Wanderlust! by Koel Mukherjee

Andamans November 2004.

It was one of those sun-kissed morning, in the season of 'mist and mellow fulfilment' Autumn. The weather was bright and jolly. Specks of white clouds sailed here and there in the azure blue sky. We packed our hampers (specially food and drinking water) and set out on our destination for the day, The North Bay...

Private boat service is the primary means of transportation form Port Blair to North Bay. Tourists travel by speedboats to a certain extent on sea and then they need to board on small boats which take them to the beach. This is done in order to save the underwater flora and fauna. These small boats that carry the passengers are specially designed. These are glass bottom boats, the sitting arrangement is made all round the side of the boats the middle is left open, so that when the boats travel over the corals and the reefs the tourist can get a view of the underwater scenery. Once, the tourists reach there they can enjoy snorkelling and scuba diving.

Needless, to say I was pretty excited. I had already done a little bit of research on the corals, reefs, ornamental fishes and other marine life that I would get to see there. Our speedboat arrived at the jetty at 8 o'clock in the morning. The party that I was with obediently took their seat in their respective places. But I could not remain tied to my seat. I had to venture out in search of some new adventures. I took a place on the deck. A few vendors were sitting there with their respective food stuff, which they would be selling to the passengers once they reach the island.

One of them caught my attention. He was a tall man…tall, dark handsome you may say. However, Time had robbed him of his glamour to some extent. His skin was tanned and wrinkled. He was playing on his mouthorgan. I pushed myself towards the direction where he was sitting. He was wearing a long navy blue coat, which had numerous pockets. The shirt that he was wearing underneath was a bit untidy, it seemed that he had not washed it for a couple of days. The fabric had faded. His trousers were loose fitting, the edges of which were tattered. He had placed a straw hat on his head and a red scarf was tied around his neck. I found him pretty interesting! I could not stop myself from approaching him. Politely I commented that he was good at the mouthorgan. My appreciation inspired him to play a few more numbers form the old Hindi movies. I squatted by his side and was enjoying those songs. A few more had joined us by then. We sang, we clapped and we shouted and were completely drained out of our energy. We badly needed something to soothe our throats.

Now, that was his chance to sell the eatable that he was carrying. He was quick enough not to miss on that opportunity to sell us the 'kulfi' (a kind of Indian ice-cream) that he brought with him. The kulfi too was wonderful! May be by that time I had already started developing a liking towards him and that was why the dessert tasted so delicious to me. I simply wanted to be with him and chat with him for sometime. The rendezvoused with him is something precious that I bear in my heart.

He told me about himself, I came know to about his love for nature and passion for travelling. For me his spirit was no way less than that of 'choto mama' in Satyajit Ray's movie 'Aguntuk'. I was stunned to know about his struggle to complete his graduation from Calcutta University. He was searching for a job in Kolkata, when this spirit of Wanderlust struck him. He had set out on his journey without a single penny in his pocket. He had worked as a sweeper, a helper to a truck-driver, a guide, a cabin boy, a joker and had even washed dishes at some road side 'dhaba'(small restaurant on the high-ways). He showed me his small note-book where he had maintained the records of his tours and travels.

I came to know that he too was a tourist to Andamans and that it was his last destination in India. His 'Bharat Darshan' (the tour of India) was complete. Now he will move out…I asked him about his Visa and Passport, he simply gave me a strange smile. Though my heart was burning with curiosity to know how he will make it, my conscience told me not to intrude into his personal frontiers. He was a brave-heart and a passionate man. My admirations for him increased.

We all enjoyed a lot in the North Bay, after the days outing while we returned to Port Blair, he played on his flute…it was a sad tune a tune of farewell. I preferred standing at the deck and watched the sun set over the Indian Ocean. When we reached Port Blair I saw him making his way through the crowd, he turned and waved at me. I stood there motionless seeing him off on his journey round the World. Adieu my Vagrant, hope to see you again...

May be that was the man I was infatuated to. Given a change I would have loved to accompany him on his tours, be it over the space, the universe and the galaxy...

About the Author

My journals are mostly accounts that are extracted from my daily life, I try to depict incidents and characters as I perceive and comprehend them. I a not a professional writer, but would like to stay associated with this profession. My areas of interests are 'human characters', 'life' and 'nature'.