Serendipity : Musings of an Islander

My recent visit to Tagore Govt College of Education to attend its “Pearl Jubilee Celebration” had been a store full or surprise. The institution building wore a festive look with decorative sequential lights, colourful flags and the red carpet. I turned up 45 minutes ahead of time, yet found the epitome of education packed to its capacity. Everybody seemed amused and engaged in chit chat with friends whom they had been meeting after a long time. The trainees, alumni, teachers and other staff members of the institution, everybody were on their job making last minute arrangements. We recalled our days running around in the institution, learning while arranging such programs. Our teachers stood behind us lending support in every sphere of our activity. After a years study we moved on in our career path, a new batch took our place; a cycle that repeats year after year but the teachers, their vigor and enthusiasm remained afresh. They still stand firm behind their students, enablin...

The Inconvenient Truth Life   under island conditions had been peaceful and content until the epic disaster christened the “Great   Sumatra-Andaman   Earthquake” rattled our islands on the   26 th   day of December 2004 at 6.29am  IST ; triggering a massive tsunami that washed away anything to everything coming its way. The multiple-disaster caught the islanders unawares, mostly in their sleep following the Merry Christmas celebrations. Before the “boxing day” nobody had the slightest idea that the sea, amid which they had been leading their life, could threaten their very existence. The disaster turned out to be a learning experience for majority of islanders who got to know the word   tsunami ,   though sounds   Indian to our ears, is in-fact a word of   Japanese origin; meaning giant harbor waves generated by undersea tectonic or volcanic activity. The   2004   slow slip undersea earthquake incidentally shif...

The islanders recently woke up to a shocking incident of a minor girl forced into flesh trade. The incident came to light when A&N P olice raided one of the brothels (illegal) at G aracharma recently. The girl (minor) narrated (to the lady constable) the tragic turn of events that landed her in the brothel. The girl had been in a telephonic relationship with a boy (22 Y rs ) who in the pretext of marrying prompted her to elope with him. The innocent girl fell prey to the lure and left her parents house. They roamed around in the city visiting places. At the fall of the day, the boy took her to one of his friend’s house, where he reportedly raped her and later deserted the girl somewhere near C hatham and fled. Having lost her virginity, the girl could not garner courage to inform her parents of the trauma. Thereafter what happened is even worse, than what one could imagine. One after the other, three autorickshaw drivers, two police men, a hotel receptionist, waiter, two others, ...

Tourism in A ndamans is a story of 4 guys : EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, NOBODY I had the unique opportunity to participate in a debate “ I s T ourism G ood for A ndamans” conducted by SACON as part of its 2010 DNA club festival at P ort B lair. A number of students put forward their views “for” and “against” the topic. Those who spoke “against” caught my imagination since the proponent students blamed tourism squarely for a plethora of problems such as increased crime rates, population pressure, bringing diseases, water crisis, increased air fare/transportation costs, traffic jams, alcoholism, besides disturbing the aboriginal tribes specially J arawas. Speakers also blamed tourism for its negative impact on islands cultural diversity and environment, hence opined tourism is not at all viable and better be stopped. This article is an introspection sparked by the averments made during the debate. It is worth mentioning A&N Islands are a group of some 572 islands, islets...

This June sounded the death knell for coins of lower denominations i.e., coins below 50 paisa now cease to be legal tender. With the close of the deadline on J une 30th   2011, the last day to exchange coins of value 25 paisa and below with banks or the R eserve B ank of I ndia (RBI) , coins of lower denominations are now part of history of I ndian C oinage. From now on such coins would be seen either in museums or sold as artifacts to coin collectors and numismatists (one who studies coins or medals). It is believed the first recorded use of coins (derived from L atin “cuneus”) was in C hina and G reece in around 700 BC and in the sixth century BC in I ndia . Almost all the rulers of various I ndian S tates issued their own unique coins of different shapes, sizes, weights and denominations, in gold, silver, brass and other metals to facilitate trade. Early coins were cast and die-struck manually on one side with symbols of animals, plants, and humans. Therefore the coins of...

Aqueduct at Panighat, South Andaman : Story of a Forgotten Archaeological Legacy By Debkumar Bhadra Panighat, located about 4 km from Bambooflat Jetty in South Andaman at the foothills of Mount Harriet, now known as Mount Manipur, is a small settlement with a layered past. While the site is historically associated with the assassination of Lord Mayo by Sher Ali Khan on 8 February 1872, it holds another, lesser-known yet remarkable legacy - a British-era aqueduct system that defines the area’s identity and utility. The very name Panighat (literally “water point”) owes its origin to the forgotten, gravity-driven water transport system. This article traces the story of this rare water infrastructure, which once sustained maritime activity in the region but now lies in ruins, awaiting attention and conservation in equal measures. A Rare Archaeological/Engineering Legacy and its Decline The aqueduct at Panighat was designed by the British empire to transport freshwater from a...