our photography! After the typical Bengali breakfast Luchi (maida pooris) and Aloo, we set off for our boat safari. Our guide Tarun Baidya who is a postgraduate in Geography, amused us with his enormous knowledge of the entire flora, fauna, history and culture of Sunderbans. During our ferry cruise, we visited two points:

Dobanki Canopy Walk- a well-maintained long walk, which is also a watchtower especially made for the tourists to get a glimpse of the wilds. You get to see beautiful spotted deer, mudskippers, crabs, snails and numerous species of mangrove trees. The canopy walks are mostly built over fresh water lakes where the animals (especially tigers) come to drink.

· Sudhanyakhali watch tower- another watchtower with the similar objectives but this one had its own special charm. The quietness and the scenic beauty from the watchtower were simply breathtaking. Wild egrets, sandpipers, woodpeckers, cranes, white Ibis, green pigeons, gray herons- we didn’t even remember the names of all the birds we saw there. The sereneness just makes you immovable from that place. Enchanting and soul refreshing experience.

Besides these points, the entire ferry trip was full of exciting events and happenings. The meandering broad stream gave time-to-time hints of her existence by creating wavy ripples. We had lunch on the rolling boat, marvelously cooked by Moinuddin himself. And the most adventurous and tingling part was sighting two full grown about 15 feet and one kid 12 feet long crocodiles on the river banks. Never before did I experience such real close rendezvous with wild crocodiles. Scary, yet exorbitantly thrilling!

There is a common feature we noticed wherever we stepped out of the boat. Where there was human habitation, be it a village or a resort, everywhere there is a temple of Banabibi (the Forest Goddess). Our guide Mr. Baidya enlightened us on this front. Banabibi is the only deity the people of Sundarbans worship. No other God of any religion is this important to them. The Hindus and the Muslims equally believe in and worship Banabibi to protect them from the tigers, especially “Dakshin Rai” who’s said to be the strongest of all tigers. This has been ever since the people started experiencing the Man Eating Tigers’ menaces. Even today, the significant of Banabibi is intact.

It’s not an easy job to spot a tiger in the Sundarbans and that too, on a two days trip with just an hour wait at a point. It’s even tougher when you are on the boat. So, if you are planning to visit the Sundarbans only for the tiger sight, then you seriously have to plan it exclusively. Have to spend hours or even a day not moving or making any sound at one single point. However, if just the tiger view is not your criterion, then you might just explore a new sphere of the globe, altogether. The nature’s mood, apparel, gestures are all very different. The people are simple and sincere with so much of visible love for their place. You are bound to be moved and spell bound…yes, the Sundarbans do cast a spell on you!